David Gemmell question

[Self]

I have just finished my 1st Gemmell - Legend - and have a question. How does this book rate compared to his other material? Is this the best, the worst, or an average Gemmell?

I enjoyed Legend. I tore through it in no time. I found it to be simple, not requiring a great deal of thought, not a great deal of character depth or developement, a plot that has been seen before and will be again in numerous guises, but for all that, entertaining, page turning and enjoyable.

Is Legend his defining work, average quality or merely Gemmell's starting point?

(I did a search before posting, and not much came up, so i hope I'm not retracing too much old ground...)

 

[Kookamoor]

I read Legend and then didn't really want to read any more. From memory the battle scenes went on for AGES and that really didn't appeal to me. Finely detailed military strategy bores me to tears! Now, if it's plot related, that's entirely different. Like, in Terry Goodkind's books, for example, the battle scenes are really good, I think.

 

[Self]

Hey Kookamoor,
I didn't find the battle scenes highly detailed - I thought they were quite basic and character orientated rather than detail driven, but that's only my take on things. On the other hand, I hated Goodkind. I couldn't even finish the 1st book for boredom. Just goes to show that different things appeal to different people. Maybe we can use each others tastes as a guide of what not to read! Thanks for the reply.

 

[Hugin]

To answer your question Legend is average for his early work, but far below par for his later stuff. (Although I list Legend as one of my favourite novels, simply for introducing me to Gemmel)

In legend he starts with the fallible hero theme. If you picked it up on it and liked that read the Rigante series. In this series there are no good or bad people, everybody is trying to do right and sometimes they fail. Exelent series, I thouroughly enjoyed it

For a quick easy reads try Druss the legend, which is the early years of Druss or midnight warriors. Nothing earth shaking but very entertaining.

Gemmel writes some very good characters, and the more he wrote the better he got, some of his early novels fell flat, but I have not read any of his recent work that wasn't extremely good.

He writes simple straight forward stories with complex, living, breathing characters.

 

[Self]

Thanks for the tip - it's actually what I was hoping to hear! You may have gathered with my 1st post that while I enjoyed Legend, it had it's flaws. That his work improves with time is most encouraging because I certainly got enough out of Legend to want some more.

 

[Kookamoor]

I didn't find the battle scenes highly detailed - I thought they were quite basic and character orientated rather than detail driven, but that's only my take on things.

Hmm... maybe it's a different one I'm thinking of, then. Is there a rape scene in Legend? I know the book I'm thinking of it at my folks' place, and I'll check and make sure I'm talking about the right one. I did read it 10 years or so ago, so I may be mistaken!

Maybe we can use each others tastes as a guide of what not to read!

Maybe! I know a lot of people *despise* Goodkind, though. The battle scenes I was referring to aren't in the first book, though. I highly recommend Guy Gavriel Kay, though! (ds is sharing his cut from Mr Kay for publicity with me these days). Don't discount it just 'cos I liked it!

 

[Self]

Hey Kookamoor,
No rape scene in Legend. Must be another one. And I must agree with you on GGKay - I've only read Tigana & Fionivar, but I rate him highly. Guess there's no hard and fast rule when it comes to taste!

I went on a Gemmell hunt today at the local book exchange, and could only get White Wolf, so this is what I'm reading next. I am guessing this is not a continuation of another story, just set in the Drenai world, and that I can read this without reading anything else first. If I'm wrong, somebody please correct me before I get too far into it.

 

[Hugin]

I have not red White Wolf, but from what I have heard of the book it is the start of a new 'series'.

It is set in the same universe as Legend, but some years earlier.

I have red a book that features the same lead character as white wolf (Skilgannon), and I have to say I like him. The wonderful thing about a Gemmel book is even if it is a part of a series, each and every book is a novel on its own, and you don't miss anything if you read the books out of sequence.

How about an update on the book as you read it? I would love to know if it is one of his better novels.

 

[Self]

Hey Hugin,
No problem! Not much time to read yesterday, only about 90 pages in, but so far so good.

I like Skilgannon - there was a scene at a local town where someone tried to attack him, and without giving too much away, he was not in a position to use offence, and had to deal with the attack. The result brought a wry smile to my lips as I read it.

The character of Rabalyn, a young teen ager, is also appealing. Boys got some ticker, and knows when to do the right thing.

Will keep posting as I read.

 

[Hugin]

Hey Hugin,


Will keep posting as I read.

Great! Looking forward to it.

 

[Self]

Not a whole lot further in - damn those family commitments!!! - and about to start a block of 2 x 10 hour dayshifts followed by 2 x 14 hour nightshifts, so I may not get to update for a while, but...

The main difference I am finding so far between White Wolf and Legend, is more character developement. I'm not sure if this is common to other Gemmell's post Legend, but the flashbacks to Skilgannons past certainly help to understand the character in greater depth, and enhance the general interest.

Skilgannon has encountered a cameo appearance by Druss, and I'm presuming their paths may intertwine later in the story.

About 180 pages in, and cursing the gods that there are other things to do on this earth which keep us from reading, so that should explain how I'm liking it so far. Simple, easy to read, entertaining, and definitely keeping me wanting more.

 

[Self]

Well, I'm now a confirmed Gemmell fan. Almost finished White Wolf, already bought the sequel The Swords of Night and Day, and can't wait to hit Waylander.

Gemmell is certainly not a writer of epics, nor does he put enormous time into character developement, detail in general, verbosity of language etc etc -
what he does is draw the reader in, keep a fast pace, rarely allow a decline in interest and overall tell a good tale.

Even without any prior Drenai involement aside from Legend, White Wolf is an excellent read, and judging by the number of books Gemmell's written, I'm going to be a happy camper well into the new year.