Product Description

Eight hundred years have passed since the defeat of the army of stone by Bane the Bastard, and his father, King Connavar of the Rigante. Now, two men emerge from the mists of uncertainty to answer a witch's cry for help and again inspire Rigante as they fight for survival agains an age old evil.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #366329 in Books
• Published on: 2001-04-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 384 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
In Ravenheart, the time-scale of David Gemmell's novels of the Rigante, a Celt-like people living on the fringes of other, more aggressive cultures, reaches a historical period that is the fantasy equivalent of the early 18th century. The Rigante clans are oppressed by their Varlish neighbours, forbidden their traditional dress and culture; only in the hills do the old ways hold and there are plots to destroy even those strongholds by treachery. Young Kaelin is the son of a chief treacherously murdered by the Moidart, the local Varlish overlord; everyone waits to see what will become of him, especially his rowdy mentor Jaim and his cautious foster-mother Maev. What makes this such a likable book is that Gemmell is aware of the sheer complexity of the situation he has created--Kaelin's unsympathetic austere Varlish schoolteacher Alterith becomes practically a hero in his own right through an ethic of scholarship and legalism entirely alien to the Rigante among who he lives. The Moidart's son, Gaise, is a man of more honour than his father and clearly booked to be important in a sequel.--if Gemmell has been reading Walter Scott novels such as Rob Roy, it is considerably to the book's advantage.--Roz Kaveney

Time Out
'In the realm of people-driven fantasy fiction, Gemmell sets the standard'

Enigma
'The blend of gentle humour and hard, bloody steel combine to give every fantasy fan what they most desire'

Customer Reviews

No surprises here.
If you've ever read any of David Gemmell's work before, then you will not be surprised by anything in this novel. The characters are painstakingly and colourfully developed and the storyline is full of his usual mix of bloodshed, injustice and the downtrodden underdogs rising against corrupt and powerful oppressors. I'll say one thing for Gemmell's work - it's consistent! He works to a successful formula, and for the most part his fans will not be disappointed.

My only criticism of this book is that although it is undoubtedly, as is claimed, a Novel of the Rigante, he has skipped so much time from the first two books of the series to this one that the storyline has lost the pace and excitement that he had developed with Connovar and Bane. Yes, the new characters are arguably as good, likeable and powerful, but he has to develop the whole social system again from scratch and so by the end of the 500 odd pages, the story was really only beginning to gather the impetus that he had achieved with the first two books. Although this is the third book of the series, it reads as though it is the first and that in itself made it slightly disappointing.

Gemmell at his best is undoubtedly a five star author, but Ravenheart wouldn't be my recommendation as his best work. It is simply more Gemmell - and that, although good, is a bit of a shame.

Be warned, you might end up wanting to be a hero...
As Gemmell goes on, his books become less formulaic, and this is a perfect example. The writing style and sense for the heroic which would make even the most formulaic book seem brilliant is still here; with it is a superb new set of characters and a perfectly woven plot. This is my favourite David Gemmell novel (which is saying something), and continues the stories of the Rigante with some delightful twists and turns.

If you haven't read any David Gemmell before, then you should prepare yourself for a bit of an emotional roller-coaster, and to become more involved with characters than usual. You would have to try very hard to dislike this novel.

Not Bad
This book is good. Honestly. It is different from your standard David Gemmel story. The characters have more deph, romance is built up at a more realistic slow pace, the fighting is interesting, and the battles epic. Why then do I not give five stars?
Because the ending is shocking. It stinks so much of a sequel that it had me in tears. "How?" I moaned in my semi-delirous tantrum, "Can he end a book like that?"

Granted, some of the ends are tied up, but even more are left loose. Without giving away too much of the excellent story line, there is the normal Gemmel situation. A few stranded good guys are being forced to fight a whole load of angry bad guys. As usual the balance is in favour of the bad guys because naturally, there are lots more of them. The good guys get sneaky and clever, and then... the book ends! It was such a let down.

Don't get me wrong - the book is good, Gemmel's writing style has matured dramatically, but still retains it freshness for battle and fantasy. A genuinely good read, - it carries on the ringante saga beautifully, but the ending won't fail to disappoint.