"Dark Moon" by David Gemmell

Dark Moon (henceforth shortened to "DM") is my second book by David Gemmell. I started a few pages of it on the plane on the way to Taipei and finished it on the return leg of the flight from Taipei to Singapore.

Brief plot synopsis: DM is a fantasy story centering around 3 heroes: Tarantino, warrior with 2 souls; Karis, woman general and master strategist; and Duvodas, lyricist with a talent to heal -- and kill -- with his songs. Each have a part to play to save the human race from extinction by the savage Daroth race, a race which Duke Sirona unknowingly releases from the spell they were under for many years.

Were it left to me, I would never have picked up the book, but I did so at sis' urging, and also because I did the unthinkable by not bringing a book with me this time [Sidenote: I usually do, if only because I can only stand so much in-flight entertainment], and sis' book was the only one available. (Why I didn't bring is another story, and this blog is not the place to belabour it). Sensing that she had in me a captive audience (on account of the flight and lack of reading material), she generously allowed me to read the book.

I have to say, and this I say unreservedly, that I was hooked by the story. Gemmell's talent of telling a tale is compelling and he weaves the characters into the plot very well. It is a story of courage, humour and love, of flawed heroes and not so evil villains. In Duvodas' revenge killing of the Davoth's "life nest" (I forgot the exact term) and in his subsequent redemption via the survival of his infant son, one sees hope. In Karis' death (oops, spoiler!) one sees the demise of a good warrior, efficient general and a complex woman who had more good in her than she herself believed.

It is ironically, Tarantino's character that I didn't like the most. From the way the story was written I gather he was meant to be the main protaganist of the story, but I found it a pity that Gemmell did not give more play to his dual personality and the inner conflicts he suffered as a pacifist/ killer. But then again, maybe the storyline wasn't meant to be one in which the spotlight is thrown entirely on him, for DM is a tale of war and struggle, and everyone in the theatre of war is a hero in his own way. Note that you don't have to die to be one though, because for the living, carrying on with life is sometimes the most heroic act of all.

Geek rating: 4 out of 5