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andrewrawr's review against another edition
3.0
While Gemmell has a lot of perspective characters, he does a good job making each unique. I found all of them interesting, and I wanted to see more of each one. A primary way he does this is establishing major flaws in all of them. His is not a world populated by perfect, unreal heroes, nor by villains too evil to even understand.
His world is very gritty. He understands the work of the professions involved in his characters lives--things like woodsmanship and smithery. It brought a lot of realism to the story.
It's also brutal and sometimes dark, however. Most fiction presents a world I would say is better than our own. Gemmell presents one I would say is more similar to our own. Not all of his protagonists are good. Sometimes horrible people end up on the side of justice. Sometimes good people end up doing things that are wretched and terrible without knowing it. Some people do something terrible, but realize their flaws and try to be better. Everyone, no matter how bad, does what they do for some set of reasons. Gemmell does not shy away from those facts, but nor does he act as if rape, murder, or any other heinous crime is just an acceptable part of life.
Its through the darkness and the brutality that Gemmell offers a look at the nobility humans are capable of. Learning to overcome one's flaws and correct one's mistakes were important to Gemmell, and it comes through in his story. It's strange, but his story with about the most flawed heroes I've read of late is the one that provides the most hopeful outlook on humanity. In Gemmell's world, you don't have to be perfect to try to be the best person you can. Even if you've done terrible things, you can find (at least some small) redemption, even if it doesn't undo your crimes.
Other observations:
KoDR moves through a whole lot of different perspective characters. All of them ended up being interesting to me, but I would have preferred to go deeper with fewer of them. To read this, you will have to keep track of a lot of names and people. It has more of them who are of equal importance to the plot than many fantasies much larger than it.
This gets just about all of the content warnings. The gore is more explicit than the sex, but the sex sometimes includes rape, which I think is my highest level of content warning.
I found parts of the ending abrupt, and I think sometimes the characters' motivations were somewhat loose or ill-established.
Summary:
Gemmell establishes a gritty world and flawed but interesting characters quickly, and you never stop seeing the flaws in his characters. His outlook on the world ends up becoming very hopeful not despite but rather because of this. Despite the brutality, despite the villainy of some of the characters, the end of the novel rings out most strongly with themes of redemption and hope.
jonathanrobert's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
naomi_fearnon's review against another edition
4.0
mesina's review against another edition
3.0
lauregul's review against another edition
4.0
[b:Ritter Dunklen Rufs|22673771|Ritter Dunklen Rufs|David Gemmell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1404742604l/22673771._SY75_.jpg|2989750] ist mein erstes Gemmell-Buch in deutscher Übersetzung – und ich kann sagen, die Übersetzung tut dem Lesespaß keinen Abbruch. Außerdem sieht das deutsche Cover deutlich besser als das Originalcover aus.
Das Gesamtsetting unterscheidet sich stark von den anderen Drenai-Büchern, zu denen das Buch wohl gehört, obwohl die Drenai hier noch ferne Zukunftsmusik sind. Hier fühlt sich die Drenai-Welt erstmal so richtig düster an. Dieses düstere Setting mit den korrupten, fast schon geisteskranken Adligen und den verschwundenen legendären Rittern erinnerte mich direkt etwas an den Manga [b:Ubel Blatt, Vol. 0|20897851|Ubel Blatt, Vol. 0|Etorouji Shiono|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1408924386l/20897851._SX50_.jpg|40257559], von dem ich früher in diesem Jahr die ersten paar Bände las – im positiven Sinne, das Buch enthält keine überflüssigen Sex- oder Vergewaltigungsszenen und ich musste meine Augen nicht ständig verdrehen.
Auch die Geschichte ist insgesamt gut und bleibt durchweg spannend. Während sie jedoch anfangs langsam aufgebaut wird, überschlägt sie sich in den letzten 100-200 Seiten geradezu. Besonders der Epilog (eine Seite!) fühlt sich extrem überstürzt an. Das Buch hätte gerne 200 Seiten länger sein können und der Epilog hätte sogar ein eigenes Buch sein können! Das ist sehr schade, denn vom Setting her hätte das mein Lieblings-Gemmell-Buch werden können.
Die Charaktere sind, wie für [a:David Gemmell|11586|David Gemmell|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1202771023p2/11586.jpg] üblich, zwar einfach gehalten, wachsen einem beim Lesen aber doch sehr ans Herz. Besonders Manannan, der einzige verbliebene Ritter der Gabala, gefiel mir sehr.
[b:Ritter Dunklen Rufs|22673771|Ritter Dunklen Rufs|David Gemmell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1404742604l/22673771._SY75_.jpg|2989750] ist ein starkes Buch, das jedoch sein Potential nicht ganz ausschöpft. Ich kann es mir, wahrscheinlich aufgrund seiner Ähnlichkeit mit [b:Ubel Blatt, Vol. 0|20897851|Ubel Blatt, Vol. 0|Etorouji Shiono|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1408924386l/20897851._SX50_.jpg|40257559], äußerst gut als Anime-Film verfilmt vorstellen.
acardattack's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
katherinejanewright's review against another edition
4.0
sarahopa's review against another edition
5.0
This book feels like a STORY. It offers a spectrum of themes that touch upon perceived morals, hypocrisy and fairness. Most of the “good” characters have faults and the “evil” have aspects of morality. For a single fantasy volume of 400 pages, the characters were complex and the plot enduring.
The story does have its weak points. Relations between men and women (save but one) could have been richer. There were a few character developments that may have been complemented by being explored further. The way characters traveled and found others could have been dealt with better.
Still, the story was fun, had quite a few passages that stuck out and made me wonder what else is up Gemmell’ sleeve.
ianbanks's review against another edition
4.0
This has long been a sentimental favouite of mine because it features villains who are redeemed, heroes who overcome their pasts, cowardice conquered, people taking a stand though it may cost them more than they are willing to pay and it has some cracking dialogue and scenes.
But it is a bit of a mess: not undisciplined or unfocused or lacking in structure, just a little half-arsed in the mix. I know that in this day and age we have come to expect a fully-formed history and setting in our secondary-world fantasy and that these things are sometimes more of a joy for the author than they are for the reader, but the background here feels - to me, at least - to be more of a setup for the showdown at the end rather than an organically nurtured situation. The "what happened next" epilogue - of which Mr Gemmell was a master - suggests that there are other stories going on and situations unfolding that we will not be privy too as well as indicating that problems don't end just because the author has stopped reporting on them, but the basic premise of this tale feels constructed.
Very well-constructed, though: we get the idea of a society that has taken little steps towards accommodating evil as part of their culture; there are hints at wider conflicts and history on the periphery of the story but it all feels contrived to give us this story of a "last stand" and an "ultimate evil" to be overcome. Although this ultimate evil - the expulsion of "ethnically unpure" members of a society in order to bring a society back to its former greatness sits a little more uneasily this year than it did on earlier readings. I get that the Vampires are very obviously supposed to be Nazi surrogates but at this moment in time it feels a little too close to the bone...
There's also the issue of the characters names: many of them are nicked from Celtic mythology which gives them a weight and relevance that they just don't have for this tale and they feel like the "Magical Celt (tm)" characters that he has used before and will again.
However, there's a lot to love in this: the build-up of story is just about perfect before unleashing an epic finish over the last 80 or 90 pages that culminates in a duel to decide the fate of the nation. There's the aforementioned "little steps" that we take towards becoming evil - good intentions paving our way to becoming damned, as well as the sophistry we all indulge in to justify a "greater good," even when we think and behave like good people still. There's the small details that show how characters change in pursuit of a goal or a cause and the sacrifices they will make to achieve that. I think this novel also has more major female characters than any of Gemmell's previous novels, which is cool. There's also his trademark "purity of motive" conversations which are just brilliant here and really demonstrate that Gemmell knows exactly what he was doing when he makes us barrack for thoroughly unlikable characters.
The conclusion feels rushed, however, after this perfect setup, although I can see how this story was just about the deposing of an evil monarch and his replacement with something more palatable which would render any political struggle by the characters anti-climactic.
So really, my problems with this story are entirely my own but it didn't stop me from enjoying it as a slightly more meaty piece of brain candy that makes a great mental movie.