Ravenheart (The Rigante Series, Book 3) [Hardcover]

David Gemmell (Author)

Book Description

Series: Rigante | Publication Date: July 3, 2001

When it comes to the crackle of action, high adventure, lush worlds, and vivid magic, bestselling author David Gemmell is the master. But Gemmell’s supreme gift is his ability to create mythic characters, good and evil, who rise up to become flesh and blood. Now, with Ravenheart, Gemmell continues his Rigante series in a novel that is as satisfying as it is astonishing.

RAVENHEART

Eight hundred years have passed since King Connavar of the Rigante and his bastard son, Bane, defeated the invading army of Stone. In that time, Connavar has become a legend, and the Rigante have lost the freedom so many gave their lives to preserve. A conquered people, they live and die under the iron rule of the Varlish, their culture all but destroyed. The laws are oppressive and severely enforced: No Rigante can own a sword nor wear the clan colors. Any who disobey the law will answer to the Moidart, the cruel and vengeful Lord of Eldacre Castle. They will answer with the swift punishment of death.

Only one woman remains who follows the ancient paths once trod by the Rigante. She is the Wyrd of Wishing Tree Wood–and she alone knows the nature of the evil soon to be unleashed on a doomed and unsuspecting world.

In a perilous land, facing an uncertain future, the Wyrd finds her initial hopes pinned on two men: Jaim Grymauch, the giant Rigante fighter, a man haunted by his failure to save his best friend from betrayal; and Kaelin Ring, a youth whose deadly talents will earn him the rancor of all Varlish. One will become the Ravenheart, an outlaw leader whose daring exploits will inspire the Rigante. The other will forge a legend–and light the fires of revolution.

But in truth, all hope may ultimately rest on a third man: a man who must overcome generations of fear and hatred to fulfill his destiny. With the blood of Connavar the King running through his veins, he is a Varlish nobleman. But even worse–he is the son of the Rigante’s most brutal enemy.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The third book in Gemmell's popular heroic fantasy saga, the Rigante series (The Sword in the Storm; Midnight Falcon), puts a host of characters through a load of action without much resolution. Centuries ago, after the capture of the Rigante hero, Connavar, Varlish troops subjugated the Rigante highlanders. In recent times the great-hearted warrior Jaim Grymauch promised to care for the infant son of his best friend, Lanovar, who was betrayed by the local lord, the Moidart. Now with Lanovar's son, Kaelin Ring, on the verge of manhood, the highlanders once again chafe under the Moidart's rule. While even the Moidart's son, Gaise Macon, can see the injustice in the situation, he has little influence over his single-minded father. Then the rape and murder of a young Varlish woman stirs up violence and raises questions. Kaelin and Jaim find the murderer with the help of the sorceress known as the Wyrd of Wishing Tree woods, but when Kaelin gives in to his bloodlust and kills the criminal, his aunt Maev sends him away to distant Black Mountain, near the mighty Rigante clan lord Call Jace. As each man accepts the fate laid out for him by the Wyrd, it's hard not to notice how Gemmell seems more intent on setting up the plot for his next book than on telling a balanced story. Plenty of loose ends most notably the future of Gaise clamor for expansion, but this novel seems mostly to be a place-keeper in the series.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School-Kaelin Ring (Ravenheart) is growing up in a society torn by hatred. The proud Rigante are subjugated by the equally proud Varlish, and neither group sees much of value in the other. A series of atrocities, graphically but not gratuitously described, sharpen Kaelin Ring's hatred. He kills two Varlish soldiers who are about to escape justice for raping a young Varlish woman who dared to associate with him. The scenario will be familiar enough to anyone who sees the news reports of ethnic strife around the globe. In Gemmell's hands, the tale evolves into something more complex, and members of each group slowly recognize the nobility present in members of the other, and come to terms with some of their own weaknesses. Kaelin's awkward relationship with a young woman he desires, Chara Jace, adds to the cauldron of emotions. Gemmell gives readers heroes with deep flaws and antagonists with surprising moments of virtue, as well as a few entertainingly black-hearted villains. The frequently bloody action is interspersed with epiphanies about the value of human life, and Kaelin's experiences are balanced with those of a Varlish boy, Gaise Macon, aka Stormrider. (A sequel to Ravenheart, Stormrider is due out in February, 2002.) This fast-moving book will appeal to fans of action and adventure. The book uses material from The Sword in the Storm and Midnight Falcon (both Ballantine, 2001) for background, but since those books were set 800 years earlier, this one doesn't seem at all like a sequel.

Paul Brink, Fairfax County Public Library System, VA

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey; First Edition edition (July 3, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345432266
• ISBN-13: 978-0345432261
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,284,220 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David Gemmell was born in London, England, in the summer of 1948. Expelled from school at sixteen, he became a bouncer, working nightclubs in Soho. Born with a silver tongue, Gemmell rarely needed to bounce customers, relying instead on his gift of gab to talk his way out of trouble. This talent eventually led him to jobs as a freelancer for the London Daily Mail, the Daily Mirror, and the Daily Express. His first novel, Legend, was published in 1984 and has remained in print ever since. He became a full-time writer in 1986. His books consistently top the London Times bestseller list.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, but now I must wait for more!!!!, March 22, 2002

By 

Killer Shrike (San Diego, Ca United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ravenheart (The Rigante Series, Book 3) (Hardcover)

I am a hardcore David Gemmell fan. Ive read everything I can get my hands on, including all the Drenai books, the Stones of Power, Knights of Dark Renown, Mace, and the first two Rigante Books. An entire shelf's worth of books, when you get right down to it.

I stumbled over Gemmell about 4 years ago now (I think) and was struck by the thought 'How come I never heard of this guy before?'. I bought Legend first, and went back to the bookstore the following day to clear the shelf of every scrap with his name on it. Thus marked the meteoric rise of Gemmell to the top of my favorite writers list, to keep company with RE Feist and Dave Duncan.

Basically, Gemmell is the Louis L'amour of fantasy fiction. Sure, Gemmell's books are a tad formulaic for the most part, but since the formulae is a good one, I think I can live with it. Gemmells gift lies in telling the story of confident and skilled characters in a world of low-magic and gritty adventure. His action scenes are cinematic, and his characters dial in heavily with "cool" factor. Waylander, the Jerusalem Man (Jon Shannow), Druss, et al; Gemmell has a flair for bringing real hard bitten & tough heroes to life in a very concise but informative style that gets the story moving. You wont have to sit thru 10 pages describing the morning sunlight upon the dew-laced leaves of the BLAH BLAH BLAH to get to a single sentence of import. Gemmell has the gift of precise but descriptive language. As a former journalist, I suppose he was always under word-restrictions for his columns or something. Anyway, its refreshing in a genre lately filled with 1000 page monsters in which nothing happens.

All that said the Rigante series, started with Sword in the Storm and closely followed chronologically by Midnight Falcon take a different tack from Gemmell's usual formulae; rather than following a hero or band of heroes somewhat past thier prime facing overwhelming odds, the series follows the exploits of its central character from youth to adulthood. Further, the books are set in a variant Celtic parrallel to the british isles. Normally Im not a fan of Celtic flavored books that endlessly re-tell the Arthurian and/or Celtic myths in pointless variations, but fortunately these 3 books do not fall into that category.

All three books are great, but while I enjoyed Ravenheart very much, it isnt as good as the first two. Unlike Sword in the Storm or Midnight Falcon which essentially tell the tales of 1 central character each (though MF did give a secondary character some play, it was primarily focused on the main character), Ravenheart is much less focused on any one individual and instead tells the story of a collection of characters.

Ravenheart is set 800 years after the 1st two books, and much has changed in the lands of the Rigante. The Rigante clansfolk are a conquered people in an age-of-muskets timeframe to an oppresive white-wigged people from the immediate south. Very Scottish v English in other words. In fact, I was constantly reminded of the movie Rob Roy while reading Ravenheart (in a good way--I liked that movie).

The nominal principal character, Ravenheart aka Kaelin Ring is an 800-years-later descendant of Connavar (the main character in SitS). The book basically chronicles his growth into his majority and manuevers him into exile in the Highlands to avoid possible legal entanglements, where he meets his future bride and gets in good with the 'Black Rigante', highland outlaws who refuse to bend to the oppressor's yoke. He leads them to victory in a critical skirmish and is basically in position to assume leadership of the Black Rigante soon (though this is unstated...merely dot-connecting on my part).

However, his possible half brother Macon Gaise also gets some 'screen time', and so does a great character named Jaim Grymauch. Grymauch is another Gemmell classic best described as a laughing rogue that people cant help liking, despite themselves. Even the law enforcement types cant help but like him and secretly hope he gets away. A one-eyed giant of a man, Grymauch makes most of his living from stealing bulls from nobles and wealthy farmers...by stealth. He's also a renowned boxer, scrapper, and broadswordsman prone to tavern brawls.

So basically, the story kind of branches around and covers the three characters listed above and a few other notable supporting types for a few years rather than concentrating on 1 character over the course of many years as in the 1st 2 books. This lack of focus made the book a little less coherent by comparison IMO.

Also counter to the Gemmell schema, this book is not really tied completely up by the end and you can tell that it was obviously intended to be followed closely by a sequel to wrap up the loose ends. If I recall correctly, this sequel will be called Storm Rider and presumably will concentrate more on Macon Gaise.

So to sum up:

The story was very enjoyable and compared to other writers efforts (particularly of late), the book really shines. But compared to the first 2 books in the series it is not as epic in scope or as exciting.

Still, on a 1 to 5 system its easilly a 5; on a 1 to 10 it would be around an 8.5 (while the 1st 2 would be a 10 and a 9.5 respectively).

I highly recommend this series to any fantasy fiction reader and particularly to those who have read Gemmell before and enjoyed it. This book and the series is definitely a winner.....

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book worthy of reading., August 15, 2001

By 

Librarian (Albany, GA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ravenheart (The Rigante Series, Book 3) (Hardcover)

David Gemmell is one of the best authors I have ever read. His books pull you in and you feel you are living the life of a Rigante. His writing is poetic and his characters are so life like you feel they are alive. His literature is addictive and I find myself re-reading his books sometimes three times.

"Ravenheart" proved a joy to read. Kailen Ring, Maev Ring and Jaim Grymauch fill your heart with pride and love. His characters are not perfect which is a reason you can relate to them. The conflicts between the highlanders and the Varlish are well thought out and the human emotions are written so well you experience them along with the characters.

This book combines the elements of magic, love, and war into a novel worth reading. Few books cause me to shed tears but all of the Rigante series have thus far. This book moved me the most. I cannot wait to re-read this one and to read the seaquel "Storm Rider"

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The man can do no wrong, July 11, 2001

By 

N. Brett (Wiltshire, England) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ravenheart (The Rigante Series, Book 3) (Hardcover)

It would appear impossible for David Gemmell to write a bad book, all of his stuff sits at the top end of the scale. Over here in the UK we were lucky enough to get this some while ago and are now in eager anticipation of the next. This one is the third in the Rigante series which has a very loose base on the English/Scottish battles from way back, but you need no knowledge of British history to enjoy this, but there is a Braveheart element to it! Most Gemmell books may sit in a series but can be read on their own, this is unusual as it does rather link into the next book, but it will not detract from your enjoyment. The flawed central character is based a little on one of Gemmell's relatives who recently died, and this was a worthy tribute to him. As always, well defined characters and strong action scenes. Ask not if this book is good enough for you, ask if you deserve to read it!!