Legend (Drenai)

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Even if I’m not a fan of military fantasy, the battle here was a great experience. However, the love story intertwined with the war is the worst I have read so far, but I guess Gemmel’s intention was to show that love prevails no matter what.

One change wrought by 36 years and changing times plus changes in what many of us expect from fantasy writing, was that I now see the book as all rather one-note. The message is of manly men standing up for what's right, even when 'right' is more about obstinacy/honour. The very small number of women are not well written and have fairly minor roles. The new earl's wife does fight (rarely despite being really good at it) and is mainly there to spur change and manliness in her husband. The bitter sweet of dying in the defence (bitter because of the dying, sweet because of the friendships forged, depths revealed etc) are highlighted in Druss with this being the end of a long, legendary life, and we get to see the legend and the man, both butting up against each other, both overlapping, both seen through his own eyes and of those around him.In official printings, these two books ( Lion of Macedon, Dark Prince) are grouped with the "Stones of Power" series and contain some of the same characters and assumptions on how the world works. Also very important characters are Reg(nak) and his wife, Virae, the Gan of Dros Delnoch, Orrin, Hugon, Leader of the Legion, and The Thirty, with the likes of Serbitar, Vintar, Menahem, Arbedark and Antaheim as their main representation, while also Gilad and Bregan will make a formidable pair in the defence of the fortress. Druss the Legend. Mightiest man of his era. A killing machine, a warrior. And why? Because I never had the courage to be a farmer’, Druss told himself. Regarding my rating: I approach this book in a very similar manner to the Dragonlance Chronicles. There is a lot of nostalgia factor involved. The Legend gets the benefit of being a classic and so I ignore the things that under normal circumstances would bring the final verdict down by two stars mainly Ulric’s purple (!) eyes and the fact that what dies doesn’t stay dead.

Druss is every man who has refused to quit; to surrender when life offered no hope; to stand aside when the alternative was to die. He is a man who has shown other men there is no such thing as guaranteed defeat. He lifts the spirit merely by being Druss, and being seen to be Druss.' That man may never win. But when he sees himself reflected, he can be proud of what he sees. For low he may be in the present scheme of things: peasant, serf, or dispossessed. But he is unconquerable”..." This book exceeded my expectations, I've had this on my tbr for years and never got around to reading it till now. Legend is a classic fantasy with a dash of modernism. There are lots of battle scenes, friendship, diversity and romance. The romance is what surprised me most, I did not see that coming, it was a soul mate kind of love. The depictions of the battle scenes were awesome. Two very different kinds of story somehow conveying a similar idea. One of the central themes of Legend is “the legend vs the man”, the difference between how people perceive you on the basis of your reputation and the actual you.I personally do not think thatthis isGemmell's finest but it surely has to behis most important, as without it nothing may have followed.Legend is a great place to start if you have not read any of his work before and a great blend of sword, sorcery and heroism. A MUST read for any heroic fantasy fans.

An unfathomably numerous Nadir army heads to the mighty stronghold of Dros Delnoch to either accept surrender or slaughter their defenders. The old legendary warrior Druss known by many names such as Captain of the Ax, the Axman, Deathwalker, and the Silver Slayer comes to Delnoch in search of a worthy fighting death. When he arrives he realizes he can't just fight because the warriors of Dros Delnoch need him to lead. Astonishingly this is the 22nd hit when you type "Legend" into the search engine. Wow... For me it's a big milestone along my fantasy journey!

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And yes, anyone could write a book with such a character. We have an incel sub-culture at the moment that seems to view women as alien and forbidding too. So the character is not unrealistic [I AM NOT SAYING DRUSS IS AN INCEL]. But it does seem that this attitude pervades the men in the book. Apart from the earl's wife the only other women I can recall who gets any 'screen time' is a staggeringly beautiful young lady who seduces then murders men, gets Druss naked for a regular massage, and has very pronounced daddy issues about him. Beautiful words, but how many could say they were able to follow them? None of us are perfect and the best we can do is to try our best. One of those who has always tried his best and had some success with it is the now aging Druss, Captain of the Axe, the one called The Legend. He is a warrior of renown, the legends told of him and the songs sang have lit the spark for glory in many of children and young people's lives. Many have followed in his footsteps because of listening to his adventures and taken up the sword or axe in pale imitation of him. Most of them have found death and no songs have been written in their honor, but people tend to think of the heroes and their deeds as separate from the pain and ugliness by which they are defined. I am, however, going to talk about reading it twice with ~40 years between the reads, leading into the whole business of seeing things with new (or older) eyes, and wandering into the territory of tribalism, identity, and the emotional bonds we form with books. I read this book years ago and I consider it a testament to how good of a book it is that I remember it all quite clearly. In many ways it is not a great fantasy novel, and in fact I remember that around the half way point I nearly quit it because I found it a bit too formulaic. The book is mainly set in and around the fortress of Dros Delnoch, with the main protagonist, Druss the Legend, functioning as the spearhead of an army of resistance of 10.000 men, against the overwhelming hordes of Ulric and his native tribes.

If the mother knows with certainty that jumping to take the bullet will still not save the child from death, yet does it anyway, is it still heroic, or foolish? If nobody is to witness that mother's sacrifice, should it affect her decision to commit it? If nobody pulls the man's life-support plug for him, but in a rare act of clarity he manages to pull it himself while he is alone in his hospital room, does it detract from the glory or worthiness of his death? If the foxhole of soldiers becomes surrounded by an insurmountable enemy, and if the soldier knows without a doubt that diving upon the grenade will not save his friends from the battle. Should he do it anyway? No one will know he did such a thing. You may think life is sweet now, but when death is a heartbeat away then life becomes unbearably desirable. And when you survive, everything you do will be enhanced and filled with greater joy; the sunlight, the breeze, a good wine, a woman's lips, a child's laughter. Never violate a woman, nor harm a child. Do not lie, cheat or st Despite being written in 80's this is not Tolkien-esque fantasy but more inspired by, as name says it, legends and myths. This is story of heroes larger than life, great love, impossible odds on battlefield where champion meets champion. All wrapped up in warm pathos that much later Rothfuss mastered so well. All things that live must die,' said Vintar. 'Man alone, it seems, lives all his life in the knowledge of death. And yet there is more to life than merely waiting for death. For life to have meaning, there must be a purpose. A man must pass something on -otherwise he is useless.Locus of confrontation in Gemmell is “the greatest fortress ever built” (195). Impossibility of army strengths notwithstanding, the stage is set therefore for the dialectical confrontation of immovable object and unstoppable force. The plot is interesting, when I read the synopsis I was excited because I expected something different. But basically our heroes are defending their place and they have 6 walls to protect them before the enemies army which is many times greater than their numbers. The characters of Legend are the characters within us all. Fear, doubt, and futility are all present, but so too are the traits which make us greater than the sum of our parts. Honor, courage, duty, and yes, even love are all necessary components for a heroic tale of such resonance. Oh and the great secret and peculiar monks with an albino Serbitar. They definitely added spices to the story not only using their great fighting skills, but also using their outstanding powers in metaphysical level. I also didn't like the continual shifting from one point of view character to the next without a transition or even a line break to signal a different point of view. I found it a bit frustrating, but not to the extent it kept me from reading the book.