Karsa Orlong

Mildly amusing rough version of the first chapter of SE's new sf story: Willful Child

Thoughts on Gemmell's 'Troy Trilogy': Lord of the Silver Bow Shield of Thunder Fall of Kings

^^ Book #78: Fall of Kings (Troy Trilogy Book 3) by David & Stella Gemmell Blurb: Darkness falls on the Great Green, and the Ancient World is fiercely divided. On the killing fields outside the golden city of Troy, forces loyal to the Mykene King mass. Among them is Odysseus, fabled storyteller and reluctant ally to the Mykene, who knows that he must soon face his former friends in deadly combat. Within the city, the Trojan king waits. Ailing and bitter, his hope is pinned on two heroes: his favourite son Hektor, and the dread Helikaon who will wreak terrible vengeance for the death of his wife at Mykene hands. War has been declared. As enemies, who are also kinsmen, are filled with bloodlust, they know that many of them will die, and that some will become heroes: heroes who will live for ever in a story that will echo down the centuries. Thoughts: It's very rare that I read all the books in a series (or, in this case, trilogy) consecutively, so I'm quite happy that - although I suffered a mini burn-out towards the end of the second book, and a little at the start of this - the last 400 pages of Fall of Kings (or, as I keep typing it, 'Fall og Kings' ) are solid gold. Which, come to think of it, would make this a blimmin' heavy book, but you know what I mean . . . David Gemmell's ponderings on the nature of heroism and the flaws in human nature are in full flow here. Just how much of this is attributable to his widow, Stella, is impossible to tell. The biggest compliment I can pay to her is that the passing of the baton from husband to wife is invisible. David had, apparently, written 70,000 words of this, his final work, when he died. I'm not sure how many words there are in this book, but I'm guessing it's around three times that. Yet it's still brimming with his wonderful characters, his gallows humour, his ability to balance the epic with the intimate. The battle scenes are intense, vicious, often scary, and always with characters you know and care about at their centre. That's what he did so well - he made you care so, when the characters fall (and many inevitably do so), their deaths resonate long afterwards. This is very much an alternate version of the story of Troy, so be prepared for the odd twist or three on the legend. I won't go into detail . . . There's a lovely four page tribute written by Conn Iggulden at the end of the book. In it, he says: "In my pantheon of literary greats, David Gemmell stands alone. I read his first book, Legend, when I was fourteen and knew even then that I had found the kind of writer I wanted to be. Like Julius Caesar himself, Gemmell wrote with a spare elegance, racing along with characters and events until I found it was dawn and I had to get up for work. Gemmell is the only writer who ever stole my nights in such a way. I'd grown up with that sort of resigned, grim humour from my father's memories of seeing friends die around him. Gemmell captured it better than anyone else I've ever read. His warriors banter and laugh at the appalling situations in which they find themselves - yet there is never any cruelty in it. Gemmell's heroes are admirable, flawed and very, very human. Though the author passed on too soon, his people: Jon Shannow, Helikaon, Waylander, Regnak, Bane, Tenaka Khan, Parmenion, Druss, Connavar and all the others live and remain. Gemmell wrote about real heroes and in doing so, made me want to be one. That's good writing." Couldn't have said it better myself. 9/10

Well I've lost all respect for Louis - not a single book on display in his house, for shame!

Also just found out that the follow up to Bitter Seeds is out on Kindle next week - I hadn't even checked that as I had seen that the paperback is out in February. Hmm. Well, I'm definitely getting the paperback, so the question is whether or not I can hang on until Feb or if I'll succumb and get the Kindle version, too, so I can read it sooner

Ooooooooh! http://www.rorycleme....asp?NewsID=104 Out tomorrow, what a nice surprise - love the John Shakespeare books so far

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1t8fl96HPQI Should help to block out the sound of my colleagues sniffing . . .

That was the first one of his that I ever read

Well, you might want to wait until you see the whole movie, but the scene in question is

Pick one from this lot: Bradley Wiggins Sir Chris Hoy Sarah Storey Andy Murray Jessica Ennis Ellie Simmonds Mo Farah Katherine Grainger Rory McIlroy Nicola Adams Ben Ainslie David Weir My head says Wiggins, my heart says Jess or Mo. Crikey, it's difficult, as expected! http://www.bbc.co.uk...nality/20466947

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKeTD8E8Nkg

I'd forgotten how much I like this lot

Dear Lord, that's scary Is it worth taking bets on whether or not Pendles cries on ITT tonight?

Yeah, it's been pretty boring so far. Shame, because I very much enjoyed the previous couple of seasons. Also, it would be nice if Morgana could magic up some water and shampoo and wash her blimmin' hair

Heatwave! Heatwave! Of course, that only makes sense if you've seen A Muppet Christmas Carol

Just bought Justin Cronin's The Twelve for a friend's birthday present, and Patrick O'Brian's Post Captain for myself

Hmm, yeah, I've noticed everyone tip-toeing around Pendles - they obviously realised how emotionally fragile she is. Not that it's any excuse. I thought all along that Brenda should have been tougher with her - but he seems to have become a big softie since Kelly kicked him into shape a few years ago

^^ I should have mentioned, of course, that David Gemmell passed away two months before Shield of Thunder was published. He had had quadruple heart bypass surgery just months before, and was found slumped at his keyboard by his wife, Stella, on 28th July 2006. He had been working on the final book of his Troy trilogy, Fall of Kings. Stella decided to finish that final novel almost immediately, which I find quite remarkable considering the circumstances. It was published in 2007.

Yep, I'm glad they're sticking to their guns and not extending it any further.

Oh I backed her all the way in the Olympics, for sure, and she is naturally pretty, but I wouldn't vote for her just for that reason. Heck, if I voted for the dancers just based on their looks I'd still be voting for Kelly Brook every year You'd have to touch sf and fantasy books . . . might make you ill, can't have that Um, no . . . and what the hell did they do to her hair?? That's why I agreed with the judges - he's got all the moves, now he just needs to perform. His biggest problem, for me, though is that I spend more time watching Flavia than I do watching him Why is that a mystery? They seem like that every year, to me

Book #77: Shield of Thunder (Troy Trilogy Book 2) by David Gemmell Blurb: The war of Troy is looming, and all the kings of the Great Green are gathering, friends and enemies, each with their own dark plans of conquest and plunder. Into this maelstrom of treachery and deceit come three travellers; Piria, a runaway priestess nursing a terrible secret, Kalliades, a warrior with a legendary sword, and Banokles who will carve his own legend in the battles to come. Shield of Thunder takes the reader back into the glories and tragedies of Bronze Age Greece, reuniting the characters from Lord of the Silver Bow; the dread Helikaon and his great love, the fiery Andromache, the mighty Hektor and the fabled storyteller, Odysseus. Thoughts: I won't say too much about this one, in case it spoils anything from the previous book. I thought that, whilst this one wasn't as good as the first, it's still a good read. There are some revealing sub-plots, particularly with regard to Andromache and Hektor, and some good new characters but - again - much of this is build-up to the main event, which surprised me. As such, it deals with a lot of the political machinations involved which, to Gemmell's credit, is kept clear and is never confusing. And thankfully it never loses sight of the characters and their various plights. Kalliades and Banokles are the winners this time around, as well as Andromache and Odysseus. However, after saying that Gemmell never wastes a word in my thoughts on the first book, I did think this one started to plod a little towards the end, verging towards the familiar feel of his regular fantasy novels. I am wondering if I thought this due to author 'fatigue' - in that I very, very rarely read two books consecutively by the same author. That may have counted a little against this one (and may count even more against the third and final instalment, which I have already started) but, ultimately, I think this one suffers a little from 'middle book' syndrome, and is probably a little too long for its own good. 8/10