New Releases by David Gemmell

With mythic sweep and epic scope, David Gemmell’s bestselling novels of magic and adventure feature brooding heroes who fight to preserve all that is good and honorable in themselves and in the worlds through which they stride like lonely giants. In times of terror and despair, theirs are the swords that carve a shining path, inspiring others to follow. Even after their deaths, their names live on. . . . A thousand years after they fell in battle, two heroes—Druss and Skilgannon—are revered throughout the war-torn lands of the Drenai. Yet men and women live in abject fear of the Joinings, abominable meldings of man and beast, and of their mistress, the dark sorceress known as the Eternal. None can stave off these ruthless foes. But what if the soul of one such hero could be called back from the void, his bones housed again in flesh? An ancient prophecy foretold that Skilgannon would return in his people’s darkest hour. To most, this is a foolish hope. But not so to Landis Kan. For years, as the power of the Eternal grew, Kan searched for the tomb of Skilgannon the Damned. And at last, he found it, gathering up the bones and performing the mystic ritual. But the reborn hero is an enigma: a young man whose warrior skills are blunted and whose memories are fragmented. This Skilgannon is a man out of time, marooned in a world as strange to him as a dream, remote from all he knew and loved. Or nearly all. Before bringing Skilgannon back, Landis Kan experimented upon other bone fragments found in the hero’s tomb. That ritual resulted in a surly giant who possessed astounding strength, but no memories. To Kan, he was a dangerous failure. But to Skilgannon, this giant represented their last hope. For as the ageless evil of the Eternal threatens to drown the Drenai lands in blood, two legendary heroes will once again lead the way to freedom.

“For anyone who appreciates superior heroic fantasy, David Gemmell’s offerings are mandatory.”—Time Out London The blood-drenched lands of the Drenai are protected by a man who has been hated and feared as much as he has been loved: the living legend known as Druss, Captain of the Ax. But this is also the land of Skilgannon, a man who is armed with the mythic Swords of Night and Day, and perhaps Druss’s equal on the field of battle. Brought together by a brutal attack, the two lone warriors form an unlikely alliance. But as Druss and Skilgannon face the supernatural threat of the Joinings—monstrous werebeasts with unholy strength and more than animal savagery—respect and trust will grow. Their alliance will become a friendship destined to change both men—and the lands of the Drenai—forever. “[Gemmell’s] fiction has always carried the genuine flair ofthe classic sword and sorcery pieces of the 1930s and ’40s. This installment is no exception.”—Starlog “A multitude of good battle scenes! . . . Readers will be carried along by the nonstop action and heroic characters.”—Booklist

Spellbinding action and breathless adventure–these are the realms of David Gemmell. His mythic characters represent the ultimates in good and evil, and everything in between. Brilliant warriors, they are heartbreakingly human in their ability to love, sacrifice, and summon extraordinary courage when all seems lost. With Stormrider, Gemmell continues his spectacular Rigante saga as the imperiled highland clan faces its deadliest threat . . . and calls for it''s greatest hero. STORMRIDER A Novel of the Rigante Centuries ago, Connavar’s triumphant battles against the invading army of Stone gained the Rigante their freedom, yet magic that once flourished has been all but snuffed out. The Varlish king and his barons have stolen Rigante lands and robbed the people of their culture and liberty. From the Rigante''s former seat of power the black-hearted Moidart rules; only in the north are the clansmen free. There, in the Druagh mountains, the magic still reigns, strengthened by bold, brilliant victories of the outlaw leader known as Ravenheart. One glorious spark, one moment of Rigante rebellion, has ignited a revolution and forged a legend. The conquered clans set about to rediscover their greatness–yet theirs is not the only call to arms. In the south, civil war has drenched the land in blood, and the armies of destruction have begun creeping north. There the brooding Ravenheart waits, knowing the forces of the hated Moidart will come, led by the brutal ruler’s only son, Stormrider. Ravenheart and Stormrider: enemies of uncommon courage, are unaware that the fate of the world lies in their hands. Faced with this inexorable advance, deadly foes will be forced to unite, and a secret lost in the uncharted past will return to haunt these two warriors as they face the vengeance of an ancient evil. Immense armies of darkness advance on the highlanders, and it seems as if nothing will stop them. They crush their enemies with ease, until only a few thousand men stand before them, with no help in sight. But these are not ordinary men they face. They are clansmen, and more than that, they are Rigante.

When it comes to the crackle of action, high adventure, lush worlds, and vivid magic, bestselling author David Gemmell is the master. But Gemmell''s supreme gift is his ability to create mythic characters, good and evil, who rise up to become flesh and blood. Now, with Ravenheart, Gemmell continues his Rigante series in a novel that is as satisfying as it is astonishing. RAVENHEART Eight hundred years have passed since King Connavar of the Rigante and his bastard son, Bane, defeated the invading army of Stone. In that time, Connavar has become a legend, and the Rigante have lost the freedom so many gave their lives to preserve. A conquered people, they live and die under the iron rule of the Varlish, their customs despised, their culture all but destroyed. One woman remains who follows the ancient paths once trod by the Rigante. She is the Wyrd of Wishing Tree Wood, and she alone knows the evil soon to be unleashed on a doomed and unsuspecting world. In a perilous land, facing an uncertain destiny, she pins her initial hopes on two men: Jaim Grymauch, the giant Rigante fighter, a man haunted by his failure to save the friend he loved from betrayal, and Kaelin Ring, a youth whose deadly talents will earn him the enmity of all Varlish. One will become Ravenheart, an outlaw leader whose daring exploits will inspire the Rigante. The other will forge a legend and light the fires of rebellion. The Wyrd know that all hopes will rest on a third man. Of the bloodline of Connavar the King, he will need to overcome generations of fear and hatred if he is to achieve his destiny. For he is a Varlish nobleman, and the son of the Rigante''s greatest enemy.

The ruined city of Kuan Hador reeks of dark mystery. Shunned by brigands and merchants alike, it is home to fearsome wild things and legends that freeze the blood--tales that speak of slavering white beasts, locked behind a powerful wall of spells, who possess an insatiable appetite for death. Millennia have passed since they were bound, and the spell of imprisonment has begun to fade. Soon the foul minions will be free to wreak a horrible vengeance against all that lives. But no army waits to oppose them, only a ragtag group of unlikely heroes. Leading them is the mysterious Gray Man, an enigmatic figure with a blood-drenched past who has killed for principle and for payment--a man of destiny known throughout the lands of the Drenai as Waylander the Slayer . . .

High in the wooded, peaked mountains of Skeln, the woodsman, Dakeyras, and his beautiful daughter Miriel, live a life of harmonious solitude. Unbeknown to them, a group of grim-eyed, bloodthirsty warriors stalk the mountains. Men who have never known defeat, to whom revenge and torture are meat and drink. For ten thousand in gold they are eager to kill the woodsman. Battle-hardened warriors all, they have no fear of this task - they should have. For Miriel is a woman of fire and iron, skilled with bow and blade and taught her skills by one of the deadliest killers of all time... Her father, Dakeyras, better known as WAYLANDER THE SLAYER.