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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Return to an Old-Time Favorite,
By
This review is from: Sword in the Storm (The Rigante Series, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)
I read Gemmell's first book, 'Legend', when it was originally published in 1984. It's remains the only book I've ever read three times. From then on, every six months, for the next ten years, I bought every new book he released the week it was published. When I moved to America from England, I stopped reading Gemmell's work. His books weren't readily available here and the new ones weren't even being published. By the time Gemmell started to become popular in the U.S., I'd lost the habit of reading him. So it happened that I was looking for an easy read at the airport, after my flight was delayed. There on the shelf of Waldenbooks was a new novel by Gemmell - Sword in the Storm: Book 1 of the Rigante. Well, I was too tired to start reading it that day, but when I finally read it I was hooked. It's been a while since I read a book cover to cover in two days. The experience reminded me why I always loved reading David Gemmell's work. He's not the most inventive writer I've read and he isn't exactly challenging. Many of his plots are recycled from previous outings and his dialog doesn't always work. What Gemmell offers is good old-fashioned story telling. I think his talent really resides in the fact that Gemmell loves his characters. For him they really seem to exist and so by extension, they exist for the reader too. Writing has been described as mind-reading, the author putting his thoughts in the readers' heads. Gemmell does this par excellence. Rarely does he miss an emotional beat when telling his stories. Even when Gemmell's being his most manipulative, I'm a willing sucker for his literary hucksterism. He's just a good, solid writer who seems to care about what he's writing about. I'm always sad to finish one of his books. The saving grace is I have a shelf full of his older works I could re-read. If you're a fan of fantasy novels, don't deprive yourself of the pleasure of Gemmell's writing, his characters and his worlds. I came onto Amazon to order Book II and III of the Rigante. I guess I'm hooked again and loving every page of it.
26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Storming Gemmell,
This review is from: Sword In The Storm (Book One In The Rigante Series) (Paperback)
`Sword in the Storm' is described as the `Book one in the Rigante series' - how many times have we heard that? Oh, no not another trilogy (however we do not yet known how many books will appear in this sequence yet). Gemmell normally avoids this, most of this books are `stand alone' or sequels to earlier works. The exception to this is `Ironhand's Daughter', which was marketed in the UK as the `1st Book of the Hawk Queen' though only one other volume has appeared (The Hawk Eternal'). Actually it's rather good, well up to Gemmell's best. In terms of his other works, better than `Waylander II: in the Realm of the Wolf' and `Echoes of the Great Song' and on a par with the excellent `Dark Moon' and `Winter Warriors'. Fans will not be disappointed and new reader will enjoy Gemmell's rich glorious style. The main characters are typically Gemmell: passionate, resourceful and proud. Full of revenge and destiny, envy and greed. Gemmell's plots often revolve around simple passions and motivations. Not one dimensional, but just driven by basic human nature. This fits with Gemmell's often Bronze-age feel to his fantasy. His other characters are mixed and believable. Although `Stone' is clearly late Republican Rome and the `Rigante' probably Celts, this does not matter as it's handed well. But I did see an echo with the `Outland' i.e. Roman Legions of `Ironhand's Daughter' with Gemmell's new world of Rigante. And that's my one criticism of Gemmell, `Ironhand's Daughter' was written only 3 or 4 years before the new Rigante series, but already we have a repetition of themes - he does seem to do this fairly often. This is of course just his style, and fans come to expect certain things of a writer. He would argue that basic human emotions such as revenge and lust for glory have driven great men and women throughout history and his characters are no different. I look forward, as always, to the next volume by this great British writer.
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Gemmell Is A True Find,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Sword in the Storm (Hardcover)
I came across Gemmell while trying to search down another author named James Silke (Death Dealer novels). Although Silke has written nothing else than those primal books I read years ago, I've found that Gemmell has stepped in to fill that void for me. Sometimes I feel that Gemmell's works lack the structure of the most lauded prose authors, but he more than makes up for it in pure characterization and his embodiment of a rousing, dynamic, fantasy yarn. His tales are a seamless amalgam of Tolkienesque high fantasy and Howardesque sword and sorcery. READ as much GEMMELL as possible. You'll be happier for it. In fact, my only TRUE complaint is that I can't seem to put a thumb on what SEQUENCE to read my Gemmell novels! Other Gemmellites agree on this one? :-)
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