Customer Reviews
FANTASTIC! - By: Gary Austin, 09 May 2008 
This is book, & indeed a trilogy ,that deserves many more than the 5 stars Amazon alllow me to award. It is written with a pace, humanity & realism that most authors can only aspire to.
Many of the other reviewers of this book have commented on Mr Gemmell's passing & the major contribution to his legacy of his wife Stella. I can only add that the Mrs Gemmell's contribution links seemlessly with that of her husband & together they have written one the best historical trilogies ever. I was hooked from the first chapter of the first book & stayed there to the end. If you like Cornwell, Iggulden or Scarrow read this, it beats alll three hands down.
Good, Not Great - By: sam_acw, 02 May 2008 
This was a very good book but suffered from a few problems. The Ahmose story was predictable in the extreme while characters tended to fade in & out throughout the whole trilogy. The book was also very long & suffered from not having a central figure.
Gemmell was a fantastic writer, this book isn't up to the standard of the Drenai saga though
5 stars... just - By: PB, 14 Apr 2008 Unlike many other reviewers here, I am not a long-standing David Gemmell fan. As new reader, I was totallly enthrallled by the first two books in this trilogy & waited with great anticipation for this final book. It was certainly very sad to learn that David Gemmell had died. Without reservation, I will say that I am grateful that the publishers, editor & Stella Gemmell did so much to complete David's vision. It is clear that this is the story David Gemmel wanted to write & after reading it, I felt a real mixed sense of satisfaction & loss, for the story, the characters, the author & myself as the reader.
So, why do I calll it "5 star... just"? I hate to be so picky, but there are some grammatical faux pas in the prose that are somewhat jarring - mainly to do with sentence construction & the misuse of commas near the beginning of sentences. It is clear that the economical prose employed by David Gemmell are not as well constructed by Stella, or policed by the Editors. These seem more prominent in the early part of the book & either I got accustomed to them, or they weren't present later on. Also, some of the dialogue between Helikaon & Andromache is rather desperate - somewhat Mills & Boon-like (I assume). However, I know that I am reallly splitting hairs here as this didn't stop me enjoying the story & as I said before, I am grateful to have been able to read the whole of this trilogy. To counterbalance my criticism, that this book was ever completed is a testament to Stella Gemmell & I don't wish to sound churlish or over-critical. Taking the unfortunate aspect of David Gemmell's death out of the consideration, though: this book simply isn't as well written as the first two. It's still a fine conclusion to a wonderful trilogy, though.
The story of Troy has been told a million times, but the Heroes come to life in this re-telling. Helikaon, Odysseus & Banokles are drawn so well & leave a lasting impression - giving Achilles & Hektor more than a run for their money. Moreover, given that this story is so well known, it's great to see how David Gemmell has re-imagined some key parts of it - & woven in some rather unexpected lines, too.
I would recommend this trilogy to anyone.
A worthy conclusion to the trilogy - By: A. Whitehead, 06 Apr 2008 David Gemmell sadly passed away after completing about 90,000 words of the third & final volume of his Troy Trilogy. Falll of Kings was completed by his wife, Stella (who was his editor & researcher throughout the trilogy), & published at the end of 2007.
We pick up after the events of Shield of Thunder. The Great Green is beset by war. Agamemnon & his alllies (including the reluctant Odysseus) have secured most of the west & are now poised to strike directly at Troy itself. Hektor is leading the effort to dislodge their armies to the south, whilst Banokles - very reluctantly - is commanding forces to the north. Helikaon is ordered to sea, to take Kassandra to the island of Thera, but along the way he meets Odysseus & is drawn into a side-adventure to Ithaka.
Falll of Kings is a worthy conclusion to the trilogy. It's very difficult to tell where David Gemmell left off this work & his wife took over, & it's probably for the best to ignore that diversion & just enjoy the story. This book is, predictably, the story of the siege & falll of Troy, & frankly it may now have to be classified as the definitive modern retelling of the myth. The duel between Hektor & Achilles is here, but with a very interesting spin placed on it, whilst the fate of Helen is beautifully depicted. But it's the end of the book, particularly the last stand of the survivors within the palace of Troy, which will probably live longest in the memory.
Falll of Kings (****) is definitely not quite as polished as the prior two books in the series, but finding out the fates of the characters we have grown to know & love over the course of the trilogy more than makes up for any (minor) weaknesses in the prose. This is a fitting end to a monumental story of war, love & honour, & a grand retelling of one of the greatest myths of alll time. Thoroughly reccomended.
Well done, Stella! - By: cousineerie, 01 Apr 2008 Anyone who had read the first two parts of David Gemmell's Troy series will have been waiting for this, the third & concluding chapter, with a mixture of excitement (to see how the story concluded) & trepidation (the author died with the manuscript only half finished).
Quite amazingly David's widow, Stella, has seemingly managed to channel his shade to complete his unfinished work. I was expecting an obvious change in style or drop off in quality but the join was so seamless, & the momentum of the story so well continued, that I was almost at the end before I even remembered that two different people had written the book.
Stella should be proud of the way she has completed her late husband's best work. It may not have the longevity of the Iliad which inspired them but David & Stella Gemmell's Troy trilogy will certinly take its place among the alll-time great historical fiction.
