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| By Jake from Lewisham Branch |
This week I thought I would look at some more Fantasy Fiction. With a wealth of books to choose from it was quite tough to figure out which one to pick. After much internal debate I decided to go with one that resonates very deeply with me on a personal level.
Legend is the first book David Gemmell wrote and published.
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| Another view of Jake's Gemmell Collection |
There's an awful lot of background to this that I will come back to later, however my introduction to the book was actually quite simple.
One year when my mum and I were heading to visit my grandparents in Dorset I was desperately looking for something to read. I must have been in my early 20's, not long out of Uni. I was bored of reading non-fiction after 3 years of History and Politics so I was trying to find some fiction.
My father gave me a battered old book with a warrior on the front and the word Legend in big, bold letters. I read it on the train down. I read it in the car to my grandparents. I read it at breakfast, lunch and dinner.
It was very difficult to put down. It was too appealing to find out what happened. We find ourselves in the Drenai Empire, once one of the most powerful realms in the world, but now in a state of slow decline.
All is not well to the north. The nomadic Nadir Tribes are uniting under
the rule of a chieftain named Ulric. Ruling a great empire of his own
Ulric turns his attention south to Dros Delnoch, the impressive frontier
fort of the weakened Drenai.
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| Jake's Copy of Legend by David Gemmell |
Delnoch sits in a mountain pass, with six high walls and a great keep.
The garrison however has dwindled, left forgotten by a complacent ruler.
Yet it is the best hope the Drenai have. If Dros Delnoch can hold for
three months it might just buy the Drenain enough time to build an army.
If not, all will be lost.
Our two main protagonists are completely contrasting. Regnak 'Rek' Wanderer. Former officer in the Drenai Army, but shrewd enough to sense an impending war between the Drenai and Nadir so he decides to resign his commission. Yet fate doesn't appear to be done with Rek yet. He hides a secret, a rage that can make the self admitted coward a phenomenal warrior.
This rage is revealed as he saves the daughter of The Earl of Bronze, lord of Delnoch. Despite his best efforts to avoid facing the coming war Rek cannot outrun destiny.
The other is Druss The Legend. The man who gives the book its title. Known by many names, including The Deathwalker, Druss is a hero of the Drenai.
A formidable warrior who has never been bested in single combat, armed with the formerly demon-possessed axe Snaga the Sender. Druss is an inspiration to the Drenai having fought and won countless battles.
Yet a prophecy has foretold he will fall at Dros Delnoch, however he is given an option. Stay put and fall into senility, or meet his destiny head on.
Druss is no coward, preferring instead a glorious end rather than sitting out the war and slowly slipping away.
And so our two protagonists head to face their future.
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| From The Times Digital Archive |
Fate. Destiny. A doomed fortress. A reluctant hero and a living legend. Upon first reading while I loved the book it certainly felt like it hit a lot of Fantasy Fiction cliches, however when I researched the background to the book these took on deeper meaning. When I re-read Legend it became more than just another, all be it enjoyable, fantasy epic.
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| Jakes's Collection of David Gemmell books |
Gemmell initially drafted Legend in 1976. It was originally called 'Against the Horde', and he wrote it as a way to take his mind off waiting for the result of a cancer test. The Nadir, Dros Delnoch, it's all metaphors.
Luckily the test came back negative, so Gemmell abandoned the draft thinking it wasn't very good.
Four years later a friend of his would find the incomplete manuscript and tell him it was actually very good.
Gemmell completed it and in 1982 it was picked up by a publisher.
Every reading since I found that out has given me a much deeper appreciation for this book. I have lost more people I love to cancer than I care to admit. This book, to me, is the maybe the perfect metaphor for what they must have felt.
Whenever I read Legend it reminds me of those I have lost, but also of their lives and the impact they had on the world around them. It's a bittersweet book for me. I can only imagine what facing cancer must feel like, but this book certainly gave me a deeper level of empathy to those who suffer it. I can appreciate whether it's just a scare or the real thing, this is how it would feel.
Insurmountable odds, an uncertain future, and dark days ahead. It must feel very bleak at points. Yet Gemmell's completed draft reminds us of one thing, we always have hope, and we must hold that close.
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| From The Times Digital Archive |
No matter how dark or daunting things seem we must hold hope close.
Want to check it out for yourself?
You can find it on our E-Library here.
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