A Cruel Wind

Dread Empire #1-3

by Glen Cook

“Glen Cook is a rare beast of a writer – he can vacillate between military fantasy, space opera, epic fantasy, mystery, and science fantasy with great ease. His writing is often marked by a purity; that he is depicting life in its most real sense, from the thoughts in a character’s mind to the wind rushing across his or her face.”— SFFWorld

A Cruel A Chronicle of the Dread Empire collects the legendary Dread Empire A Shadow of All Night Falling, October's Baby and All Darkness Met.

The war that even wizards dread begins with A Shadow of All Night Falling. Across the mountains called Dragon's Teeth, beyond the chill reach of the werewind and the fires of the world's beginning, above the walls of the castle Fangdred, stands Wind Tower, from which the Star Rider calls forth the war that even wizards dread. A war fought for a love. The love of a woman called Nepanthe, princess to the storm kings. . . .

When the leaves turn blood and the wind turns bone, it is time. A time for doing things dark and strange; the time of October's Baby. The princess bears a child to the winged thing and the cries are heard far beyond the peaks of Dragon's Teeth. Nepanthe and Mocker wait, but for what, they do not know.

At Empire's end, Mocker finds old friends in the halls of death. Nepanthe finds new lovers in the fields of blood and bone, while the war-child wields the sword of truth. The Star Rider's dread secret is at last revealed, where All Darkness Met. And so it ends. Though end is but a wizard-word for new beginnings. . . .

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Dark Fantasy, Ebooks, Epic Fantasy, Epic, Novels

582 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

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 malicious intent to publish in 1968, eventually producing 51 books and a number of short fiction pieces.
He met his wife of 43 years while attending the Clarion Writer's Workshop in 1970. He has three sons (army officer, architect, orchestral musician) and numerous grandchildren, all of whom but one are female. He is best known for his Black Company series, which has appeared in 20+ languages worldwide. His other series include Dread Empire and and the Garrett, P.I. series. His latest work is Working God’s Mischief, fourth in the Instrumentalities of the Night series.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/glencook

Reviews

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a huge Glen Cook fan. His style is one of a kind, his characters gritty and cool and his plots always have an effortless gravitas to them. But this omnibus contains his first works and it shows a bit in the beginning. This is the first 3 books of the Dread Empire series and each book got better. I'd give the first one a 3, second a 4 and the last a 5. If I wasn't already a fan of Cook's I would have been worried during the first book. It had a weird flow to it and just didn't grab like his usual fare. By the end of the full volume I was loving it and ready to read the rest of the Dread Empire series.

[Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is relatively early (i.e. pre-Black Company) Glen Cook -- an omnibus collection of the original trilogy in his other major fantasy series, The Dread Empire. The structure is interesting -- each book alternates between contemporary chapters, and chapters that flash back to events decades or centuries in the past that laid the groundwork for current events. Also, there's a major shift in viewpoint characters between the first book (A Shadow of All Night Falling) and the second & third (October's Baby and All Darkness Met) -- the main viewpoint characters in 2 & 3 (and in the books collected in the second omnibus) were secondary charaters in book 1. The titular Dread Empire is barely mentioned in the first book but plays a larger role in the second & third. The Dread Empire itself is vaguely Chinese in flavor; the rest of the world has vaguely Nordic and Germanic and Mediterranean countries.

This all takes place on a larger scale than the Black Company books; it's written in third person so he can juggle several viewpoint characters and show how events in one part of the world (or in the distant past) are influencing events in another part of the world. As always with Cook, the prose is straightforward and unornamented (although the book & chapter titles are quite poetic) and the military maneuvers are well thought-out and engaging; and most of the characters are relatively normal people who may or may not realize just how far in over their heads they are.

[Graham Dauncey · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an omnibus of the first 3 Dread Empire novels from Glen Cook. Cook is often ascribed as one of the forefathers of modern Grimdark fantasy, which is probably my favourite subgenre. He certainly predates some of the more famous practitioners by a considerable margin (GRRM and Joe Abercrombie spring to mind) - the first of these books was published in 1979. I can respect a lot of the attributes of grimdark are present in these stories, with a certain greyness of morality, a tendency to kill of characters suddenly and grittiness to the world.

The age of the books do show unfortunately. There is a casual misogyny which is uncomfortable to read - Glen Cook really struggles with writing his female characters. The character building in general is much less than modern grimdark. The power of the greyness of morals and character mortality is lost somewhat when we find ourselves less engaged with them. The first book suffers in particular from this - the characters are all distant and it is hard to feel engaged with any of their plights.

The other genre usually attributed to Cook is military fantasy. This is a sub genre I am less familiar with, but I can see why it is referred to in reference to these works - there are a lot of battles described in these pages. However, again it suffers from a lack of engagement with the characters presented. Cooks prose is somewhat stilted and formulaic, almost sounding like a dry military report at times. It makes for heavy reading at times.

The books themselves are pretty inconsistent. The first book was pretty dire - it was distant, confusing, poorly characterized and ultimately not really that related to the rest of the story arc. It read more like a prequel than a main story arc novel. The second book improved drastically, with a much more focused look on one of the more minor characters in the first story. This improved characterization lifted the book and the more controlled nature of its military exploits (largely confined to one small country) gave it the best intimacy of the three. The main character, Bragi Ragnarsson, is really fleshed out and this helps to provide some engagement. The rest of the cast are still somewhat hard to know. The third book expands things too much and loses the some of the intimacy of the second. It also has a tendency to take some vaguely interesting character arcs and run them into dead ends for no apparent reason. It is a bit of a sprawling mess of a novel.

Finally, what is with the title? It seems to have nothing to do with the story. A minor peeve, but still

In the end, I would rate:
Book 1: A Shadow of All Night Falling 1/5
Book 2: October's Baby 3/5
Book 3: All Darkness Met 2/5

Overall 2/5

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like others have posted, I found the first book in the trilogy, 'A Shadow of All Night Falling' tough sledding. I was on the verge of putting it away to try later, but being a big fan of Cook and his 'Black Company' series, I decided to give the second book, 'October's Baby', a chance. I'm glad I did. The omnibus became a page-turner, and though I found book three, 'All Darkness Met', a touch slow getting started, it proved a satisfying conclusion.

One small nit was the lack of a map. There were so many kingdoms and place names that it would have been nice to have a reference. On the plus side I could see some ideas that would later make it into the 'Black Company' series. The bickering wizards Visigodred and Zindahjira reminded me of One-Eye and Goblin.

If you are a fan of the 'Black Company' you may be disappointed. If you haven't read 'The Black Company' because of this collection, you are missing out on one of the all time great, and under-rated fantasy series.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fans with an interest in the down-in-the trenches approach without so much veneer would do well to check out these books. Hell, fans of fantasy in general would do well to read these books. I enjoyed A Cruel Wind a great deal for many reasons - the evocation of the setting, the different approaches Cook utilized from book to book, and quite simply, the overall story itself in each volume and as a whole for the saga. I did think the pacing was slightly uneven in spots from book to book, but on the whole I liked A Cruel Wind quite a bit.

The physical book itself deserves mention. From small-press NightShade, this is a beautiful looking book, from the evocative Raymond Swanland cover, to the nice paper, to the overall feel and design of the book, one can tell the publishers put a great deal of thought into their final product. It should also be noted the book includes a great introduction by Jeff VanderMeer who paints a great picture of Cook’s writing; the preface works as both an introduction and a “love letter” of sorts.

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book contains three novels. They were:
1. A Shadow of All Night Falling— Dear God! How can such dreary, overlong pieces be read and regarded as classics?
2. October's Baby— Better work, with more charm and pace.
3. All Darkness Met— It seems that I had made a serious mistake by committing myself to these works, that too amidst the growing gloom and darkness due to the Pandemic raging across the world.
I found this book almost as tasty as ash and rocks. Perhaps you would do better.

[Aislinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I cracked open this book having known at least a little about Glen Cook and this series. This is probably the main reason I ended up enjoying both so much.

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Here's the information I gathered before I started:

1. Glen Cook is a writer who calmly, politely, and unapologetically writes books in his own way, often not even sticking to the basic structure of three acts.

2. The first few volumes of the series are some of his earliest work, where Cook is still experimenting with his (already unconventional) writing style. Many seem to consider the first volume especially rough.

3. Cook's style has been described as "Vietnam War, but in fantasy" - Cook himself is a Vietnam veteran, and he prides himself on being able to evoke the gritty soldier's point of view that seems to have winned the applause of many of his fellow veterans.

4. Cook has sometimes been described as one of the purveyors of the grimdark genre. Perhaps fittingly, his descriptions are spartan, arguably preferring to tell rather than show - what some have described as the prose equivalent of "I came, I saw, I conquered." I think this is an ingenious summary.

All of which is to say: Cook is a very unique writer, and this is a very unique series. Cook does things his way and expects you to put up with it, with no complaints. The real plot is only revealed in the third book; characters who have played a major role in the previous book disappear almost completely in the next; the writing can become so austere that it takes exactly one paragraph to kill off a recurring character who has featured not unimportantly throughout the story.

Cook is one of those "love him or hate him" authors. This series, being one of his early efforts, may further accentuate both his good and bad habits. How much you enjoy the book will be a very personal matter of taste. If Cook's style clicks with you, it will; if it doesn't, it won't.

Obviously it clicked with me - I enjoyed the brutally economical prose, the black-and-deep-grey morality of this bloody medieval world, the evil but awesome empire(s), the magic nukes of god-like wizards, and the intra- and inter-state power struggles that almost always end with thousands of heads rolling.

Yes, this is that kind of story. Aside from Cook's style itself, your tolerance for the grimdark genre will probably also weigh heavily in your judgment of this series.

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Perhaps because of its genre, I find myself much more forgiving of aspects of the book that might be considered unfortunate.

Firstly, our titular Dread Empire Shinsan bears a not-so-subtle resemblance to China, from its location in the "Far East" to the names of its characters to ... literally everything. It also happens to be the Big Bad that our western characters keep referring to as pure evil. Open up the Yellow Peril page and you'll see that Shinsan gleefully collects every trope and then some more.

Secondly, Dread Empire is ultimately a series of Tough Men, with every notable female character (even those with their own magical nukes) ending up as a housewife. Nepanthe, in particular, is a neurotic woman-child who, at one point, is explicitly rebuked by the male characters and told to be less emotional and to use her brain.

But Cook's cold, detached writing and the series' perpetually bleak world manage to neutralize many of the uncomfortable feelings these depictions might otherwise have aroused in me. To be fair, I still find these aspects unfortunate, but then, our protagonists - the western, male characters - are never treated as paragons of virtue either.

As the story progresses, the series slowly but surely introduces nuances and plot twists.

It turns out that Shinsan is not the ultimate Big Bad - the Star Rider is. Shinsan, mostly O Shing, suspects foul play and tries to cut himself (and thereby the world) loose from the puppet strings of the Pracchia.

Bragi discovers that Elana has been unfaithful to him - but he admits that he has been unfaithful to her too, and that he hasn't really been a good husband for a long time. In the end, both he and Elana (in ghost form) promise to forgive each other. Bragi notes that he doesn't even hate Turran, whom he has come to see as a brother, but who went to bed with Elana behind his back. The series has no double standards when it comes to cheating, which is a relief, to say the least.

These nuances allow the reader - for me, at least - to read those aspects in terms of the biases of our POV characters and how these characters are constrained by the social norms of their time and universe.

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I thoroughly enjoyed the main trilogy, especially the endless backstabbing and the absolutely epic battle scenes. I've heard that the prequels and short stories are even better, and I'm eager to learn more about this sprawling, unhappy world.

This series is indeed huge - new readers may find it confusing where to start. I know I did. So, let me end this review with a summary of the volumes in the series (roughly) in order of publication, adapted from another person's post.

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Main Trilogy

1. A Shadow of All Night Falling (1979)
2. October's Baby (1980)
3. All Darkness Met (1980)

(In 2006, all three works were reprinted as an omnibus, A Cruel Wind.)


Prequel Duology

4. The Fire in His Hands (1984)
5. With Mercy Toward None (1985)

(In 2007, the two works were reprinted as an omnibus, A Fortress In Shadow.)


Sequel Trilogy

6. Reap the East Wind (1987)
7. An Ill Fate Marshalling (1988)
9. A Path to Coldness of Heart (2012)

(In 2018, all three works were reprinted as an omnibus, Wrath of Kings.)


Collection of Short Stories

8. An Empire Unacquainted with Defeat (2008)

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Note:

I began the series with A Cruel Wind, or the edition that collects all three volumes of the main trilogy into one book. I think this is a wise choice. The first trilogy is a relatively self-contained whole that can only be fully appreciated when read as one.

Some readers seem to have suggested reading the prequels first (even if they are published after the main trilogy). My habit is always to read things in the order they are published, although I can see where the advice comes from.

Once again, Cook's authorial decisions can be unorthodox. The first book (A Shadow of All Night Falling) can be particularly difficult to follow; the prequels help to place events in a more chronological order.

I am satisfied with my own choice of reading the trilogy first, but I should probably point out that starting with the prequels is not an uncommon decision.

[Ben · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've gotten 83 pages in and took everything I could from reading this "saga." Reading about the Dread Empire is absoultly Dreadful! Almost the entire book so far takes place in either a castle with dull drab characters or in random bits of time following one emo'ed out "man". The author is very vague with regards to how magic occurs and in descriptions of the characters. None of the characters are likable either. Everybody is depressed and just waiting around for something to happen. I recieved both this and A Fortress in Shadow as gifts. Maybe the second book is better, but it better prove it self quick.

[Sergio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really great series, which is to be expected from Glen Cook. I was only recently turned onto his books and have now read everything I can lay my hands on. In this trilogy the first book and the last book were my favorites.

[Shadowdenizen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Highly readable, and definitely enjoyable, but a little underwhelming for me, given how utterly talented Glen Cook is. And, (though it's not really a fair comparison, since these were written pre Black-Company), this is certainly not as good as the "Black Company" books.)

[Joelendil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Before creating the mercenary Black Company, Glen Cook wrote about the struggle between the deeply divided West and the Dread Empire of the East. The Western nations are nominally the "good guys"...mostly by virtue of our protagonists being from the West and the Dread Empire being efficiently expansionist and militaristic (and we are told repeatedly that they are "pure evil" though their actions aren't demonstrably more so than the Westerners). The pettiness, scheming, brutal pragmatism, deep character flaws, and occasional atrocities of the Westerners make for a moral ambiguity that is typical Glen Cook dark fantasy.

This appears to be set in a different world than the Black Company novels, but Cook clearly developed a lot of his Black Company characters, plot devices, and writing style in these books (to say nothing of a character that Steven Erikson steals almost wholesale for use in his Malazan Book of the Fallen). The writing style is a bit rough with occasional awkward transitions, vague/incomplete descriptions that leave you saying "okay, what just happened?", characters making literary/historical/religious allusions that don't make much sense in their world, and a confusing profusion of people and places (with no maps). Nonetheless, if you like dark fantasy this is well worth a read: plenty of convoluted schemes, sorcery, battles, sudden and ignominious deaths of major characters, etc.

[Travis Chapman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my second Cook series, having previously read the Black Company omnibus' twice. I enjoy his style of writing, and probably end up emulating it myself. This series was no different. The characters are interesting and diverse, with a good mix of motivations, concerns, and moral ambiguity. I think Cook's signature ability to portray "real" people who act that way is unique. You may not like the moral choices, but he opens the doors on their hearts and the "why" behind many decisions.

The world building is spectacular and also uniquely Cook. For me, even better than Game of Thrones. Lots of motivations, history, intrigue, and interplay. Unlike George R. R. Martin though, Cook is sparing on details. He's quick and concise, dropping breadcrumbs for the reader to fill in the details in their imagination. I find the pace quick, and can barrel through sections with a low amount of friction. I never felt bogged down by unnecessary explanatory narrative. Gritty and to the point.

Fans of The Black Company will recognize several Cook-isms with the world-building, magic system, and nation-level drama. For me, highly recommended reading.

[Gedvondur · Rating 3 out of 5]

In my estimation 3 Stars is a *good* book, well worth reading.

This omnibus edition of the three books of the dread empire is set before the Black Company, but encompasses the same hard, gritty feel as the Black Company. The Gods and Fate are *not* forgiving and people are generally horrible to each other, especially if they get some power.

The characterization in this series isn't as good as The Black Company series, as a matter of fact the first book is about half set up and world building. Cook tends to come at stories crab-wise and it's not always easy to get into his writing, and this trilogy exemplifies it.

Still, the trilogy of the Dread Empire does pay off, and we get to actually know a few characters before the end. A must-read for fans of the Black Company.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ehhh. While I love the Black Company series by the same author (and think it's a great, tragically underrated example of low fantasy done right), this anthology just didn't do it for me. It was written prior to Black Company, and on a technical level, it shows. The writing improves as the novels go on, but I actually found the last book the hardest to get through, just because of how depressing it tended to be. Also my kingdom for a map, which the Kindle edition direly needed.

Speaking of the Kindle edition of this, it's got a number of formatting errors: chapter titles are stretched out vertically for some reason, and italicized text ends up on its own, separate line for no apparent reason. Not sure what happened there.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Dread Empire series is a worthy read. Honestly, I enjoyed it more than the Black Company, or really any of Glen Cook's stuff, except perhaps the first three Instrumentalities books. The series changes dramatically as one moves along. Here, this first book almost feels like a completely different universe from where things end up. I loved the characters, and I'm amazed at how they grow over the course of things. As typical of Cook, you can't grow too attached because none of the characters are guaranteed a happy ending. The series takes place in a world clearly derived from our own. An empire has fallen, leaving a long-standing void with many fighting over the remnants. As usual, Cook can't be bothered to provide a map, although there are some good ones online.

[Claudette Gabbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, this was some read. The first book was slow & not very exciting. Each book got better and better as they went along. A lot more action than the first. George RR Martin has nothing on Glen Cook for killing off characters. I lost count on how many we lost in the third book. It was a good story. Not the Black Company, but good. You can tell by the writing that these were earlier writings. I will continue with the series. Have to see who will survive the next omnibus book.

[preston russell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing but the utmost respect for Cook's beautiful fantasy landscape. The Dread Empire is richly filled with various cultures, religions, races, and characters. Even the oft-clunky dialogue is impressive in its originality. Unfortunately, I cannot forgive the DRY DRY DRY writing style. Staring at a random spot on my bedroom floor is far more engaging than trifling through the deep caverns of Cook's storytelling — and luckily so, because I spent most of my time zoning out and doing just that.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard one to rate , I thought a Shadow of all night falling was terrible 2/5 October's baby was a lot better with military battles and wizards 3/5 and All Darkness Met was damn awesome what a fucking bloodbath at the end 5/5

"He was the last, Bragi mused. None of us are left but me" And, after a while, "Why am I still alive?"

[Jessica Fulk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read, tho not as engaging as "The Black Company" series. I see a lot of hints and similarities to "The Black Company" which was amusing, tho I wouldn't be surprised if the "Dread Empire"s universe ended up being another universe in "The Black Company". Looking forward to reading the next few books in this series:)

[Colin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sadly not as good as I hoped . . .

So I absolutely loved Glen Cook's "Black Company" series, so I had high hopes for this series. But the storytelling style is so disjointed, I couldn't figure out what the heck was going on half the time. There are some great scenes and some great bits of writing, but I feel it lacks overall narrative unity.

[GreybeardTN · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read these books a long time ago, and it has aged well. Sad, darkly ironic, bitter, and erie. It has elements of horror, as does much of Cook's classic works.

Cook has a unique style, fascinating characters, and often complex plots.

[Filip Kuchta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bardzo dobra pozycja, co prawda w mojej opinii części (tomy?) nierówne. Najbardziej przypadła mi właśnie część 2 i 3 (Październikowe dziecko i Zgromadziła się ciemność wszelaka).

Muszę kiedyś ponownie sięgnąć po Czarna kompanie...

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was not pulled in. I just didn't care. DNF

[Merhydin · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Terrible formatting

Terrible formatting, clearly not proofread at all on small screen kindle apps (ie, android phone). That said it was a good read.

[Peter Fasel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Hard Read

Lots of action but difficult to follow at times. The plots were sometimes difficult to follow along with. Not as good as The Black Company.

[Jessica W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love Glen Cook so much!

[David H.]

Why I didn't finish this: I read the first two novels in this omnibus, but flagged during the third book and couldn't be bothered to finish.

[John Prather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Glen cook does it again (before?) with another incredible world building adventure

[Walt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Read