I cannot overstate the immense respect I have for David Gemmell's writing. Dark Moon carried me away to a fantastic world of peril and romance and desperate hope. The promise of wonder I experienced reading the Jon Shannow series is fully realized in this stand-alone fantasy epic.
Because of the greed of a Duke, the Daroth, a uniquely horrific fantasy race, or pale immortal monsters have awoken. These immortals devour all they see, including the very spirit of the land. Swept up in the hasty defense of one mortal city are Tarantio, the greatest swordsman with two spirits sharing one body, Karis, a haunted warrior-woman (and a stellar character study of a strong, but tortured woman), and Duvodas, a healer who had been raised by the gentle Eldarin. Of course, with all of David Gemmell's books, the side characters are well executed and take on an emotional life of their own. All are round and fluid characters, fully realized, fully human.
It is hard to leave behind this world and these characters. More pathos and action are in this four hundred + sized novel then in many-volumed fantasy epics by other writers. I cannot think of a more poetically satisfying read for a fantasy lover, nor can I think of a more frightening and fully realized villain as the Daroth. My only wish is that some day these fantasies will be discovered by someone as talented as Peter Jackson and given life on the big screen.
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