Fall of Kings

Fall of Kings by David Gemmell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

How Fall of Kings should have ended

(Note: All endings are written by me in an homage to
How it Should Have Ended. They aren't spoilers, none of this stuff happened although I would've enjoyed any of these endings more than the actual ending.)

Possible ending #1

"Lord Helikaon," said Khalkeus.
"What is it Khalkeus? I'm busy with preparation for our next steps in the war with the Mykene," said Helikaon.
"That's what this is about Lord. I've found a way to massively increase the range of your ships fire hurlers. The increase will enable the ship to throw fire for miles rather than a few hundred feet," replied Khalkeus.
"Do it then Khalkeus," Helikaon said while his icy blue eyes saw right through Khalkeus.

Fast forward to the siege of Troy

"We are close enough now to burn the sieging Mykene army to the ground," said Oniacus.
"Let's rain fire on Agammenon's ambition and end his reign of evil," said Helikaon.
The jars of nephthar were hurled for miles shattering into the armies of the west as men were soaked. Then the fire flew through the air for what seemed like days before it finally ignited and burned Agamemnon's ambition and men to ashes.

Possible ending #2

"Come do your daughterly duty Andromache", Priam said while groping all over her body.
Suddenly Hektor stepped around the corner.
"Father I was speaking with my brothers and we are tired of you raping our wives. So we decided to give Agammenon exactly what he wants you, your gold, and your city," Hektor said with a tone as cold as winter.
"My son you can't mean...." Priam mumbled as the Eagles and Antiphones bound and gagged him.

Fast forward to the armies of the west arriving at Troy

"There are no men, women, children, or animals to be seen," Achilles said.
"Battle King, Battle King," a soldier screamed as he ran to Agammenon. "You must see this my King."
They all headed into the unlocked doors of Troy to find Priam bound and gagged sitting in his treasury with a parchment on his chest that read, "We surrender the city and the gold as you demanded and included the King Priam as a bonus." It was signed by all Priam's sons, daughters, grandson/sons, and granddaughter/daughters.

Possible ending #3

"You are a coward Achilles," Agammenon sprayed spit as he snarled the words.
Achilles said nothing, but in the time it takes a man to sneeze he drew his sword and decapitated Agammenon with his head making a heavy thud sound as it hit the wall. Achilles scanned the speechless crowd, shrugged his massive shoulders, and said "Come now, I can't be the only one who was thinking about doing that."
All the men in the meeting except Menelaus laughed. Odysseus laughed so hard wine came out his nose and he couldn't regain his composure.

In Fall of Kings and the entire trilogy David Gemmell really captured Odysseus well and that was the strongest part of the series. The rest of the series was fairly plain and average.

My biggest gripes have to be Gershom's storyline and the epilogue. I really don't see the point of the detour Gershom's story became. It doesn't fit the book or the story at all. It's inclusion just seemed pointless. The epilogue was a rushed attempt to show the future yet it didn't really add anything of value to the story.

The Fall of Kings was an adequate conclusion to the retelling of the Trojan War.


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