#david gemmell

[thehopefulquotes]

Do not speak badly of yourself - for the warrior within hears your words and is lessened by them.

David Gemmell

[thoughtkick]

Do not speak badly of yourself - for the warrior within hears your words and is lessened by them.

David Gemmell

[surqrised]

Do not speak badly of yourself - for the warrior within hears your words and is lessened by them.

David Gemmell

[resqectable]

Do not speak badly of yourself - for the warrior within hears your words and is lessened by them.

David Gemmell

[dduane]

In the "Oh, This Again" dep't

So I was looking around via Google Image Search to see if any easily accessible online source had the publicity-poster version (the one with the blurb quote from Terry Pratchett on it) of this art for the 1991 Corgi/Transworld (UK) edition of The Door into Fire.

...A bit of a favorite, that one. Look, there's the San Diego Freeway and everything. :)

What I was not expecting to find, though, was this.

...And on an old friend's book, at that.

(amusement) This has happened with TDIFire before—with the UK Methuen edition, as it happens. Some detail here.

I'm pretty sure Dave would have found this hilarious when he found out about it. I do too. I just wish I could trace the event-pathway between Geoff Taylor being commissioned to do the Fire cover, and the painting then being... sold on to? lent to?... the Italian publisher.

(shrug) No matter. Just missing Dave a little now: he was always a welcome guest around here, when he had time to make it over to this island.

[perfectquote]

Do not speak badly of yourself - for the warrior within hears your words and is lessened by them.

David Gemmell

[hussyknee]

Song of Achilles did make me cry and there are some beautiful, extremely quotable turns of prose. But honestly? Even without being a classicist or a Greek mythology enthusiast— it really kind of sucks. There's no substance or complexity to it, the characters are one-dimensional and it's painfully YA. It's written for a Booktok audience who doesn't give a fuck about Homer's poems or Greek myths as a genre. I mean I'm also largely disinterested but I hate books that loses everything that defines a genre in order to appeal to people who don't care for it.

Idk if you want an incredible reimagining of the Trojan war for an audience who doesn't care much about the Illiad, read The Troy Trilogy by David Gemmell. It makes no pretence of being faithful to the Illiad and takes out all mention of gods and magic, and sadly doesn't have a lot of gay in it, despite the protagonist being one of the most badass bisexual women in fantasy fiction (Andromache in the Old Guard can't hold a candle to this Andromache). But for all that, it has very complex and vivid characters, cinematic battle scenes and is an emotional rollercoaster that makes you blow through all three books in one sitting. It's very much about how war and pride and honour can make people you like and believe in do horrific things, how morality is informed by culture and era, how you can feel pity for even the worst characters, and how desolation lives hand in glove with glory. Once you read that you'll realise how hollow Madeline Miller's work is.

[stay-close]

Do not speak badly of yourself - for the warrior within hears your words and is lessened by them.

David Gemmell

[perfectfeelings]

Do not speak badly of yourself - for the warrior within hears your words and is lessened by them.

David Gemmell

[nightlyquotes]

Do not speak badly of yourself - for the warrior within hears your words and is lessened by them.

David Gemmell

[haveyoureadthisfantasybook]

vote yes if you have finished the entire book.

vote no if you have not finished the entire book.

(faq · submit a book)

[thelastofthebookworms]

When the other polls will be out, they'll be in my 'fantasy polls' tag.

[jeannereames]

So, for those who wanted a booktok on some Alexander fiction, here's one that features the work of Judith Tarr, primarily, although I also mention David Gemmell (setting Judy's book(s) against his duology), as well as Jo Graham and Harry Turtledove in passing. I chose Judy to begin as she's written more than one book on Alexander (including one on Olympias), and she's good at incorporating ancient views on magic and myth appropriately into her stories. Most of these also have some (het) romance, although I didn't say a lot about that. In Lord of the Two Lands (and Queen of the Amazons) she treats Hephaistion well, and he is shown as ATG's lover.

I'll do some more, largely on books I liked, to highlight them, as well as on some unusual (and old) ones I have in my collection. As I say in the video, I've been collecting ATG fiction for a very long time now (since the late 80s, in fact).

[zippocreed501]

AUTHOR EXTRAORDINAIRE

'All of my novels come from a deep and personal place. There is nothing cynical in my writing. I believe in heroes, and I believe in what the old tales teach us.'

'Many fantasy novels - 'Lord of the Rings', for instance, or 'Lavondyss' by Robert Holdstock - are beautifully written. Geoff Ryman's 'The Child Garden' is exquisite and utterly beguiling. Mervyn Peake's 'Gormenghast' trilogy is an astonishing piece of multi-faceted storytelling. So quality of writing does not condemn the genre.'

'If you look at any ancient civilization, they've all used fantasy stories to train the young.'

'This is the real magic of fantasy fiction: it can feed souls and change lives.'

Author Extraordinaire David Gemmell

[eltiron2]

"Ilyen a szerelem. Thorn élete során sokszor volt szerelmes, és hatvankét éves korában is remélte, hogy két vagy három románc vár még rá. Volt egy özvegy, akinek fent a magas északon volt egy magányos birtoka, Thorn gyakran megállt nála reggelizni. Az asszony még nem melegedett föl, de előbb vagy utóbb… Thorn ismerte a nőket. Semmi értelme sietni. Beszélgess. Kérdezd őket magukról. Érdeklődj. A legtöbb ember azzal töltötte az életét, hogy olyan gyorsan ágyba jusson, ahogy a nő engedi. Ostobaság! Beszélgess előbb. Tanulj. Utána simogass, gyengéden, szeretettel. Törődj velük. Azután szeress és maradj. Thorn gyorsan megtanulta a leckét, mert csúf embernek született. Sok férfi haragudott rá a sikereiért, de soha nem jutott eszükbe tanulni tőle. Bolondok!"

David Gemmell - Király a kapun túl

[diaryoftruequotes]

A cynic by experience, a romantic by inclination and now a hero by necessity.

David Gemmell, Legend