Legend

If you like stories about grand heroes who stand up for the downtrodden, who fight for a righteous cause, then Legend is a shining beacon of this sort of fantasy. Gemmell was a prolific writer and a good one at that. His books are always fascinated with the concept of heroism and the individual sacrifice required to be a hero. Indeed, the concept of 'the stoic hero' always play a key theme in pretty much every single one his (many) novels.Expect bloody battles, glorious last stands, magic, love, valor, sacrifice, honor, horror, and all that good stuff that makes you weep with joy. Come read about men who refuse to sacrifice their values no matter what the cost. This is not a tale about doing evil for the greater good, but doing good always no matter the cost. It's the fantasy fiction version of Band of Brothers, Saving Private Ryan, Fury and any and every one of those movies about war, death, and courage and heroism where a band of men (and women) face insurmountable odds and certain death, but refuse to. Gemmell absolutely delights in telling the story of a broken man (often a man past his prime who just wants peace) who tries to find meaning through sacrifice.With 'modern' fantasy celebrating tales where heroes are villains and villains are heroes, where the idea that the villain and hero are simply two sides of the same coin, the works of Gemmell stand out as a pillar that repudiates this idea. Gemmell's works are very much dichotomous. Words created of black and white rather than shades of the same colors. The Hero, then, is a hero in the true sense and villains are villainous.Gemmell does not try and wow you with lyrical words, twisted political plots, or complicated narrative structure, but rather, he spends his energy writing action packed, emotionally enthralling heroic tales.Gemmell is more of a storyteller than a writer and it shows in his rather simple, mostly utilitarian prose. His early works (like Legend) are rough around the edges, stylistically, but the passion and the heart of the story shine even beneath the roughness. His later works, however, like his Troy series, show a drastic improvement in his ability as a writer of prose with the final book in the trilogy (finished by his wife after he died), the best of the bunch with a far more refined writing style that Gemmell lacked.While 'Legend' is standing in for all of Gemmell's Drenai books, I feel his best work was in fact his final work before he passed away, his magnificently written Troy Trilogy (starts with Lord of the Silver Bow), which cleverly re-invents the Greek story of Troy.In this version of the Best Fantasy Books list, I've finally added Gemmell to the top list, in no small part due to his enormous contribution to the genre, specifically, to Heroic fantasy. There are perhaps more clever, better written books out there -- even among the author's own body of work --  but Gemmell was a pioneer. And by the end of his career he really was a master of his specific craft.So come all ye who are weary of anti-heroes and dastardly heroes. Legend is your salvation.