Waylander by David Gemmell is the fourth book in the Drenai saga. The books in order that should be read before reading this one are: Legend, The King Beyond the Gates, and Quest for Lost Heroes. In this book Gemmell deviates a little from the first three books, it is no longer the retired hero coming back to save the day. There seems to be more lot and much more character development within this book. I find it hard to separate Gemmell’s books as they are all equally good in my opinion.

The plot of this book is told primarily through the eyes of Waylander, but there are a few times where peripheral characters take over for side quests. There is also a secondary story that takes place with a group trying to hold a keep. That element of the story is classic Gemmell, he writes those scenes well, he has a knack for writing characters dieing. The emotion that goes into that is uncanny, Gemmell’s books have very tight plots and nothing happens without a reason. There is no ‘fluff’ to these books. Some may consider the plot simplistic, I don’t see that. I think it harkens back to the days when fantasy was fantasy and not this mass produced drivel that seems to be dominating the shelves today.

Unlike the first three Gemmell books that I have read, this novel is packed with character development. In fact I was actually surprised at the amount just from reading the first three novels. That’s not to say the first three didn’t have character development, it’s just in this book Gemmell takes it to a deeper lever and it was something I enjoyed reading. The character of Waylander really made some great strides in this book and I am eagerly awaiting reading In The Realm of the Wolf which is the continuation of this book.

All in all I would recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of fantasy books. This is not a deep all encompassing read, but the story and characters are both solid and it makes for a fun book to read. The beauty of the Drenai books is they can be read as individual books without losing too much of the story. I would recommend reading them in order, but it is not necessary to enjoy the book. Another solid enjoyable book by Gemmell.