Morningstar (45 page)
Authors: David Gemmell
“Please explain,” urged Dardalion. Waylander rolled to his back and opened his eyes, staring out beyond the stars.
“Once I loved life, and the sun was a golden joy. But joy is sometimes short-lived, priest. And when it dies a man will seek himself and ask: Why? Why is hate so much stronger than love? Why do the wicked reap such rich rewards? Why does strength and speed count for more than morality and kindness? And then the man realizes … there are no answers. None. And for the sake of his sanity the man must change perceptions. Once I was a lamb, playing in a green field. Then the wolves came. Now I am an eagle and I fly in a different universe.”
“And now you kill the lambs,” whispered Dardalion.
Waylander chuckled and turned over.
“No, priest. No one pays for lambs.”
Join us in welcoming the bestselling author, David Gemmell, hailed as Britain’s king of heroic fantasy, to Del Rey Books. Del Rey will be publishing twelve battle-charged fantasies by this renowned writer.
Look for Gemmell’s epic fantasies of ancient Greece, richly peopled with legends and heroes.
In every possible future, a dark god was poised to reenter Greece. Only the half-Spartan Parmenion had any hope of defeating its evil. And an aged seeress made it her life’s mission that Parmenion would become the deadliest warrior in the world—no matter what the cost.
And as the seeress had foreseen, Parmenion’s destiny was indeed tied to the dark god, and to Philip of Macedon, and to the yet-unborn Alexander. And all too soon the future was upon them …
The Chaos Spirit had been born into Alexander, but the intervention of Parmenion had prevented it from taking over the boy’s soul completely.
Now a demon king, in another Greece, where the creatures of legend still flourished, sought the power of the Chaos Spirit that lived within Alexander. And he called the boy into his world …
Only Parmenion could hope to rescue Alexander from the demon king—but could anyone save the boy from himself?
for
LION OF MACEDON
and
DARK PRINCE
“Nobody writes better fantasy than David Gemmell … A totally engrossing novel … It’s an enduring and compulsive epic.”
—
Starburst
“Gemmell works the reader’s emotions adroitly … The novel has the potential to be quite popular as a dramatic historical, with fantasy elements … It’s a satisfying, often exciting fantasy that will thrill many readers …”
—
Locus
“This enjoyable historical fantasy set in ancient Greece spans three decades in the career of Parmenion, a Spartan of mixed ancestry whose life is being shaped and monitored by an aging seeress … Particularly enchanting … is the appearance of Aristotle as a wizard and guide through the underworld …”
—
Publishers Weekly
And watch for Gemmell’s independent fantasies: KNIGHTS OF DARK RENOWN, a dark Celtic story of lost heroes, and MORNINGSTAR, a medieval fantasy loosely based on the Robin Hood legend—coming in June and October 1993 from Del Rey.
The legendary knights of the Gabala had been greater than princes, more than men. But they were gone, disappeared through a demon-haunted gateway between worlds.
But one tormented knight had held back–Manannan, whose every instinct told him to stay. But as murder and black magic beset the land, Manannan realized he would have to face his darkest fears: He had no choice but to ride through that dreaded gate and seek out his vanished companions.
for
KNIGHTS OF DARK RENOWN
“A sharp distinctive medieval fantasy. Dramatic, colorful, taut.”
—
Locus
Jarek Mace was an outlaw, a bandit, a heartless thief. He needed nothing and no one.
But now Angostin hoardes raged over the borders. Evil sorcery ruled, and the Vampyre kings lived once more. The Highland people were in great need of a hero. And when Mace’s harassment of the Angostins inadvertently aided the common people, he found himself hailed as that hero, a legend, the great Morningstar returned.
But Mace was an outlaw—not a savior of the people. Or was he?
for
MORNINGSTAR
“It is with some reason that he [David Gemmell] is called Britain’s king of heroic fantasy. Here [MORNINGSTAR] … he looks at the nature of legend—how a man who is basically self-centered and unfeeling becomes the inspiration for a nation in the grip of evil … The setting is half-familiar: a place much like the Scottish Highlands at a time like the Middle Ages … It is a fine piece of writing.”
—T
IM
L
EMON
,
Eastern Daily Press
, England
“It seems that every time I read a new David Gemmell novel it is better than the last—and MORNINGSTAR is no exception … The main difference between the book and the myths it draws upon is that Gemmell includes some of the less savory characters who we suspect may have been at the basis of both Robin and Arthur.”
—
Starburst
And look for two of Gemmell’s famous heroic fantasy series’, coming soon from Del Rey.
Meet the heroes of the Drenai people …
WAYLANDER
: He was charged with protecting the innocents and journeying into the shadow-haunted lands of the Nadir, to find the legendary Armor of Bronze. But Waylander was an assassin, a slayer, the killer of the king.
LEGEND
: Druss was a legend even in old age. And he would be called to fight once more, to defend the mighty fortress Dros Delnoch—the last possible stronghold against the Nadir hordes …
THE KING BEYOND THE GATE
: Tenaka Khan was an outsider, a half-breed, despised by both the Drenai and the Nadir. But he would be one man against the armies of Chaos …
QUEST FOR LOST HEROES
: Among the companions, the boy Kiall, the legendary heroes Chareos the Blademaster, Beltzer the Axeman, and the bowmen Finn and Maggrig was a secret that could free the world of Nadir. One was the Nadir Bane, the Earl of Bronze …
The Drenai Saga
WAYLANDER
LEGEND
THE KING BEYOND THE GATE
QUEST FOR LOST HEROES
“There isn’t a British writer in this area [fantasy] who can hold a candle to his knack for plot-weaving, narrative impetus, and the ability to meld wizardry and high adventure so seemlessly.”
—
Fantasy Bookshelf
And more adventures await …
Tales of dark magic, sorcery, and conquest in the books of the Sipstrassi Stones of Power … A new dark age, a witch queen, a hellborn army, and a man seeking a child born of demon. Bold heroes … The brigand slayer, Jon Shannow, known as the Jerusalem man … Uther Pendragon … Culain …
The Sipstrassi Tales
WOLF IN SHADOW
GHOST KING
LAST SWORD OF POWER
And a new Jon Shannow Adventure
—going beyond the gates of time itself …
Join Del Rey for the action-filled stories of heroes and battles, of demons and evil armies, for the fantasy novels of David Gemmell …
“Gemmell not only knows how to tell a story, he knows how to tell a story you want to hear. He does high adventure as it ought to be done.”
—Greg Keyes
Author of
The Briar King
THE SWORDS OF
NIGHT AND DAY
A Novel of Skilgannon the Damned
by David Gemmell
With mythic sweep and epic scope, David Gemmell’s bestselling novels of magic and adventure feature brooding heroes who fight to preserve all that is good and honorable in themselves and in the worlds through which they stride like lonely giants. In times of terror and despair, theirs are the swords that carve a shining path, inspiring others to follow. Even after their deaths, their names live on.…
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