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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Excellent Sequel..., March 12, 2006
This review is from: In the Realm of the Wolf (Drenai Tales, Book 5) (Mass Market Paperback)
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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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Keep on Writing David!, March 17, 2006
This review is from: In the Realm of the Wolf (Drenai Tales, Book 5) (Mass Market Paperback)
In the Realm of the Wolf by David Gemmell is the sequel to Waylander and is the continuation of the Drenai saga. In fact, this is book 5 in the saga. So far, every book I have read by Gemmell has been a joy to read, this one is not any different.
Unlike some sequels this book does not pick up right where the previous one left off. However, Gemmell does a very good job of filling in the years in between with small conversations, and small flashbacks of some of the characters. Normally I don't like the time jump, but in this case it worked out well and probably kept the book to a manageable size versus some of the larger volumes of fantasy work that seem to be the `in thing' right now.
The plot of this book is fairly straight forward, fans of Gemmell will know what to expect with this one. The names and faces have changed a little, but the straight ahead plot is still here. It is a joy to read Gemmell's work from the first novel onward as the reader gets to see his progression as a writer and a thinker. There is the main plot in this book of Waylander trying to find who put a price on his head as well as hunting someone who feels the need to kill. The sub plot, involves Waylander's adoptive daughter from the first book and her progression into a bigger player in the world and what that ultimately means. By reading the book sin order that they were written, not chronologically, the reader is allowed a rare glimpse into the future and what will ultimately happen. The ending of this book really had me sit back and say "Whoa!" It was amazing to see how Gemmell brought everything together.
The characters in this book are fairly stereotypical, kind of the "what you see is what you get" character. There is not a lot of deviation from what one would expect. However, that works with this book. The main two characters, Waylander and Miriel, are written in such a way that the reader feels comfortable with them, yet new enough to hold the reader's interest. There is some character development in this book, but most of it happens with the secondary characters. I think part of this is that Waylander developed so much in the first book there was really only so far he could go. Not a bad thing mind you, just an observation. The Thirty really begin to have depth in this book and Gemmell does a very good job at fleshing out what their order is all about and the internal struggles that they must face each and everyday. To me, one of the highlights of reading Gemmell is the struggles that he puts his characters through. He does a fantastic job of allowing us to get inside the characters heads. It's not simply a hack and slash book, there are definite emotions and feelings associated with his characters.
Overall, I am very impressed with Gemmell and will certainly seek out more of his books. Fans of the fantasy genre should give his first book, Legend, a chance. It has elements that everyone will enjoy. Once you read Legend I am confident you will want to continue of the tale. I highly recommend these books to everyone even remotely interested.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not as memorable as Waylander, November 9, 2004
This review is from: In the Realm of the Wolf (Drenai Tales, Book 5) (Mass Market Paperback)
It's been a month or more since I finished this one, and I'm having trouble remembering the story. In fact, I remember the highlights of the prequel, Waylander, far better. Not an encouraging sign for this novel, I guess. After flipping back through it and scanning the chapters, I realized that the action scenes were well written (typical of Gemmell) and I'd like to give it 3.5 stars if that rating were available. But I can't quite give it four, due to the poor plotting. So three it is.
The story is pretty much a continuation of Waylander's plot, with a decade or so gap between the two. Waylander himself is still an expert archer and solid swordsman, and still prefers to make his kills by stealth. His past deeds have now caught up to him, though, and through most of the book he's on the run from forces bent on revenge. In addition, evil supernatural powers are after him. His step-daughter Miriel is now an adult and a warrior as well. Together with a couple other allies, they try to survive the stacked odds.
The first half of the book is good material, with Waylander depending on his wits and skill to outmaneuver the assassins who have been hired to kill him. The culmination of this phase of the novel occurs when Waylander fights the expert swordsman Morak in single combat. If the book had merely contained more of the same that was in the first half, it would have turned out great.
Instead Waylander, for no real logical reason, takes up a quest to assassinate the evil sorceror Zhu Chao. Here we get into the disappointing second half of the book, where the story is far less believable due to the introduction of sorcery and demonic forces. The two climaxes at the end both consist of silly battles against huge seemingly invincible creatures, who of course are defeated against all probability.
Gemmell likes his heroes to survive incredible odds with a combination of skill, brains, and luck. He rarely kills off the unflawed heroes, preferring instead to have close companions with character flaws be the ones to die off. Because with Gemmell you know the hero will win and live, the story had better be a good one to make the novel enjoyable. He pulled it off in the prequel Waylander, but not in this one.
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