eBook Winter Warriors epub

Once again, David Gemmell leads us into the harsh yet fantastic world of the Drenai. The book is "Winter Warriors," and it showcases Gemmell's steadfast refusal to try to fix something that just isn't broken. If you're familiar with previous Drenai novels, the themes should be familiar - three old soldiers (a master swordsman with a tragic past, a bowman whose eyes are failing him, and a hulking brute with more heart than brains) find themselves embroiled in a quest to save Queen Axiana and her unborn son from the hordes of demons who seek them out. If the unborn king is sacrificed... yep, you guessed it, the world enters an age of unending darkness, and all mankind will suffer.
It's true, you could fault Gemmell's cast of characters for being too archetypical, and bearing more than a passing resemblance to previous characters in the Drenai series (compare Nogusta of "Winter Warriors" to Chareos in "Quest For Lost Heroes," or Bison to Beltzer in the aforementioned tome)... but be that as it may, each and every principle character in "Winter Warriors" is a living, breathing, flesh-and-blood human being, and few fantasy authors can achieve such a claim. Each man and woman behaves in a realistic, believable fashion, and comes out of the adventure dramatically changed by the experience. In an attempt to wow you with magical doo-dads, action set pieces, and enigmatic creatures, most fantasy authors forget to inject humanity into their work - but not David Gemmell. "Winter Warriors" is a deeply human story, no matter what demons or magical spells come into play. The action works because you genuinely care about the people fighting for their lives... and if you know David Gemmell, you know too that no hero is immortal.
I can find few faults in "Winter Warriors," to be quite honest. Granted, the premise is not very original, and the plot sometimes gets a little bit convoluted. Yes, "Winter Warriors" mimics the same themes of previous Drenai books (see "Legend" and "Quest For Lost Heroes," to name but a few), but I'm not sure that qualifies as a fault. It's very moving, inspirational stuff packed with at least as much drama as action. I just don't get tired of desperate men, underdogs by all accounts, standing up for what they believe in against seemingly insurmountable odds in the David Gemmell vein. If more of us lived our lives like Nogusta, Chareos, or Druss the Legend, I think this world would be a better place. Can I truly pay Mr. Gemmell a higher compliment than that?

Winter Warriors by David Gemmell is a continuation of the Drenai saga. In fact this is book number eight in the series. Like most Gemmell books you do not need to read all the books before reading this book. There are some references that have read the prior books will make more sense, but it is by no means mandatory to read all the others first. I think that is one of the beauties of Gemmell's writing. He ties things in, but not overly much.

Fans of previous Gemmell books will see a little bit of a difference between this book and the other Drenai books. He writes about more magic use and more monsters and creatures in this book. Yes, there is the human element in this book, but there is also the added element of spirit travel, demons, summoned creatures etc. It is something that Gemmell rarely utilizes much in his writing, but he pulls it off quite well here.

The overall story line of this book is at times classic Gemmell - fighting for what someone believes is the right thing no matter what others think, but also something different from his normal fare - the demon riders want to bring their brethren back to the world in the flesh. As with the majority of Gemmell's books the plot is rather straight forward with not many subplots. Yet, for this book in particular it works very well.. with the pace of the book and the limited number of pages he is allowed, there is simply not much room for subplots to be really developed so basically he just doesn't include them in this novel. I don't believe the novel suffers from lack of subplots, in fact I think it is made stronger because the reader is not forced to read about irrelevant things that merely fill up space.

Again, as with most Gemmell books the real strength of the book lies with the fantastic characters that he creates. These are characters that all have flaws; they are by no means ultra-powerful nor perfect in any sense of the imagination. They are who they are. The main characters in this book are not your traditional characters, young, spry and energetic. In fact they are quite the opposite, they are old men who are in the twilight of their lives. Having the heroes in the end of their careers adds an element that very few fantasy books have ever explored. Gemmell pulls this piece of information off wonderfully and it adds a very nice addition to the story. Of all the characters in the book Kebra was my favorite with Bison being a close second. They were all interesting in their own way and never did I not want to read about one of them.

Overall, I enjoyed this book very much. It's refreshing to read fantasy books that don't try to be something they are not. Gemmell writes engaging stories that are easy to relate to. This book was no different. I would strongly recommend the Drenai books to any fantasy fan, be it the fantasy fan who has read hundreds of books or the person that is just starting to read fantasy books, everyone will find something they enjoy within Gemmell's pages.

David Gemmell was one of the best storytellers ever. All his books are fast paced, easy to read, very suspenseful and they leave you with a strong desire to read more of his books and adventures. He paints his characters and worlds full of color and makes you feel part of his stories. I have reread all his books many times and they never fail to thrill me and make me want to read them yet again.

Gemmell has probably progressed in his skills with this book, but it seems he stretched with some of the elements: Usa, demon lord, winged demons, the death of the third king, etc. I suppose it brings closure to previous novels but I just couldn't buy the premise. Of the series, this was my least favorite. Again, he followed a familiar premise and outline (if you've read his other books, he doesn't stray too far: a significantly flawed main character, heroic-flawed additions who in the end are willing to sacrifice their lives for the greater good).

If you are an avid reader of the Drenai Sagas, you will enjoy this one. Otherwise, this is one you can leave on the shelf.

Gemmell's later books were more in depth as far as the characters are concerned, and this book is the most touching of the series. Less action and violence but far more characterization and closeness of the comrades in arms, both the men and the women and the children. A lot of development of the characters as well, even the bad guys. More magic in this one also.

What can I say more about David Gemmell's books. All are excellent. Whole worlds are created that seem to draw you in. Absolutely worth taking the time to read. They don't have to be read in sequence.