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Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN num: 9780345407993
ISBN number: 0345407997
Label: Del Rey
Manufacturer: Del Rey
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 352
Printing Date: 1999-10
Publishing house: Del Rey
Release Date: October 05, 1999
Sale Popularity Level: 188451
Studio: Del Rey
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He was known as Druss. The Deathwalker. Though the blood of merciless butchers coursed through his veins, he had found a fragile peace through his love for beautiful, mystical Rowena. Then came the day when Druss returned to their village and found everyone dead--massacred by slavers who had stolen the women to sell for gold. Rowena was among the missing.
Armed with only his powerful double-bladed ax, Snaga, Druss went after Rowena. His journey would carry him from the highest thrones of power to the deepest dungeons of depravity. Along the way, he would battle savage monsters and descend into terrifying lands of grey magic and demons.
Yet one thing was certain. Druss would have victory . . . or death.
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Rated by buyers 
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The First Chronicle of Druss the Legend is the 6th book in David Gemmell's non-sequential series, the Drenai Saga. It's a prequel to the 1st Drenai book; Legend, and I think it's the perfect prequel because it actually enhances his Druss stories by not being in chronological order.
Renegade soldiers turned slavers massacre a mountain village and take Druss's wife, the seeress, Rowena. Desperate and enraged the young country bumpkin takes up a battle-ax, inherited from his infamous grandfather, to begin a quest that will take him across half the world and last over seven years. Druss fights slavers, pirates, wars, and outlaws, demons, and Death itself to rescue the love of his life. Thus is how legends are born.
There's nothing fancy about Gemmell's books. They're just simple, solid, good reads about heroes who live and die by their own codes of honor. If John Wayne ever did a sword-and-sorcery movie, Druss would've been a perfect role.
Rated by buyers 
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The beginning of the story of the Silver Slayer. Details of Druss' warrior father, and his search for his wife Rowena, who has been kidnapped by slavers.
This event turns a mountain woodsman into the most fearsome warrior the Drenai have seen, as he holds the line at Skeln pass with his friend Sieben, and the help of the Thirty.
It also details the development of his iron cide, the Way, and the influence a couple of teachers had on his skills and philosophy.
Very good stuff.
Rated by buyers -
Druss the Axeman, the Captain of the Axe, the Silver Slayer, Deathwalker, these are the names legend has given him. Druss the Legend is an indomitable warrior, armed with the great battle axe, Snaga. Snaga the Sender, the Blades of No Return, an axe possessed by a demon that gives it the power to cut anything and makes the wielder almost unbeatable.
The very first book telling of Druss was called Legend. It told of Druss in his sixties, called to defend his homeland against an invasion of barbarian hordes. It tells of his death and hints and his past. He is an unstoppable warrior with an iron code. He will not do evil, nor stand still while evil is done. His world is grey and white and he has little tolerance for those that endeavor to paint it in shades of grey. He is a man that has lived a life of violence, but has no remorse for it. He is a warrior without peer and a friend that will never flinch or falter.
The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend tells the story of his beginning. Druss is a young man, recently married to Rowena. He lives in a small mountain village on the frontier of Drenai. He is not popular in the town. The people fear him for his great size and temper. Rowena is the only person he has ever allowed close to him and he loves her dearly.
While he is working in the mountains felling trees, the village is attacked by bandits. Everybody is killed but the young women, who are gathered as slaves. Druss uses his axe to defend himself and a young woman and they are the only survivors. He returns in time to find his dying father, who tells him where to find a family heirloom hidden in the house for Druss has a secret. He is the grandson of Bardan the Slayer. Bardan's axe and armour are hidden in his father's house.
Druss is devastated by the loss of his wife. He dons Bardan's armor, grabs the axe and heads off to the rescue. Before he can leave the town, he encounters Shadak the Hunter, whose son was slain by the same raiders. Shadak offers to help him, and in so doing gives Druss his own code for life. "Never violate a woman, nor harm a child. Do not lie, cheat or steal. These are things for lesser men. Protect the weak against the evil strong. And never allow thoughts of gain lead you into the pursuit of evil." Druss adopts this code as his own and it lays the foundation for his actions for the rest of his life.
Druss follows the slavers and in a nighttime raid, they attack and he kills nineteen of the raiders, freeing the women. But his wife is not among them. She was taken by the raider's leader Collan to Mashrapur. Druss continues to Mashrapur to find her. In Mashrapur, he enters a fight contest and fights Borcha, the local champion. He meets Bodasen, a Ventrian General who is in the town to hire mercenaries to fight a war. Bodasen sets up a meeting between Collan and Druss to get Rowena back, but Collan reneges on the deal and Druss gets severely wounded. Collan is killed but Rowena is taken away on a ship. Druss finds out later that the ship is sunk by pirates under the employ of the Empire of Nashaan. Nashaan is fighting Ventria and Ventria is losing badly. Druss decides that Nashaan is his enemy and he decides to fight for them.
Druss fights for Ventria, becoming the Emperor Gorben's champion. Druss leads attack after attack and his status as a warrior grows, but the killing gives the demon that possesses Snaga power. The power of the axe drove his grandfather insane and it is starting to get to Druss, too. Druss' iron code and indomitable will hold the madness at bay and Druss uses the power to lead the defeat of Nashaan's armies.
Along the way he finds out that his wife is not dead, but suffers from amnesia. His hunt begins again. He finally finds her, but with her memory loss, she has married the General of the last Nashaanite army, Michanek. In the final battle, Michanek dies and Rowena attempts suicide. A priest saves her from the poison but her spirit is lost in the netherworld. Druss enters the netherworld to bring her back. Ultimately it leads to a confrontation with the demon in the axe. Druss defeats the demon and Snaga is no longer possessed. Rowena and Druss are reunited after seven years and they return home.
The last part of the book tells the story of Druss in his forties, standing with his countrymen against the Empire of Ventria. The Ventrian Emperor, Gorben, has been given a sword that is possessed by another demon, but has given in to the insanity. He has attacked and invaded the other countries and has turned into the same kind of evil that Druss helped him defeat years earlier. Druss stands against the Empire, fighting men that he calls friends. Druss and a handful of warriors defeat the Ventrians at Skeln Pass in a battle reminiscent of the Spartans defeating the Persians.
This book is more a series of short stories than a whole story. Each part is a self ... Read More
Rated by buyers -
The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend by Davvid Gemmell is the 6th book in the Drenai Tales. While this book is part of the larger Drenai saga it is also a prelude to Mr. DdGemmell's very first Drenai book titled Legend. In Legend, Mr. Gemmell tells the tale of a long retired hero coming back for one more go at it. In this book Mr. Gemmell tells `some' of the tale leading up to the creation of the legend that is Druss.
Fans of Mr. Gemmell's previous work, particularly Legend, will be immediately drawn into this book. It is Gemmell at his best. The story of Druss has long been discussed and hinted at, yet never before has it been told as a story in and of itself.
The plot of this book is rather simple. A young Druss is away from his village when slavers attack and take all the young women, his new wife included. He sets off on a journey across the world to get her back. Every action he does is only to get him closer to finding his wife. Of course, along the way he fights, many fights, and encounters various people that seek to helps him (or hinder him at times). There are really very few sub-plots in this book. Usually, that would detract from the book, but Mr. Gemmell is able to pull it off as this book is about Druss and what made Druss the Deathwalker he later became known as.
This book is really all about the character development of Druss. While Mr. Gemmell was able to shown the reader how Druss became Druss the Legend, there are a few instances where it was obvious Mr. Gemmell had more to say, but due to page limits and editor choices things were removed. When you read one of these sections it feels like you made a huge leap in the story and have no idea what you read. There are no less than four such instances where a chunk of the story is missing. While this is irritating, overall the book is still very good. My other point of contention is the time frame of this story. Due to the chunks missing, at times it is hard to know how much time has passed from the initial start of the book.
Regardless, of all the above, I still found this book to be very enjoyable. Mr. Gemmell has a way of writing that allows the reader to be immersed in the book and story. He writes characters that are hard not to care about, and he does a fantastic job of conveying the angst that Druss is suffering from. Fans of Gemmell will no doubt enjoy this book as much as the others. People considering reading this would be best advised to read Legend very first to have an idea of what is going on more so than just reading this book by itself. Fans of the fantasy genre who have not read Gemmell are doing themselves a great disservice and should really try at least Legend to see what they think. I will be sure to recommend Gemmell to people for years to come.
Rated by buyers 
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The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend gives readers a detailed look at the history of David Gemmell's most popular character. Unfortunately, I think we may have been better off not knowing Druss's history.
Gemmell created such a powerful character in Druss, and his role in the book Legend was just incredible. Indeed, the book itself became a Legend to Gemmell's readers. The legendary warrior comes out of retirement to make a final stand for his country against an invading horde. This is epic stuff, and part of what made Druss's character work so well was that his role had an ending. In revisiting Druss's past, Gemmell runs the risk of tarnishing the legend. To be successful, he would have to create a beginning that is every bit as amazing as the character's ending.
Unfortunately the First Chronicles of Druss the Legend falls short of that goal. Druss's wife is taken from him, and he battles his way across the world to reclaim her. This plot might have worked better if certain things were explained more effectively. Where did Druss learn to fight? It's just instinctual. Where did his iron will and determination come from? It's just inherited. The Druss we meet at the book's beginning is not much different than the Druss at the end of the book. Instead of introducing the character and truly developing him, Gemmell gives us an already formed Druss and simply sets up events for him to react to. And his reaction is always the same - plow through any obstacle using that iron will (and that famous axe).
The story has its good points as well. Gemmell always creates a first-class supporting cast, and this book is no different. Sieben the saga-poet, Eskodas the bowman, Bodasen the swordsman, and other characters are far more compelling than the main character. Gemmell's frequent musings on morality, character, society, and religion are done well as usual, and add a bit of depth to the tale.
Overall the book is decent, but not up to Gemmell's usually high standards. I think Gemmell has gone to the well a few too many times in recent years. Characters like Waylander and Druss are better off left alone, where they can remain legends.
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