[allanon]

Belderan, perhaps you must try "Ellenium/Tamuli" series. BTW, can you tell me the right order of Drenai-books? I ask, because I'm currently reading "King Beyond he Gate", but I think that it isn't the first book of this cycle.

[Cannon Fodder]

The order of the Drenai books chronologically goes thus-

Waylander
Waylander II
Hero in the Shadows

The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend
The Legend of Deathwalker

Legend
The King Beyond the Gate
Quest For Lost Heroes
Winter Warriors

However this is not the order the books were written in. It would probably be best to read Legend first, followed by King Beyond the Gate. The two Druss prequels and the Waylander series are set earlier in the Drenai world but don't need to be read by any means. It's probably best to read them in publication author if anything. As it is all the Drenai books are really stand alones although they sometimes involve the same characters like Druss or Waylander or the story is heavily referential to previous volumes. Hopefully that simplifies matters...

[allanon]

No problem, Loque. Gemmel is also great, BTW. "King beyond the Gate" rules!

[LeMort]

If you only read one novel by David Gemmel (which would be a good idea because most of them are all the same), make sure it's "Knights of dark Renown".

In my not so humble opinion it is by far his best work.

[Loque]

personally i wouldnt agree, i think knight of dark renown COULD have been his best work, and the same with morningstar, but i dont think he developed all the ideas fully, however, they are both damn good books. Must admit, I've had a bit of a gemmell burnout, he is still one of my 2 favourite authors (the other being douglas adams) but i think now i've read them all (and most of them more thatn once) i need a bit of a break and something different before i go back to them.

[DarthV]

Flameproof Clothing ON

I've just started reading Gemmell's Drenai books and so far I'm not overly impressed. The action and battles are good...but they seem to be a little too formulaic. Then again those books were written in the 80s and that era seemed to spawn that type of series (Eddings/Brooks).

Here's to hoping that the more recently published novels are a little more off his beatten path.

[Belderan]

Knights of dark renown is one of the few Gemmell books i havent read, i'll give it a go though as soon as i can afford it.
I've read all the Drenai novels in order of publication and it made a lot more sense. eg, if you read Legend before Waylander the reference to the thirty is a lot more exciting.
i'm reading seeress of Kell at the moment (Polgara's got me into it)but i've bought the first book of the Elenium ready to read as soon as i've finished that. thanks for the tip allanon!

[Belderan]

oh yeah, since we're on the subject of Gemmell, has anyone read his new book yet, Stormrider? i'm dying to read it but i cant afford the hardback edition.

[Loque]

wouldnt get excited about stormrider man, first half is damn good, but well, general opinion is that the previous books were much better, go in expecting a reasonable read and nothing more and you'll prob be quite satisified.

[Rhaegar]

As much as I like Tad Williams, GRRM has no equal when it comes to writing fantasy for adult tastes (in my opinion, that is...). I've created ASoIaF addicts out of people who usually wouldn't be caught dead reading a fantasy book. GRRM might be one of the few authors who can transcend the fantasy genre and attract the literary masses.

Well, enough of the GRRM love-fest, here's my picks:

1) Martin (see above)
2) Marco - I'm really starting to enjoy this series. It's solid rather than spectacular, but it really works for me.
3) Tolkien - The Master.