R.I.P. David Gemmell

Grail

Feel the funk blast
Wow... I'm sorry to hear that he's passed away, as I used to be a big fan of his work. I read part of the Jon Shannow series when I was 11 or 12 while traveling in England, and I remember really getting into the story.

Though I've never really been a big reader of fantasy literature, his stuff I really enjoyed. It's a shame he died so suddenly and at such a young age.
 

Azn He-Man666

Was it you who killed my companions,one after one?
Aazealh said:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5224868.stm

Wow, I didn't know... He died at just 57 years old too, that's pretty young for a writer. I considered him to be one of the few good living authors of fantasy.
Yeah, I'm feeling the same way, this is pretty damn surreal, definitely came out of nowhere... The part of it that really gets me, is that not only is 57 extremely young(especially for a writer, as you said), but I can't help but feel that Gemmell had more than a few stories left in him; I mean, you know there are other things that Druss or any number of his other heroes have done, or that Skilgannon could have stood another book or two to get developed(in his own time), just that extra bit.(I mean, I could've stood for knowing why Ulric owed him that life debt...) Simply put, knowing that we'll never again be returning to the lands of the Drenai really, really sucks, especially in a genre as full of trite, dime-a-dozen books as fantasy is. Aaz, you once told me that oftentimes in stores if you were seen holding a fantasy book you felt embarassed because of the quality of writing the lion's share of this genre consists of, I can echo your sentiments, but at the same time, this is something I've never once felt -nor would I- while holding a piece of Gemmell's work.

It's strange, since Aaz first introduced me to Gemmell a year or so back(I think it was...?) I've been picking up near anything by him(almost always involving the Drenai saga) that I can get my hands on, and never once have I regretted it. Authors like Gemmell, with such a level of intution that they can pull off characters as convincing and life-like as these(while still remaining interesting, no less), especially within the fantasy genre, unfortunately are something that recently, I find to be far and few between.

Though more than even that in my opinion, through reading Gemmell, I really started to get the feeling that he knew better than anyone else in near any form of media(that I've read or seen, at least :guts:) what true heroism really is. And he's one of the few authors that's really helped to shape my own perceptions of it. Considering his life, and the interviews of him I've read, this really doesn't surprise me in the least.

While I could sit here showering praises upon the man all day(God knows I haven't done it near-enough), for the time being I'll cut myself short and say this, for those of you wandering into the topic that may've managed to suffer through the ramblings above and haven't read Gemmell, try it out!

Legend his first, in addition to being the first within the Drenai saga(written that is, not chronologically), is one that focuses on his staple recurring character Druss, one whom stars in several of the Drenai saga books thereafter. I really don't think one could ask for a better springboard into Gemmell than Legend, it definitely in my opinion, captures the spirit of what Gemmell's all about.

Sorry about the convoluted post, I'm a bit tired at the moment, and got excited.

And Aaz, strange that after showing him to me, you should be the one to give me this news, too.
 
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