Rating: 
Summary: I like the concept, but the book still stunk
Review: I like the concept of having someone right a book that modeled the expansion and rise of Rome, it's blatant that the author did so. Even though I liked the concept the book was still bad. I think that if a differnt author had wrote this then it would have been good. Much improvement is needed, the book did not seem real, or lifelike and I was never really interested. Read something else, the Wheel of Time, A Song of Ice and Fire, the Inheritance Trilogy, anything but this.
Rating: 
Summary: A Return to an Old-Time Favorite
Review: I read Gemmell's first book, 'Legend', when it was originally published in 1984. It's remains the only book I've ever read three times. From then on, every six months, for the next ten years, I bought every new book he released the week it was published. When I moved to America from England, I stopped reading Gemmell's work. His books weren't readily available here and the new ones weren't even being published. By the time Gemmell started to become popular in the U.S., I'd lost the habit of reading him. So it happened that I was looking for an easy read at the airport, after my flight was delayed. There on the shelf of Waldenbooks was a new novel by Gemmell - Sword in the Storm: Book 1 of the Rigante. Well, I was too tired to start reading it that day, but when I finally read it I was hooked. It's been a while since I read a book cover to cover in two days. The experience reminded me why I always loved reading David Gemmell's work. He's not the most inventive writer I've read and he isn't exactly challenging. Many of his plots are recycled from previous outings and his dialog doesn't always work. What Gemmell offers is good old-fashioned story telling. I think his talent really resides in the fact that Gemmell loves his characters. For him they really seem to exist and so by extension, they exist for the reader too. Writing has been described as mind-reading, the author putting his thoughts in the readers' heads. Gemmell does this par excellence. Rarely does he miss an emotional beat when telling his stories. Even when Gemmell's being his most manipulative, I'm a willing sucker for his literary hucksterism. He's just a good, solid writer who seems to care about what he's writing about. I'm always sad to finish one of his books. The saving grace is I have a shelf full of his older works I could re-read. If you're a fan of fantasy novels, don't deprive yourself of the pleasure of Gemmell's writing, his characters and his worlds. I came onto Amazon to order Book II and III of the Rigante. I guess I'm hooked again and loving every page of it.
Rating: 
Summary: My first encountering of David Gemmell...
Review: It will not be my last. The story is fast-paced, and David Gemmell has a style that permits him to span years in paragraphs and not lose the reader. The story is also like a combination of the Gauls as they were being conquered by Julius Caesar plus the Caledonians that caused Hadrian to build his wall crossed with the Scots under Wallace and The Bruce with Vikings added in for good measure. The characters are proud, particularly Connavar, and they seem realistically thought out. My favorite part was how Connavar became the pupil of Banouin (I probably mispelled that)and later Jasaray, using their tutelage to learn how to defeat the "Roman" legions of the story. I read this book in less than 24 reading hours, most of that in one sitting, and I have already read the sequel. They will definitely not be the last of his books that I read.
Rating:
Summary: Not a Great Work but an Excellent Story
Review: Like many others, Legend was the first novel I read by Gemmell. This book, Sword in the Storm: Book 1 of the Rigante, was the second. In some ways this story has less depth than Legend, even though its focus character possesses a much deeper character flaw.
The Rigante world, in my opinion, is not as well developed as the Drenai world in which Legend is set. Its basis in the Roman expansion is perhaps, not so close to home as the wider, more purely imaginative world of the Drenai. Fans of Gemmell might also notice very strong similarities or even some repetitions in the overarching timelines and plot methods used in the two book lines.
This being said, this book was engaging enough that I tore through it with a voracity that was only matched, for Gemmell's works, by that with which I devoured Legend.
Gemmell's writing of heroes never fails to manipulate my emotions in an almost shameful way. (I am reminded of John Woo's comment on his goal of making action movies men can cry at.) His heroes are usually heavily rooted in Celtic tradition, with characters that that frequently forget that pride can be a destroying character flaw, or they follow lines set over centuries (millennia?) by such men of myth as Cu Chulainn or Finn Mac Cool.
The fact is that, while Gemmell is not what I could call a polished writer, or a complex fantasist, he is an amazingly natural storyteller. His stories can captivate, uplift you, make you feel the swell of pride at a selflessly heroic act of an otherwise brutish man, or despair and rage to the point of grinding your teeth at a barbarically murderous act of an otherwise perfect hero.
On top of all this, the reading is light, and not so complicated that you can't rip through it if you have a Saturday to kill, and you're a relatively quick reader. I don't know many people who couldn't get through this book inside of a weekend devoted to reading. While I can't say this is a great work that deserves your devoted time and attention, I can tell you that its a fun read for your lunch break, or for that fifteen minute coffee session in your favorite short-order resturant, or for filling up those fifteen minute or half-hour chunks of waiting time where we can catch ourselves staring blankly into space. Pick up this book. If you do, you could enjoy your time a lot more, but you'll have to watch the clock or you might lose yourself in the way of the Rigante.
Rating: 
Summary: Well Written But Little To Distinguish It From Other Tales
Review: Like two other reviewers, this was the first work by Gemmel that I have read. While well written and exhibiting the skill of an experienced author, there was little else to this tale to separate it from any number of other heroic adventures. The storyline is broadly based and familiar, lacking the focus and multilayered perspective of better works, thus causing it to fall into the category of an entertaining but far from gripping divertissement. While this work alone will not prevent me from reading other works by the author--it is afterall far better written than many--I will wait until I have exhausted richer and more original sources of material, such as Martin, Erikson, Hobb, Kerr, Kay, or Jordan, before I turn to Gemmel again.
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Summary: He's done it again
Review: No matter how many books he writes, David Gemmell just seems to get better and better. I loved this book. It did not end the way i expected it to but this in no way hindered the books effect on me. The character of Connavar is so complex and yet so infinitely simple that you cannot help but find the character enthralling. You sympathise with him and feel the tragedies that befall him. Gemmell is truly the definitive writer of heroic fantasy and yet i find it very difficult to find his books in any great number in books stores here. An Enigma
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Summary: I love this man!!
Review: Okay, I'm an avid reader and Gemmell is a demi-god of some sort. Sure, he really doesn't have an original thought in his body (Connavar = Cuchullan, Stone = Rome, Rigante = Picts/Scots), but who really cares. He writes full-blooded characters that don't always do the right thing. In fact, just as in real life, they often are motivated by more selfish greeds than thoughts of the "global village", but just as in real life, things tend to work out. His battle-scenes are epic. He knows how to draw a reader in by short, discriptive punches that remind of a staccato-ed form of Pat Conroy. I do appreciate the fact that he gives a back-history to all of the players, even if they are only a few sentences long... somehow he opens up the his world(s) to a much broader experience by doing so. I can also appreciate the way that he takes real-world legends, myth, and histories, and makes them his own by just ever-so-slightly twisting them to suit his world. I do tend to find that his series are generally a tad stronger, only in the fact that they allow for multiple glimpses into one of his worlds... the single novels always feel just slightly rushed to me for some reason. However, this is no reason not to read any or all of his novels. Big fan!
Rating:
Summary: one of the best
Review: Out of all the fantasy novels I've read this has to be one of the best if not"The Best" book I've ever read...The next 2 days i got no sleep and layed out of work with my eyes glued to that book. This is one thriller you don't wanna miss.
Rating:
Summary: A BOOK WORTH READING
Review: Rigante series looks to be as great as Gemmel's Drenai series. Gemmel gives a refreshing take on people who live in clan's and have no real nobility. This leaves the reader questioning whether or not these clans can unify against a foe that obliterates anything in its sight. David's done it again. A series that leaves you questioning throughout the novel and successfully satisfies the questions you begin with. The characters show depth and believeable feel to them. You feel yourself drawn into a world of joy and anger. Pain and happiness. Wonder and beauty. David gemmel is a true master of fantasy. Ranked as one of my favourite authors I encourage true fantasy readers to take up the challenge and life of a Rigante clansman.
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Summary: Fantasy's King strikes again!
Review: Sword in the Storm For a veteran of Gemmell novels, the reader will notice that he has exhibited a greater patience with this story than some of his others, allowing the story to unfold in greater multifaceted richness in its 477 pages (high for a Gemmell novel). As with all Gemmellian protagonists, Connovar is no caricature-hero, pure good defeating pure evil. He must constantly struggle with his own sin, fear, longing, hate, and pain, capturing the spirit of a man fully alive. The reader will come to love the Rigante people, to commune with them, to long to fight beside them. Even though this genre of story is not wholly original, Gemmell still manages to surprise and shock with elements of his story, always keeping the reader enthralled. Gemmell remains the undisputed successor-king of fantasy-adventure authors. He pulls us deep into his world and into the souls of his characters, attaching us there, making it wrenching to depart. Most other fantasy literature is pale by comparison. After having read all of his books-to- date, I never touched one that I could put down. Sword in the Storm is no exception.
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