Waylander (Drenai Tales, Book 4) (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Author) "THEY HAD BEGUN to torture the priest when the stranger stepped from the shadows of the trees..." (more)
Key Phrases: Kesa Khan, Armor of Bronze, Dark Brotherhood (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

All of Waylander's instincts had screamed at him to spurn the contract from Kaem the cruel, the killer of nations. But he had ignored them. He had made his kill. And even as he went to collect his gold, he knew that he had been betrayed.
Now the Dark Brotherhood and the hounds of chaos were hunting him, even as Kaem's armies waged war on the Drenai lands, intent on killing every man, woman, and child. The Drenai soldiers were doomed to ultimate defeat, and chaos would soon reign.
Then a strange old man told Waylander that the only way to turn the tide of battle would be for Waylander himself to retrieve the legendary Armor of Bronze from its hiding place deep within a shadow-haunted land. He would be hunted. He was certain to fail. But he must try, the old man commanded--commanded in the name of his son, the king, who had been slain by an assassin...
Waylander was the most unlikely of heroes--for he was a traitor, the Slayer who had killed the king...

From the Publisher

David Gemmell is so committed to his work that he's offered to leap naked out of an airplane if it would appeal to readers. We haven't taken him up on the offer. However, David has also acknowledged that three of his major influences were Louis Lamour, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Stan Lee. Tolkien wrote back, Lamour passed away before David had any opportunity to contact him, and Stan Lee lived thousands of miles away from David's British home. One out of three wasn't bad, but it could be improved upon.

We were at the San Diego ComicCon, rustling up new readers, and David had just finished a two-hour continuous signing. A friend of mine spotted a familiar face, so I excused myself and darted away, returning a few moments later to say, "David Gemmell, I'd like you to meet Stan Lee." A tall, ruddy, and normally poised individual, David was struck speechless. Here was the man who, through his Marvel Comics stories, had reinvented the relationship between heroes and villains, forever blurring the barriers between good and evil. Before long the two fantasists were chatting away happily. Stan's wife, Joan, being British, was especially gracious to the London-born Gemmell. And Stan quickly demanded an autographed copy of LEGEND.

David's a dynamic storyteller. His lands live and breathe. His heroes are mighty swordsmen, ax-wielders, and post-apocalyptic adventurers. In their prime they were the best in the business, but in David's tales, they've often passed their prime, so all they really want is peace and quiet. But life (and the author) aren't that kind, and these heroes are forced out of retirement, forced to face bloody hordes of the undead, armies from Hell. Worse, his heroes are generally saddled with young, green heroes. (Nothing drives you crazy more than a cocky kid.) But they overcome, and the cocky kids become heroes, too. This is great reading.
                                                                        --Steve Saffel, Senior Editor

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey (September 27, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345379071
• ISBN-13: 978-0345379078
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #231,754 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my favorite books and certainly one of my favorite characters., December 1, 2005

By	T. Hassler - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Every time I've read this book, I'm continually amazed at how well it's done. Gemmell has a definite formula (or formulas) from which he rarely strays. I didn't know this the first time I read the book, but even now it doesn't detract from what may be some of his best work.

At no point does Gemmell falter in his plain-spoken, yet insightful writing style. He delivers a world both with a complex and detailed history as well as chock full of shades of gray. I'm inspired to write stories like this.

Waylander is one of my favorite characters of all time. Complex, detailed, unexpected, and sort of realistic. He reminds me of Jason Bourne in a fantasy setting. It seems to me that after a lifetime of assassination, that one becomes both a stellar hunter, but also skilled in many areas required to survive.

Gemmell is a good writer and his Drenai series are generally very good compared to a lot of the stuff out there. I reread the series once in a while and I'm thankful that he keeps putting out books in this universe. I recommend this book (and the whole series, in fact) to all who call themselves fantasy fans.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars First Redemption, August 22, 2000

By	Brad Smith (Arlington, VA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Note: There are a few spoilers.

I once read an interview from Mr. Gemmell stating that this was his first attempt at writing a redemption story. As such, there are some areas that are, well, less than his normal stellar writing. Then again, I consider him leagues ahead of most writers, so he gets 4 stars.

The basic plot is that the Drenai are being ethnically cleansed from the face of the earth. Waylander, the protagonist, helped start the war by assassinating the king of the Drenai. As a means of atoning, he is commissioned by the father of the dead king to find the Armor of Bronze, which will rally the Drenai against the invaders, win the war, and save their nation. Along the way, he falls in love, indirectly leads to the creation of the Temple of the Thirty, and helps redeem several other characters who, like him, operated on the edge of society.

Sounds trite, no? Well, yes, actually, it does. The key to Mr. Gemmell's writing is that he's very good at characterization. Everything seems natural, nothing is forced. He's always a joy to read. The consequences of his characters' acts sometimes ring down for generations...in one moment, a single act leads directly to the creation of one of the world's greatest forces for good. Likewise, Waylander still faces repercussions from his slaughter of the Drenai king 50 years later, in Hero in the Shadows.

Go. Read him.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars David Gemmel's Waylander, January 10, 2000

By	"sbrenneis" (Westfield, NC USA) - See all my reviews

The only complaint I would have about this book was that it was not long enough. Gemmel seems to develop the plot and characters at lightening speed, sometimes at the cost of depth. In fact, some of the more well-developed characters in the book were secondary to the plot (for example, Jonat, Kai, and several others). The ending was very disconcerting since I expected about 150 pages more and suddenly, it was over, with a Dragnet-style epilogue.

All that being said, David Gemmel brings back to the fantasy genre something it has sorely missed. In countless other throw-away "epics," authors fling shallow characters and weak plots at us as if we were playing some kind of printed video game. In Waylander, we are treated to characters with enough personality to actually form opinions on them. We grow to like and dislike them on their own merits, rather than through some contrived description.

I especially liked Gemmel's development of the theosophy of Drenai. The conflict between good and evil with some strongly Gnostic flavoring is something everyone can appreciate. The deeds of magic were kept at a dull roar with every one of them requiring little or no suspension of disbelief.

I haven't read any of the other Drenai books, but I intend to based on the strength of Waylander.