A lesser known book series I think would make for an awesome movie anthology.

[Traab]

Ok, this popped back into my head after reading a few articles on the new logan movie coming out. It talked about how hugh jackman has played this guy for like, 14 years now or whatever, and this was going to be his swan song. It really made me think about a character who would make a GREAT action star that has an entire series of books that would make great flicks about him that covers his life from his humble beginnings as a lumberjack out to get his wife back, to his last stand as an old man at an unbreakable fortress defending against a barbarian horde. I am speaking of Druss The Legend.

This series has everything, it has incredible action, it has drama and romance (The man spends 20 years literally fighting his way across entire nations just to find and bring home his wife) Its got magic as he fights demons, and warlocks, and mutant werewolf type creatures. It has inspiring speeches, and hilarious one liners It has a prophesied doom and a man fighting fate. Its about a guy who is so damn good at what he does, he is loved and hated in every nation because he has fought for and against every nation. He has more titles than the queen of england and has earned them all with bloodshed and victory.

The interesting thing is, the series covers him from a young man of about 20, until his death at around 60 and there are enough main stories to probably produce a solid 5-6 movies before his death. So it would be interesting to watch the actor playing this role gradually age as the series goes on. I mean hell, the first story, of him looking for his wife, could make for a damn good trilogy imo.

[Feytalist]

Yeah, I'm a big fan of Gemmell's works, and Legend in particular. I've wondered why none if his stuff has been filmed yet... most of his books are fairly epic (in the Conan sense) while still light-hearted, and most of them pretty self-contained. Seems perfect for movie source material. Wonder if it's a licensing issue.

But yeah, a Druss series would be cool. He still stands as one of the more principled, righteous and all-round good guys in fantasy to me. Maybe he's not "gritty" enough for TV execs these days. Who knows.

[lt_murgen]

I would love to see Glen Cook's The Black Company series as movies. Just the first three books.

[Dienekes]

Are Gemmell's works really lesser known? Doesn't he have an award named after him?

[Traab]

Are Gemmell's works really lesser known? Doesn't he have an award named after him?

Honestly? Yeah, I think they are. Maybe fantasy fans would recognize the name on sight, but there isnt a lot of cross genre knowledge of him as far as I can tell. Im not claiming he is a niche writer with a cult following or anything, just that he doesnt tend to be a name like stephen king, who, even if you never read his work, you still know who he is.

[Feytalist]

Are Gemmell's works really lesser known? Doesn't he have an award named after him?

He does, yeah. The David Gemmell Legend award. The trophy is an axe. Just like, an axe.

And I dunno. Whenever fantasy recommendations come up, he isn't actually mentioned all that often, at least in my experience. I certainly think he's one of the stalwarts of the genre, but I'm obviously biased. Could be he's just not as visible as some of the more recent authors. Or something.

[Mith]

I really need to read Legends. When I was reading the Damned books, and Druss was introduced, I remeber thinking "Why aren't we following this guy around?"

So many books, so little time (and money.)

[Traab]

I really need to read Legends. When I was reading the Damned books, and Druss was introduced, I remeber thinking "Why aren't we following this guy around?"

So many books, so little time (and money.)

Heh, that was always my problem with gemmels work in that universe, figuring out the timeline. They all work as stand alone novels but I swear they also all have callbacks to each other buried in them in some strange escher loop.

[Dienekes]

He does, yeah. The David Gemmell Legend award. The trophy is an axe. Just like, an axe.

Well that is the most awesome award I've ever heard of.

[HolyDraconus]

I dunno. Hollywood tends to screw over non big name books. Look at what happened to The Sword of Truth series.

[Mith]

I dunno. Hollywood tends to screw over non big name books. Look at what happened to The Sword of Truth series.

While that is true, I cannot say for certain that the Sword of Truth series would be appreciated even if they were faithful to the books. I have pretty mixed feelings about the series.

[Dienekes]

While that is true, I cannot say for certain that the Sword of Truth series would be appreciated even if they were faithful to the books. I have pretty mixed feelings about the series.

Nicer than I can say it. Sword of Truth was crap. Because I try to finish things (and I hate myself) I made it through to that one anti-communist rant book, and had to stop after that. It was just so bad.

At least I got a good laugh out of the absurdity of the chicken that was not a chicken.

[Mith]

I was also in junior high when I read through most of the series, and I read fast enough that it didn't drag overmuch. The re-read attempt is where I had problems. Especially with all the incosistencies on top of disagreeable philosophy.

[Mith]

So I just finished The First Chronicles of Drus the Legend, and HOLY CRAP I forgot how enjoyable David Gemmel can be.