DRENAI TALES by David Gemmell
VOLUME I: Books 1, 2, 4
Orbit (Little, Brown) - November 2001
ISBN 1841491314
Fantasy

Reviewed by Rachel A Hyde, MyShelf.com
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David Gemmell burst onto the fantasy scene back in 1984 and has been writing bestselling novels ever since. The phenomenal success of this novel was one of the contributing factors to the genre's rise in popularity and now Little, Brown have collected six of his seminal novels in two volumes of which this is the first. Legend is the ultimate story of the forlorn hope, the gallant few pitted against the villainous many and the emergence of the Legend himself, Drusss, from retirement to lead the Drenai against the hordes of Nadir. It has a relentless pace that never lets go and features a cast of characters that the reader is thoroughly introduced to and comes to truly care about - both marks of a good novel. Neither is Gemmell that most usual of fantasy writers, a creator of trilogies that consist of one very long story in three volumes. Each of these novels is separate but the one flaw for me was in their essential sameness; Gemmell does love writing about the forlorn hope, the gallant few pitted against the villainous many and it is probably best not to read this book at one sitting for that reason. But this is stirring stuff and a perfect gift for anybody who loves good fantasy.