‘Waylander’ – David Gemmell (Orbit)

I actually have another copy of ‘Waylander’, somewhere, but I saw this cover (while doing a bit of ‘birthday book shopping’) and had to get it. It makes me all nostalgic for those seemingly long ago times when cover art wasn’t afraid to just yell out what the actual book was all about. In this case, a guy with a cool looking crossbow fighting monsters. There’s more to it than just that though… Daylight is hitting that mountain top but it’s shadowy and dangerous underneath the trees where the action is, which is pretty much this book as well.

I’ll warn you in advance, David Gemmell’s books are real comfort reads for me and I’ve been in need of that recently so… Don’t expect me to be too balanced here. I love all of his books and that’s all there is to it. And it’s another ‘quick thoughts’ kind of post as well. Maybe I’ll write longer posts in the future but that’s a little beyond my reach at the moment, hope you don’t mind… 😉

Anyway, enough of that. Lets talk about the book…

The Drenai king is dead – murdered by a ruthless assassin. Enemy troops swarm into Drenai lands. Their orders are simple – kill every man, woman and child.

But there is hope.

Stalked by men who act like beasts and beasts that walk like men, the warrior Waylander must journey into the shadow-haunted lands of the Nadir to find the legendary Armour of Bronze. With this, he can turn the tide. But can he be trusted? For he is Waylander the Slayer. The traitor who killed the king…

The theme of being a hero runs through pretty much every book of Gemmell’s and ‘Waylander’ is no different. Or is it…? Most of Gemmell’s books come with one standout good guy (the ideal) and a mixture of characters either aspiring to be a hero or going through a redemptive arc that will conclude in line with the books climatic scenes. In ‘Waylander’ though, everyone you come across is a bit of a bastard and… I kind of like that.

Heroes are great and all but when they adhere as closely to the Code as Gemmell’s do, there’s only so much mileage you can get out of them. Like I said, they end up being the ideal that others work towards. The real fun is watching grey characters strive to be better, or asking themselves the really difficult questions, and ‘Waylander’ is full of that. Gemmell shows us that in his world, there is a way back from the worst deeds and you can redeem yourself. You’ve just got to find a way to live with your past and believe that you deserve better. That’s a message that I can really get behind and when you add some rich worldbuilding and blistering swordplay, it all makes for a story that even after several re-reads, refuses to let me go once I’ve started reading. It’s always an amazing read for me.

It’s the characters though that really make this a compelling read for me. Waylander is the obvious example here as a man who has lost everything and has to decide whether he can reach out and live rather than just exist. The answer is obvious but the joy is in watching him make that journey for himself. Karnak though is the most interesting character for me, a man who embodies all that is heroic but is someone who makes all those decisions with himself at the forefront. Can someone be a hero and selfish all at the same time…? Maybe, I don’t know, fair play to Gemmell for not only asking the question but posing it in a character whose actions and motives really make you think about it.

‘Waylander’ remains a book that I absolutely have to finish every time I pick it up. I suspect I’m preaching to the choir here but if you haven’t read it already, you really should.