Review: Fall of Kings

Excellent conclusion to a brilliant trilogy

Darkness falls on the Great Green, and the Ancient World is fiercely divided. On the killing fields outside the golden city of Troy, forces loyal to the Mykene King mass. Among them is Odysseus, fabled storyteller and reluctant ally to the Mykene, who knows that he must soon face his former friends in deadly combat. Within the city, the Trojan king waits. Ailing and bitter, his hope is pinned on two heroes: his favourite son Hektor, and the dread Helikaon who will wreak terrible vengeance for the death of his wife at Mykene hands. War has been declared. As enemies, who are also kinsmen, are filled with bloodlust, they know that many of them will die, and that some will become heroes: heroes who will live for ever in a story that will echo down the centuries.

This book has everything a good book needs: intrigue, bloody action from mass battles to Hector's dramatic one on one fight with Achilles, love and hate, life and death. Helikaon, Andromache, Odysseus, Kalliades, Banokles, Hektor, Achilles, Agamemnon, Gershom - and all the others we came to love or hate have a role to play and will meet their fate, for good or for bad and for some with surprising twists. The sense of bravery, loyalty, grief, honor and happiness and the feeling that you know the characters so closely you feel their triumphs and pain like your own is the same as in the two previous books.

It is hard to tell which part was still written by David Gemmell himself and where his wife Stella took over after David's untimely death. Respect to Stella for this - it's quite an accomplishment.

The complete trilogy is a strong retelling of Homer's classic saga. For anyone who like their tales actionpacked, full of intrigue and great dialogue, with a big cast of characters to be loved or hated - don't hesitate to pick up this book. Be sure to read Lord of the Silver Bow and Shield of Thunder first!

Strongly recommended.

8,5 / 10

Review: Shield of Thunder

Excellent 2nd book

The war of Troy is looming, and all the kings of the Great Green are gathering, friends and enemies, each with their own dark plans of conquest and plunder. Into this maelstrom of treachery and deceit come three travellers; Piria, a runaway priestess nursing a terrible secret, Kalliades, a warrior with a legendary sword, and Banokles who will carve his own legend in the battles to come. "Shield of Thunder" takes the reader back into the glories and tragedies of Bronze Age Greece, reuniting the characters from Lord of the Silver Bow; the dread Helikaon and his great love, the fiery Andromache, the mighty Hektor and the fabled storyteller, Odysseus.

The Shield of Thunder is the follow up to Lord of the Silver Bow and just as good. It takes a about 200 pages before we are reintroduced to the characters of Lord of the Silver Bow, but this works out amazingly well. Gemmell takes his time introducing runaway priestess Piria and two renegade Mycene warriors: Kalliades and Banokles. Especially these two Mycene are characters you can't help but grow to love. Banokles even provides a little comic relief in a book that has it's fair share of battles and bloodshed. These new characters are so well done that we don't even have to miss the ones we got to know in the first book. Later in the book the storylines interweve and we get a perfect set up for the third book: Fall of Kings.

We are also introduced to other new characters. Most notably Achilles, the legendary hero of Thessaly, who burns to show his skills of war against Hektor, Prince of Troy. His first confrontation with Hektor makes for one of the interesting moments in the novel.

History fanatics who can't stand authors who take 'liberties' with events as they supposedly took place, will probably not appreciate this book. Gemmell remixed Homer's tale and made it more of an alternate history than a realistic retelling of the original legend. But that doesn't make it any worse - in fact it reads like a blockbuster movie. For some this may be a reason to dislike the book and the complete trilogy; for me it was a reason to love it.

8,5 / 10

Review: Lord of the Silver Bow

Superb Historical Fiction

Troy: city of gold and heroes, beloved of the gods, where wealth, privilege and rapacious greed walk hand in hand, and where the greatest of tragedies is about to unfold.

Helikaon, prince of Dardania, sets sail for Troy. On board his ship, the largest in the Aegean Sea, but regarded by many as dangerously unseaworthy, is his trusted friend and sea-captain Zidantas. Also aboard is Argurios, a deadly Mykene warrior, intent on revenge. Their journey to the fabled city will encompass storm and near shipwreck, personal tragedy and a bloody sea-battle whose bloody aftermath will haunt Helikaon and his companions for the rest of their voyage. Helikaon will also meet his old friend and master-storyteller, Odysseus, and fall in love with Andromache a woman as beautiful as a goddess. But when he arrives in Troy — a city riven by the destructive rivalries of King Priam's younger sons —he finds a city ready to implode, and, with nearby enemy kingdoms eyeing the city's riches, he knows a terrible war cannot be long in coming.

This is a great book. It is hard to fit it into a categorie - although David Gemmell is a renowned fantasy author, this book is not a classical fantasy. It could be labeled as historical fiction. The word fiction already implies it is not necessarily entirely acurate. Gemmell took some (great) liberties with the classical Troy mythe and created an excellent start to a trilogy.
Gemmell combines epic and historical fantasy into three novels set in the time of the Trojan Wars. This first book is the set up for events that lead to the war between Troy and Mycanea.
Historical figures as Agamemnon, Aeneas (Helikaon), Odysseus and Hektor and many more are brought to life in an exceptional way.

This is a story of war, romance and legend featuring honor versus treachery with characters that are very human, flawed and neither good nor evil. The pace of the story is terrific, it is totally absorbing and believable with realistic characters. The Greek Gods of the myths are almost not present in this tale, which gives it it's realistic feel. The focus is on the people, the characters are multi dimensional and there is no black and white characterisation. There are the supporting 'bad guys' who are a bit two dimensionally evil (like Agamemnon), but the main characters are beautifully developped. Helikaon has a definitive dark side and the character of Argurios, betrayed by Agamemnon and forced to fight against his own people, is especially well developped. The dialogs, the vibe of this classical era, the (bloody) battles - everything feels and reads just right.

Lord of the Silver Bow is an colourful, exciting and action packed book and highly recommended not only to readers of historical fiction but also to fantasy lovers who don't mind the absence of magic, dragons, elves, dwarfs and trolls.

Great stuff anf highly recommended!

9 / 10