Bison

Bison is the muscle of the three old soldiers in Winter Warriors. At sixty-six he is bald on top, with thick hair on his neck and shoulders that explains the nickname, a drooping white moustache and several missing teeth, and he still competes in the army's wrestling tournaments. His old general reckons him as strong as an ox and not much cleverer, and Bison does little to disprove it: he is crude and impulsive, and nobody's idea of a deep thinker. Being forcibly retired hits him harder than either of his friends, because the army is the only life he understands. Gemmell makes him much more than comic relief, though. His loyalty to Nogusta and Kebra is total, and once the three are protecting the pregnant queen, her midwife Ulmenetha and a handful of orphans, his rough kindness gives the book a good deal of its warmth. He is also the character through whom the novel asks what an old soldier is for once the army has finished with him.

Appears in

1. 1Winter Warriors (1997)Three old soldiers, sent home by their king, are all that stands between a pregnant queen and the demon riders hunting her unborn son.