My life in books

Legend, David Gemmell

There's something about a doomed, or nearly doomed, military action that really gets to me. Be it historical - the charge of the Light Brigade, Horatius on the bridge, the Spartans at Thermopylae - or purely fictional - the last five minutes of the last episode of Angel: The Series, or the great battles at Helm's Deep and Minas Tirith, for example - there's something about the idea of people doing what has to be done in the face of almost certain death, against unbeatable odds for the sake of honour, or duty, or conviction that pulls me in and won't let me go until the bitter end.

And that's basically what Legend is about, from start to finish. The Empire of Drenai is about to be invaded by the Northern tribes under a mighty warlord named Ulric. A range of mountains divides Drenai from the northern plains; the main pass is guarded by the fortress of Dros Delnoch. If the fortress can hold out against the northerners just long enough for the rest of the empire's forces to be mobilised, then the empire will most likely be saved. But the northern armies are hundreds of thousands strong. And Dros Delnoch has less than 10,000 men - and Drus, the legendary warrior known throughout all of Drenai and the lands surrounding it.

Tense, almost claustrophobic toward the end, with a focus on strategies and tactics, finding a way to hang on long enough, not necessarily to survive the final battle, but still giving enough human detail to make all the characters truly alive as they face the likelihood of their deaths, the story pulls the reader in and doesn't let go. This is the first book of Gemmell's that I've read, and I liked it.