Quotes from book
The King Beyond the Gate

The King Beyond the Gate
David Gemmell

The King Beyond The Gate is a fantasy novel by British writer David Gemmell. It was published in 1985. It was the second book published by Gemmell, after Legend, published a year earlier. The book is set in the same fictional world as Legend, that of the Drenai, but is not a sequel in the usual sense as the events of the two books take place around a century apart. Thus the main protagonists of Legend are long since dead and play little part in The King Beyond the Gate, other than passing mentions. This set a precedent for the entire Drenai series, in which very few characters appear in more than one novel, the gaps between novels sometimes running to centuries, giving a more epic, historical flavour to the series.

“All things are possible, … Except the passing of regret.”

David Gemmell book The King Beyond the Gate

Source: Drenai series, The King Beyond the Gate, Ch. 20

“… a man can overcome his background, even as he can overcome a skilled opponent.”

David Gemmell book The King Beyond the Gate

Source: Drenai series, The King Beyond the Gate, Ch. 13

“It is a rare man who notices a handsome woman.”

David Gemmell book The King Beyond the Gate

Source: Drenai series, The King Beyond the Gate, Ch. 22

“What is life if a man cannot count on his friends when he has gone mad?”

David Gemmell book The King Beyond the Gate

Source: Drenai series, The King Beyond the Gate, Ch. 12

“Too many people go through life without pausing to enjoy what they have.”

David Gemmell book The King Beyond the Gate

Source: Drenai series, The King Beyond the Gate, Ch. 2

“Your face may be gone, but you know who you are.”

David Gemmell book The King Beyond the Gate

Source: Drenai series, The King Beyond the Gate, Ch. 23

“"I am not going to kill a man because he won't let us rob him." "Then go back to your mother and send for a man who wants to win."”

David Gemmell book The King Beyond the Gate

Source: Drenai series, The King Beyond the Gate, Ch. 9

“"… But men don't come in just two groups, one of gold and the other of lead. They are a mix of both." "And what about women?" "Pure gold, my girl," Rayvan answered with a chuckle.”

David Gemmell book The King Beyond the Gate

Source: Drenai series, The King Beyond the Gate, Ch. 22

“I think maybe it is better to believe than not to believe. But I couldn't tell you why.”

David Gemmell book The King Beyond the Gate

Source: Drenai series, The King Beyond the Gate, Ch. 24

“It is not hard to change when your biggest problem is whether the weeds prosper in a vegetable patch.”

David Gemmell book The King Beyond the Gate

Source: Drenai series, The King Beyond the Gate, Ch. 7

“What do you mean, why? Is it not obvious? What is life but a betrayal? We start out young, full of hope. The sun is good; the world awaits us. But every passing year shows how small you are, how insignificant against the power of the seasons. Then you age. Your strength fails, and the world laughs at you through the jeers of younger men. And you die. Alone. Unfulfilled. But sometimes … sometimes there will come a man who is not insignificant. He can change the world, rob the seasons of their power. He is the sun.”

David Gemmell book The King Beyond the Gate

Source: Drenai series, The King Beyond the Gate, Ch. 23

“The world would be a sad place without mysteries.”

David Gemmell book The King Beyond the Gate

Source: Drenai series, The King Beyond the Gate, Ch. 2

“I remember a tutor who told me that all the world's hunters have eyes that faced front: lions, hawks, wolves, men … He said man was no different from the tiger. We are nature's killers, and we have great appetites for it … Listen, Rayvan, the beast is in all of us. We do our best in life, but often we are mean, or petty, or needlessly cruel. We don't mean to be, but that's the way we are.”

David Gemmell book The King Beyond the Gate

Source: Drenai series, The King Beyond the Gate, Ch. 14

“You are getting too old for this." "A man is as old as he feels, woman!" "And how old do you feel?”

David Gemmell book The King Beyond the Gate

"About ninety."
Source: Drenai series, The King Beyond the Gate, Ch. 15

“"I don't think I would be too comfortable with many of his compliments… He's a butcher!" "More than that, my friend… he is a warmaster. And that makes him a master butcher."”

David Gemmell book The King Beyond the Gate

Source: Drenai series, The King Beyond the Gate, Ch. 21

“Foolish: It's all foolish. Life is a farce— a stupid, sickening farce played out by fools.”

David Gemmell book The King Beyond the Gate

Source: Drenai series, The King Beyond the Gate, Ch. 16

“Death haunts everyone and never fails.”

David Gemmell book The King Beyond the Gate

Source: Drenai series, The King Beyond the Gate, Ch. 2

“"I underestimated you, woman."… "The cry of men down the ages."”

David Gemmell book The King Beyond the Gate

Source: Drenai series, The King Beyond the Gate, Ch. 15

“We all have scars […] Better by far for them to be worn on the outside.”

David Gemmell book The King Beyond the Gate

Source: Drenai series, The King Beyond the Gate, Ch. 3

“Men! What do they know? They never grow up.”

David Gemmell book The King Beyond the Gate

Source: Drenai series, The King Beyond the Gate, Ch. 22

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