In our Author Spotlight feature, we’ll be focusing on a different author every few months – be it a classic writer who has stood the test of time, or new author destined to be a future classic. We’ll be discussing just what it is that makes their body of work outstanding, their worlds mesmerising and their stories un-put-downable.

The section is designed to give a brief introduction to those who have always been tempted to try a certain author, but are unsure about where to start. We hope it will give you all the tools and inspiration necessary to embark upon an new reading adventure, to dip your toe in the waters of possibility and – who knows? – perhaps dive head-first into a whole new universe!

This month, the author in the spotlight is: David Gemmell.

Who was David Gemmell?

David Gemmell, widely regarded as Britain’s ‘king of heroic fantasy’, wrote over thirty novels before he died in 2006. In life, he was as charismatic and colourful as many of his best-loved heroes.

Gemmell was born in 1948 in a tough part of West London. Raised by his mother, he was often subjected to bullying and violence from other children. ‘Sometimes adults too would weigh in,’ he later reflected. ‘Before I was sixteen I’d had over sixty stitches in wounds caused from fights.’ Gemmell’s saviour was his step-father, Bill Woodford, who encouraged him to take up boxing and to stand up for himself. Gemmell went on to base his most famous character on Bill – ‘When I wrote my first novel, I used Bill as the model for a character. His name was Druss the Legend. Bill re-appeared in many novels thereafter, in many guises. Always flawed, but always heroic.’

After being thrown out of school for allegedly organising a gambling syndicate, Gemmell worked as a labourer, a lorry-driver’s mate and a nightclub bouncer. He eventually landed a job as a junior reporter for a local newspaper, suggesting later that he only got the job because the interviewer ‘mistook my arrogance for confidence.’ He went on to work as an editor for a number of local and national newspapers.

At the age of 28, Gemmell was told he might have cancer. While waiting for the test results, he wrote a novel that he called ‘The Siege of Dros Delnoch’, hoping to achieve his ambition of having a novel published before his death. ‘It contained all I wanted to say about life,’  he said. When the test results came back negative, Gemmell filed the manuscript away and forgot about it. Several years later, after friends urged him to revisit the story, Gemmell re-wrote the novel.

The result was LEGEND, his best-loved novel and a heroic fantasy classic that has been in print for over 25 years and remains hugely popular.

Gemmell took up writing full-time after being fired from his editorial job for basing a character in WAYLANDER on the chief executive of his newspaper. ‘He regarded it as a poisonous attack on his integrity,’ he admitted. Gemmell went on to write many more novels and became one of Britain’s best-loved fantasy authors. The Times recently listed him at number three on the list of biggest-selling fantasy authors in the UK, citing his sales of 1.5 million.

David Gemmell died in 2006, but his legacy lives on.

So where should I start?

Gemmell forged his reputation as a master storyteller with the Drenai series, which features many of his best-loved books and remains hugely popular with readers. These are classic novels of heroic fantasy, pacy and full of action, featuring a whole host of memorable characters such as Druss the Legend and the assassin Waylander. While the tales are unashamedly black and white, Gemmell’s protagonists are far more complex. Their self-sacrifice and heroism, often in the face of overwhelming danger and self-doubt, struck a chord with millions of readers around the world.

The books in the Drenai series can be read as standalones. In order of publication, they are:

• LEGEND (UK | ANZ)
• THE KING BEYOND THE GATE (UK | ANZ)
• WAYLANDER (UK | ANZ)
• QUEST FOR LOST HEROES (UK | ANZ)
• WAYLANDER II: IN THE REALM OF THE WOLF (UK | ANZ)
• THE FIRST CHRONICLES OF DRUSS THE LEGEND (UK | ANZ)

LEGEND is an excellent starting point, as it introduces Gemmell’s most famous character, Druss the Legend, and is widely considered one of his greatest books. Gemmell certainly held a lot of affection for his debut novel. ‘This will always be my favourite book,’ he said. ‘It has all the heart and contains just about everything I believe in.’

Another good place to jump in is WAYLANDER, which introduces the enigmatic assassin Waylander – another of Gemmell’s classic characters. ‘My very first attempt at a redemption novel,’ Gemmell commented. ‘Even now I still wonder how I injected so much pace into it.’

The Drenai series is not the only heroic fantasy that Gemmell wrote. He also wrote a duology called The Hawk Queen, comprising the books IRONHAND’S DAUGHTER (UK | ANZ) and THE HAWK ETERNAL (UK | ANZ). These novels tell the story of Sigarni, silver-haired princess who must rise up and lead her highlander people against the all-conquering outlanders.

In addition, he wrote two standalone heroic fantasies, both notable for containing a stronger flavour of magic than his Drenai series.

The first, MORNINGSTAR (UK | ANZ), tells the story of Jarek Mace, a womanising thief who must cast off the shackles of his criminal past and become the Morningstar – the legendary hero who is expected to save his people from the eons-old threat of the undead Vampyre Kings. Imbued with Gemmell’s unique brand of pace and action, the book is also notable for being the only novel he wrote from a first-person perspective.

The second book is KNIGHTS OF DARK RENOWN (UK | ANZ), which follows the trials of Mannanan, the Coward Knight, who held back when his comrades rode through a demonic portal – and now travels the land in shame. When a terrible evil threatens his people, Mannanan must finally confront his fears and go through the portal in search of his lost comrades. Yet the discovery he will make will tear his soul apart.

Gemmell didn’t just write heroic fantasy; he also wrote post-apocalyptic fiction and historical fantasy.

His Stones of Power duology, containing the novels GHOST KING (UK | ANZ) and LAST SWORD OF POWER (UK | ANZ)  is a reimagining of Arthurian legends. Britannia has fallen into a dark age. A host of invaders have swarmed over its borders and, aided by the Witch Queen and the Lord of the Undead, will destroy the realm. The people’s hopes rest on a child and an old warrior. But the blood of great kings runs in the child’s veins, and the old warrior is Culain – the legendary Lord of the Lance.

Gemmell’s novels LION OF MACEDON (UK | ANZ) and DARK PRINCE (UK | ANZ) are set in Ancient Greece and follow the exploits of the Spartan warrior Parmenion, who must overcome the disadvantages imposed on him by his mixed Spartan and Macedonian heritage as he bids to reshape the glory of Greece. Loosely based on historical events (such as the Battle of Thermopylae) and featuring famous figures (Alexander the Great) these books nonetheless tell a fresh story, with added undertones of the supernatural.

The Jon Shannow novels – WOLF IN SHADOW (UK | ANZ), THE LAST GUARDIAN (UK | ANZ) and BLOODSTONE (UK | ANZ) – are Gemmell’s tribute to the westerns he loved as a teenager. Set in a far-future world following a global apocalypse, they follow the adventures of the brooding gunslinger known as Jon Shannow, as he travels in search of the fabled ruins of Jerusalem – the only place where he can lay to rest the darkness that lives in his soul. On the way, he must battle mutants, brigands and far worse enemies. For the Hellborn plan to unleash a new age of darkness on a shattered world, and only Shannow can stand in their way.

What are people saying?

‘Heroism and heartbreak . . . Gemmell is adrenaline with soul’ – Brent Weeks, New York Times bestselling author

‘The hard-bitten champion of British heroic fantasy’ – Joe Abercrombie, Sunday Times bestselling author

‘In the realm of people-driven fantasy, Gemmell sets the standard’ – Time Out

‘Enduring and compulsive . . . Nobody writes better fantasy’ – Starbust

‘Several rungs above the good – right into the fabulous’ – Anne McCaffrey