White Wolf: A Novel of Druss the Legend (Drenai Saga: The Damned)

Honestly the best book I have read in the last four months.. Thats coming from and avg. of 6 books a month. Kudos to David Gemmell with this stuning novel of a warrior with a trubled past who has to face his undecided future and has to attempt the impossible to try to releive himself of some of his sins by bringing back one of the many who have suffered by his mear existence. The writing is fantastic with David Gemmell's fluid and visual battle writing skills and exiting turns at every chapter. Just a wonderful book......

Every time I read a David Gemmell novel I really become an extra character , he is that good . I have read avidly every offering and still eagerly anticipate Gemmells' next . His heroes are flawed , if old craggy Druss is new to you its' time to be acquainted , his return in White Wolf is wonderful . Read this , there is no better .

White Wolf is the tenth novel in the Drenai Tales series. It features Druss the Legend at a later point in his life, five years after the death of his wife Rowena and ten years before Dos Delnoch, in a quest tale involving his old friend Orastes and his daughter as well as another warrior seeking relief from his guilt and sorrow.In the chaos following the death of the Emperor Gorben at Skeln Pass, civil war racked Ventria and spread to Tantria. The Tantrian king has attacked Datia and Shakusan Ironmask, leader of the king's guardsmen, has sent Arbeiters out among the people to stir up anger against agents of the enemy, foreigners and the churchmen.In this novel, Skilgannon the Damned has left the Witch Queen of Naashan, his lover, and is living as Brother Lantern in a community of monks. The Arbeiters have led the townsfolk in torturing and hanging foreigners and burning down their houses. Now they are arousing the people against the churchmen. A crowd has badly beat old Brother Layban and Brothers Lantern and Braygan have come to obtain healing herbs and potions from the Apothecary. There an Arbeiter strikes Brother Braygan and attacks Brother Lantern and thereby seriously hurts himself.Brother Lantern can see that the monks are very much at risk of attack by the townsfolk, but the Elder Brother will not flee, for the monks' duty is to the flock even if it costs their lives. Brother Lantern stands against the mob and cannot refrain from resisting after the Elder Brother is attacked and wounded. After a few assailants are killed or maimed, the townsfolk cease their assault of the monastery. Brother Lantern now knows that he cannot remain a monk, for he is not willing to die for "scum". The Elder Brother returns the Swords of Night and Day to him and asks only that Skilgannon escort Brother Braygan to Mellicane to take his vows from the Elders of the church.On the way to Millicane, Skilgannon and Braygan find the boy Rabalyn, wounded and delirious, fleeing from murder accusations by a town councillor, and take him with them. Later, they encounter refugees running from the armies attacking Tantria and witness a calvary patrol attacking women and children among these refugees. Before Skilgannon can intervene, Druss kills all but one of the patrol and sends the survivor away with a warning. After an attack on the refugees by Joinings, great beasts created by magically combining man with animal, Druss and his friend, Garianne, join Skilgannon's company to escort the refugees to Mellicane.Druss has been searching for Orastes and his daughter, Elanin. In Mellicane, he learns from his friend, Diagoras, a Drenai warrior, that Orastes' servant was found in the dungeons, but none know where Orastes has gone. He discovers, however, that Elanin has been taken by her mother with Shakusan Ironmask to a ruined fortress.This novel is about love and loyalty, evil and remorse, and, above all, revenge. The plot is simple, but the characters are compl

David Gemmell's new novel 'White Wolf' is a great read. Although marketed as a Druss novel, Druss is a secondary character in this morality play. Skilgannon is the real star of this novel; a deadly young warrior with a twisted past. As in all of the David Gemmell novels, Skilgannon is a damaged and in many ways morally corrupt individual reminiscent of the early Clint Eastwood, 'Man with No Name' characters.As is all of Gemmell's work, the writing is sharp and the dialogue clean and clear. Gemmell's real gift however, lies in his utterly human, 3-dimensional characters. Interestingly, the author explains (via his characters dialogue) how a warrior must think in black and white terms; wrong and a right; good and evil. Gemmell's characters are none of those things. They are all wonderfully filled with shades of gray, just like all of us.'White Wolf' and all of it's new characters are a wonderful addition to the continuing Drenai saga. I for one would like to see more of Skilgannon. Although complete in and of itself, this novel begs to be followed with more stories of Skilgannon.

Once he was a general of a great army, with much wealth and vast estates who waged war on the enemies of the women he loved, the woman who ants to take the throne of the Naashanites. He possessed the magical swords of Night and Day and no man could best him in battle but when he helped put Jianna on the throne, he realized her first love was power and so he left her. Jianna puts a price on his head and people believed Skilgannon was dammed because of the atrocities he committed while at war.For two years he sought peace as a priest but the outside world found out him and forced him to flee. In the city of Mellicane, the legendary Joinings, men and beast magically melded into one, were on the loose and Skilgannon along with another hero, the legendary Druss warrior, repelled the attacks. They joined forces to rescue a little girl held hostage by Skilgannon's greatest enemy, a child greatly beloved by Druss. Both knew this may be their last battle but they are true heroes determined to rescue a child from a madman.David Gemmell knows how to write a winning sword and sorcery tale starring a tortured hero (much like Elric of Melinbone) it is impossible to dislike him despite the atrocities he committed. The story line is fast-paced and rich in color with a villain reminiscent of Hannibal Lechter. Druss is a half-century in age and his time is passing yet he still has the power to instill fear into his enemies' hearts. WHITE WOLF is a stirring fantasy that will please fans of the genre.Harriet Klausner