Books like Ravenheart

When it comes to the crackle of action, high adventure, lush worlds, and vivid magic, bestselling author David Gemmell is the master. But Gemmell’s supreme gift is his ability to create mythic characters, good and evil, who rise up to become flesh and blood. Now, with Ravenheart, Gemmell continues his Rigante series in a novel that is as satisfying as it is astonishing.RAVENHEARTEight hundred years have passed since King Connavar of the Rigante and his bastard son, Bane, defeated the invading army of Stone. In that time, Connavar has become a legend, and the Rigante have lost the freedom so many gave their lives to preserve. A conquered people, they live and die under the iron rule of the Varlish, their culture all but destroyed. The laws are oppressive and severely enforced: No Rigante can own a sword nor wear the clan colors. Any who disobey the law will answer to the Moidart, the cruel and vengeful Lord of Eldacre Castle. They will answer with the swift punishment of death.Only one woman remains who follows the ancient paths once trod by the Rigante. She is the Wyrd of Wishing Tree Wood–and she alone knows the nature of the evil soon to be unleashed on a doomed and unsuspecting world. In a perilous land, facing an uncertain future, the Wyrd finds her initial hopes pinned on two men: Jaim Grymauch, the giant Rigante fighter, a man haunted by his failure to save his best friend from betrayal; and Kaelin Ring, a youth whose deadly talents will earn him the rancor of all Varlish. One will become the Ravenheart, an outlaw leader whose daring exploits will inspire the Rigante. The other will forge a legend–and light the fires of revolution.But in truth, all hope may ultimately rest on a third man: a man who must overcome generations of fear and hatred to fulfill his destiny. With the blood of Connavar the King running through his veins, he is a Varlish nobleman. But even worse–he is the son of the Rigante’s most brutal enemy.