Legend - David Gemmell

 

Greetings! and welcome to the Empty Shelf. My name is Mike, and I’ll be your reader and reviewer today. 

A few quick notes before we begin. I’ve decided to increase my spoilers a little. I’m trying not to give away any major plot points, but I feel like you’ll get a better sense of the books if I get a little more in depth, and you’ll be able to better determine if a particular work is right for you. I’m hoping to keep these to about 20 minutes a piece. No promises though. I can get a bit loquacious if I’m not careful.

 So, let’s get to it.

Today, we’re going to discuss Legend, by David Gemmell, first published in 1984. Now, Legend was technically the first novel in Gemmell’s Drenai series, which I will be reviewing more of in the future, but I’m going to do them all separately. Why, you ask? Well, they are part of a series, but with just a few exceptions, they all follow different characters. The Drenai Series comprises 11 books, and they are further broken down into sub series. Each sub-series, or stand alone, takes place in a wildly different time period. So reviewing them as a full series would be difficult to say the least. 

Astute readers will know that Legend is TECHNICALLY also the fourth book in the sub series The Novels of Druss the Legend, but I’m doing it separately. Because I can. On this podcast, I am the law. And also because Legend feels like more of a standalone than the other 3 books in the sub series. In fact, it was nearly 10 years before the other books were written, so I feel justified. When I review the other three  books, I’ll do it as a trilogy, because I’m pretty sure that’s how they were meant to be taken. In fact, in one of the books, Druss is a side character. So there’s that. 

Anywho, in the grand arc of the Drenai series, Legend is 7th of 11. There are 8 or 900 years between the first book and the last. Hence the sub divisions. Legend was also an allegory for Gemmell’s battle with cancer, written at a time he thought he was dying. He has been quoted as saying “It has all the flaws you expect in a first novel, but it has a heart that wouldn't be bettered by improving its style. I am as proud of that book as I am of anything I've done in my life.” That’s pretty high praise. Artists are usually their own biggest critics.

So, Legend follows a character named Druss, who is a legendary warrior among his people, the Drenai. He is also called Deathwalker by the Nadir, who are the primary antagonists of the story. We also follow Regnak, called Rek by his friends; Virae, daughter of the Earl; and Serbitar, leader of a sect of warrior priests. A few other characters make appearances, but those are the main POVs. 

The novel begins with a prologue in the court of Ulric, warlord of the Nadir. He has united the clans and made a massive invasion force. The Drenai have sent a peace overture. 

After the prologue, we meet Rek. Rek is a former army officer who left the service because he simply didn’t care for war. He believes he’s a coward and doubts his own abilities, but his friends try to disabuse him of that notion. He’s got the reputation of being a great warrior, and he’s also a bit of a dandy, impeccably dressed with a long drooping mustache. He is preparing to flee the country to avoid the forthcoming war. 

On his journey through the forest, he encounters Virae, the daughter of the local Earl, fending off brigands. He comes to her aid and they reluctantly agree to travel together. Virae is on her way to visit the Abbot of the Thirty, called Vintar. The Thirty are a sect of warrior priests who devote themselves to learning swordplay and warfare all in order to ultimately sacrifice themselves to a higher cause. Most usually, a lost cause. 

At some point in their journey, the pair get into a fight with some Sathuli - who are people of the mountains - and it is revealed that Rek is actually a Baresark, which is a term for berserker. He goes completely on the attack with no regard for defense whatsoever. It’s the part of himself that Rek fears most, worried it will get him killed one day, or injure those he loves. 

Rek and Virae appeal to the Thirty who agree to join them in the defense of the legendary Drenai fortress of Dros Delnoch. So the party sets out.

Now, we move on to Druss. He’s in his 60s now and suffers from arthritis and a trick knee. Still, his friend the Earl has requested his aid in defending the Dros. On his trip there, Druss recruits the aid of an outlaw archer named Bowman (which is just a little too on the nose for my taste) and his merry band. Basically, he brings Robin Hood with him.

Upon arriving at the fortress, Druss realizes that the state of the defenses has fallen into horrible disrepair, and the leadership of the army isn’t faring much better, so he organizes improvements and training programs. There are 6 walls with killing ground between each. Basically, they represent the five stages of grief in the allegory.

By the time Rek and Virae arrive, the Earl has died of some affliction, so Rek, now married to Virae, assumes the title of Earl. Then the Nadir come. 

There’s a siege for several months while the Dros awaits fresh troops from a general called “Woundweaver,” which is an unassailably cool name. Eventually, the Nadir simply overwhelm the already thin defenses of the fortress and all seems lost. I’m going to leave it there so as not to give too much away.

Legend was one of the first books I read on my Fantasy journey. I’m pretty sure it came after The Belgariad and the Malloreon. Whatever the case, I fell in love with it. I still read this one every few years. It’s a wonderful tale of triumph in the face of adversity. There’s a semblance of a coming-of-age story with Rek, though he’s already in his 30s, and we get to see what a small number of determined people can achieve in the face of staggering odds. It’s just a really nice, tried and true formula that always works. At least, when it’s done correctly. Plus, it’s short - not quite 350 pages - so you can knock it out fairly quickly.

On to the ratings!

Story and Conflict - The story of Legend is a well told allegory. While I knew it was an allegory, it didn’t FEEL like one in the moment, which is probably a sign that it was done well. There are different plotlines that all converge on an ultimate ending and the stakes feel suitably high for all of them. The kingdom is in peril, and only we can save it. Again, a tried and true formula, which is why it’s still around. The motivations of the antagonist are a bit flimsy. Sort of an “I’m doing it because I can, or I don’t know what else to do” kind of thing. 

The relationships and conflicts between characters are good, if a bit overblown. But then, that’s my problem as a writer: all my characters want to sit down and have rational conversations to work things out. That’s not the way to tell a story. So, the conflicts between characters here are generally good.

The trope of the Warrior Priests is one that will lure me in every time. I don’t know why I love it so much, but I do. Maybe it has something to do with my love of Star Wars. Gemmell’s handling of it in Legend is somewhat unique, I think. The badass warrior pacifist seems like a fresh (at the time) take on the old familiar. Giving them some additional “magic” power doesn’t hurt.  

 I’d say the last third or so of this book is dedicated to the siege. That’s well over 100 pages. And it’s written so well; the waiting between the assaults, the descriptions of the chaos of battle, and the aftermath are lovingly detailed and feel real. That said, though it’s done well, this story does not do anything new or fresh for the genre. I’ll give it an A-. That may be my heart talking, but the tale is masterfully spun and I can’t help it.

Pacing: The pacing starts a tad slow, and then increases over time. That’s probably what you want to see. However, at no point did it FEEL slow. You have to set things up in a story like this and Gemmell did it very well. There are action sequences spaced out pretty evenly, and then of course there’s the 100 page battle at the end. A for Pacing.

Character: Wow. The amount of character work Gemmell is able to do in a comparatively short time is really quite impressive. Rek shows a lot of growth, from cowardly draft dodger to fortress commanding badass, and he does so in a reasonable and logical manner. The love story between him and Virae felt a bit rushed to me, and not particularly real, but I suppose it was a means to an end. 

I love the relationship between Vintar and Serbitar. Sort of a father-son dynamic, but also a teacher-student one as well. It’s really very charming.

Druss’s character doesn’t really grow or change much in the course of this book, but then, he’s over 60 and you’ve basically grown and changed all you’re going to by that point. However, the way he interacts with the rest of the characters is really special. He’s able to become the thing that the other person needs, whether it be a friend, mentor, commander, soldier, or whatever else. His interior monologue goes out of its way to claim that he doesn’t know how to be these things, that he’s just a soldier. But the beauty of the character is that he changes suit without even knowing he did it. Just by listening to the other person and filling in the gaps. 

Legend gets an A+ for Character. That’s partially based on the amount of work done in a fairly short amount of time.

Magic: There’s not really much “Magic” to speak of in Legend. Indeed, in most of Gemmell’s books. What there is reads more like a shamanistic sort of thing. A soul can leave its body and affect SOME things in the real world, but not all that much. It’s all about the power and weakness of the human mind. There’s a good amount of telepathic communication too, and that’s always fun. 

With those caveats, I like the magic system here. It’s fairly soft, without many rules or limitations, but it reads as complete. Like “this is how it is. That’s all you need to know.” I bought it and it worked the way it needed to in the context of the story. There were no parts where it felt like something was just “magic-ed” away. C+.

World Building: If Legend has a flaw, this is it. The world isn’t that well fleshed out at this point. I had to dig to even find a map. The main part of this story takes place at Dros Delnoch, which is developed well enough. We get to know the names of the walls and the reasoning behind them. 

There are hints at other empires and nations, and some vague allusions to historical figures and battles, but, as much as I love it, there isn’t much here to speak of. The world developed more as the Drenai series went on. It ends up being pretty lush, but I can’t take that into account here.

The fortress feels very real, however. We get a good sense of the layout of the walls and the people therein. Unfortunately, Gemmell intentionally leaves a lot up to the imagination, so I can't go much higher than C+.

Writing Style: I like the writing style here. For a debut novel, there’s quite a lot to recommend it. It’s not flowery at any point. He’s direct and to the point at nearly every turn. The story is told without embellishment. I like that. Tell me what’s happening without spending too much time on the color of the trees. It’s nothing special, but it’s exactly what it needs to be. Against my better judgment, I’m going A- here.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Legend, as I said, has a lot to recommend it. The stakes feel high, and real. The characters are great, and the story itself is a great iteration of an old formula. It’s short enough to read quickly, but long enough to tell the full story. What tropes there are are written well and nothing about it feels old hat to me.

There’s not much world building here, and not much of a magic system, if that’s what you’re into. Some of the character work feels a bit rushed and not all that real.

I know this is a debut novel, and I know what Gemmell said about it - that it has flaws. I can see them. He was going through something and he had to write it down and I think he did so very effectively. 

I sometimes think that my enduring love for specific books stems from nostalgia about the first time I read it. What was I going through at the time? Was I still new to the genre, and does that affect my memory of it? Legend still holds up. Every time I read it, I get the same feeling. I root for the good guys, I root against the bad guys, and I’m enchanted by the characters. It’s not perfect, but I don't care. I love it.

In the end, Legend gets a score of 73 points, out of 90. That is about 81% or a B-. It’s fair. If he’d done more world building, and bumped that score up a couple points, he’d have been at an easy B+. 

I hope you enjoyed my review of Legend, and I thank you for coming along. I look forward to reading with you next time, when we take a look at The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind. There are 11 books in the series, so I may break it down into multiple installments, with a big rating at the end. Until then, Keep reading.