Legend (Drenai)

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Only things are not going great in the fortress. There are six walls and a town to defend, while the force is less than a third of the full complement, and the discipline is rotten because morale is low and fear is rife. The defenders need a miracle or the Dross will fall. And Dross Delnoch needs heroes. Badly. One change wrought by 36 years and changing times plus changes in what many of us expect from fantasy writing, was that I now see the book as all rather one-note. The message is of manly men standing up for what's right, even when 'right' is more about obstinacy/honour. The very small number of women are not well written and have fairly minor roles. The new earl's wife does fight (rarely despite being really good at it) and is mainly there to spur change and manliness in her husband. Originally intending to be a historical novelist, Gemmell was intrigued by events which ended badly for the protagonists. Citing the Battle of the Alamo and the grisly fate of William Wallace as influences, he said that had he written about the 13th century Scottish revolutionary, he would have found a way in which Wallace was ultimately victorious despite the odds, then eventually realised this kind of storytelling would be more palatable in a fantasy setting. [2] I'm both worried and amused by the idea that I might suddenly be labled "woke". And yes, I understand that fantasy has traditionally borrowed from and echoed the history that gave us swords and spears and shields and castle seiges. So many of us borrowed the man-centric view too for our (certainly in the 80s) man-centric world.

But powerful prose isn't the only or even best way to evoke strong emotion, and Gemmell still managed to do that, despite my more cynical, jaded mindset and my technical nous regarding the writing. I could clearly see him pushing the buttons, yet still my buttons were pushed. This was a masterclass in pulpy, old-school fantasy with all that entails both good and bad. The characters were fairly 1 dimensional, the world-building wasn't particularly unique or inventive and the plot was fairly straight-forward. For most books these would be criticisms and yet for this one it's almost praise: Gemmell seems entirely happy with this formula and he executes it very well. The skillful execution of these reliable tropes combined with the addition of some other nice features made for a really enjoyable read. Yes, that's great. I'm all for not doing these things. But it's a code for men. A code that treats women as a separate thing, putting them next to children.

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There's a non-cynical purity to it all that's easy to buy into and easy to feel. I bought in again (with more reservations) and felt it again - perhaps more so this time being old myself. This enemy is reportedly “half a million tribesmen” (20), and has “more than twice that in camp followers, cooks, engineers, and whores” (80). Rather than exaggerated, this number may be “underplayed if anything […] outlying tribes were still coming in” (153). The economic system that produced this army is laid out: “the northern steppes make poor farmland. Mainly they breed goats and ponies” (160). The army is nevertheless “the greatest ever assembled, a horde that within twenty years had built an empire stretching across a dozen lands and five score cities […] the largest empire in known history” (194). In the penultimate round of bellicose braggadocio, emperor claims “I have four armies like this” (317). I shall die soon ... Here at this Dros. And what will I have achieved in my life? I have no sons nor daughters. No living kin... Few friends. They will say, 'Here lies Druss. He killed many and birthed none'." Astonishingly this is the 22nd hit when you type "Legend" into the search engine. Wow... For me it's a big milestone along my fantasy journey! That our defense will fail is no reason to avoid the battle. For it is the motive that is pure, not the outcome.”

David Gemmell is (was) one of the most gifted writers of this type of fantasy ever. It's hard to compare him to anyone else as he's sort of in a class by himself. Some compare him to Glenn Cook (whom I also like) but there are only "some" similarities. I suppose if I must come up with a "tag" I'd call Gemmell's work "heroic fantasy", sometimes "dark". While it would be incorrect to say his heroes "always" die, it is true to say that if the story calls for it, they do. The characters featuring in this gripping heroic fantasy can be related to Romans, Celts, Mongols, Vikings, and some others, even some with the power of Holy Angels, and they are beautifully intertwined into each other when dealing with life and death, and their individual behaviour in time of war and destruction. Drenai Tales Volume III; contains The Legend of the Deathwalker, Winter Warriors, and Hero in the Shadows Think of the men here as a rusty weapon which needs a warrior’s firm hand. It needs to be sharpened, honed, prepared. It’s useless else.”

All David Gemmell Reviews

Druss is like a combination of Conan the Barbarian and Clint Eastwood's character from Gran Turino. You know and he knows that his last hurrah has come. Druss knows his value as a Legend to the other soldiers at Dros Delnoch far outweighs his substantial prowess as a warrior. The above quote is the perfect description of Rek, he doesn't like to fight though he is good at it, he is also a bersark. I didn't like that he was used, even though it paid up in the end.