Stormrider

While this stands well alone, it takes place shortly after Ravenheart & has many of the same characters. I'd highly recommend reading it first. Gemmel is a master of writing a character driven story. While the setting, action, & magic are well done, the characters are what really shine. There are good guys & bad; some swap places as they grow & events shape them. Often these changes are against all odds if viewed from a distance, but make perfect sense as the particulars become k [...]

I finished this book (for about the seventh time) about a week ago, but this is the first chance I've had time to write a review. Although, not Gemmell's best work (Sword In The Storm, Midnight Falcon, Legend, Winter Warriors, Waylander II & III, Dark Moon), it is up there with them. As I've already said, I've read this book (and many others) several times over the years, and there are only so many books that are gripping enough to do that with. Gemmell was always the master at character dri [...]

Draig Cochland is who the hero of this book.p 325: "All was silent at the center of the Wishing Tree woods. The ancient standing stones, only three of them upright now, cast long moon shadows across the hilltop. Other pillars lay cracked and broken on the ground, the meaning of the runic symbols carved into the golden stone long forgotten. A black beetle scurried across the surface of one fallen stone, its tiny legs powering it over a written wisdom it would never know."p 459: "The grass beneath [...]

I love David Gemmell novels and like most this one made me cry. It is full of heroes flawed and unsuspected. It is the final installment of the Rigante books telling the story of Stormrider and Ravenheart. It also is unusal for a fantasy novel, there is magic and swords, but there are also muskets and pistols. David Gemmell's novels can be a little formualic but that is not necessarily a bad thing. He writes heroic fantasy and does it well drawing you into the story and making you care about the [...]

I enjoyed this book quite a bit, although this 4th and last book in Gemmell's "Rigante" series was probably the weakest of the four. Certain changes in character in the book, particularly for Gaise Macon and the Moidart, seemed a little forced, and perhaps made more for plot convenience than for consistency in the story. This is still a rather minor complaint given that I really liked the story overall and was certainly caught up in it while reading it.

Every book in this series has amazed me with powerful characters and strong stories with meaning. The story of Kaelin Ring and Gaise Macon and all the others was just perfect. This fourth book brings the story of the Rigante to an end but you can see there was a whole other story that was waiting for him to write. A shame he didn't get to. This series will remain on the shelf for another read, someday soon. 5 Stars Every Gemmell book I have read has been excellent.

It was sad that stormrider had to die in the end.However he was really brave and Kaelin and the others failed to notice it until he died.Well now i know where the green and tawny brown eye thing came from.And I came up with a soul name of my own: 'The rose in the flames'.Not so good.

Good end. Wish there was more. Found it the author died while I was reading this book. Sad

David Gemmell has a gift for writing simply, rationally, and yet beautifully. I have read almost every single novel he has published, and although this one isn't my favorite or most recommended, it is the only one to make me cry. Oddly, it wasn't a main characters death or a stirring speech that got to me; it was the actions of two brothers, doing what was right, that got to me.Now others may not be so moved by it as I was, and that's fine. But as far as I'm concerned, this novel is a stirring e [...]

Out of all Gemmell's works this is one of the few books I didn't especially enjoy. While it is a reasonable Gemmell tale with some good characters the earlier Rigante books I feel are superior and much more memorable reads. It's another typical Gemmell story of characters in a seriously messed up situation but the underrated author has done it better on several other occasions.

what happened to Kaelin?this book is the worst of rigante series. i find the battle details are confusing, although the story is okay

accrocdeslivres/20

It was okay. Kind of a dude read if you ask me.

The BEST ending to any Gemmell book I have read to date! And I have read many. Almost made me cry. Almost*puffs out chest*

The best I have read of fantasy series.

I love this series!!!

呜呜呜呜呜

Stormrider is the final volume of the Rigante series. Set in a period roughly equivalent to our 1600's, a civil war breaks out in the land where the Rigante have been dominated for years by the Varlish. The Rigante are roughly equivalent to the Northern Scotish clans and the Varlish are the English. Stormrider is the spirit name for Gaise Macon, now a successful cavalry general, the son of the Moidart, a man known for his cruel ways. This book is perhaps the heaviest actual fantasy of Gemmell's [...]

Novels of the Rigante: Sword in the Storm, Midnight Falcon, Stormrider, and Ravenheart.I don’t know how I managed to not have read any David Gemmell before this, considering how much time I have spent lurking in the sci fi/fantasy aisles of every bookstore I’ve ever been to, but I picked the first of these after reading about them on Beth Schaefermann’s site. She doesn’t keep archives posted but I can tell you that the post was titled “Total Bad-Ass Warrior Who Wields Really Big Swords [...]

This was my first experience of David Gemmell, and I was very impressed. Stormrider is a cracking fantasy novel which is notable for not being a Tolkien knock-off. It starts with a bang, as an apparently demonic bear pursues a warrior and a small child across a frozen wilderness in a lengthy action sequence. After this, the supernatural calms down for quite a while, and the book's tone shifts to a military novel, chronicling a civil war.The characterisation is spot on. Characters shift their all [...]

9/10In Stormrider Gemmell treats us with something more special this time as, with his usual - unique - talent, he brings us to a powerful finale, and closes the series in a high note like only very few can do.After having introduced us to the newer characters in Ravenheart, Gemmell now takes us a few years later with Ravenheart and Stormrider getting entangle on a great war between the Moidart, the Rigante and the King's army that will change their peoples's lifes, and their own, for ever.One t [...]

I would have given this four stars, but the ending kind of dragged on for me. Too much war and carnage, blood and gore for me! This one focused more on a very evil group of men led by an evil Spirit and it was sometimes too dark for my taste. I loved the characters and their flawed naturesmething that seems to be a trademark of David Gemmell in this series, at least. So, I have to say this would be my least favorite of all four that I have read. But the ending of this was very poignant. It redee [...]

I reread this as I was wanting an enjoyable David Gemmell experience and, as I remembered, this didn't disappoint. The book is, on one level, a fun heroic fantasy romp. Tolkien once described fantasy as tragedy that unexpectedly ends well and this novel definitely fits this description, where in battles of good versus evil it all ends well due to heroes - characters who save the day through their skill and cunning. On another level this is an exploration of whether an 'evil' act, when done to pr [...]

I was loaned the Ravenheart series by a good friend and read it during a summer camping trip to a state forest; one of those trips that the extended family goes on and spends a week at a 4 campsites with tents and picnic tables. I was surprised that I'd never heard of Gemmell at the time, but really loved his storytelling! For the past 4 years, I bring the four Rigante books (Ravenheart, Midnight Falcon, Stormrider and Sword in the Storm) with me for this annual trip and have a great time reread [...]

Like the three Rigante novels that preceded it, this novel is wondrous. Gemmell's cast of richly fleshed out characters is extensive, and he roves from one to another as frequently as a soap opera, but, like a master juggler, he keeps all the balls in the air.Gemmell's death prevents answering the question of whether he would have treated us with another Rigante story, but this novel feels like a satisfying ending. Maybe because, unlike the other three, it comes close on the heels of the novel b [...]

The finalé of the series leads to the unexpected. Same great pace as ever, but the focus shifts slightly from one main character of Ravenheart (the preceeding novel) to another as it moves to a great revelation and conclusion. Perhaps the least independant of the series, I think it should at least be read with Ravenheart to add to build up and background, even if chose not to read Sword in the Storm and Midnight Falcon at the beginning. I thought I might be sad to end the series I had been so e [...]

One of the earliest fantasy book I read. I bought it in an airport during a trip and one of my earliest English, which is not my native language, novel that is not Harry Potter; ended up finishing before my holiday trip ended. Even without having read the previous novels in the series, it didn't take me long before I understood the story and started enjoying it (I was in 2nd grade of junior high at the time so this book should be pretty light for adult). I wasn't a fan of multiple characters' po [...]

It saddens me to finish reading this book as I know that no more Gemmell books will ever be written. What can I add to what I have already written elsewhere about Gemmell's other works? Incredibly warm and human characters that shine when they are in stage. Complex and human drama without saccharine deus ex machina. Epic and brutal warfare. An easy going pace to the plot. The ending might be a little contrived but that is easily pardoned as it was appropriately and dramatically jarring.

Big Disappointment. Normally if it were any other author would have given 2 star but it being Gemmell i expect so much more from him. Worst book i have read of him (Read about 20 of them)It's not at all consistent with the previous book in the series(Ravenheart). Personality of most of the characters change in a big way. Also the ending is contradictory.(view spoiler)[It say's you cant kill a God by a bullet and few pages later goes ahead and does just that !!! (hide spoiler)]

Although I enjoyed this book, I had higher expectations after reading its predecessor, Ravenheart. This sequel felt a little muddled and disjointed, as it focused much less on select central characters in order to increase the scope of the tale. It was still fantasy of the highest quality, I just have very high expectations for David Gemmell. But even the poorest effort by Gemmell is still be better than 90% of the rest of what is available.