The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend (The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend - David Gemmell)

Member Name: talisman2002

Product:	The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend - David Gemmell
Date:	24/02/09 (150 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A gripping fast flowing book that's impossible to put down.

Disadvantages: Once you've read 3 or 4 they all start to look the same.

*The Story*

In this book by David Gemmell the story starts in a village where Druss lives. Druss is not well liked in the village but is supported by the love of his wife Rowena. One day while Druss and the other men from the village were chopping wood a man named Harib Ka and a master swordsman named Collan came to the village and killed or enslaved everyone within. Druss' father was one of those injured and with his dying breath he told druss to fetch the family battle axe which belonged to druss' grandfather named Bardan. Bardan was a insane madman and neither Druss nor his father knew the axe was possessed by a demon. The axe was called "Snaga"..

Druss joins up with a hunter named Shadak who is also hunting Harib Ka and Collan and they eventually find Harib Ka and interrogate him as to the whereabouts of Rowena (Druss' wife) before they kill him. What Druss didn't know and what Harib Ka did is that Rowena has mystic powers and can see the future so she was seprated from the rest of the slaves and taken to the port of Mashrapur. Shadak gives Druss details of a friend he has there name Sieben who is a poet. They don't get on at first but see eye to eye eventually and find out that Rowena is on a ship and is going to be transported to a place called Ventria. Druss tried to rescue her before the ship left but he was ambushed by Collans men and was badly wounded. At this point Shadak re-appears and kills Collan but the ship still sails without them.

Eventually druss gets better and he and Sieben join some mercenaries who are recruited by a guy called Bodasen who is a Ventrian soldier. (Sieben by the way has an eye for the ladies and was fleeing from a jealous lovers husband when Druss found him which is why he has agreed to go along) Boadasen is going to support the emperor Gorben in a war with ventria against the Naashanites. On the way while they are on the ship they were attacked by pirates and during a fight Sieben sees a demon materialise from the axe to defend Druss and comes to the conclusion that it is Druss that is possessed. Druss and Sieben also meet an archer named Eskodas while they are on the ship. In time they all arrive in Ventri and succeed in rescuing Gorben. Gorben was impressed with Druss so he promoted him to serve in his elite bodyguard. While they were all in Ventria Sieben learnt from a priest that it was the axe and not Druss that was possessed. He tried to convince Druss to give it up but he refused. Rowena meanwhile had married someone else named Michanek after she had her memory and her powers removed because they were making her ill.

Druss went travelling during a break in the wars and managed to lose his axe in a river. He initially thought he was free of it but learnt from a priest that it had actually fallen into the hands of a man named Cajivak who was a brutal warlord. Druss and a mercenary named Varsava set out to retrieve the axe and kill Cajivak but instead Druss ended up in Cajivak's dungeon after he was captured. at first he wastes away but eventually a former prisoner comes to the aid of druss and helps him build up his strength to escape. When he escapes he finds out that Eskodas, Sieben and Varsava have mounted a rescue attempt Druss kills Cajivak in a brilliantly written fight then recovers Snaga and returns to the army.

The war was still ongoing when Druss returned and the Naashanites tried to use a demon to assasinate Gorben, but he was saved by Snaga which was the only weapon that hurt the demon. Druss learnt that Michanek had married Rowena and that her memory had been erased and went with the army to reclaim her as his own. Michanek learnt of this and knowing that he will die in the siege tries to get Rowena to get used to the idea of going back to Druss. Rowena however is having none of it as all she can see of Druss is a barbaric killing machine and takes poison to kill herself. Druss manages to locate Rowena and despite a trick of Snaga (the axe) who does not want Druss to have Rowena back he succeeds in rescuing her. In the process of the rescue Druss banishes the demon from the axe and returns back to the Drenai lands which is where he lived with Rowena when she was first captured.

*The Epilogue*

The epilogue talks about events that happen at Skeln Pass that is written late into Druss' career as a soldier. Gorben had gone mad and invades Drenai. Druss and Sieben go up to Skeln pass to meet the troops and to raise morale, Druss was well remembered by people that knew him and his legend was well known by the troops that were fighting. While Druss was there the Ventrians launched a suprise attack and Druss and Sieben were caught up in the fighting. In the fight Druss kills his old friend Boadasen who he was hoping he wouldn't see and the Drenai beat off the Ventrian attack.

Gorben was angry to have lost Bodasen who he considered his only faithful soldier and sent his elite bodyguard "The Immortals", which Druss was once part of, to fight. During this fight Sieben is mortally wounded but they manage to hold off and win the war. Gorben was killed by his own officers.

Rowena who had stayed at home died while Druss was away at battle she had sent Druss to Skeln Pass to ensure he didn't see her dying as it would have broken his heart.

*My views*

This is an excellent heart wrenching book and I didn't put it down until I had finished. The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend is actually the 4th book in the drenai series but the first one that mentions Druss and they all tie up using the history of the Drenai lands. It is still available in bookshops , amazon and ebay and a compulsory read. If I was to make one criticism it would be that his books follow the same format and it can be like reading the same book over and over but with different characters.

In chronological order the books in the Drenai series are:

* Waylander
* Waylander II: In the Realm of the Wolf
* Hero in the Shadows
* The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend
* The Legend of Deathwalker
* White Wolf
* Legend
* The King Beyond the Gate
* Quest for Lost Heroes
* Winter Warriors
* The Swords of Night and Day

They were not released in this order but are all easily available.

Summary: An excellent read, a must for anyone interested in Fantasy/Sword and Sorcery.