Midnight Falcon (The Rigante Series, Book 2) 
Seventeen-year-old Bane, illegitimate son of King Connovar, comes to the city of Stone, a place of gladiatorial combat, corruption, and religious terror. Embittered by his father's refusal to acknowledge him, Bane's wildness leads to bloodshed before friendship and betrayal force him to accept the complexities of power and responsibility. The novel builds to an epic climax, as Bane must accept who he is in order to lead his people in a desperate battle for their very survival.
David Gemmell has created a detailed and realistic world in which the action is vividly described and often thrilling. Yet there is a melancholy tone, for the author is as concerned with the consequences of war and the nature of men of violence as he is with conflict itself. There is a sense of the tragedy of war, lending the sad grandeur of history to a strongly characterized and intelligent adventure. It is something the series has in common with Stephen King's haunting fantasy western epic The Dark Tower. --Gary S. Dalkin, Amazon.co.uk
Reviews
With Connovar's one failed promise came his son Bane. Bane holds a hatred for everything related to Connovar, but has yet to learn all of what surrounded his birth and what occurred afterward. Bane befriends a half-Rigante, half-Stone man named Banouin who only wants to leave the Rigante lands behind and join his father's people in the city of Stone. They have a little trouble on their journey and the death of a girl Bane likes ended any chance that their friendship had. Banouin headed on to the city of Stone and Bane began to learn the ways of a gladiator to avenge the girl's death. But all roads lead back to the land of the Rigante for both Bane and Banouin.
The main characters have to put aside their hatred and fight for the Rigante's survival. The writing of heroic fantasy is Gemmell's forte and he does a brilliant job of it again in Midnight Falcon. You can read this book on its own, but you will thoroughly enjoy the first in the series entitled Sword in the Storm. I highly recommend this book and its predecessor. Enjoy!
If your taste in fantasy can be described as: brass knuckled-concrete street corner-git yo hands up and guard your grill-cuz it's ON...get these books!
If you like bada** mother(hush your mouth)'s as main character...GET THESE BOOKS!
If you're a fan of Richard Sharpe(Bernard Cornwell, Sharpe Series)...get these books!
If you're a fan of Roger McClintock (David Weber, Prince Roger Series)...get these books!
If you're a fan of Kane (Karl Edward Wagner, BloodStone)...get these books!
If you want to see your hero in touch with his feminine side...DONT get these books!
If you want to see more emotional depth from your characters and have problems resolved with conversation and sharing of feelings...DONT get these books!
If you're a fan of the G.R.R. Martin type of fantasy...I suggest you stop reading Sci-Fi/Fantasy and start reading mysteries, romances, and crime dramas...oh yeah...and...DONT get these book!
Heroic Fantasy fans to the best of my knowledge Conan was the first/last(can anyone think of any other heroes like him?)...this book is HEROIC FANTASY and not some sappy emotional dribble that is trying to tell us some real world message using elves/etc...not some drek where the heroes strength comes from the love-in-his-heart-crap and he can only be strong by...you know the rest...it pretty much describes 99.99% of every "fantasy" title published in the last 20 years...
well these two titles probably constitute the majority of that remaining .01%...
read them slow...savor them...once you're done...its no telling when the next ones will come along