The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend: Drenai Series

In this installment of the series we go back in time to see the legend of Druss begin. After seeing his ending in an earlier book it was nice to learn more about him and flesh out the legend of Druss. We see Druss as a young villager as he starts an epic journey to reunite with his wife who was taken by slavers on a raid of his village. We see him learn to bare knuckle fight and become a champion, then cross an ocean in search of his lost love. We see him become an emperor's champion, make a few very good friends and do things few warriors can do. Another great book by the great Mr. Gemmell.

From countryside youth to warrior legend is a tale often told, but a few things set this story apart. First, it's published after other books revolving about the same hero, Druss the Deathstalker, and in its intent to serve as a telling of coming of age/origins, it serves its purpose, adding depth to an already popular character. Second, the hero is constantly struggling with a dark family legacy; his allies often showcase endearing flaws, while some of his opponents are embued with redeeming qualities; and the story unfolds over many years, decades even. As a result, you get attached to many of the characters and feel the frustration and loss of Druss when he's powerless to shield them from the tides of history or the somber forces of destiny at play in his life. Combat scenes are described effectively, but for avid readers of fantasy or military history, the battles will often evoke a sense of "deja vu" lacking the minutiae or inventiveness of other books of the genre. All in all, an enjoyable and easy read.

'The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend' is the long-awaited prequel to Legend, Book 1 of David Gemmell's Drenai Series. This book takes a realistic look at the life of Druss, the man behind all of the epic ballads and sagas. The legends say that Druss rescued fair princesses from vile dragons, but this was never the case. This book details some of Druss's greatest accomplishments in 4 Parts. His quest to find his kidnapped wife Rowena, his demonic axe Snaga, the Chaos Warrior, and the battle of Skeln Pass...Characters:The legends depict Druss as a dashingly handsome dragon slayer and Rowena was a princess of astonishing beauty. But the truth is not as poetic as the legends. Druss is a simple man with a fairly unattractive flat face, who has a warrior's instincts and a gift when it comes to wielding an axe. He lives by a simple, but rigid code of honor and a thirst for battle. During a raid, his wife, a farm girl, was kidnapped and he travels halfway across the world to rescue her. Not for her beauty or a king's ransom, but because she is the woman that he loves.Writing Style:David Gemmell's Writing Style is epic. His settings are majestic, the action is fierce, and his characters are gritty and likeable. Although this book is about dispelling exaggerated sagas and tales of old war heroes, the characters and deeds are still very heroic. When you learn the truth behind the legends, the legends seem like silly fairy tales when compared to the actual events.Pacing:This book would have been better if it was just a "rescue the girl" story, but instead it skips around quite a bit and feels a bit rushed. The book is very good, but it just doesn't flow well and feels a bit anti-climactic.Action:As with all Gemmell Books, this is loaded with visceral action. There are fist fights, duels, skirmishes, castle sieges, field battles, etc... This book has just about every type of action you can imagine and it's all hard hitting and gritty.Maturity:This book is for adults. There's graphic violence and non-graphic sex and rape.Overall:I wouldn't say this is David Gemmell's best book, but if you ever wanted to know the truth behind Druss the Legend, then you will really enjoy it.If you enjoyed this book, you should read other books by David Gemmell, especially: Legend, Waylander, Winter Warriors, The Knights of Dark Reknown, and the Rigante books! You may also enjoy the original Conan stories of Robert Howard, the fantastic Cale Trilogies by Paul Kemp, or the First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie.

Being a fan of David Gemmell for many years it may come as a surprise to some that it has taken me this long to finally read this book, the precursor to all The Legend books.Interestingly it did not meet my expectations.The battle of Skeln Pass is often alluded to in many of Gemmell's works as the pinnacle in the making of The Legend, so as a long time fan my expectations of the battle was very high. I did not expect it to be written in the form of say, Pressfield's "Gates of Fire" but I honestly thought that the author would give it the weight of importance it deserved rather than the single chapter towards the end of the book that it actually received. This is the only disappointment that I have with this fast paced hero's journey to save his true love.As with all Gemmell's works the action is unrelenting, fast paced and violent. The characters are well written and come to life with ease and become familiar to the reader without much effort or complication.For any one new to this writer's work it will not disappoint but to long time fans it may be seen as not good as it could've been.Suffice to say that I still remain a loyal fan of this writer's many works.

If you enjoyed Legend you will need to read this book. In it we learn of the early life of Druss and how his legend grew. His meeting with his wife,whom he follows across the world and his friendship with Sieben whose poems flamed the myth. The battle scenes are well written,vividly describing the deadĺy skills commanded by Druss, and the warriors with him. A loyal fan of Gemmell since early childhood i may be biased towards his style, but I think if you like these fantasy stories, you will not want to put this down.

Ever since reading David Gemmell's 'Troy' series of books I have been hooked on Gemmell as an author. I have since begun to read all of his books and the Drenai books are simply wonderful reads.I was originally unsure about whether to read the Drenai books as I've never been a huge fan of heroic fantasy - however given just how much I enjoyed the Troy books and the wonderful writing style of David Genmmell I decided to try them. I am so pleased that I did and I have now read nearly all of Gemmell's books and urge anyone considering the books to do it, you will not be disappointed.All of the books are great and can be read as stand alone books or in order. The characters are wonderfully bought to life, there's love, romance, humour, twists & turns, betrayal, revenge, heroes, villains, sorcery, savagery, battles, emotional roller coasters and noble deeds and you will simply fall into the world the Gemmell creates for you. These books deserve to be read and its a an absolute tragedy that Gemmell is no longer with us.

It's Ok if you like historical fantasy fiction, and in fairness, I think it probably helps if you've read other books in the series. This was the first of David Gemmell's books which I have read, and is probably not the best one to start with. There are a lot of characters, and it's sometimes hard to remember who is who, and why they are fighting whoever it is they are fighting.

Having waited a long time to read the Drenai books on the Kindle I was excited to finally see these released although they are available elsewhere for other e-readers. Firstly, the stories are fast paced and exatly what you would expect if you have read Legend. The book fills in the back story on why Druss has turned out how he is is and his meeting with those characters referenced in Legend - Rowena, Sieben, etc It's fast paced with great fight scenes andover beore you know it leaving you wanting more - luckily there is Deathwalker but available on other ereaders :-( For the story I would it it 5 stars -a great, rip-roaring read.Now the bad news and the poor rating. The Kindle conversion is not very good with Druss often referred to as Dross and lots of puncutation mistakes throughput which detract from the story. There were a few similar errors in Legend but I put that down to nit picking. But here speech marks are left out almost throughout and to make a hash of the hero's name is unforgiveable. Does no-one quality assure the conversions I had the same issue with teh Sara Douglass books - is it just this genre? - but come on Amazon you can do better. I sheer frustration I have now downloaded Kobo where these books have been available for some time and to-date no errors....

The sixth book in David Gemmell's Drenai series but chronologically the first in the saga following the adventures of Druss as a young man and a prequel to Legend. Non-stop action but still an absorbing read, never dull and always entertaining.Classic David Gemmell. Yet another of the most brilliant of fantasy writers no longer with us and greatly missed.