Customer Reviews

Dark Moon

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Another great stand alone book. This Story tell us of a troubled warrior who has to live with the demon inside him (literally). this demon is his brother and is the greatest swordfighter in the world... A trait that comes in handy when an ancient race of monsters is set free. The monsters are huge, whith natural body plate armor and two hearts...very hard to kill and they have a ataste for human flesh. Fortuantly our Hero makes some interesting frinedsz and efforts are made to recall another lost race of healers and majics to banish the fearsom monsters...
All in all this is a wonderful book, and the type of thing i read and wonder why there are not movies made of Gemmells books. They move a great speeds and always have facinating characters... Buy this book if you like wonderful stand alone fantasy... and as a refreshing twist... not all the "good guys" will survive...

"Dark Moon" is an entertaining piece that achieves all the best in its genre: magic, black sorcery, evil men, blood-thirst monsters and human heroes that with cunning and courage fight for the saving of mankind. Yet David Gemmel grasps the story in an intense way: petty, meaningless details give way to an ever-flowing course of action and battle, while always depicting the problematic thoughts and past of the main characters. There isn't a single meaningless page in this book - everything is incredibly connected to speed our way to the great final. From beginning to end the main character - the swordsman Taratio (and its demon-ego Dace) - drive us through battles and difficult choices in a great adventure against an ancient and forgotten evil!

25th of August of 1999

I thought I had read all the Gemmell books until I recently vacationed in Victoria, British Columbia. I live in the SF Bay Area. I was perusing Munro's Bookstore when I stumbled on five books I had never seen before on US bookshelves, Dark Moon, The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend, The Legend of Deathwalker, Ironhand's Daughter and The Hawk Eternal. Needless to say, I snatched them up immediately. Dark Moon was the first book I read back in the states, and I loved it!!!! Again we are rewarded with memorable characters and a great storyline. Gemmell is the greatest writer alive today!

Dark Moon is my first book by Gemmell. I am impressed and have acquired more of his books. Dark Moon is a great entertaining heroic fantasy. Its plot is fast and compelling enough to keep me turning the pages and its characters just grow on you. My favorite is of course Tarantio and his twin Dace. The introduction of Tarantio/Dace and their adventures, though short, is the best part of Dark Moon. I wish Gemmell will write more stories in the future featuring this intriguing character. Duvodas is another appealing character though sounds familiar in fantasy. Another merit of Dark Moon is that the side characters are solid and not just there to fill the pages. However, I did not think much of the third main character, Karis. Probably because I dislike female heroes who are meant to "kick butts" but ultimately betrayed by this feminine weakness underneath just because they are women! Hence Karis came up lame. At last! Dark Moon is too short! Dark Moon has the potential to be a masterpiece if only Gemmell has taken more pains in expanding on the characters and dealt deeper on the plot. A pity ! Hence 4 and not 5 stars.

Dark Moon is a stand-alone novel by David Gemmell. It is set in a relatively familiar world (as far as technology) to other Gemmell worlds, like that of the Rigante or Drenai. And the main characters, and secondary characters are pretty familiar. They could be transplanted into Drenai without too many issues. But, even taking in mind these familiar "Gemmellisms", this book is as different as the Jerusalem Man novels to the rest of David Gemmell's works.
In my opinion, the major difference is in the appearance of alien species. These take the form of the good Eldarin, and the evil Daroth. David Gemmell has often used mutations in his novels, and demons, yet completely different species, I can't recall him ever writing about them anywhere else. He tends to avoid the elves, dwarves, orcs and hobbit peoples that appear in other faithful homages to "the master (Tolkien)" within "high-fantasy".
Yet, here we have two species alongside humans. Naturally enough, this can't last as a harmonious arrangement. The humans war against the innocent Eldarin due to their greed and ignorance, and then let loose the previously contained Daroth onto the world. The Daroth have all the appearances of invincibility and basically no saving graces, like a good personality...
But there is a small band of loners who will fight against them. Duvodas, the singer raised by the Eldarin, Karis the warrior woman raised by a sadistic father, and Tarantio who is also Dace, a man with two souls, one good and the other dark.
This book is a stand-out. It may seem predicatable in many parts, but the brilliantly worked-out characters are the saving grace of this novel. I have read many posts that discuss Tarantio/Dace and I know that he ranks as one of the most deadly and also favourite (among fans) characters to appear in a David Gemmell novel. Read this if you loved the movie Predator (don't ask me why, but the creature reminds me of the Daroth) or any of the Drenai saga novels.

I love the idea that a fantasy writer can wrap up a wonderful story in one book. David Gemmell does just that in Dark Moon. The writing flows from page to page and chapter to chapter. The action is packed in this book and the outstanding characters again populate and bring to life another one of Gemmell's worlds.

A warrior race, the Daroth, have been vanquished from the world by a peaceful, yet magical, race called the Eldarin. Both races have animal-like features and thus the humans are afraid of them, even though the Eldarin never harmed a human soul. With the humans afraid, a proud and ambitious magician, Sirano, tried to break down the mist-like barrier that divided the Eldarin from the humans. Once the mist dissipated, the Eldarin race was nowhere to be seen, except for one man who tried to protect a large pearl. The pearl fell into the hands of Sirano and plunged the four duchies into a war over it. The pearl held a power that Sirano lusted after and he would not sleep until he found out its secrets.

Tarantio and Dace are two completely opposite types of men. One can love and enjoy life, while the other lusts after death and war. Yet, both men share the same body. Tarantio controls the body for the most part, but when fighting is to be done, Dace takes over. Even the deadliest warrior has his own demons to deal with day in and day out.

Karis never loses. The duchies consider her the best general and for the right price she will defeat any army. During the War of the Pearl, she has fought on many of the four sides, always making sure she was never tied down. Whether or not that will work in her final battle, it remains to be read.

Duvodas is the sole human who was able to walk the lands of the Eldarin, before they disappeared. In his music and in his heart contains the power to heal. But one death will dismiss the Eldarin teachings and help defeat a horrible enemy.

Sirano kept up his meddling with the Pearl and unlocked a long dead evil. The Daroth, a race bent on death and destruction, were captured in the Pearl by the Eldarin and Sirano released them upon the world again.

Other characters like Forin, Vint, Brune, Albreck, etc. help make this world and this story wonderful. All of them will have to come together to defeat the new and unstoppable evil. I keep on reading Gemmell novels and they keep astounding me evey time. Every fantasy reader must pick up one of them. Start with this one, or start with his first novel called Legend. Either way, just read one. Enjoy!

by Lynn Nicole Louis

David Gemmell is comfort food for speculative fiction fans who crave old style heroic fantasy. Although some of his earlier work totters on (and sometimes fall off) the edge of mediocrity, I've found his most recent books to be thoroughly enjoyable despite their rehashing of characters and themes. Dark Moon was no exception.

Four races once shared the Earth: the peaceful Eldarin, the mystical healers the Oltor, hive-like and cruel Daroth, and humans. The Daroth destroyed the Oltor and threatened the Eldarin as well, but the Elsarin cast a powerful spell, banishing the Daroth back to their original plane of existence while at the same time sealing themselves and their lands inside a magic globe called the Pearl. The disappearance of the Eldarin and resulting lack of other races caused humankind (who in many ways resemble the Daroth-the comparison is made often) to war among themselves....

....If you've read and enjoyed other Gemmell books, Dark Moon will bring you guaranteed pleasure. If you haven't, this is a good place to start, as it's not part of a series, but stands on its own. Gemmell's style is more entertainment than literature, but finding a well-done, classic heroic fantasy in today's market is a treat.

I enjoyed this book because it was typical Gemmel, but with something a little diffrent. Like in so many of his other books, such a Legend and King Beyond the Gate, Gemmel spends most of the book preparing and explaining a great war or siege. This is very much the same in Dark Moon. But the diffrence in this one is that the bad guys are not human. NO! He has created his own race of mighty creatures that are interesting and bring real colour to the action scenes. Another great factor of the book is one of the main characters, Tarantio. He will intrigue you, I promise!

A good read, but one I'm afraid that can wait until you've read some of his better books such as Winter Warriors.

Dark Moon is a solid single book read. I think that it would have been better, however, had it spanned two books instead of one, to better flesh out the characters & the world setting. Gemmell's characters in Dark Moon are interesting & leaves you wanting to know more about them than what is supplied...that's my only complaint about the book. Even though Dark Moon has less action than his Drenai series books, the plotline is interesting & highly addictive. Like all Gemmell books it seems Dark Moon is a winner & once again I stayed up all night reading on & on! Gemmell once again proves that he is the most talented writer of heroic fantasy novels ever to pick up a pen!

I've read all of David Gemmell's books that are in paperback in the US, and I usually devour them about as quickly as they are printed. Dark Moon has been sitting on my bedside table for months. Mainly because I'm 2/3 through and just not interested in what comes next.
The main characters are a typical, Gemmell mix. The warrior, Tarantio, has a voice in his head, a personality known as Dace who takes over his body in tense situations and makes him the greatest fighter in the world. Hardly a novel concept (See Ran in Wheel of Time). The Bard, Duvodas, is the proverbial peace-loving magic-user character that appears in all his books. Karis is a rather unique turn on the tough, general who will lead the defense of the city against impossible odds. The twist here is she's a woman. The enemy is the evil, unstoppable Duroth, a race of beings from another dimension that live to destroy, feed, and move on in such a thoughtless manner, even the characters question if you can even call them `evil.' Sarino starts off as the "bad guy" evil wizard type, morphs into a pitiable wretch who removes himself from the story before the climax in an act that should have been redemptive but somehow isn't. Along the way we learn about a lost race of Eldarin, powerful and peaceloving, when faced by the conquering Duroth, they simply left. We know they will come back, somehow help our heroes and defeat the enemy. At least that's where the story is leading me, so far.
Gemmell is the master of setting up the "Weaker Heroes against Impossible Odds" scenario. This is what I love about him and his books. This one seems so impossible, you just know the way it works out will be so improbable as to border on the ridiculous.
If you haven't read any Gemmell before, I suggest you try the Druss the Legend, Waylander, or Rigante series. These for me were the most satisfying. Perhaps because they dealt more with the Man vs. Man than the powerful alien/demons from another dimension stuff. If that's your bag, then you'll enjoy this book.
His last series dealing with the Avatar was, for me, the beginning of a slide by Gemmell which seems to continue with this book. In an attempt to create more complex, different heroes and villains, he's strayed from what I loved about his books, the simple men and women, fighting impossible odds and winning through grace, love and sheer guts. What he's approaching is the same, boring pulp fantasy that fills the shelves these days.
I can't tell if it is Gemmell that is burning out, or just me.