Jacob Larch
Active Member
The early work of David Gemmell (not the later)
Early work has good ideas, strong characters, and I heard the story behind the writing of his first book Legend: Apparently, the author was faced with his own mortality (I think it was a cancer scare) and whilst waiting for the results, his wife suggested he write "that book he always talked of writing". So he sits down and writes Legend, about the impenetrable seven walled fortress of Dros Delnoch, staffed by ten thousand (I think) men, facing a barbarian horde of half a million, whose only salvation lies in a coward who must face his fear, and an ageing warrior who is told by death "live out your life in this mountain shack and I will grant you more years of loneliness, but travel to aid the defenders of Dros Delnoch and you will find me on the walls..."
So the author pours all his hopes and fears of his own possible death into the characters facing their certain demise at the walls. Their regret for the lives they will never lead, the wishes for the girls they will never marry, the living, the wounded, the dying and the dead- he tells you about them all.
The fears of the characters that spring off the page were his fears, their hopes were his hopes.
All ends well for the author because he lived, the cancer scare was I believe unfounded, and wrote many more novels only to sadly die years later.
His early work was solid, though I found his later stories prone to repetition of plot. However, seek out the series Legend / King beyond the Gate / Waylander, and the Jon Shannow series of particular note.
Of course, all the above could be untrue if the source who told me was equally untrue, so I'm quoting the story the way I first heard it, so no offence to anyone who can disprove this.
Seek them out if you don't know them, and good reading!
Early work has good ideas, strong characters, and I heard the story behind the writing of his first book Legend: Apparently, the author was faced with his own mortality (I think it was a cancer scare) and whilst waiting for the results, his wife suggested he write "that book he always talked of writing". So he sits down and writes Legend, about the impenetrable seven walled fortress of Dros Delnoch, staffed by ten thousand (I think) men, facing a barbarian horde of half a million, whose only salvation lies in a coward who must face his fear, and an ageing warrior who is told by death "live out your life in this mountain shack and I will grant you more years of loneliness, but travel to aid the defenders of Dros Delnoch and you will find me on the walls..."
So the author pours all his hopes and fears of his own possible death into the characters facing their certain demise at the walls. Their regret for the lives they will never lead, the wishes for the girls they will never marry, the living, the wounded, the dying and the dead- he tells you about them all.
The fears of the characters that spring off the page were his fears, their hopes were his hopes.
All ends well for the author because he lived, the cancer scare was I believe unfounded, and wrote many more novels only to sadly die years later.
His early work was solid, though I found his later stories prone to repetition of plot. However, seek out the series Legend / King beyond the Gate / Waylander, and the Jon Shannow series of particular note.
Of course, all the above could be untrue if the source who told me was equally untrue, so I'm quoting the story the way I first heard it, so no offence to anyone who can disprove this.
Seek them out if you don't know them, and good reading!
