Product Description

As the Angostin battle hordes surge over the Southern Borders of the Highlands, the bandit, Jarek Mace, and his friend, the magicker and bard Owen Odell find themselves in a country in desperate need of heroes. The invaders have no respect for person or place, stealing and laying waste to everything in their path. Behind them evil sorcery is unleashed as a mad necromancer brings back to halflife the eons-dead Vampyre Kings. Only Mace has the courage to stand up to the Angostins and the Undead: soon he is hailed as a figure of myth, the legendary Morningstar come to save his people once more. But only one person really knows Mace: Odell remembers how the now famous bandit was once but a thief and philanderer, who would as soon cut a purse string or a throat for the price of a meal. As the final climactic battle approaches and strange manifestations occur, Odell wonders which of the two Maces will triumph: the self-serving thief or the saviour of his people, the Morningstar.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #82993 in Books
• Published on: 1993-04-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Review
'Has pace, conviction and gritty resolute vitality...The result is a book that will be enjoyed by Tolkien fans' TIMES EDUCATIONAL SUPPLEMENT

About the Author
David Gemmell's first novel, Legend, was published in 1984 and he is now widely acclaimed as Britain's king of heroic fantasy. He lives in East Sussex.

Customer Reviews

Love, honour and flawed heroes.
The usual David Gemmell flair and expression create in Morningstar a fantastic read. It is set in the same world as Knights of Dark Renown and recreates the land vividly. Heroes that are not as pure white as they might be give you more of a link to the characters and their otivation. Read it in a couple of hours and didn't want to put it down. It keeps you gripped in the way of almost al his books and he deserves more recognition than he has received thus far. If you want to have a gripping read that makes you feel a little wistful for even the unpleasant, bloody and vicious times of boradswords and blades, then pick this up and read it agian and again. Then go and buy the rest of the Gemmell's and do the same.

An Interesting Gemmell Read
Why interesting? Well, this book is written in the first person, somethingwhich I have never experienced Gemmell doing before. The Prologue is evenwritten in first person and the present tense, which is always a difficulttask, and will likely annoy some readers.
But how does the story fare? Well, it is superb. It seems to be looselybased on a Robin Hood type character, Jarek Mace, the Morningstar, and is(as usual for Gemmell novels) filled with a depth of character rarely seenelsewhere in the fantasy genre. The plot is fast moving and has the sortof confusion that the Shannow novels brought to the fore, and the newcreatures (to me at least, having not read Knights Of Dark Renown) wereintriguing. The plot is sorted out and explained in the last few chapters,although I have read that David Gemmell wished he could have ended to bookin a different and less-hurried way. Although I can, in hind-sight, seewhat he may mean by this, at the time, I just wanted to read itall.
One thing that is missing from the usual Gemmell winning-formulais the combat. Because the story is told from the viewpoint of Owen Odell,someone who is not a warrior, there isn't the usual focus on the fights. Idon't mean that there is no combat, but when it is described, Gemmellfocuses slightly less on the detail than usual.
Despite the slight feeling of strange-ness that the above variations giveto Morningstar, it is still, undoubtedly, an excellent read. It gave methat "I must finish this before I do anything else" feeling. I wouldalways recommend Legend and the Drenai Saga as the place to start readingGemmell, as that's where he started writing, but for those that want toread new Gemmell, you could do worse than read Morningstar.

A masterpiece of Heroic Fantasy, read it again and again
Jarek Mace's anti hero shines through as possibly one of the greatest literary characters of Heroic Fantasy writing. With his side kick and story teller Owen Odell we are treated to an ethical argument of epic proportions between the two main characters. DG's excellent opening chapter takes hold as you suddenly find yourself drifting into the realm of the Angostin. Only after the books powerful and charismatic conclusion do we realise the full moral implications of the tale. I have read this book several times and it continues to fill me with wonder.