Waylander (novel)

{{Short description|Fantasy novel}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{infobox book |  | name = Waylander | title_orig = | translator = | image = Waylander.jpg | caption = First p/b edition | author = David Gemmell | cover_artist = Luis Royo | country = United Kingdom | language = English | series = Drenai | genre = Fantasy | publisher = Arrow Books (p/b)<br />Century (h/b) | release_date = 28 August 1986 | media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback) | pages = 320 (first edition, hardback) | isbn = 978-0-7126-9414-8 | isbn_note = (first edition, hardback) | oclc= 16681980 | preceded_by = The King Beyond the Gate | followed_by = Quest for Lost Heroes }}

'''''Waylander''''' is a fantasy novel by British writer David Gemmell, published in 1986.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Machell|first1=Ben|title=The Geek Shall Inherit the Earth|work=The Times (London)|publisher=Times Newspapers Limited|date=5 May 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Author David Gemmell dies, aged 57|work=M2 Best Books|publisher=Normans Media Ltd.|date=31 July 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=The Dragon Index: The UK's Top Adult Fantasy Authors|work=The Times|publisher=News International Access Services Limited|date=5 May 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Fantasy Writer David Gemmell Dies at 57|work=UPI NewsTrack|publisher=United Press International|date=29 July 2006}}</ref> It is the first of three Waylander stories,<ref>{{cite news|title=Gemmell, David: The Swords of Night and Day|work=Kirkus Reviews|issue=4|publisher=Kirkus Media LLC|date=15 Feb 2004|volume=72}}</ref> followed by ''Waylander II: In the Realm of the Wolf'' and'' Waylander III: Hero In The Shadows''.

==Plot summary== The assassin Waylander is doomed to travel the world in search of revenge against those who killed his family.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Doherty|first1=David|title=History as it Ought to Have Been: the Arthurian fantasies of David Gemmell|journal=Extrapolation|date=Spring 1999|volume=40|issue=1|page=71|doi=10.3828/extr.1999.40.1.71}}</ref> After allying with a priest, a fellow assassin, a young woman and three children in her charge, Waylander gradually redeems himself and tries to save the kingdom that he plummeted into chaos.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Tideswell|first1=Martin|title=Treasured Books Fueled our Imagination: Martin Tideswell revisits some books that were his favorites growing up|work=The Sentinel (Stroke)|date=9 March 2013}}</ref>

==Waylander The Slayer== ''Waylander The Slayer''' is the main character of ''Waylander'', ''Waylander II: In the Realm of the Wolf'' and ''Hero in the Shadows''. An anti-hero like the Earl of the Bronze in ''Legend'', Waylander appears at first immoral, an assassin with only mercenary motivations, however is revealed through a series of flashbacks to be a tortured soul, once noble, and now seeking redemption for the singular evil act that defined his legend - the regicide of Niallad, a kind-hearted and well-loved Drenai King.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/g/david-a-gemmell/waylander.htm|title = Waylander (Drenai, book 3) by David Gemmell}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waylander (Novel)}} Category:1986 British novels Category:1986 English-language novels Category:British fantasy novels Category:Drenai Category:Novels by David Gemmell Category:Century (imprint) books