End of an era (Echoes of the Great Song - David Gemmell)

Name: alysonfreeman

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Product:	Echoes of the Great Song - David Gemmell
Date:	16/06/01 (69 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: From a favourite author

Disadvantages: Not up to the usual standard

This is a stand-alone novel by an established writer of fantasy novels. I have enjoyed many of his books in the past, but this one is not up to his usual standard.
The story is muddled but seems to be about a race of humans, the Avatars, who arrived on a primitive but inhabited planet thousands of years in the past. The invaders kept all technology to themselves and used the natives as workers. However, there was some great cataclysm and the alien race lost most of their sources of power, and their numbers dwindled.
At the start of the book the Avatars are searching for power sources which are buried under ice to recharge their weapons and batteries. Meanwhile, the native tribes are becoming aware that the Avatars are weak and there is talk of rebellion.
I had a great deal of trouble keeping the characters sorted out in my head, as they all have similar names. It is also difficult to identify who the main characters are, but Talaban, an Avatar, and his friend Touchstone, one of the natives who has certain mystic powers, feature throughout the story. The Questors are the ruling group of Avatars, who are virtually immortal as long as they can keep their crystals charged up. One interesting Avatar is Viruk, who is a killer but has his honourable side. He is also a gardener, which gives him some insight into the balance of nature (and all gardeners are wonderful people, as everybody knows).
Viruk heals a native woman of cancer with one of his crystals. Unfortunately she is the one in a million who is affected by this to develop superpowers, and she then plays a leading role in saving the world.
The planet is threatened by another invading force, who are related to the Avatars but have evolved to use the crystals in an evil way, recharging them with the blood of human sacrifices to feed their ever-hungry goddess.
Only when the few remaining Avatars and the natives learn to work together can they hope to defeat the invaders. This they manage to d
o, but the Avatars are almost wiped out in the process. There is quite a lot of altruism and heroics involved, which considering the previous record of the Avatars does not altogether ring true!
The book did get better as it went on, but is not a great novel and I would not recommend it to others, unless they are established fans of David Gemmell.

Summary: