KING BEYOND THE GATE (Paperback)

But there's a twist. The main protagonist, Tenaka Khan, shares his ancestry with both the Drenai and Nadir. So will he fulfill his Drenai destiny by ridding the land of Ceska's foul presence and becoming a hero, or will he bow down to his Nadir heritage and use the crusade against Ceska as an excuse to conquer the Drenai? I liked how this part of the story got resolved.

As before, the combat scenes are what set Gemmell apart from the pack. Brutal, gory action keeps the pages turning. I cringed many times when Gemmell described particularly visual deaths in the battles. Of course, as usual the heroes overcome incredible (and rather unbelievable) odds. The author's tendency to make supermen out of his characters is mainly what keeps this from five stars. I mean, it's written well enough, and the plot's quite good. With the right characters, it could be worthy of five stars.

'Legend' was Mr. Gemmell's first novel, and it's obvious with this book that he's grown considerably since that time. This story is set in the same world as 'Legend', several hundred years after those events. The story surrounds an evil king named Ceska that seizes control of the Drenai kingdom with the help of evil psychic priests known as Templars, and vicious were-beasts known as Joinings who have been created from ancient technology (we're never told much about that technology, which is a shame...I'd have liked to learned more).

Set against Ceska is Tenaka Khan, the last soldier of the Dragon, the elite military force of the Drenai. Tenaka learns of the fall of the Dragon and sets out on a quest to kill Ceska. Along the way, he meets a number of other very memorable characters. The ones that are the strongest, in my opinion, are Ananais (known as Darkmask for a disfiguring injury that causes him to wear a mask everywhere), and Decado (one-time undefeated warrior of the Dragon, turned priest and leader of The Thirty, a group of psychic warrior-priests pitted against the Templars).

This story proceeds from Tenaka's quest to an all-out civil war led by Tenaka and his companions. One of the more interesting pieces of this story comes in when Tenaka decides to return to the Nadir (the evil hordes from 'Legend') and lead them against Ceska. Tenaka, as it happens, is only half-Drenai. He was raised with the Nadir and has a Nadir mother. And his return to his homelands, as well as the events that transpire there, are one of the reasons I really liked this book.

In summary, let me say that Gemmell has obviously continued to perfect his craft, and I would imagine it will continue to grow in future books that he writes. One of my favorite things about his stories is that each book is self-contained and can be read in any order (with very few exceptions - the first two books of the Stones of Power don't follow this rule). This means that if you decide to read a story of the Drenai, you aren't required to commit yourself to several books before you see the resolution of a single storyline. With the type of neverending sagas being cranked out by authors like Robert Jordan these days, this is extremely refreshing.

So if you've read 'Legend' and decided Gemmell isn't for you, take my advice and give him one more try. I expect that you'll be hooked just like me.

Don't get me wrong- This is still a good book, and I would have liked it more if I hadn't read Legend first. As it was, there was just too much Deja Vu for me to get excited. So I wouldn't bother reading this book after Legend, unless you REALLY liked that book.

I have two other books by Gemmell on my TBR shelf (To Be Read): Lion of Macedon, Ghost King. After reading King Beyond the Gate, I'm a little worried that these books will also be too similar. I'd love some opinions if anyone has the time!