I Read Books: Winter Warriors

 

Winter Warriors

Skanda, king of the Drenai has invaded Ventria, conquering the country. The emperor has been killed and Skandia has married Axiana, a Ventrian princess, and she is expecting his heir. Intending to press on he insists his older troops retire, return to Drenai under his father’s general Belarion, the White Wolf.

They have mixed feelings. Bison, the physically powerful, bald soldier, who spends all his pay on drink, prostitutes, fights and bets, thinks he’s still good to fight. Kebra the bowman, abstentious, knows his eyes are going and it’s time. And Nogusta, heir to a strange magical amulet, puts his demons behind him; he’ll rebuild the family ranch that burned down.

Demons behind them is a problem though. There are strange, unexplained crimes, with men and women suddenly deciding to rob, rape and murder. The midwife-priestess attending the princess has had strange visions. There is a prophecy that the death of three kings, each greater than the last, will return the windborn, creatures of spirit to the earth.

One great king is dead and Skanda has dismissed his veterans, replacing them with troops that previously served his enemy. Another, heir to the first two, will be born soon. Who will be there to defend him?

A lightly Alexander-the-Great flavoured piece of heroic fantasy, using a couple of incidents and the fate of his heirs as a starting point. But more than that; the demons are a true threat in several ways, and the climax offers clever twists that have been sitting in plain sight. Gemmel remixes his formula of old heroes called back for one last quest, and finds plenty of unused material for it.

Read This: Quality heroic fantasy with clever ideas and powerful action scenes
Don’t Read This: You read one Gemmel novel and the characters bored you