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January 11, 2007

Winter Warriors - David Gemmell

Winter Warriors - David Gemmell

I am a real sucker for these epic fantasy stories from David Gemmell, as I think I may have mentioned before. They all follow a familiar formula with noble heroes, vile villains, and seemingly impossible quests that somehow get completed.

This one is no different and is set in the by now familiar Drenai universe. A race of demons threaten to cross over from a spirit kingdom to enter our realm. They just need the sacrifice of an unborn king to complete the spell. It is left to a group of old soldiers (the winter warriors of the title) to protect this unborn child and his pregnant mother, and save the world.

The technology available is medieval, and there is a lot of information about how to treat horses as they are a very important element to fighting in those times. Magic is a strong presence on both sides, but never strong enough to ensure speedy victories.

Gemmell is a very gifted writer who can easily play with your emotions. You find yourself rooting for the heroes, and laughing at their bawdy jokes. You are sad when inevitably some of them don't make it through alive, but they always die hero's deaths. They all talk of their lives as prefessional soldiers, and the old men discuss pat battles, but how they are not needed now that they are old; an interesting theme I've only encountered a little in fantasy. The characters are well rounded, one of the warriors, Bison, is dim witted and not even that likable, yet he is brave and essential in a crisis.

This is a great addition to the sequence, but can easily be read stand-alone too as it takes place about 300 years after some of the previous stories. It's not http://www.amazon.co.uk/Legend-David-Gemmell/dp/1857236815/se71-21, but what could be.

Posted by se71 at January 11, 2007 11:45 AM

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