David Gemmell – Drenai 03 - Hero in the Shadows

In Hero in the Shadows, Waylander, the assassin hero of some of Gemmell's earlier books, is now a middle-aged man looking for peace in a world that will, for the most part, let him alone. The crimes of his past come back to haunt him, as he finds himself responsible for a young prince whose grandfather he murdered, and as creatures of doomed legend come back to rule the world with blood and horror. An aging paladin, a loud-mouthed braggart whom a magic sword has chosen, and a kitchen girl who is unusually handy with her knives become his allies, along with a priestess who is not telling all she knows, or all she is.

Gemmell is one of the best writers of fantasy adventure--this new book is attractively gloomy in its atmosphere and has a pervading sense of the ironic. The action sequences are powerful and well visualized; Gemmell always knows how a particular sort of fight would feel. And there are no simple morals here--most of the characters, heroic or villainous, exist in the gray hinterland between dark and light, where evil acts are often performed in sorrow and good actions often have mixed motives behind them.

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David Gemmell – Drenai 02 - In The Realm of The Wolf

David Gemmell, in In the Realm of the Wolf, writes another brilliant piece to the Drenai Saga. More history, more wonderful characters, and more action packed scenes bring the pages of this book alive. The magic might be subtle in Gemmell's books, but he includes just enough sorcery to quench the reader's thirst for a complete fantasy book.

Waylander the Slayer has not been the Slayer for quite a few years, but when a ruler feels he has a reason to fear for the life of his son and himself, Waylander finds that there is a wealth of gold on his head. With deadly assassins after Waylander and his daughter Miriel, he finds that the quiet life he has come to like will no longer be good enough.

Miriel, Gemmell's first strong female character, is the daughter of Waylander. She has been training hard under the tutelage of her father, but even his training cannot protect her from what is to come.

The unlikely band that Waylander and Miriel assemble will find themselves on a quest to help find the Uniter. Gemmell cannot keep up this astounding pace of unbelievable books in the Drenai series going. Or can he? Each book can stand alone, yet they connect with the other books in the series in so many ways. I am truly a fan of Gemmell and will continue to recommend him to every fantasy reader I come across. Enjoy!

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David Gemmell - Drenai 01 - Waylander

Every time I've read this book, I'm continually amazed at how well it's done. Gemmell has a definite formula (or formulas) from which he rarely strays. I didn't know this the first time I read the book, but even now it doesn't detract from what may be some of his best work.

At no point does Gemmell falter in his plain-spoken, yet insightful writing style. He delivers a world both with a complex and detailed history as well as chock full of shades of gray. I'm inspired to write stories like this.

Waylander is one of my favorite characters of all time. Complex, detailed, unexpected, and sort of realistic. He reminds me of Jason Bourne in a fantasy setting. It seems to me that after a lifetime of assassination, that one becomes both a stellar hunter, but also skilled in many areas required to survive.

Gemmell is a good writer and his Drenai series are generally very good compared to a lot of the stuff out there. I reread the series once in a while and I'm thankful that he keeps putting out books in this universe. I recommend this book (and the whole series, in fact) to all who call themselves fantasy fans.

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