WHITE WOLF

British heroic fantasist Gemmell (Stormrider, 2002, etc.) offers the eighth in the Drenai series begun with Legend (1984), which told of Druss the Axeman, who had to come down from his mountain to save the Drenai from the forces of Nadir. This latest installment focuses on Skilgannon the Damned, who has left his lover, Jianna the Witch Queen. Jianna sends Caphas and four guards to recover from Skilgannon the Swords of Night and Day; the seekers’ five bodies litter the fast-driving text by page seven. Skilgannon tires of bloodshed and retires to a monastery for four years. When riots erupt and townspeople turn on the monks, he must again take up his swords, eventually teaming up with Druss, the Silver Slayer against whom The Immortals fought at the pivotal battle of Skeln (a turning point in the series). Human nature is such that the Empire can never find peace, at least not as long as the two men must face not only the Witch Queen but iron-masked Boranius with his Swords of Blood and Fire. Meanwhile, Skilgannon confronts in his dreams the pale white wolf that pursues him, while Druss’s death at Delnoch is foretold.

Clean, swift action and a rich undercurrent of human understanding support Gemmell’s characters at each turn of the tale.