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A review by duffypratt
The Swords of Night and Day by David Gemmell
adventurous
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
The last of the Drenai series, and I'm a bit sorry to see it over. I don't know if I want to start some other Gemmell but I suppose I will at some point.
This one remarks the return, one thousand years later, of Skilgannon. He's been brought back to life by a Wizard who hopes that he will fulfill a prophecy ending the reign of the Eternal. At the start, there is quite a bit that deals with the displacement of a person coming back to life, out of his own time. Gemmell dealt with this really well.
On top of that, despite other people's love for Druss, I have preferred both Waylander and Skilgannon as characters. Here, after 1000 years, he's still in love with Jianna and still clings to a personal notion of doing what is right, regardless of what others think of him, and also in spite of his uncertainty about what is right or wrong.
I also liked the treatment of the joinings here. They are creatures, formed by magic, by fusing a man with an animal. In his portrayal of them, Gemmell shows his leaning toward a kind of moral relativism, even while he remains thoroughly in the realm of heroic fantasy. He manages to deal, with some subtlety, with the themes of slavery and prejudice. These creatures are in some sense, after all, sub-human and almost everyone has dealt with them either as slaves or savages.
The writing, as usual, is strong, clear and highly descriptive without going overboard. Gemmell writes with an economy that seems to be entirely missing from modern fantasy, and he does this without sacrificing either flavor or depth.
I don't know that this is my favorite of the Drenai books, but my sense is that they tended to get better and better as they moved along. Someday I may come back to reread them, or some of them. I have a strong suspicion that they will improve upon rereading, because the references to things between books will become clearer to a dullard like me who tends to forget details from one book to the next.
This one remarks the return, one thousand years later, of Skilgannon. He's been brought back to life by a Wizard who hopes that he will fulfill a prophecy ending the reign of the Eternal. At the start, there is quite a bit that deals with the displacement of a person coming back to life, out of his own time. Gemmell dealt with this really well.
On top of that, despite other people's love for Druss, I have preferred both Waylander and Skilgannon as characters. Here, after 1000 years, he's still in love with Jianna and still clings to a personal notion of doing what is right, regardless of what others think of him, and also in spite of his uncertainty about what is right or wrong.
I also liked the treatment of the joinings here. They are creatures, formed by magic, by fusing a man with an animal. In his portrayal of them, Gemmell shows his leaning toward a kind of moral relativism, even while he remains thoroughly in the realm of heroic fantasy. He manages to deal, with some subtlety, with the themes of slavery and prejudice. These creatures are in some sense, after all, sub-human and almost everyone has dealt with them either as slaves or savages.
The writing, as usual, is strong, clear and highly descriptive without going overboard. Gemmell writes with an economy that seems to be entirely missing from modern fantasy, and he does this without sacrificing either flavor or depth.
I don't know that this is my favorite of the Drenai books, but my sense is that they tended to get better and better as they moved along. Someday I may come back to reread them, or some of them. I have a strong suspicion that they will improve upon rereading, because the references to things between books will become clearer to a dullard like me who tends to forget details from one book to the next.