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Tag Archives: David Gemmell

The King Beyond the Gate by David Gemmell

20 Tuesday Apr 2010

Posted by Aaron Brander in On Books

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2 stars, David Gemmell, Fantasy, On Books

The first book that I reviewed for this blog was Legend by David Gemmell.  I started reading more of Gemmell’s work because I really enjoyed his Troy series of books.

Unfortunately, I can’t say anything good about The King Beyond the Gate.  It’s standard fantasy fare. It was a little heavy on the moral dilemmas that the characters faced, and light on action and character development. I never felt any particular affinity for the characters, the world, or the story.

There are many books that Gemmell has set in this world, and supposedly they have been well received. I think I’ll have had to run out of books before I go out of my way to read another one.

Rating: 2 out of 5.

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The Dark Prince by David Gemmell

10 Friday Apr 2009

Posted by Aaron Brander in On Books

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3 stars, David Gemmell, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, On Books

 

 (buy at Amazon)

Another Gemmell book, another solid outing.  The Dark Prince follows up on the Lion of Macedon.  In Lion of Macedon, we follow Parmenion as he rises from a mix-blood outcast in Spartan society to become the Death of Nations.  As an unbeatable mercenary general, he eventually comes into the employ of Philip of Macedon.  Teaming with Philip, Macedon soon becomes the power in Greece. At the end of the first book, an unlikely string of events conspire to have Parmenion sire Alexander unbeknownst to Philip.  However, in doing so Parmenion introduces the chaos spirit into the world, with Alexander as the host.

That’s where the Dark Prince picks up. Alexander is a lonely boy fighting the demon within.  People are afraid to touch him because he causes pain and death to those he does touch.  If that sounds strange, don’t worry, because it’s about to get stranger.  Philip from an alternate Greek reality summons Alexander into his world in order to eat his heart and gain immortality.   Strange indeed.  Aristotle, an immortal mage – who knew – helps Parmenion reach that alternate Greece in order to save Alexander.

In bizzaro Greece, the creatures of myth are real.  Minotaurs, centaurs, and nymphs are commonplace.  Parmenion and Alexander reunite and try and save the creatures of the enchantment while fighting off the evil Philip.

You’d think that storyline would be enough for one book, but it’s not. After Alexander and Parmenion make it back, the last quarter of the book follows Alexander’s meteoric rise and fall.  Gemmell basically condenses the entire Alexander story into 150 pages. 

I enjoyed the book, I guess. It stands in stark contrast to his Troy series. In the Troy books, he takes myth and turns it into historical fiction. In the Dark Prince, he takes history and turns it into myth.  It’s an interesting idea, but I think it ultimately falls flat.  The short portion of the book that chronicles Alexander’s conquest of Asia is really a cliff notes version of the Alexander story, with Alexander’s sometimes strange behavior explained by the chaos spirit that lives within him.

I’m not sure why Gemmell rushed through the end of the book instead of making this into the trilogy it seemed to want to become.  Either way, I found it entertaining if a trifle odd.

3 stars

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Legend by David Gemmell

28 Sunday Dec 2008

Posted by Aaron Brander in On Books

≈ 1 Comment

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3 stars, David Gemmell, Lord of the Rings, On Books, R.A. Salvatore, Tolkien

 

Legend by David Gemmell

Legend by David Gemmell

Reading Legend by David Gemmell is like reading an expanded version of Tolkien’s Battle of Helm’s Deep from the Two Towers.  As in Helm’s Deep, the defenders at Dros Delnoch stand little hope against an implacable enemy.  Hordes of Nadir, tribesman from the North united under a power conqueror, stand at the doorstep of Dros Delnoch.  A small force stands against them, aided by the Legendary Druss and a few other notable heroes.

 

I love stories of hero-filled battles.  Gemmell’s Troy series, R.A. Salvatore’s Drizzt books come to mind immediately.  However, this may be the first book I’ve read where the entire book centers around a single siege. The action is fast-paced and is gripping from the start to the end.  I had high hopes that it would end differently from the standard fantasy story, but alas, deus ex machina arrived to save the day.  A few instances stand out as remarkable.  The arrival of a band of legendary ghosts, an uprising from a nephew, and the return of a loved one worked to lessen the epic nature of the story.  

 

In the end, it is a fun read.  I can’t say anything bad about it, other than I wished it had ended in the forlorn manner in which it purported to, rather than the uplifting, all’s well that ends well way in which it did.  Don’t get me wrong. I love a happy ending. But sometimes it’s alright to not get bailed out in the end.  I think I’ll get to the other books in the Drenai saga, because I’m a sucker for a good fantasy book.

 

3 stars – see the book rating explanation here

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