<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Realm of the wolf
Review: A mighty warrior and a feared assassin among the Drenai, Waylander the Slayer is now a man hunted by his own people--with a fortune in gold offered as grim reward for his murder. But this is only one of many evils closing in on Waylander and his daughter, Miriel, the beautiful and deadly Battle Queen of Kar-Barzac. I highly recommend this book to everyone. A truly great fantasy book. Gemmell will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Rating:
Summary: Realm of the wolf
Review: A mighty warrior and a feared assassin among the Drenai, Waylander the Slayer is now a man hunted by his own people--with a fortune in gold offered as grim reward for his murder. But this is only one of many evils closing in on Waylander and his daughter, Miriel, the beautiful and deadly Battle Queen of Kar-Barzac. I highly recommend this book to everyone. A truly great fantasy book. Gemmell will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Rating: 
Summary: A Beautiful Sequel
Review: Beware that this is a sequel to Waylander. However as a sequel, this book goes above and beyond my expectations. It is classic Gemmell
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful entertainment!
Review: David Gemmell is probably overall the finest fantasy writer today. Waylander II (as it is called in the Canadian Version) is great, fun reading. I can't get enough of his books!
Rating: 
Summary: Not as memorable as Waylander
Review: It's been a month or more since I finished this one, and I'm having trouble remembering the story. In fact, I remember the highlights of the prequel, Waylander, far better. Not an encouraging sign for this novel, I guess. After flipping back through it and scanning the chapters, I realized that the action scenes were well written (typical of Gemmell) and I'd like to give it 3.5 stars if that rating were available. But I can't quite give it four, due to the poor plotting. So three it is.
The story is pretty much a continuation of Waylander's plot, with a decade or so gap between the two. Waylander himself is still an expert archer and solid swordsman, and still prefers to make his kills by stealth. His past deeds have now caught up to him, though, and through most of the book he's on the run from forces bent on revenge. In addition, evil supernatural powers are after him. His step-daughter Miriel is now an adult and a warrior as well. Together with a couple other allies, they try to survive the stacked odds.
The first half of the book is good material, with Waylander depending on his wits and skill to outmaneuver the assassins who have been hired to kill him. The culmination of this phase of the novel occurs when Waylander fights the expert swordsman Morak in single combat. If the book had merely contained more of the same that was in the first half, it would have turned out great.
Instead Waylander, for no real logical reason, takes up a quest to assassinate the evil sorceror Zhu Chao. Here we get into the disappointing second half of the book, where the story is far less believable due to the introduction of sorcery and demonic forces. The two climaxes at the end both consist of silly battles against huge seemingly invincible creatures, who of course are defeated against all probability.
Gemmell likes his heroes to survive incredible odds with a combination of skill, brains, and luck. He rarely kills off the unflawed heroes, preferring instead to have close companions with character flaws be the ones to die off. Because with Gemmell you know the hero will win and live, the story had better be a good one to make the novel enjoyable. He pulled it off in the prequel Waylander, but not in this one.
Rating:
Summary: Undeniable genius
Review: Never have i been captivated by a book to such an extent that i have, quite literally, not put it down. From start to finish this second instalment of the tale of Waylander draws you in. You becaome part of the book, you experience what the characters experience. I do not cry often but this book made me weep more than once. A superb novel from a superb writer.
<< 1 >>
| 
