Red Indian Summer
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This well written fantasy epic has the advantage of not been part of a long multi-part series, unlike many works of this genre. This means the plot can unfold properly, with a beginning, middle and end and that the characters can all meet their various fates without the author having to worry about keeping some, or all, of them around for the follow-ups.
Gemmell makes the most of this freedom with every plot line tied up satisfactorily to make this novel a worthwhile as well as an enjoyable read.
Although it is only coincidental (surely!) that one of the main characters is called "Talaban", actually the author does use the detailed fantasy-society he creates to consider various extreme forms of government. So the life stealing Avatars are compared to Patrician nobles ruling over serfs, but are the back-stabbing rebels who supposedly represent the enslaved masses any better? Considering this in some of the most interesting passages in the book, Gemmell does not come up with any easy answers, basically implying all goverments are corrupt. Significantly, the barbarian tribesmen, based on Native Americans, free of the trappings of formal rule, are shown to be the best adjusted of the races portrayed.
The very early pages of the book are a little dry, as an incredible amount of background detail has to be imparted to get the story going, but really this is a compliment to the author as this is achieved very quickly and the action soon kicks in.
The dying superhuman race of God Kings losing their powers to the younger civilizations they rule over may seem a bit too similar to Moorcock's great Melniboneans, but there is only a superficial resemblance, here the Avatars use science not magic to establish their dominance.
My only real criticism of this well crafted book is that after carefully setting up a conflict between masters and slaves, between superhumans and mere mortals, this interestingly poised struggle is upset by the appearance of an alien race who both the Avatars and their subjects can unite to fight against.
This feels a bit like a cop-out, and from there onwards the book proceeds as a pretty standard Fantasy battle book.
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GEMMELL DOES IT AGAIN
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David Gemmell is a master of his craft and to say that I have enjoyed his books would be an understatement. However when I picked up this one I did so with a little less enthusiasm than usual. I had heard the odd comment, seen a couple of reviews that suggested that this didn't measure up to the very high standards that Gemmell has set himself. I am pleased to say they were wrong. Maybe it lacks a character as strong as Druss or Waylander! Maybe it doesn't quite have the impact of Legend or Wolf in the shadow! But do we just want more of the same? Echoes of the Great Song is a little more subtle than previous offerings, luring you into a broken world where the ruling race, The Avatars have enjoyed the power of gods. However the time of the Avatar is nearing its end. They find their society slipping into oblivion, rendered near powerless by a natural disaster. As rulers they had once been great but their power had ultimately corrupted them. Echoes of the Great Song for me threads the stories of its numerous characters together to weave a tapestry of sacrifice and redemption. Gemmell's gift is to create characters we both love and hate. Wonderful characters, capable of acts of both great good and evil. Characters, that catapults us into the grey area between light and dark. My verdict, a great read and I can't wait to read Troy Legend of the Silver Bow his latest offering.
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A Great new stand alone story from Gemmell
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I was quite blown away by this very different storyline.
As another reviewer points out...I also dont know why but I loved this story. It so different from your normal run of the mill fantasy fiction; It flows along at a good steady pace with new characters and surprises appearing and they dont let you get bored at all.I have not given this a 5 star because in effect it is only a short story compared to the ongoing multi book epics by Jordon, Martin and Erikson. However, as a stand alone one book story it is very impressive. I won't give the story line away, but it is well worth reading and was just as entertaining as Gemmell's "MorningStar", which I thoroughly enjoyed as well.
Read it!!! I'm sure most fantasy fiction fans will be glad they did
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Gemmell in his 'experimental' phase...
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...But it's still Gemmell. The strange thing about this novel is that,unlike in usual David Gemmell novels, I didn't find myself overlyattatched to the characters. I used to think that I read on into the nightbecause I really cared what happens to them, but this book showed me thatmaybe that wasn't the case. There is a lot of swapping from point of viewto point of view with around eight characters sharing the narrative, andsix of these are probably as important to the plot as each other. There isalso little of the intricate descriptions of hand-to-hand (orsword-to-sword) combat that usually characterises Gemmell's writing sowell. But that didn't seem to matter to me here, and perhaps it is thetwists and turns of David Gemmell's story-lines that keeps me intrigued.This novel certainly has all that is necessary in the story-lines, and thenew magic is a joy to learn about, as always. This is a cracking read,although it seems a far cry from Legend and Waylander. Perhaps that is thefifteen or so years?
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Excellent novel but not without faults
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This was my first DG book and judging from this one, I may be buying more. This is a great book with a very interesting and original storyline, mixing mythology and magic into a war theme. I found it hard to put it down,and one of the only faults of the book was that it does not develop the characters enough for the reader to relate to. Nonetheless, go ahead and buy it!
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