He had a clear ethos/worldview that runs through all his books. When I was starting to think about the mechanics of writing he was the first author I looked hard at and said 'how is he making me feel like this?' He knows how to push emotional buttons. I was a very different person in a very different world when I read Legend at 21 from the man I am at 57. (none of the writing awards I've won are not weapons.) If you ever see me limping, you'll know how I lost those toes. I have two Legend Awards dangerously perched on my shelves. For a decade they handed out the Legend Award, Morningstar Award, and Ravenheart Award. Even readers prefer not to read too much.Īs a side note, Gemmell's success won him many fans, some of whom set up the Gemmell Awards in his name after his untimely death. The rest of the world are giving their attention out in 30 second chunks on twitter and tiktok. In the not so distant past blogs were a vibrant platform, the blogosphere was the place were books were made or broken.

I count several of them among my best reading experiences.īut the past is, as L.P Hartley reminds us, a foreign country - they do things differently there. I went on to read a whole bunch of his books and hugely enjoyed them. My copy is from 1987, so it's actually 36 years since I first and last read it. Legend, David Gemmel's debut novel, was published in 1984. I've broken these things up into sections as it turns out that I went on at length! I am, however, going to talk about reading it twice with ~40 years between the reads, leading into the whole business of seeing things with new (or older) eyes, and wandering into the territory of tribalism, identity, and the emotional bonds we form with books. Relax, I am not going to attack this novel! The 5* from my original review can stand. For me it's a big milestone along my fantasy journey!īelow is my rewritten review - the original one was from memory of reading it back in the 80's.

Astonishingly this is the 22nd hit when you type 'Legend' into the search engine.

Legenda david gemmell