David Gemmell cheated death, or at least a hope-denying misdiagnosis, back in 1984 when he wrote his first and most beloved sword-and-sorcery novel Legend. At its most powerful the subgenre Gemmell did so much to perpetuate has always had something inside, something to do with death, and now death has once again done something to sword-and-sorcery.

This morning Gemmell died, at the unacceptably young age of 57. What should have been a time of celebration for heroic fantasy, with the Howard Centennial and the immensely gratifying return of Charles R. Saunders and his outcast/champion Imaro of Nyumbani, must now also be a time of mournful and (if there is any justice) never-ending remembrance.