Sword in the Storm

Again with the Gemmell book. I know the last review was of Troy, but when I went to the library to get the latest Troy book, they didn't have it. So I picked up Sword in the Storm, book 1 of The Rigante.

While this is not the historical fiction that Troy is, it is deeply rooted in mythology - Celtic mythology, that is. It is obviously taken place in England, although it is never called that, and it is obviously taken place during the Rome expansion, though it never refers to Rome. Instead the empire comes from the city Stone. Other than that, the Celtic gods and goddesses as well as holidays and customs reign here. Taranis, a Celtic god of thunder and war, is mentioned quite frequently, as well as Celtic spirits (the Sidthe in the book are the banshee and other faerie spirits). Morrigu is mentioned as well as her ravens and Samhain is an important time throughout the book.

If you are looking for a fun introduction to Celtic mythology, this is a good place to start. Whenever a name is mentioned, go to http://www.godchecker.com and look it up. When you are done, you will have a pretty good idea of the Celts. They are a pretty hard group to follow.

To top it all off, David Gemmell has proven to me again that he is a master writer, able to create characters that are believable and to provide a plot that has enough twists and turns to keep you wanting to find out what happens next. Three and a half out of five lightning bolts.