Late 1960’s

Aleister Crowley Screenplay: A five-page screenplay outline on the life of Aleister Crowley, co-authored with a flatmate. The manuscript was returned from the BBC in March 1968 following its rejection.

Christ Is an Atheist: A six-page short story, again co-written with the same flatmate. The story involves a wealthy atheist influencer from the future travelling back in time, meeting John the Baptist, and ultimately becoming Christ.

The Hawk: A 152-page manuscript detailing the escapades of New York crime boss Stuart Hawks. Instead of receiving the death penalty, Hawks is selected for an experimental procedure that transfers his soul into the cosmos in the hope that it will find a suitable vessel. He awakens in the body of a Conan-esque barbarian in a fantasy world. Hawks aligns himself with the last cities of civilisation, which are on the brink of being overrun by invading barbarian hordes. Revealed to be both a strategic genius and formidable warrior, he helps turn the tide against the invaders. While far from the quality of Gemmell’s later published work, the novel contains early flashes of imagination. Notable is an assault on a “living mountain,” where even the landscape itself turns hostile. The Hawk was submitted to publishers in March 1970 and rejected in August 1970. A proposed sequel titled Devilblade or Hogun’s Adventures in the North (Hogun being a minor barbarian character briefly encountered in The Hawk) is referenced, though no manuscript is known to survive.

Early 1970’s

The Man from Miami: Believed to be Gemmell’s first attempt at a novel, The Man from Miami was a crime thriller centred on an assassin. It was written while he was working as a lorry-driver’s mate for Pepsi Cola. Rejection letters reportedly commented dismissively on both the manuscript and the author’s occupation. Gemmell later described the novel as deeply flawed. Although some sources suggest it was written in the early 1970s, his transition into journalism in the late 1960s suggests it may have been completed earlier. The later manuscript Caswallon, which also features an assassin, may represent a reworking of similar ideas.

1970’s

Queen: A six-page manuscript titled Queen, depicting the recruitment of an assassin who later appears as the primary antagonist in Caswallon. It effectively serves as a prologue to that story.

Caswallon: Set in contemporary London, Caswallon follows an assassin returning to the city and finding himself surrounded by enemies. The narrative escalates into a plot involving an attempted overthrow of the UK government. The manuscript is more accomplished than The Hawk, though still some distance from Gemmell’s later published works. The story is action-heavy and is notable for an oft-cited technical error involving the use of firearm terminology—something Gemmell would later acknowledge humorously. The manuscript was returned with rejection letters in December 1972. Multiple versions are known to exist, including an incomplete early draft of approximately 80 pages, a near-complete draft of around 206 pages (missing a single page), and a shorter rewritten version of approximately 140 pages that appears to have been abandoned.

Unfinished Fantasy Novel (Untitled): An incomplete fantasy manuscript possibly set in the same world as The Hawk, though many centuries later. Evidence includes a feared forest named Norn appearing in both works. The story involves heroes from different eras being resurrected to defeat an immortal tyrant and his followers. Although the narrative ends before completion, several concepts later re-emerge in The Swords of Night and Day, demonstrating a noticeable improvement in narrative maturity.

The Siege of Dros Delnoch: Written in 1976, this early version of what would later become Legend was completed rapidly while Gemmell was undergoing medical uncertainty. Originally written in a traditional high-fantasy style, the manuscript featured idealised heroes and clear-cut villains. In 1980, the story was extensively rewritten, resulting in Legend, the first novel to be published in Gemmell’s career.

1980’s

The Chaos Warrior / Druss the Legend (1984): An early attempt at what would eventually become The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend, written following the success of Legend. Only the first chapter of this version was published, appearing in GM Magazine. It is possible that the final section of The First Chronicles remained largely unchanged, as that portion appeared in an anthology in 1991, prior to the full novel’s publication in 1993.

King Beyond the Gate (1985): Following the rejection of The Chaos Warrior, Gemmell wrote a time-travel adventure centred on King Arthur. The manuscript was rejected by Century Hutchinson, who reportedly approved only of the title—subsequently used for Gemmell’s second published novel. The extent to which this early version resembled Ghost King remains unknown.

Early Deathwalker (Incomplete) (1986): An incomplete early version of Deathwalker, originally titled Wolf in Shadow. The title was later applied to the first Jon Shannow novel after the publisher declined to change it. For the American release, the book was retitled The Jerusalem Man, which was Gemmell’s preferred name. The early manuscript was abandoned after the author wrote a line referencing Jerusalem, prompting a shift in creative direction. Elements of this abandoned version were later revisited in Legend of the Deathwalker.

The Lost Crown (mid-1980’s, planned publication 1989): A children’s fantasy novel written for Great Ormond Street and co-authored with Gemmell’s daughter Kate. The manuscript was rejected by Century Hutchinson, who felt it lacked a distinctive narrative voice suitable for children. The story followed a boy named Luke who awakens in a strange forest surrounded by wolves. He is rescued by Capricorn, a child warlock, and a conceited owl, who explain that he is trapped in the world of Nightmare and can only escape by performing an act of great bravery. No known copies of The Lost Crown are believed to survive.

Later Works and Legacy: There were reports of a sequel to White Knight, Black Swan. The posthumously published novel Rhyming Rings (2017) is set later in the same continuity and features several recurring characters, suggesting it may be the intended sequel, though the existence of an alternative, unpublished sequel cannot be ruled out. The publication of Rhyming Rings brought to light a previously unknown work, highlighting the extent of Gemmell’s unpublished material. While many early manuscripts contain ideas later refined in his published novels, most are considered of historical rather than literary interest, offering insight into the development of themes and characters that would later define his career.