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Water Sleeps (The Chronicles of the Black Company #8)
by
Glen Cook
Regrouping in Taglios, the surviving members of the Black Company are determined to free their fellow warriors held in stasis beneath the glittering plain. Journey there under terrible conditions, they arrive just in time for a magical conflagration in which the bones of the world will be revealed, the history of the Company unveiled, and new world gained and lost...all at
...more
Mass Market Paperback, 470 pages
Published
March 15th 2000
by Tor Fantasy
(first published March 1999)
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Community Reviews
(showing 1-30)
Jul 01, 2016
✘✘ Sarah ✘✘ (former Nefarious Breeder of Murderous Crustaceans)
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
The Search and Rescue Mission is On Buddy Read (SaRMiOBR) with my fellow mercenaries Evasive, Slowpoke and Cleaver
Actual rating: 3.5 stars. No, intergalactic amazement is not me this time.
It's okay. I can do this. I rated a book in this series less than 18 stars. But it's okay. I can do this. Of course I can. I am strong. I am invincible. I have survived Stupidly Stupid Highly Flammable Ground-Breaking Crap (SSHFGBC), I can surely survive a less than perfect instalment in the Mostest Perfecte ...more
Actual rating: 3.5 stars. No, intergalactic amazement is not me this time.
It's okay. I can do this. I rated a book in this series less than 18 stars. But it's okay. I can do this. Of course I can. I am strong. I am invincible. I have survived Stupidly Stupid Highly Flammable Ground-Breaking Crap (SSHFGBC), I can surely survive a less than perfect instalment in the Mostest Perfecte ...more
A group read with my fellow mercenaries Choko, Eilonwy, and Sarah.
The surviving members of the Black Company (this seems to be a common theme for the start of all books of the series) slowly biding their time carefully planning revenge on everybody who betrayed them in the last book. They keep reminding everybody the Company is beaten, but not killed. "Water sleeps, but your enemies don't" is the main theme of the book.
Two very unlikely people had to fill the positions of Company's Captain and ...more
The surviving members of the Black Company (this seems to be a common theme for the start of all books of the series) slowly biding their time carefully planning revenge on everybody who betrayed them in the last book. They keep reminding everybody the Company is beaten, but not killed. "Water sleeps, but your enemies don't" is the main theme of the book.
Two very unlikely people had to fill the positions of Company's Captain and ...more
*** 4 ***
Mercenaries, we are almost there!!! A buddy read at BB&B
We have been through a lot. War is tough on everybody. It has been especially devastating on the once vast and powerful, legendary Black Company. It has been 14 years since the core of the company, including the brains of Croacker, the Talent of Lady and the heart of Murgen, walked into the trap set for them by Soulcatcher in the Glittering Stone Plain.... Everyone presumes they are dead and the remnants of the Company scattere ...more
Mercenaries, we are almost there!!! A buddy read at BB&B
We have been through a lot. War is tough on everybody. It has been especially devastating on the once vast and powerful, legendary Black Company. It has been 14 years since the core of the company, including the brains of Croacker, the Talent of Lady and the heart of Murgen, walked into the trap set for them by Soulcatcher in the Glittering Stone Plain.... Everyone presumes they are dead and the remnants of the Company scattere ...more
The books must be written. The truth must be recorded even if fate decrees that no man ever reads a word I write. The Annals are the soul of the Black Company. They recall that this is who we are. That this is who we were. That we persevere. And that treachery, as it ever has, failed to suck the last drop of our blood.
Fourteen years ago, the last of the Free Companies of Khatovar marched out onto the Plain of Glittering Stone. After the most devastating incident in its history, carefully execute ...more
Fourteen years ago, the last of the Free Companies of Khatovar marched out onto the Plain of Glittering Stone. After the most devastating incident in its history, carefully execute ...more
I'm feeling slightly overwhelmed. I'll try to come up with a coherent review later today!
Well, what's not to like?
- I always enjoyed reading about a women disguised as a men living among the guys and succeeding there.
- Imagine fighting guerilla/partisan war having two old mischievous wizards Goblin and One Eye on your team, not to mention the usual Black Company's bag of tricks - it's just pure fun.
- Mind blowing revelations about the Plain of the Glittering Stone.
- Encounters with semi-gods and demons.
- Dungeons'n'Dragons/ horror type adventure in Icy Caverns.
And all that spiced up ...more
- I always enjoyed reading about a women disguised as a men living among the guys and succeeding there.
- Imagine fighting guerilla/partisan war having two old mischievous wizards Goblin and One Eye on your team, not to mention the usual Black Company's bag of tricks - it's just pure fun.
- Mind blowing revelations about the Plain of the Glittering Stone.
- Encounters with semi-gods and demons.
- Dungeons'n'Dragons/ horror type adventure in Icy Caverns.
And all that spiced up ...more
This was one of the best books in the series so far. It was entertaining and compelling from start to finish.
Things pick up 14 years after the shocking events that ended She is the Darkness. Sleepy is now annalist, standard bearer, and acting captain of what remains of the Black Company. The Company are in Taglios working to undermine the rule of Soulcatcher and the Radisha. The days of armies in the field are gone. The Black Company works from the shadows. The main goal is to discover a way to ...more
Things pick up 14 years after the shocking events that ended She is the Darkness. Sleepy is now annalist, standard bearer, and acting captain of what remains of the Black Company. The Company are in Taglios working to undermine the rule of Soulcatcher and the Radisha. The days of armies in the field are gone. The Black Company works from the shadows. The main goal is to discover a way to ...more
Finally done!
Kids, I gotta be honest. This one felt kinda like homework.
Sleepy is our narrator this time. She's not fun or funny, which is a drag. But she is a genius at guerrilla warfare, and that is pretty great. She is in charge of a tiny ragtag bunch - Company members not cocooning under the Glittering Plain. We have the ancient but antic loving wizards One Eye and Goblin, Murgen's wife and son, and a few other newbies.
They are in the capital city, living in a super secret hideout, wearing d ...more
Kids, I gotta be honest. This one felt kinda like homework.
Sleepy is our narrator this time. She's not fun or funny, which is a drag. But she is a genius at guerrilla warfare, and that is pretty great. She is in charge of a tiny ragtag bunch - Company members not cocooning under the Glittering Plain. We have the ancient but antic loving wizards One Eye and Goblin, Murgen's wife and son, and a few other newbies.
They are in the capital city, living in a super secret hideout, wearing d ...more
After finishing this book, and gathering my thoughts regarding the black company books I have read so far, I think this has got to be by far the best book in the series after Shadows linger.Cook has experimented a lot with the way he has written the books, in a way that the narrator for the company keeps changing.Also some books had two parallel story lines, finally merging at convergence.For the first few books we had Croaker as our annalist cum physician for the company, then we had Lady doing
...more
The gist of this book is: the black company survives. I expected this as part of the story, because I knew there were 2 more books, but what I didn't expect was how well the series did without its major characters in a narrative sense.
The narrator of this book is Sleepy. She was mentioned in the pervious book, and appeared once or twice, but was a very minor character. Now, she is pretty much the only character left, and so keeping up the story is up to her.
The shift in narrative style and vena ...more
The narrator of this book is Sleepy. She was mentioned in the pervious book, and appeared once or twice, but was a very minor character. Now, she is pretty much the only character left, and so keeping up the story is up to her.
The shift in narrative style and vena ...more
Water Sleeps was actually pretty good, which was a nice change. Sleepy is a much, much better narrator than Murgen, and the immediacy of the guerilla campaign is much more interesting than the previous book's long march to nowhere. I did not love the increasingly obvious parallels to India - maybe I am misremembering, but they didn't seem so lazy in previous books, I mean, use some new names at least - and once they leave the city it starts to have some of the same problems with immediacy as the
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Series: 11/27/2005 5/10
The Black Company series' premise was very interesting - a gritty dark take on the ins and outs of a military company in a fantasy world. It didn't really live up to expectations though. I would've preferred to see more of the company rather than the focus on one individual. The series definitely has it's ups and downs. Some books are decent and others are pretty bad - it seemed to get worse as it went on. The plotting was pretty poor and the characters were one-dimensiona ...more
The Black Company series' premise was very interesting - a gritty dark take on the ins and outs of a military company in a fantasy world. It didn't really live up to expectations though. I would've preferred to see more of the company rather than the focus on one individual. The series definitely has it's ups and downs. Some books are decent and others are pretty bad - it seemed to get worse as it went on. The plotting was pretty poor and the characters were one-dimensiona ...more
Great book. I really like seeing these epic battles between the forces of good and evil through the eyes of fairly ordinary participants. Looking forward to the next book.
Sleepy is the narrator here, and is so much more grounded than Murgen! Much easier for me to read!
Water Sleeps, book #8 of the Black Company, surprised me, giving Shadows Linger a run for its money as my favorite in the series. In contrast, to the cut-and-dry, observational annals of Murgen, book #8 hits the ground running. From the beginning, the writing style is changed, more embellished and story driven. This makes the book feel less like a documentary and more like a story, which translates to a better connection with the events of the story. Characters are handled well, and we see and u
...more
Dec 10, 2014
Janice Bonczek
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Fans of fantasy
Wow. Another great book in the Chronicles of the Black Company by Glen Cook. I definitely believe that his writing got better the more books he wrote. In later Black Company books, the writing is better, the plotline and stories are more thought out and full, we continue to meet new characters as old ones evolve, and the books get longer as well. This was by far one of the best books in the series. It is Book 3 of Glittering Stone, and book 8 of the Chronicles.
In this book we once again get a ne ...more
In this book we once again get a ne ...more
So far, I think this is my favorite book in the series, mainly because I can relate to the narrator. The religions are explored more, which I found fascinating. Also, some very good story lines are being wrapped up and/or expanded, true to form of the the author:)
With the cliffhanger ending of She is the Darkness, we take up many years later with the surviving remnants of the once great Black Company living in hiding within Taglios. The company, now led by the pair of Sleepy, doubling as Annalist, and Sahra, buried Murgen's Nyueng Bao wife, must live a guarded existence. They protect their meager numbers while maintaining their image through acts of terrorism.
The world had changed greatly, with Soulcatcher standing as the true power of a new Taglian empi ...more
The world had changed greatly, with Soulcatcher standing as the true power of a new Taglian empi ...more
Water sleeps, but your enemies do not.
I really enjoyed reading Water Sleeps. It was much better than some of his other novels in this series, and I really liked having Sleepy as the narrator. Once I started reading I couldn't believe how much time had passed. I believe there was a fourteen year gap between the two novels; little baby Tobo (Murgen's son) is fourteen now!
I thought this book moved at a pretty decent pace. There were times when it slowed down but it never got boring. The main reason for it moving a little slower is the ...more
I thought this book moved at a pretty decent pace. There were times when it slowed down but it never got boring. The main reason for it moving a little slower is the ...more
Why 5 stars?
It was a perfect delivery...of what I think Cook wanted to see the story go.
Was it as good as you expected(5stars)?
No...
Is that important?
No...but i like it when my expectations match the sense of storytelling of yr average god-writer.
What's so special bout the later Black company cycle?
It is a story that a kid would love to hear...fantstic but real(enough).
Very down to earth storyline, all characters are as real and perverted as your brother...which by the way you love(remember?).
Gr ...more
It was a perfect delivery...of what I think Cook wanted to see the story go.
Was it as good as you expected(5stars)?
No...
Is that important?
No...but i like it when my expectations match the sense of storytelling of yr average god-writer.
What's so special bout the later Black company cycle?
It is a story that a kid would love to hear...fantstic but real(enough).
Very down to earth storyline, all characters are as real and perverted as your brother...which by the way you love(remember?).
Gr ...more
“Water Sleeps” published in 1999 is the 9th book in the Black Company fantasy series by Glen Cook (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glen_Cook). The viewpoint has switched to Sleepy who has taken over as the Company Annalist, and the de facto Captain. Fifteen years have passed since the end of the prior book.
Sleepy and Murgen’s wife, Sahra, keep the company together and hidden in Taglios. They organize guerrilla tactics to harass Soulcatcher, the one remaining Shadowmaster and a long time enemy of Th ...more
Sleepy and Murgen’s wife, Sahra, keep the company together and hidden in Taglios. They organize guerrilla tactics to harass Soulcatcher, the one remaining Shadowmaster and a long time enemy of Th ...more
I'm continuing with the Black Company Chronicles more out of commitment at this point than anything else. Still, this is a definite step up from the previous two books. The narrator has changed from Murgen to Sleepy, and this is a noticeable change for the better. Sleepy is much more tollerable and readable, and significantly less tiresome. The Black Company is now resorting to a subtle, guerrilla existence. Only a few members remain and they are a mere shadow of their previous selves. Sleepy an
...more
(for full series review see Book #9 - just cutting/pasting portion that applies to this one)
Good thing about reading an older series is that you can binge and not have to wait the requisite year or so (atleast it seems that way lately) until the next one comes out. That's about all I have on this series. From the 1st book to the last my ratings for it have steadily declined (5 stars for 1st; 4 stars for next three; rest have been 3 stars). Major gripe would be that it is one thing for characters ...more
Good thing about reading an older series is that you can binge and not have to wait the requisite year or so (atleast it seems that way lately) until the next one comes out. That's about all I have on this series. From the 1st book to the last my ratings for it have steadily declined (5 stars for 1st; 4 stars for next three; rest have been 3 stars). Major gripe would be that it is one thing for characters ...more
Sleepy carries on as Annalist, 15 years after The Black Company's ill-fated journey through the Shadowgate. Her voice is unique in the series; Sleepy being young, female and possessing a devout monotheistic faith gives her Annals a very different flavor from those of Croaker and Murgen.
A great book that features the remaining Company members scheming to try and find a way to release their trapped brothers...and finally provides a ton of answers about the Shadowgates and the Glittering Plain, the ...more
A great book that features the remaining Company members scheming to try and find a way to release their trapped brothers...and finally provides a ton of answers about the Shadowgates and the Glittering Plain, the ...more
Another exemplary installment of the Black Company. I thought the POV of Sleepy was refreshing. She gave the books a fresh perspective. This book starred out powerful, continued to keep me riveted until the end. It was at the end that my interest started weaning. I thought it was much too drawn out. This dropped my rating one star. I knew not all of my favorite Company characters would make it to the very end but why one of my absolute favs? Whyyyyy???? Off to the grand finale. Happy reading eve
...more
I was really hoping there would be a quicker return to the characters and plot that made the prior Black Company books so enjoyable, but unfortunately it doesn't happen until the last fifty pages. Additionally, I wasn't satisfied with the "Black Company in hiding" plot that makes up the bulk of the book. If you're already invested in the series, it's a necessary read, but at the same time Water Sleeps is disappointingly weak.
It is a little creepy how completely unique and enjoyable every single novel in this series continues to be. Sleepy is an excellent narrator and while it isn't spelled out, I think she could easily be seen as genderqueer, or, at the very least, a female protagonist who isn't written with her gender being a central, defining aspect of her character. So yeah. I'm going to cry when I finish the final book.
The only complaint I had about this book, was that towards the end Sleepy really began to annoy me. I loved her at the beginning but by the end I just wanted her to shut up. Her continual insistence that "this can't be happening! My g-d would never approve!" became tiresome after awhile and I'm thankful that the next book with go back to atheist Croaker so I don't have to read any more crisis of faith stuff. Other than that, Water Sleeps was as enjoyable as all other Black Company books.
Now that we're nearing the end of the saga of the Black Company, the pace seems to be quickening as revelations are finally being made in sufficient numbers to make the mysteries of the Company's past clear. I find mysrlf eager to read the last of the books to see how the men and women of the Company deal with the discovery of their past, and with both the losses and the changes that have accumulated during this quest to return to the beginning.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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| Fantasy Book Club...: * Water Sleeps (CotBC #9) Ch 1-50 | 5 | 18 | Nov 03, 2013 08:55AM |
Glen Cook was born in New York City, lived in southern Indiana as a small child, then grew up in Northern California. After high school he served in the U.S. Navy and attended the University of Missouri. He worked for General Motors for 33 years, retiring some years ago. He started writing short stories in 7th grade, had several published in a high school literary magazine. He began writing with m
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The Chronicles of the Black Company
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“Rich men have dreams. Poor men die to make them come true.”
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“The people come from everywhere, from five hundred miles, to find their fortunes. By fortune is an ugly, two-faced goddess. When you have lived with her handiwork for half a generation, you hardly notice anymore. You forget that this is not the way life has to be. You cease to marvel at just how much evil man con conjure by existing.”
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updated May 16, 2016 10:23AM
May 18, 2016 12:08AM