Ok, how best to sum up Jon Shannow in less than 1000 words? Err,... The man is a hero, a villain, cruel, loving, ruthless, gentle, viscious, clever, twisted, and likeable. He copes with a messed up world many of us would give up on and manages to bring order from chaos while destroying himself and all those around him. Gemmell has captured the essence of man in these books and the story is a work of genius and worthy of comparison with the tragedies of Shakespeare.
Shannow is a killer, but one with a conscience and a heart. He fights the good fight in sometimes despicable ways, all the while fighting his own darker side. Time and again he snatches victory from the jaws of defeat and vice-versa.
If you love Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Westerns, War novels, Thrillers, Romance, Politics, then I challenge you to read this trilogy. Many women will not like it but I doubt if many men would be able to not read it again once they've finished.
Buy it, read it, pass it on to your friends but make sure you get it back as you will want to read it again.