Legend (Drenai Tales, Book 1)

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Summary: Legend
Review: Legend, Legend, Legend. If you EVER read a book. READ Legend. Stirring - you will cheer, you will cry, you will think. Great action, believable characters. Druss is The Legend, but all the characters will be. I do not need a movie, this one is still playing in my soul.

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Summary: Legend
Review: My paperbook copy is now dogeared and torn, but everytime I read it, it just gets better. This is without a doubt the best book I have ever read. The whole story is so carefully woven and planned that the pieces just fall into place. Apparently it took him 10 years to write(it was his first book) and I just have to say thankyou to him. He has changed my outlook and life, and hopefully many others.

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Summary: Im no Heroic fantasy reader, but this is superb...
Review: Ive just finished reading "Legend " which took me three evenings. Honestly, I don't know how I could waste so much time on Stephen King and Anne Rice. Legend is such a monumental book. Superb. One of the best books Ive ever read. Im so glad I read the reviews of it. I hope they put money into the film they are talking of making, with Sean Connery. Seeing the big screen full of half a million Nadir warriors charging at the city walls, with the defenders facing certain death should be mind-blowing, and sharing the experience of hopeless defense, together with the ageing Legend (Connery) hacking away with his axe should be an experience no-one will forget. What a book. Don't let the theme of heroic fantasy put you off, you wont regret reading this.

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Summary: A fantastic read if you accept that all people are heroes.
Review: Legend is one of THE fantasy books of the millenium. The story is of epic proportion and the authors descriptions of a huge battle is incredibly realistic and with his characters being so damn likeable the book is one that you cannot put down. My only complaint with this book is that Mr Gemmel tends to turn his characters into superhumans and it spoils it a bit. but there you go.

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Summary: Opened my eyes to fantasy
Review: I had read the Winter King series by Bernard Cornwell and didn't belive fiction got any better. WRONG Legend i picked up as i was browsing for something/anything to read. How good a discovery, the true battle of the weak against the strong, a David and Goliath beyond compare. Unless you are a Mills and Boons fan read this. I don't want to review it as i have no wish to spoil such a marvoullous read. 400 and odd pages, if it takes u more than 2 days i'll be supprised.

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Summary: one of the best books I have ever read
Review: This is perhaps the best fantasy book I have ever read. The rest of the books in the Drenai series are wonderful... but I believe this is the best.

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Summary: One Of The Best Heroic Fantasy Books Ever Written...PERIOD!
Review: I remember buying this book back in the mid 80's during it's previous incarnation, when it first came out here in the USA. (it was originally called 'Against the Horde') The original cover was rather dull & lifeless compared to all of the other fancy colorful covers on sci-fi & fantasy books surrounding it at the time. I picked it up by accident & almost put it back down...but stopped to read the back first...something about the poorly painted warrior with the axe caught my attention on the front cover...or maybe it was fate. I read the back & it sounded interesting...an old heroe's last stand against impossible odds...cool!. I purchased it on impulse & started reading it...& was forever changed on how I view & judge fantasy novels. I literally could not put this book down & read it straight through from start to finish. This book will make you want to laugh, cry, & believe in something a lot bigger than yourself. As far as I am concerned this book (Along with King Beyond the Gate, also by Gemmell) establishes Gemmell as the finest writer of fantasy novels EVER. The only drawback to reading Gemmell's books are that once having read his best work, every other fantasy & sci-fi book by another author that you pick up & start reading will more than likely seem like it was written by a pathetic wannabe hack...no kidding.

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Summary: If all writers wrote like David Gemmel does, TV would die!
Review: I have only read "legend" once, much to my dismay. But that once, opened my eyes to the world of literature. I class books in to two catagorys, 1) Books that are studied and disected by "learned men". 2) And books that were writen to entertain. When I say literature I mean the later of the two catagorys, a good writer can keep his audiance enthralled in his work for hours, David Gemmel is such a writer. I have read all of David Gemmel's book's and I own a copy of all but one of his books, Legend. The nice thing about David Gemmel's writing style is that, whether he is writing a Fantasy or a Western novel, he takes his readers across from one backround and way of imagening to anoter without any problem at all.

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Summary: Perhaps the greatest book ever written
Review: Shakespeare, not quite. Dickens, not really. Poe, get real. We're talking Gemmell here. Now, I must admit that I am not a avid fantasy book fan. But when a friend suggested "Legend" to me, I took him up on good faith. No book has ever struck me the way Legend does. With it's amazing detail, precise characterization, and wonderful story, Legend is a monument to all that has been written before. From the start, you are sucked into a twisting plot of fantasy with a very realistic feel. Legend is a legend among books, and should become a part of everybody's vocabulary. I laughed, cried, and jumped up and down. Legend. That's all there is too it.

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Summary: Gemmel is easily the best fantasy author in the world
Review: I read my first Gemmel book several years ago and it was Legend. Since then I have read absolutely everything he has done. Legend is a brilliant brilliant book. What makes every Gemmel book are truly inspirational characters who you want to read about. Its not just about magic, fantasy or swords its mainly about people and their relationships and to sound very cheesy the capacity for greatness in the human soul. Well I like it and recommend you read every Drenai book he has written. His other books are good but not quite as good.