Morningstar - David Gemmell

...the peoples hero. A morningstar is an evil, ball shaped weapon on a chain. The ball has lots of nasty spikes sticking out of it, and if you get cracked round the head with one of'em, you're off to meet your maker quick sharp! Also it is the last star in the sky before dawn, the one that sees off the dark of night and beckons on the daylight.

After an impressive rescue of a friend, Owen, Mace and their friends Wulf (the hunchback) ...
...famous, known throughout the Highlands as rebels against the evil Lord Azrek and the Southern King Edmund. However, each of these heroes is a real person. A person with troubles, prejudices and fears. All of which are uncovered as the threat of the return of the dreaded Vampyre kings becomes a reality, and each man and woman face what lives deep within their hearts.

This is one of Gemmell's earliest works, and is written in the first ... more

Owen Odell is a travelling bard, he is a brave man, but not a skilled one, so when he steps in to stop several ruffians from raping a young girl, it is fate or fortune that Jarek Mace jumps in to kill the attackers and save Owens life.

Thus starts the legend of Morningstar, the peoples hero. A morningstar is an evil, ball shaped weapon on a chain. The ball has lots of nasty spikes sticking out of it, and if you get cracked round the head with one of'em, you're off to meet your maker quick sharp! Also it is the last star in the sky before dawn, the one that sees off the dark of night and beckons on the daylight.

After an impressive rescue of a friend, Owen, Mace and their friends Wulf (the hunchback) Ilka (the Mute Whore) and Piercollo (the giant wrestler) become famous, known throughout the Highlands as rebels against the evil Lord Azrek and the Southern King Edmund. However, each of these heroes is a real person. A person with troubles, prejudices and fears. All of which are uncovered as the threat of the return of the dreaded Vampyre kings becomes a reality, and each man and woman face what lives deep within their hearts.

This is one of Gemmell's earliest works, and is written in the first person, from the view of Owen Odell, the Bard. I know many people look down on the first person point of view, but it is used amazingly well in this book to bring the reader into the story and Owen is the perfect storyteller, you enjoy seeing the events unfold before his eyes, and hearing his own personal philosophy between times.

This is not, on the surface, an unusual story, especially not for Gemmell. An unlikely hero, a band of misfits and battles, guts and gore. It never ceases to amaze me how this author manages to tell essentially the same story time and time again but make each one so very, very different.

It's like listening to bands like Crowded House, Bon Jovi or Oasis, their work is instantly recognisable as their music, but each one is unique. I think it takes real mastery of your genre to be able to do this. Terry Pratchett manages it with humorous Fantasy, but I don't think anyone manages it quite like Gemmell.

I believe his secret is in the way he describes his characters and gives them life. He goes in to such detail over each character, that you can imagine them, see them in your minds eye and even lust after them in some cases. Also his stories are always well paced, you can follow the storyline easily, it's very linear. So you're only ever taking baby steps into the realm of fantasy, and each step makes sense so a bard with magical powers becomes mundane and that leads the way to accepting the existence of Vampyres and special weapons used to slay them.

This book is full of morals, and observations of humanity. You see into the psyche of so many different people, and it really is fascinating. I guarantee you'll be nodding your head at such exposed wisdom, time and time again. I always feel like I've learned something when I read a Gemmell book, it adds an extra dimension of enjoyment to the read as it blends in so well, that it doesn't seem like a condescending lecture, it's just a characters philosophy and mind set:

""Spoken like the hero that you are!" stormed Astiana. "Hero?" responded Mace. "Where are the heroes? The Angostins have slaughtered them all. There are no more heroes, Sister. They lie upon the fields of battle, the crows feasting upon their eyes. They went into battle with clubs and staves, told they could defeat armoured knights and seasoned troops. And they believed it! Well, they had no chance, but they were heroes. That's what heroes do, isn't it? They tackle impossible odds and laugh in the face of death. Well, I saw no laughter. Only terror as the first charge cleared their ranks and the swords and maces and spears and lances tore into their flesh. I am not a hero, Astiana. But I am alive.""

If you're a fan of heroic fantasy, this is for you, but you'll need a fairly strong stomach, as there are scenes that involve blood and guts as well as scenes of a horrific and/or suspenseful nature. Also, make sure you've got time to read, because if you're in the middle of an exciting battle scene, you're not going to want to put this baby down. I've been up well past my bedtime on three occasions because of Morningstar, you just can't put it down.

My husband bought me my copy of this for my birthday, and it was definitely my best present. To get your hands on it in the shops, you'll pay £6.99, but if you're doing a shop on Amazon, you can get a new copy for £5.59, or used copies from £1.75. I would happily pay full price for Morningstar, even though it's not overly long or bulky. It's a beautiful story, well told and with a wonderful surprise ending.  

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