Knights of Dark Renown
                    Author David Gemmell
  Unabridged Clipper Audio Book narrated by Christopher Kay
                  10 Cassettes / 14.25 hours
          plus bonus tape - interview with author

Six years before the start of this story, the wizard and armourer
Olafair opened the Black Gate, the route to the source of the evil
beasts who were attacking the land of the Nine Duchies. Into the
gate rode the Knights of the Gabala on their grey steeds, wearing
their shining, silver armour. They were the knights of King Ahak,
pledged to do good, protect the weak and destroy evil.

They never returned.

Now, the king has new champions, but these wear red armour and far
from being a force for good, wherever they go they murder, rape
and destroy. The king too has changed. No longer seeming concerned
for his subjects, and with the assistance of Okessar, he has
introduced a policy of ethnic cleansing against anyone - rich or
poor - who has any hint of nomad blood. These people are being
forced from their homes, trying to find sanctuary before the
king's men come to take them to a city which has been set aside
for them. But since no-one has come back from the city, who knows
what is taking place there?  As the nomads flee, others try to
take advantage of them, robbing them or exacting a toll for their
safe passage. One of these robbers is Groundsell, who turned
against his master and his family after one beating too many, fled
to the forest, and set up camp there, drawing other malcontents to
him. Also to the forest comes Claw Guffas, a blacksmith who was
falsely accused of killing his wife. The Duke of Mactha, a member
of whose family had actually been responsible, had thrown Claw
into jail, ready for later execution. But Claw escaped, freeing
some of the other prisoners too, and they have also joined
Groundsell's band, though he hasn't taken part in any of the
robbing of the fleeing nomads.

As the story progresses, more characters are drawn to the forest.
These include the wizard Olafair, who lives under a false name and
a runaway slave called Lamfader who has become his unofficial
apprentice and a bard called Nuader. Slowly a band who will
consider fighting back is formed. But what chance do these
ordinary people stand against the Red Knights, one of whom has
already bested the king's champion in combat?

When I saw this audio book in Sidcup Library, I couldn't resist
borrowing it. I'd read a few of David Gemmell's books before, but
I don't normally listen to unabridged books ... they take too long
to finish because I normally only listen to them when I walk the
dog in the morning, assuming I don't meet any other walkers (a
rare occurrence). I ended up renewing the book for a further three
weeks, and just finished the tapes before the total of six weeks
was up. But I was hooked and during this time, I also listened to
the tapes when doing housework (as long as the hoover or other
noisy equipment wasn't involved) and by the last few days, I was
deliberately walking outside my usual area so that I didn't meet
anyone who'd want to talk!

The storyline is excellent. It took me a few sessions to sort
everybody out, and I've had to transcribe their names phonetically
into this review as I have no idea how they are spelt. But most of
the names have a Celtic sound, and Christopher Kay creates the
characters well, making their voices fairly distinguishable,
especially the major players of which there are about a dozen in
all. It isn't a straightforward tale of good versus evil and there
are several twists and turns to the story, including one which
took me completely unaware. I can't think of one place where the
pace flagged and the tension was kept up right to the end. The
addition of an interview with David Gemmell on tape 11 rounded it
off nicely though there was nothing very deep in it as he
explained how he started to write and where his characters and
some of his storylines come from though he did also touch on the
roles of women and religion in medieval fantasy fiction.

The tape is dated 1999 but the copyright date for the book is 1989
so is also available in paperback and hardback. I would recommend 
it in any format to you!

                                                      Sue
                              - o -