Where Demons Dare

Jun 252008

Rachel is again being sought after by Al the demon, her family and friends being threatened to try and make her capitulate. Struggling to deal with her grief and find some balance with Ivy amongst it all, she is begged for help from someone she wishes she could refuse. Can she evade Algaliarept, Newt and Minias, the three demons who have an interest in her while she helps Trent and achieve the desired result of keeping all she loves free from their persecution. A family secret finally comes to light and with it, a new horrifying fear for Rachel.

The first couple of books in this series were fairly light-hearted, even when dealing with the emotional side of each character. As the series has progressed, they have gotten less so – emotions have gotten deeper and the moral lines of good and evil blurring as they do what they need to, to survive. The characters have matured, had their view of the world changed time and time again and they roll with the punches because they have to. The books reflect that very well, maturing along with the main characters which, I think, is something that makes them very good. Another facet is that they can and do make mistakes like the rest of us, Rachel in particular realising that she can’t carry on as she has been, after a particular event happens.

They are so well written you can’t help but empathise with Rachel, Ivy and Jenks and caring about them deepens with each book as you learn more of their history. The pace of the plot is again good and consistent, and as always, I finish itching to read the next. Unfortunately that won’t happen until the next book is published.

Dammit!

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

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Good Haul!

Jun 222008

Given the amount I read, there would be absolutely no way too I could afford to buy all my books new so I browse charity shops and car boot sales for anything that looks interesting or the odd book from a favoured author that I might still be missing. I do like to have complete sets of the authors I like to re-read.

I went to 2 car boot sales today along with my friend Tracey who was staying for the weekend and usually I might come away with two or three books, today I came away with twelve! It was a good book day indeed! I didn’t pay any more than 50p for each book and a few of them were 20p or 30p.

  • Love Bug – Zoe Barnes
  • The Hard Way – Lee Child
  • Working Wonders – Jenny Colgan
  • Highland Fling – Katie Fforde
  • Artistic Licence – Katie Fforde
  • Pig Island – Mo Hayder
  • Ralph’s Party – Lisa Jewell
  • Watermelon – Marian Keyes
  • Serve Cool – Lauren McCrossan
  • Nadia Knows Best – Jill Mansell
  • Double Wedding – Patricia Scanlan
  • Francesca’s Party – Patricia Scanlan

I find that chick lit and crime thrillers are the easiest to get at car boot sales and charity shops and it’s the fantasy / sci-fi I tend to have to buy new.

Anyway, I am happy and have a nice pile to get through now!

Hopes for A Memory of Light

Jun 202008

I started reading the Wheel of Time books a fair while ago, but my interest waned around book 6 (Lord of Chaos) and although I read books 7 (Crown of Swords) and 8 (The Path of Daggers) I never got any further. I found Jordan’s prose more and more convoluted and his desire to introduce further plot threads and resolve almost none too frustrating. On top of that was the fear that it would never end, and together that meant I couldn’t bring myself to read book 9 (Winter’s Heart), or any further. It was a real shame, because I had truly enjoyed the first books, and I truly wanted to know what happened, but I couldn’t help but feel that we’d never know, that major elements of the story would go unresolved.

Then it was announced the series would definitely end, in ‘one or two’ more books, and yet that didn’t help because how was it possible to resolve all those threads in such a short space (in Jordan terms)? This was just further evidence to me that we would be left in the dark over so many questions that in the past Jordan had taunted us to ‘read and find out’ (RAFO).

And then sadly, Jordan was announced as being very ill indeed, and eventually he passed away.

At the time of his death he had been working on A Memory of Light, the last of the Wheel of Time books. Tor (his publisher) announced that Brandon Sanderson had been approached and had agreed to complete the book.

So it is with mixed feelings that I look forward to it’s publication. For me it will be closure on the series, with the final book published I’ll be able to pick them all up, and read them all again, and from book 9 for the first time. Knowing the journey does have an end at last, hoping beyond hope that the questions are answered. Sanderson has a terrible burden upon his shoulders, working from Jordan’s part finished manuscript and his notes he has to both deliver something the fans feel is worthy and also something that he feels Jordan would have been proud of. I envy him not one jot, and I wish him all the best in his efforts.

I hope a Memory of Light will allow us all to move on.

Dark Moon

Jun 182008

I loved this book. Throughout his previous books, I believe David has been experimenting with the idea of possessed people, or those driven by need, desire or other overwhelming emotions; we also have the example of Druss’ axe, which appears to be demon possessed.

With one of the main characters of this book, Tarantio, David takes the concept another step further, plays the idea out a little deeper. We learn about Tarantio, and the demon within him, Dace. Throughout the book, Tarantio talks to Dace, and Dace comes alive inside him to fight when danger threatens. We are never really given a clear explanation about the demon Dace, is he real, is he simply something created by Tarantio earlier in his life, is it illusion or reality.

The by-play between the two personalities is gripping and good reading, and to be honest, for me, the underlying story in the book came second. Which isn’t to say it’s a bad story, it had all the right elements, the bad guys, the good guys, heroes and heroines, lost worlds and civilisations. But for me, Tarantio and Dace were what this book was about. The darkness inside all of us. That which keeps us alive in those moments we live by our instincts. In Tarantio, his instincts would appear to be alive and well, and called Dace.

(This review was written sometime in the late 90′s for the original Gemmell Mania website)

Rating: ★★★★½ 

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Sword in the Storm

Jun 182008

Well, this book starts off slowly, and to me, the prose felt very jagged and coarse, but that could well be the style, which is very celtic in feel. Initially we are greeted with a blur of characters, all of whom have the potential to be our ‘hero’, before the story settles and it becomes obvious who the focus is.

We are taken through the life of the hero, starting as a young boy, all the way through to manhood in the first book. As I said, the story is slow at the outset, but Gemmell picks up the pace towards the end, which is typically bitter sweet. The characters are lively, with a much larger range of people than is usual for a Gemmell story, but then this is his first real series vs. single novel.

I mentioned the celtic style, and there is a real celtic feel to the tale, with all the much loved celtic myths, and the ever present armies across the waves. The tale is very narrative, and for some, that style is going to grate. It shares a lot in this respect to the Pendragon books by S. Lawhead. All-in-all, a good tale, not his best, but certainly building up to something which could be very interesting. I await the next book with relish.

(This review was written sometime in the late 90′s for the original Gemmell Mania website)

Rating: ★★★½☆ 

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Winter Warriors

Jun 182008

Winter Warriors has that essential element that keeps me coming back to David’s books over and over again. I was tired, visiting my parents-in-law, and going to bed. It was around 11pm, and I thought I’d read a couple of pages, since I wasn’t really in the mood to read too much.

At 4am, I put the book down, finished, every page read. It’s an indescribable element of David’s work – that must continue reading quality that I really miss in other authors like Goodkind, Jordan, Martin, etc. Oh I enjoy the books they write, but I can pause for weeks between chapters and not really feel like I’m missing out. Winter Warriors on the other hand, I just *had* to finish, I needed to get to the end.

Emotional, passionate, thoughtful, insightful, and carrying those things along,
a story about heroes and heroism. Someone recently mentioned that it didn’t feel like a Drenai novel to them – too much magic. For me, Winter Warriors has all the core Drenai elements. People sticking to their guns, come hell or high water, doing the right thing, painful as it might be. To me, that’s the Drenai nation in one.

The story is intriguing, and all the more interesting for the high magic content, the characters are colourful, interesting, three-dimensional. Some might argue we have stereotypical characters here, the mighty and swift killer, the huge bear-like swordsman, the reserved thoughtful archer. Yet, each of those characters brings something new. To give one example, our ignorant, abusive, huge obnoxious warrior, also delivers a baby half-way through the story. David uses those extra details to flesh out the cliches we want, demand and love.

I felt the ending given by the ‘good’ demon was somewhat obvious perhaps, although I do wonder if that was the point – that the ‘bad’ demon was so engulfed in selfish revenge that he could never consider his brother being so selfless. There were many excellent highlights during the book, the relationship between the young lad and the archer is excellent.

The surprise with the amulet at the end is a nice touch, and Antikos comes through to prove that you can change the nature of man! All-in-all, an excellent story, bringing some of David’s favourite themes together, possession, age, usefulness, revenge, good vs evil and what is evil, and lumping them in with more demons than you can shake a stick at.

We also had a very short siege to keep those folk happy!

(This review was written sometime in the late 90′s for the original Gemmell Mania website)

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

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Hero in the Shadows

Jun 182008

Without doubt, one of David’s best books to date. I would be hard pushed to say if Legend, Waylander or Hero in the Shadows were his best work.

David has taken the character of Waylander and given it a depth that we’ve never seen before. The emotional complexity in this book is far greater than anything David has achieved before, although we did get a glimpse at this in Midnight Falcon. The book contains some old favourites, and a small number of new and excellent personalities. I feel that David has succeeded in giving us just the right number of players in the plot, whereas in Sword in the Storm and Midnight Falcon, there were a lot more people (or at least, it felt like there were). In Hero in the Shadows we get a small but superb supporting cast. You will love Yu Yu – I promise.

The mix of emotion is well balanced, with humour offsetting the darker moments, and some scenes that will rip the heart from your chest and leave you gasping. Well, they did me anyway. Waylander is everything we’ve come to love, deadly, swift and merciless, but expect to see something new from him as well. The story is pretty normal fare, Waylander must save the world from an ancient and all-encompassing evil, aided by the best swordsman the Chiatze people have to offer, and by a ditch digger. A legendary ditch digger no less.

However, I don’t read David’s work to analyse every plot twist, I read his work because it’s moving, emotional, gritty and some of the best storytelling ever written. David manages
to look at many of his favourite themes, honour, belief, the nature of good and evil, age, remorse, and yet once again, gives us something new for each of them, and expands some of them. We see how belief can sometimes blind and lack of it can sometimes free the soul.

Oh, it doesn’t have any sieges in it.

This book also hints at something which has been present in some of David’s books before – that perhaps all of his stories are interlinked, taking part on a tapestry of a multidimensional universe. There is also an interesting, but short comment, on the reason why David’s heroes are heroes. Hero in the Shadows won’t disappoint anyone who reads it for those reasons. I can’t praise it highly enough.

(This review was written not long after it was published in 2000, for the original Gemmell Mania website)

Rating: ★★★★★ 

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Waylander II: In The Realm of the Wolf

Jun 182008

David returns to the world of Waylander, and we get a chance to see what happens to our ‘hero’ once his adopted children grow, and his wife has died.

Initially he is almost in a daze, just getting through life, but then another old friend drags up an old grudge, and a collection of other circumstances bring Waylander back. The story swings into action, and while this story is dark, it’s not quite as dark as the original, and Waylander finds within himself things we were never sure were there before. The story is gripping, fast paced and tense, and the characters are as interesting as ever. A good sequel, well worth a read.

(This review was written sometime in the late 90′s for the original Gemmell Mania website)

Rating: ★★★★½ 

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Waylander

Jun 182008

Another excellent Drenai book from David. While written after the previous three (two?) Drenai tales in real terms, the story tells of a time before those books (I think). We meet Waylander, one of David’s darkest heroes, certainly the darkest to date when this book was written (although since then, others have appeared darker still.)

Waylander’s life has been tragic and deadly, and it is affected deeply when he rescues a priest, against his better judgement, but no less so than the life of the priest he saves. The Earl of Bronze makes another appearance, and we learn of the creation of the Thirty – and that tale alone is good enough to make the book brilliant. As usual the book is awash with emotions such as hate, love, joy, sadness and heroism. Waylander finds himself falling in love, at a time when that act will kill him. We meet the Brotherhood, the evil counterpart to the source priests.

All-in-all, this is a gripping tale, told with slightly less finesse than Legend and King Beyond the Gate, but excellent none-the-less. Well worth the read, and another excellent Drenai tale.

(This review was written sometime in the late 90′s for the original Gemmell Mania website)

Rating: ★★★★½ 

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Quest for Lost Heroes

Jun 182008

I strongly feel that David reaches briefly back to his original style with this book. I appreciate that’s somewhat of a silly comment, considering this is about David’s fourth book, but our heroes are much less dark, much more like the heroes in Legend.

The story is fast paced, lively and full of character and characters. The plot is simple, but I was drawn in through that simplicity. The characters are believable (in as far as any of David’s characters are), and we come to learn about them throughout the book. Dreams are shattered, legends made, and as usual, lots of people die, the ending however, is not quite as bitter-sweet as some of the other books. Not his best, but still better than much of the competition.

(This review was written sometime in the late 90′s for the original Gemmell Mania website)

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

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