The Swords of Night and Day

David Gemmell's latest heroic fantasy The Swords of Night and Day, latest in the Drenai series, stars the tormented swordsman Skilgannon the Damned and opens a thousand years after his debut in White Wolf (2003). Reincarnation is the secret, of course. Having died in his final battle and spent a fraught millennium in the Void, Skilgannon is deliberately brought back to take up his swords and fulfil a prophecy.

Other revenants include the body though not the soul of his old comrade-in-arms Druss the Legend, and more than one form of this era's tyrannical queen the Eternal, a woman once very important to our hero. This queen not only controls overwhelming armies but is literally eternal because technomagical wizardry makes death, for her, no more than a minor interruption. Her current lover is an obsessed psychopath carrying the only swords more deadly and cursed than Skilgannon's, the Swords of Blood and Fire.

The land is infested with sorcerously created man-beast "Joinings"; in an unusual subplot, one hapless and unheroic merchant tries to teach a pack of these monsters to hunt animal rather than human prey. Naturally there is copious swordplay, not to mention axe-wielding and archery, all described with Gemmell's usual kinetic skill at handling fluidly violent duels, skirmishes and battles. Even with help from a tiny remnant of Druss's folk, the Drenai Legend Riders, Skilgannon's quest seems utterly hopeless. But correctly interpreting the fantastic, colourful imagery of that millennium-old prophecy suggests a desperate course of action.

The storyline is as compelling as ever, punctuated by artful flashbacks, with a generous helping of unexpected twists, betrayals, tragedies and triumphs. Gemmell's countless fans will not be disappointed. --David Langford

View other editions of The Swords of Night and Day.
View books by David Gemmell.

A good yarn, well told as usual - Rated
I was slightly disappointed with this book, after very much enjoying 'White Wolf'. It was well written, as I've come to expect from all Gemmell's books, but did seem a little rushed in the pace of the story-telling. Also characters weren't as engaging as in most of his other books, and that is definitely NOT what I expect from David Gemmell.

Yet still it was a good enough read for me to give it 4 stars, which says a lot about the quality of this writer's work. Not many other authors could earn 4 stars from a less than satisfied reader!

Heroic action worth reading - Rated
You cant teach an old dog new tricks and you couldnt fault David Gemmell (God rest his soul) for sticking to his tried and tested formula for knocking out simply cracking heroic adventure stories. Druss is for me the main man,eclipsing even the legendary Conan the Barbarian in the "mans man hard as nails bloke" stakes and although he is not really in the forefront of the story in this book when he appears it makes the storytelling move up a gear,the camaraderie between him and "new kid on the block" Skilgannon is great and the father/son feel is obvious . The old saying goes "you dont know what you have until its gone" and never was that truer than when we lost big Davey Gemmell ....he himself is now a legend

A good read - Rated
After the previous books I was apprehensive about this one but was hooked from the start. I think some readers are too hard to please regarding character expansion or story intensive. As far as I am concerned Gemmell can do no wrong. I don't mind the hero having flaws or a Conscience but I hate it when authors spend too much time on it. I think Gemmell gets the balance about right especially in the Drenai books. This one is actually a great addition to the list and a great ending which leaves the possibility of another chapter in the saga of Skilganon and Jianna.

Skillgannon the Good - Rated
This is the story of Skillgannon continued, reborn after a thousand years to fulfil the prophecy of "White Wolf".

I felt the first book had a problem in that the central character, Skillgannon wasn't right. That continues into this book which has received such mixed reviews. If you are an avid fan of David Gemmell then there is a lot here, particularly the good sub-plot of the merchant who throws in his lot with the jiamads (joinings) and this fleshes out the jiamads into characters. For those new to the author I would advise trying another of his series to start.

For the more critical reader, there is a real joy here as the characters in the book start pointing out to the author Skillgannon "The Good". Druss pointing out he is punishing himself rather than being punished; Delcato (the ice killer, a psychopath) holding back from killing him three times; the Eternal's regrets and self-realisation. I note that the title "The Damned" is also conspicuously absent having been so freely used in "White Wolf". Where now is his self doubt about using the swords, the fears of losing his soul?

This is essentially a reprise of White Wolf with some attempt to make Skillgannon work as a character. Perhaps now that the character of Skillgannon has changed to be more congruent, the next book can move forward.

Not the best, but then still better than most. - Rated
I love the entire concept of the drenai novels, but this one, set so far in the future of Druss the Legend's world lacks the relevance of his other drenai novels. White Wolf, the prequel is a better read, although this is still a fantastic story. Read the Regante novels-simply the best Heroic Fantasy Novels ever to be written.