'Morningstar' (290 pp) first was published in the UK in 1992; this Del Rey paperback was released in October, 1993, and features cover artwork by Mike Posen.
[This is a standalone novel, with no continuity with any of Gemmell's fantasy series.]
The book is framed as a flashback by an elderly Bard, Owen Odell, who is reminiscing about his younger days as the friend and confidante of the legendary freedom fighter......... the swashbuckling outlaw who took from the rich and gave to the poor........... the Morningstar: Jarek Mace !
As the novel opens, Odell - the outcast son of a wealthy and influential royal family of the Angostin clans - is struggling to earn his keep as a singer and a magician in the increasingly lawless northern city of Ziraccu.
Odell has heard rumors circulating about the Angostin King of Ikenas, a ruthless tyrant named Edmund. Edmund seeks to subjugate not just Ziraccu, but the entire region surrounding it. Odell decides to flee the city for the wilder, less developed Highlands; there, he encounters Jarek Mace and his loose coalition of thieves and bandits, who earn their living preying on the travelers who take the forest roads.
Although Mace is a criminal, who cares only for himself, he has sufficient charisma to induce Owen Odell to join the band of cut-throats and malcontents who look to Mace as their leader.
As the tyranny of King Edmund settles over the land, Mace finds himself pressured to be more than a bandit chieftan.......to be, in fact, the leader of the Resistance.
But as Mace, Odell, and the hastily rebranded 'freedom fighters' are to discover, Edmund and his lieutenants have no qualms about using the foulest of dark sorceries to crush any rebellion........
As with Gemmell's other fantasy novels, 'Morningstar' is a fast-moving and engaging read. And, as with those other novels, its major themes revolve around injecting notes of realism into the template of the Heroic Fantasy narrative.
We witness Owen Odell's transformation from a naive, idealistic young man into an adult who recognizes that the legends of every hero hide some Uncomfortable Truths, truths that wind up being carefully edited from the retelling.
Notes of Humanism also are injected - somewhat obviously - into the story; for example, we come to know that beneath his seeming insouciance and casual disregard, Jarek Mace is struggling with his sense of duty to free his fellow man and woman from the cruelties callously imposed by the Privileged Classes.
The major weakness of 'Morningstar' comes in the later chapters, in which author Gemmell introduces some plot contrivances ( including Time Travel ?! ) that, in my opinion, are too facile to be effective.
Summing up, 'Morningstar' is a solid 3-star adventure fantasy novel, particularly if you're looking for an alternative to the brick-sized novels that make up the majority of the books currently on the store shelves; just be prepared for an underwhelming ending.
The major weakness of 'Morningstar' comes in the later chapters, in which author Gemmell introduces some plot contrivances ( including Time Travel ?! ) that, in my opinion, are too facile to be effective.
Summing up, 'Morningstar' is a solid 3-star adventure fantasy novel, particularly if you're looking for an alternative to the brick-sized novels that make up the majority of the books currently on the store shelves; just be prepared for an underwhelming ending.
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