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.
“Don't hover outside life—take part in it. There are people waiting to love you.”
Source: Drenai series, The King Beyond the Gate, Ch. 13
Context: Look around you: see the people as they touch and show their love. But don't watch coldly, like an observer. Don't hover outside life— take part in it. There are people waiting to love you. It is not something you should turn down lightly.
Source: Drenai series, The King Beyond the Gate, Ch. 13
“I am a stranger. You do not need to lie to me or pretend. Only with friends do you need masks.”
Source: Drenai series, The King Beyond the Gate, Ch. 2
“To win you must be ruthless. Single-minded …”
Source: Drenai series, The King Beyond the Gate, Ch. 14
Context: Most of the heroes we remember— we remember only because they won. To win you must be ruthless. Single-minded... which was why he had no friends— just admirers.
“Why did he get himself killed for us?" "Because he was a hero. And that is what heroes do.”
Source: Drenai series, The King Beyond the Gate, Ch. 20
Context: "We irritated him, he told me. Why did he get himself killed for us?" "Because he was a hero. And that is what heroes do. You understand?"
Source: Drenai series, The King Beyond the Gate, Ch. 9
“No man fights for dirt and grass. No, nor mountains.”
Source: Drenai series, The King Beyond the Gate, Ch. 9
Context: Rubbish!... No man fights for dirt and grass. No, nor mountains. Those mountains were here before the fall and they will be here when the world topples again.
