As you perhaps can tell, I’ve come to appreciate Gemmell a lot. I find his style of fantasy writing refreshing; in a world where almost all fantasy writing is all about good battling evil, his writings blur the distinction between the two and set the reader into new directions of thinking about them.
This novel is based in a world where a select few members of an elite race rule over the rest of the world. The trouble, however is that the members of the elite race are dying out. Their existence is threatened by the possibility of revolt from their inferior subjects, but also by the arrival of another elite race from another dimension. Though reluctant, rulers and subjects must unite to face the imminent threat. Quite a lot of magic in this one, as well as sea and land strategic battles, politics, and as usual a few interesting philosophical angles.
A great strength of Gemmell evident in this book is the wonderful characters he builds. There is of course the noble hero who, although very well built up, is not the most interesting. A hallmark of Gemmell I’ve seen is a character whom at first instinct one would describe as evil – except that by the end of the book, you no longer think of him that way, and find that the character actually has some charm. All the three books I’ve read have had a character like this – Viruk in this book, Decado in The Swords of Night and Day, and Dace in Dark Moon.
Overall a great read.
Rating: 4/5
Post a Comment