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Troy: Fall of Kings (Troy #3)

by David Gemmell

4.27 · rating details · 1,002 ratings · 80 reviews

Darkness falls on the Great Green, and the Ancient World is fiercely divided.

On the killing fields outside the golden city of Troy, forces loyal to the Mykene King mass. Among them is Odysseus, fabled storyteller and reluctant ally to the Mykene, who knows that he must soon face his former friends in deadly combat.

Within the city, the Trojan king waits. Ailing and bitter, ...more

Hardcover, 416 pages

Published December 26th 2007 by Ballantine Books (first published October 2nd 2007)

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Oct 08, 2011

Stephen rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: ebooks, 6-star-books, all-time-favorites, fantasy, 2006-2010, historical-fantasy, retellings-reimaginings-and-mashes, war-sff, military-fiction, good-guys

IT IS OFFICIAL…David Gemmell has written the BESTEST and most HEROIEST fantasy trilogy...ever....EVER.

I just finished this third installment of the epic Troy trilogy by the late (and sorely missed) David Gemmell and all I can say is that if you loved the first two, you will love this one. If you haven’t read the first two books, then you might want to take a long serious look in the mirror and reconsider some of your recent life choices as you may have taken a wrong turn somewhere. ...more

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Nov 09, 2011

Neuromancer rated it

· review of another edition

Прочетох трилогията "Троя". 10/10 лична оценка. Едно от най-добрите неща на които съм попадал напоследък. Не особено сложна, с не особено запомнящ се стил, без философия и т.н., но притежаваща най-важната черта на романа за мен - увлекателност. Хванах я и не успях да я оставя, докато не затворих последната страница. Невероятна четивност, страхотен сюжет, много исторически и митологични препратки, герои, които обикваш, битки, обрати, драма, героизъм, автентична антична атмосфера... Мога...more

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Sep 24, 2011

Христо Блажев rated it

· review of another edition

Дейвид Гемел демитологизира и разширява по страхотен начин Омировата “Илиада”: http://www.knigolandia.info/2011/09/blog...

“Гибелта на царете” вече се центрира около Троя и прочутата й обсада, но нищо не е същото, изключая навярно огромното количество пролята кръв. Градът е надеждно защитен, но и нападателите знаят за какво са дошли. Около гръция стан снове смъртта в лицето на Хектор и неговия Троянски кон, а от морето Хеликаон със своя “Ксантос” и малка флотилия всява ужас. Предстои в...more

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Jul 23, 2011

Jeremy rated it

Shelves: fantasy

I was disappointed with how this series progressed, and the finale only continued the trend. The only thing that kept me going was the inevitability of the what-a-great-guy Hektor's death (and even that was unsatisfying - I was all ready to help Achilles drag his remains around the camp a few times...). The Troy story is a toughie - so often interpreted and so interwoven into out cultural background and myth-making - but Gemmell had taken on a similar material before and told a great yarn. Here,...more

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Sep 22, 2010

Christophe rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: sérieux, fantasy, historique

Enfin, la conclusion !
Il s'est bien passé un an entre ma lecture du tome 2 et ma lecture du dernier opus et autant dire que je ne regrette pas l'attente.

L'épilogue de cette Guerre de Troie comme je ne l'avais jamais connue sent bon l'Âge des Héros et les batailles épiques.
J'ai d'abord eu un peu peur que le décès prématuré de David Gemmel (qui n'a pas pu achever ce roman) et la reprise par sa femme ne nuise à l'harmonie de l'ensemble, mais il n'en est rien.
Quoique ce...more

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Feb 22, 2009

Di Richardson rated it

· review of another edition

I believe I have read all of David Gemmell's books - because he is my oldest son's favorite author. This was Mr. Gemmell's final book - and in fact, was completed by his wife. It is the third part of a trilogy - and it was probably more than a year since I read the first two. That is a bit of a mistake, because there are so many characters, and the stories so interwoven, it took me a while to remember the significance/backstories of some of the characters. I would highly recommend the entire...more

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Jul 29, 2011

Mathieu rated it

· review of another edition

Un dernier tome (oserai-je dire un tome Troie ?) qui conclut en beauté cette trilogie. Gemmell en reprenant le décor de l'Iliade, a réussi à en donner une autre vision. On sent qu'il a pris du plaisir à semer dans le récit des clins d'oeil au texte original.

Chaque épisode de l'épopée d'Homère apparaît dans le roman, mais de manière savamment détournée. C'est franchement jubilatoire. La scène du cheval de Troie, par exemple, ou de la mort d'Achille, sont savoureuses car mêlant une part du récit q...more

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Apr 27, 2010

Jennah rated it

· review of another edition

A superb end to an awesome trilogy. I thought the other two books were both brilliant in their own right: the first as an action packed introduction to a scene and characters that you think you know so well and the second as a wonderfully foreboding lead into one of the greatest war stories ever know. The third installment picks up right where the second left off and plunges you immediately into the action.

The thing i really love about these stories is how deftly written they are. Th...more

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Sep 26, 2011

Fred rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

This entire series is amazing. If you watched the movie TROY with Brad Pitt, if you read the Illiad in school and liked it, then read this series. This is a retelling of Homer's Trojan War tale that will rock your world. David Gemmell died in the middle of this last book and his wife Stella finished it. Now, at first I was worried because Gemmell has a very unique style and I wasn't sure that anyone, even his wife, would be able to replicate that enough to finish this amazing story in the wa...more

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Jul 06, 2009

Jenn rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 2009-reads

I love good historical fiction that grounds mythology and legend into reality, and the Troy trilogy, by David Gemmell, does this brilliantly, ranking up there with my personal favorite in this genre, Bernard Cornwell's Warlord trilogy.

The Troy trilogy (Lord of the Silver Bow, Shield of Thunder, Fall of Kings) covers the events leading up to The Iliad as well as the stories of The Iliad itself, The Odyssey, and The Aeneid, but Gemmell puts the story into historical context and creates...more

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Feb 07, 2010

Lisa rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: Becky

Shelves: 2010, 2010s-most-enjoyed

A fitting end to a great trilogy, and one that wrung yet more tears from my soon to be dessicated body.

Whilst I was initially miffed at some of the liberties taken with events as I knew them from the myths, I have to concede that the changes worked well within the context of the book. The final sacking of Troy was exceptionally well done, illustrating well just how devastating and complete the massacre really would have been and giving it a hefty emotional wallop, while making extre...more

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Aug 31, 2010

Samuel added it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 22, 2012

Isis rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: bronze-age-5000-to-1100bce-fiction

Once again, forgive the brevity of this review, but much of what I had to say about this last novel in the trilogy I have already presented in my review of the first book. I must admit, there was a note of concern going into this final instalment – Fall of Kings was sadly left as an unfinished work by David Gemmell’s passing, and his widow Stella used his notes to complete the novel and see it to publication. Obviously, I was somewhat concerned that there might be a visible join in the novel whe...moreOnce again, forgive the brevity of this review, but much of what I had to say about this last novel in the trilogy I have already presented in my review of the first book. I must admit, there was a note of concern going into this final instalment – Fall of Kings was sadly left as an unfinished work by David Gemmell’s passing, and his widow Stella used his notes to complete the novel and see it to publication. Obviously, I was somewhat concerned that there might be a visible join in the novel where David’s writing ended and Stella’s began, in two completely disparate styles, but there simply wasn’t. I couldn’t distinguish between the two styles of writing or discern where one ended and the other began, and this was excellent news as it really keeps the flow of the novel going and helped it to retain its cohesion and purpose. If anything, we encounter even more action and adventure than in the previous novels, as the overarching plotline reaches its climax with the unfolding of the Trojan War and the thematic tearing down of the establishment of previous instalments. The eventual fate of Helikaon and Andromache was not a surprise to me, but only because I’d been keeping the established mythos in mind, not because I expected it – Gemmell altered a fair bit of the Aeneas story throughout this trilogy, so much so that I wasn’t certain Aeneas’ tale would be wrapped up in concordance with "canon". However the eventual fate of characters such as Kalliades and Odysseus is left a mystery, and certainly wasn’t predictable – to the point where I almost wished, just because I connected with those characters so much, that there could have been a little bit more resolution. The fate of certain other characters was definitely surprising, and deviated a great deal from the "canon" of Homer and other ancient story-tellers, but it came across as surprising and interesting rather than an unacceptable alteration. The sheer pace and action of Fall of Kings really made it a rip-roaring read too – I was torn between wanting to find out what happened next and drawing out the moment when I’d have finished reading the trilogy! It actually inspired me to get a hold of Gemmell’s duology about Parmenion, just so that I could once again enjoy Gemmell’s absorbing story-telling style in an historical setting.(less)

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Apr 12, 2011

Trayana rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, fantasy, owned, bg

Изисква се голяма смелост и талант да пишеш за добре познати легенди. Повечето романи, които са базирани на митологията попадат в две графи според читателите – „възмутително отклоняващи се от легендата” и „безумно скучен преразказ”. В това отношение „Гибелта на царете” е истинско предизвикателство – предходния втори том от поредица „Троя” приключва точно преди започването на епичната десетгодишна война, чиито край описва Омир. За моя радост и липса на изненада романът е изключение от горепосоче...more

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Jun 23, 2011

Steve rated it

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Shelves: fantasy-sci-fi-fantasy

My initial reads of this book (I've read it at least twice before) had me feeling that it let down the previous two, therefore the trilogy. It isn't as good as the first two in the Troy series, if it was it would make the trilogy an epic of greatness (IMO). Similar, in that respect, to my reading of Lord of The Rings. I first read them individually, with some time between each read, and I rated each 4 stars (I believe). But when you read the epic trilogy as one damn thick book, it's complete, th...more

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Jun 02, 2010

Nikki rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction-alternatehistory, fantasy, greek-roman

The conclusion to the trilogy is just as good as the others, despite being finished, I gather, by David Gemmell's wife, Stella, after his death. I can't find a transition point, which is as it should be. The twisting of the stories you know if you've studied the epics is interesting, and the little references back to the stories always make me smile -- it's okay if you don't recognise them, but you can kinda feel clever if you can see what he did there (so to speak). A favourite scene of mine fr...more

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Nov 02, 2009

Karla (Mossy Love Grotto) rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: die-in-a-fire, historical-fantasy, ancient-greece, skimmed-a-lot, author-is-not-for-me, the-ending-blows, wtf-was-this, 1-stars, going-ranty-on-ur-ass, the-bottomless-pit-of-leonidas

Even though this trilogy failed to interest from the first book, I kept reading in hopes that it would improve. Sadly, it didn't, and I detected no decline or difference in quality when Gemmell's writing ended and his wife's began. The characterization continued to be shallow, the plot points far-fetched and for their own sake. I'm specifically thinking of the entire subplot of Gershom, which had nothing to do with the main story and had the feel of being a kitchen sink approach to bring in all ...moreEven though this trilogy failed to interest from the first book, I kept reading in hopes that it would improve. Sadly, it didn't, and I detected no decline or difference in quality when Gemmell's writing ended and his wife's began. The characterization continued to be shallow, the plot points far-fetched and for their own sake. I'm specifically thinking of the entire subplot of Gershom, which had nothing to do with the main story and had the feel of being a kitchen sink approach to bring in all the legends of the era. It felt tacked on, if not tacky. What was the point of it? Darned if I know. I finally settled on "pointless and pretentious." Likewise was the final scene of Andromache in the outpost of Ancient Rome. After nearly 3 books of such cheap tricks, it was an expected reveal that held no surprise. The device had, by that point, achieved glib triteness and the well had long since gone dry.

Most every character remained one-dimensional (in rare flashes two), and they were kept to the page. They didn't come into my head to play and act out the story, a situation probably due to the fact that apart from occasional mentions of hair color, build shape, and whether eyes flashed cold or angry, there wasn't much physical description. When there was, it was generic and not very evocative. Psychologically, the majority of the cast were ciphers.

Again, constant deviations into past perfect flashbacks during scenes to reveal pertinent details to make a scene work were irritating and had a slapdash tone that pervaded the book. The entire invasion of Ithaka by pirates and the captivity of Penelope would have been a great sequence both in action and drama, yet it was merely summarized by Penelope's inner voice as she sits tied to her throne. If this had been the only instance, fine, but it wasn't. Too much was revealed as memories, not as present action. There were too few scenes that dragged me right into the action, the only exception I can name being the breaching of King's Joy fortress. However, that scene was destroyed soon after by the risible dispatching of Paris & Helen. (I am not a fan of Paris & Helen in mythology, but their inept and gross handling by Gemmell had me clamoring to be their advocate.)

Odysseus remained a full-bodied and engaging character, the only one to do so throughout all three books. The love between he and Penelope was touched upon in some tender asides, but it was much too little. They were the only couple I became attached to throughout the trilogy, and good as their scenes were, it can't even begin to elevate my opinion of the series as a whole.

Final summary: Generic fantasy elements with the banal standards of the genre. The names are familiar, but they've been manipulated and twisted to suit the imported fantasy tropes to such a degree that they might as well have been named something else and correctly marketed as "Fantasy."(less)

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Apr 09, 2011

Skip rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: historical

I really enjoyed this series. Wonderful characters, especially the larger than life hero, Banokles, who physical and strength of character make him a Trojan general. In the third and final book, Troy is besieged by King Agammenon and his Western kings alliance, and there is much death and slaughter, especially of Troy's ruling family. Yet, the end is not gloom and doom. Highly recommended.

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Feb 13, 2010

Dolphe rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: david-gemmell

I am truly a sucker for well-written historical fiction and David Gemmell certainly delivers. The larger-than-life heroes and villains may sometimes play out like a Saturday afternoon discount movie, but in Gemmell's hands, it's Shakespearean in scope. I am often reminded of Peter Graves' question to the little boy in "Airplane", "Joey, do you like gladiator movies?" ... Well, yes I do and don't call me Joey.

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Aug 30, 2010

Susie rated it

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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jul 22, 2009

Liviu rated it

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Shelves: review_fbc, read_2009, mainstream

And the conclusion which does not disappoint; read the 3 Troy books in 3 days and did some re-reading along the way; just amazing stuff and no difference between books 1/2 and 3 in terms of prose, story, quality despite Mr. Gemmell's untimely death before completing book 3 and the actual book being written bu his wife and collaborator Martha Gemmell.

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May 27, 2009

Jake rated it

· review of another edition

I wasn't too fond of the conclusion simply because it didn't follow the classic. I know he was trying to recreate the story, but I thought he should have stuck to the original a little more so that it seemed more consistent. I was sad that Gemmell died before this book could be completed. Who's to say that this was how he wanted it?

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Jul 13, 2011

Andi rated it

· review of another edition

This was a bit of a letdown for me after reading the first two books. Granted, it was mostly written by David Gemmell's wife (using a draft he had started and notes for the plot), but it just didn't draw me in like the others. Sadly, the characters and story seemed quite bland in comparison - it felt like more of a telling than an emotional journey.

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Aug 07, 2011

Ted Hopkins rated it

· review of another edition

Great read, historical fiction with a touch of fantasy, much in the style of Jack White and Ken Follett. The Gershom/Moses biblical reference does not work as well as anticipated in the first two books and the reader does get a feeling of the change of author following when Stella took over to finish writing.

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May 17, 2011

Clare rated it

· review of another edition

Loved this series, but then I always enjoy a good David Gemmell!

Was heartbroken to discover that he died before finishing the third installment of this quality series but his wife did a very respectful job of wrapping it up for him.

Top marks and a series that I will aim to read again one day.

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Aug 26, 2011

David Campton rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, historical-fiction

The third part of Gemmell's Troy series, ably completed after his death by his wife Stella. Ties together the fall of Troy, the eruption of Santorini, the foundation of Rome and the 10 Plagues of Israel, in a page-turning retelling of the epic tale. Great for a long plane journey.

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Jun 11, 2011

George Johnston rated it

· review of another edition

The culmination of Gemmells stunning take on the Trojan Wars provide great characters, great action and is a real page turner. What a loss to the Fantasy genre is the passing of David Gemmell RIP He has entertained and enthralled me for years.

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Nov 14, 2011

Fan Francis rated it

· review of another edition

This is the concluson to the series on Troy and Stella did a good job to finish the saga of Troy empire downfall. David Gemmel passed away and she has to finish the book with aplomb. The characters are well fleshed out in the story.... and yes we do have a conclusion to the saga... engrossing ....

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Jun 02, 2010

Laura rated it

· review of another edition

I had to read the book to finish the series. I really wish that David Gemmel could have finished the series rather than his wife. Felt like the series just ended because the author wasn't alive to keep the story going. Lame.

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May 04, 2008

Tom Southall rated it

· review of another edition

Final book of a trilogy the writing of which was sadly interrupted by the death of David Gemmell.

This book was bravely completed by Gemmell's wife using his plot notes. As a result I was slightly worried that I wouldn't enjoy this book as much as the preceding two. However, I was pleased to find that it diverted not a jot from David Gemmell's style of writing and this book capped off a good trilogy very well.

Gemmell's Troy trilogy is fast-paced and full of violence and ac...more

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About David Gemmell

David Andrew Gemmell was a bestselling British author of heroic fantasy. A former journalist and newspaper editor, Gemmell had his first work of fiction published in 1984. He went on to write over thirty novels. Best known for his debut, Legend, Gemmell's works display violence, yet also explores themes in honour, loyalty and redemption. With over one million copies sold, his work continues to sel...more

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The King Beyond the Gate (Drenai Tales, #2)

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Quotes from Troy: Fall of Kings

“She was his north star, the fixed point round which his world turned. For as long as his heart beat, or hers, he believed they would always share a destiny.” — 9 people liked it

“I would have offered you a forest of truth, but you wish to speak of a single leaf” — 8 people liked it

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