http://panopticonitalia.blogspot.it/2...With this novel closes the sub-cycle of the Stones of Power.As the king of ghosts, the last sword of power is a fantasy in which David Gemmell draws from the Breton Cycle, but it does stravolgendolo and inserting elements related to Greek mythology and Norse, which make the story even more fun.On one side are narrated the events relating to Britain after the abandonment by the Romans, on the other hand the author leads us directly to Hell, in a parallel universe where to lord are the demons, and in which our protagonists they will fight for their very souls.The magic plays a fundamental role in this story. They became the pivot of the book the Stones of Power, the Sipstrassi, able to implement any kind of witchcraft, if used properly, even to lead a man from another universe. Then we have the Sword of Cunobelin that provides its holder the great powers, including clairvoyance. Paradigmatic also is the fact that the main antagonist of Uther is Wotan, a malevolent deity that has the right to move between the real world and the Underworld.Even with great care for the magical element, that does not mean that Gemmell has deprived us of the wars in which he describes in detail the military tactics adopted by the armies in the fight, as well as great importance is given to the melee combat in which exalt the heroes.The book is full of new characters, but also the old make their appearance, playing an important role in the story and as usual until the last page, it is not clear what are their real intentions. Among the new, noteworthy is Cormac, son of Uther, abandoned in a cave to a sad fate, grew up in poverty and unaware of being the rightful heir to the throne, who will choose to go down to the underworld to save his beloved and his father eternal oblivion.As for the old characters, however, even in this book appears Culain (in the role of Lancelot) that protector of Uther, became his bitter enemy to the fact that he slept with his wife, Laitha.Basically, this too, as the king of ghosts, is an excellent book that I recommend reading if you are fond of sword and sorcery.
Arg!J'ai beau apprécier le style de Gemmell en général, il lui arrive malheureusement de rater son coup.« La dernière épée de pouvoir » me rappelle mon enfance, quand je rassemblais des figurines de plusieurs univers distincts afin de créer l'ultime bataille. Je me demandais du coup « Pourquoi les créateurs de dessins animés ne font pas ça aussi? »Imaginez que Zeus (Culain? Lancelot? Révélation) tape sur Odin (Wotan) avec le roi Uther (Thuro?) Pendragon et son fils Arthur (Cormac?) au milieu? Imaginez que Guenièvre (Gwen Avar et je ne sais plus quel nom) soit mariée avec Uther (!) et qu'elle ait engendrée Arthur (Culain), mais qu'elle pense avoir été amoureuse de Lancelot (Culain et cie), mais que ce n'était pas le cas, car Lancelot est en fait un survivant de l'Atlantide (!!!) qui vit depuis des millénaires grâce à la Siptraasi, une pierre de régénération magique, tout comme Wotan, Gilgamesh (le fils de Lancelot?!) et la Reine Sorcière qui est en fait... N'IMPORTE QUOI!Je n'arrive même pas à raconter l'histoire ici, tellement c'est incohérent. Il y a un peu de "Highlander" dans tout ça, avec des immortels qui se courent après depuis la nuit des temps.Autre problème, il y a énormément de personnages - même des romains qui viennent de deux siècles avant les événements! - , et tous contribuent à la confusion générale, alors que chez George R. R. Martin (Le Trône de Fer), ce problème a été partiellement résolu grâce à la division des chapitres en fonction d'un personnage principal.Le coup fatal est toutefois porté par l'ajout d'une autre réalité, celle des morts qui voyagent vers l'après-vie... mais de laquelle on peut entrer et ressortir sans trop de mal avec les bonnes attitudes, les bons objectifs et les bons objets. Ça peut fonctionner parfois, mais ici, c'est trop.Au final, le chaos généré nous donne l'impression que « j'ai oublié pourquoi on se tapait dessus ».
What do You think about Last Sword Of Power (2011)?
Though I love Gemmell's succinct prose, his gritty exposition and near complete lack of flowery language rarely inspires a strong emotional reaction from me. To me it is simply a different type of literature than say Tolkien. Yet this novel somehow got a real emotional reaction out of me at the end. I was really touched by the sorrow and regret of the characters as they looked back on the mistakes of the past and yearned to have chosen differently, wishing to remove the scars they had caused from the hearts of their loved ones. It was a surprisingly touching to a legend that has been told and retold countlessly.
—Nathan
As a follow-up to Ghost King, Last Sword of Power wasn't bad at all. I'd say it was on par with the first novel. But it didn't really bring anything new to the table. It's difficult to fully enjoy a book when you don't really care for its main characters; I disliked Uther completely. I didn't particularly like Cormac, either. Gian was utterly unlikeable. The eternals were all shadows of their former selves, even Pendarric. There were a few good ideas where, but none of them were fully realised or followed through significantly. Characters went to places, did things, but there was next to no cause and effect to the whole story. It just felt like a few shorter stories tied together, and I felt engaged with the characters of Galead, Prasamaccus, Severinus and a couple of others, to the point where I wished the book had focused on them as main characters instead. Overall, LSoP is quite fun and readable, but it lacks the polish its ambition tried to achieve. You'll enjoy it, but don't expect the best of Gemmell here.
—Scott Kaelen
ترجمهاش مشکل داره. فکر کنم اولین کار مترجمشه. خود داستان هم شاید برای کسانی که با تاریخ انگلستان آشناتر هستند جذابتر باشه. خیلی دلم میخواد با تاریخ انگلستان آشنا بشم
—Taha rabbani
