A Shadow of All Night Falling

Dread Empire #1

by Glen Cook

Across the mountains called the 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 Windtower. From this lonely keep the Star Rider calls forth the war that even wizards dread, fought for a woman's hundred-lifetime love. A woman called Nepanthe, princess to the Stormkings…

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Dark Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy, High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Ebooks

240 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 1, 1979

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

[✘✘ Sarah ✘✘ (former Nefarious Breeder of Murderous Crustaceans) · Rating 4 out of 5]

💀 Unrelenting Glen Cook Mercenaries Buddy Read (UGCMBR™) with The Overlord, Eilonwy is Slowpoke No Longer, My Dearest of Wives, My Nefarious Daughter, My Not Nearly Nefarious Enough Son and Lee the Ever Disappearing Kiwi 💀

Actual rating: 4.225786985 stars Some People of Despicable Book Taste I once called…wait, what was that word again? Oh yes, “friends.” Anyway, some Former Friends of Despicable Book Taste failed to recognize the utter amazingness of this book, and had the audacity to rate it 3 stars. I of course forgave them. Therefore, their corpses are now littering the bottom of the Challenger Deep.

So. This is the first book in the first series Glen Cook Is A God ever wrote. Some people (you know, those whose bodies are now decorating the grounds near my humble underwater abode?) are of the wrong opinion that it is slightly substandard, and one of his weakest pieces. Miscreants begone, I say! Okay okay, to be disgustingly honest, I have to admit that this book is a bit diet, decaf, and gluten-free compared to some of Cook’s later work. BUT. It’s still Glen Cook, ergo Pretty Shrimping Super Extra Entertaining (PSSEE™), ergo ergo Pretty Bloody Much More Better (PBMMB™) than 99.99% of Fantasy crap books out there, ergo ergo ergo, quite pleased the murderous crustaceans are.



Cheerleading crabs FTW!

A Shadow of All Night Falling might be Glen Cook Lite, but one of the greatest things about the book is that it lays the foundations of All Scrumptious GC Things to Come (ASGCTtC™):

① There are no good guys.
All the characters are bastards. HAHAHAHAHAHA, it’s beautiful! Egotistical, treacherous assholes and selfish, homicidal liars abound. There are villainous villains, and then there are villainous villains that are more villainous that the villainous villains you thought were villainous. It’s quite delicious, methinks.

② There are no good situations.
All situations are dark. And screwed-up. HAHAHAHAHAHA, it’s beautiful! There’s a reason Glen Cook is known as the Father of Grimdark, my Comely Decapods. You know, “grim” as in “GRIM” and “dark” as in “DARK?” This ain’t stuff for Foolish Fluffy Bunny Lovers (FFBL™), and my advice to anyone tackling one of Cook's books for the first time would be: don’t get attached. The prognosis and survival rate of his characters is one of the lowest in the business. But hey, at least you get to fangirl/boy/shrimp/whatever like a slightly unstable maniac while they’re around (and sometimes kidnap and then stash them safely away in your High Security Harem), so it’s not ALL bad.

③ ① + ② = Backstabbing Paradise.
I’m not sure why Cook never thought of trademarking this. I mean, it has been scientifically proven over and over again that the Backstabbed Characters Who Thought They Were Backstabbing While They Were Being Backstabbed by the Backstabbers Who Thought They Were Backstabbing the Backstabbers Who Were Backstabbing Those Who Were Being Backstabbed Ratio is higher in any given Glen Cook book than in ALL Fantasy novels in the history of the world. (Of course I’m not exaggerating. Why would you think such a thing, I wonder?) It has also been scientifically proven over and over again that those silly minds who think poorly of backstabbing before reading Glen Cook usually end up being not quite totally entirely allergic to the concept after going through any of Grimdark’s Daddy books.



④ A Slightly Moronic Reader is you.
Ah, to have Glen Cook make you feel like a complete retard! There is nothing quite like it, if you ask me. Glen Cook is as viciously vicious as his characters. He tells you the story on his own evil terms, and divulges little bits and pieces of information only when he deems it appropriate. Ergo, no bloody fishing idea what the fish is going on or where the book is heading you usually have. And it’s stupendeliciously delectable. Granted, A Shadow of All Night Falling is surprisingly not confusing compared to some of Cook’s other books (The Dragon Never Sleeps being the glorious epitome of Utter Cook Confusingness™, just so you know). BUT. There were still some delightful Shock! Dismay! Consternation! Moments to be had here. Okay, so it seems my readings buddies were neither shocked, nor dismayed, nor consternated by some of the scrumptious twists and surprises that left me shocked and dismayed and consternated, which seems to indicate that my little grey cells might have possibly seen better days. Maybe. Oh well, the important thing here is that I felt suitably and pleasantly (if moderately) moronic while reading this book, and what more could a Glen Cook Is A God fangirl/boy/shrimp/whatever ask for, I ask you? Not bloody shrimping much, methinks. Ergo, a most content medusozoa is me.



Yeah, I know, I’m pretty hot in my jellyfish form. Sorry, can’t help it, it’s in my genes and stuff.

➽ Nefarious Last Words (NLW™): proto-Glen Cook this might be, but Super Extra Yummilicious (SEY™) it is nonetheless. So QED and stuff.



➘ Reading order for this series, as firmly kindly suggested by the Ruthless Glen Cook Overlord™:

① Book 1: A Shadow of All Night Falling ★★★★
② Book 4: The Fire in His Hands ★★★★
③ Book 5: With Mercy Towards None ★★★★
④ Book 2: October’s Baby ★★★★
⑤ Book 3: All Darkness Met ★★★★★
⑥ Book 6: Reap the East Wind ★★★★★
⑦ Book 7: An Ill Fate Marshalling ★★★★★
⑧ Book 8: A Path to Coldness of Heart ★★★★
⑨ Short stories: An Empire Unacquainted with Defeat ★★★★



[Pre-review nonsense]



Helped it cannot be, a hopeless Glen Cook fancatgirl I am. Evgeny I blame. And also Glen Cook. A little.

➽ Full review to come and stuff.

[Eilonwy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read with the Glen Cook Branch of Buddies, Books, and Baubles

A centuries-old wizard awaits the woman he is fated to love, and with whom he is destined to change the world. But Princess Nepanthe has sworn she will love no man. Meanwhile, her brothers have their own ideas about how to work the world to their designs, and take a great risk to make that happen. War clashes around all of them as they battle for their visions.

Or something like that, since this description makes it sound like some kind of romance. (I can promise you that it is virtually no romance at all.) Why are Glen Cook books so hard to summarize?

This is an early prototype the kind of complex plot that Glen Cook is admired for and which really just needs to be experienced since it can hardly be explained. There are twists and double crossings, although none so breathtaking as what appear in his later works. There are characters who get better fleshed out later in different series (as different people), but Cook’s trademark of rounding his characters out so that they all hold both goodness and badness and act out of complicated motives is here. No one is predictable. The worldbuilding is excellent, as always. This one contains shades of other worlds from his novels, but it’s definitely its own place, with its own geography, religions, and worldviews.

I zoomed through this and really enjoyed it. And the fact that it’s left me a bit speechless and at a loss for any way to properly review it is a good thing.

So, check out my less tongue-tied fellow mercenaries’ better-phrased reviews:

Evgeny

Sarah

Mark

Also Choko, Elena, and Lee!

[Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am very much on the fence with this book.
I can see potential, but there is also parts that had me frustrated. I honestly believe that this was a book that wasn't finished. I think that Cook wrote the base of a story and then was going to come back and connect the dots, but it but it never happened and it got published as is. I can't imagine this being published today in how the story reads.

In saying that, it isn't a poorly written book, Cook is fantastic with world building and generally does a great job with characters and this is no exception. I also have an alternative thought, that being he has a much bigger picture of the story that will unfold and this is the trailer to set the scene, which is why I am going to continue on with the story with my best-est buddies to help me through my doubts. The potential for the story is very Cook style; a back stabbery festival, with some dark and devious minds at work. It feels a little bit like a cross between Prince of Nothing and Princes of Amber.

What I did enjoy, is seeing how some of Cooks earlier work influenced Erikson's Malazan series. I knew that Black Company played a big part in his writing and in this book we see that one character is the basis of Kruppe and largely influential and distinctive character in Malazan. Even his nickname, Mocker, is used in Malazan as a race of people, which is interesting and I woudl love to quiz Erikson on his choice of the people in Malazan to be called Mockers.

Anyway, next month, book 2, I have been told not to judge the series on the first book, so I am very optimistic that the series will hook me deeper.

[S. ≽^•⩊•^≼ I'm not here yet]

Before the Black Company, there was Dread Empire

Main trilogy: A Chronicle of the Dread Empire: A Cruel Wind:
A Shadow of All Night Falling
October's Baby
All Darkness Met

Prequels: A Fortress in Shadow:
The Fire in His Hands
With Mercy Toward None

Sequels: Last Chronicle of the Dread Empire: Wrath of Kings:
Reap the East Wind
An Ill Fate Marshalling
A Path to Coldness of Heart

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

BR with my fellow mercenaries over at Buddies Books and Baubles. Originally published in 1979, A Shadow of All Night Falling is the first volume of Glen Cook's Dread Empire series, considered to be his first major work of fantasy.

Having read and enjoyed all of the Black Company novels in 2018, I was cautiously optimistic about this one. Would an earlier work provide the same level of enjoyment, or would I be disappointed?

I'm pleased to say...I really liked this book! It is not without its flaws; the worldbuilding is clunky at times, and the magic system feels somewhat vague. But for me, the strength of Glen Cook's writing has always been his characters. He is able to create people who the readers care about and who interact with one another in a realistic-feeling way. While no one can ever replace Croaker and Co. (from The Black Company) in my mind, the Dread Empire has a group of great characters in its own right...Nepanthe, Varth, Saltimbanco, etc. all add to the interesting story being developed here.

Generally speaking, the book has a story arc which is kind of resolved by the end, but it is obviously meant as the prologue of sorts to the overall Dread Empire series. As such, there are still many loose ends which will inevitably be addressed in the subsequent volumes. I will also say that this is probably not the best introduction to Glen Cook's work: for that, I would recommend Chronicles of the Black Company.

[Cheruv · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my first foray into Cook's writing. I specifically chose this book as it is his first major published work (and the first of the "Dread Empire" series.)
I sometimes like seeing/reading the growth of an author.

This book is a mixed bag.
Taking into consideration that this is a very early example of military fantasy, and that the story Cook wanted to tell was a much larger story, I understand why some parts seems clunky, with a lot of tell instead of show in it.

In one interview I read, Cook said the following "I'm not a religious person myself;" (http://strangehorizons.com/non-fictio...)
Then I am very curious how he knows the Bible so well?
In this book I found many Biblical citations and or allusions, and it is done in a very subtle, clever way.

The character work, when we get enough time with someone, isn't bad. I personally enjoyed the parts of Varth(lokkur) the most, and that showed me the potential the author has. His treatment of women was a bit... let's just say it would not go down well today (2020), but being published in 1979, things were a lot different.

Overall, I see the elements of an unpolished gem, it feels a bit like the setup to a larger story, and it is. I will continue with the other Dread Empire books in the future, hopefully the others improve on this book.

I can see Cook growing to be one of my favourite authors.

[Turtle Brennen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the book that started it all - the gritty, dark fantasy that eventually resulted in The Black Company series, George Martin's Song of Fire and Ice series, and novels and series from other authors like Joe Abercrombie, Richard Morgan, and others.
Other books with a similar feel from Glen Cook include Tower of Rear, The Swordbearer (an early unpolished work), and the Instrumentalities of the Night series).

[Jared Mason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Glen Cook never fails to amaze me. It's so rare to find minimalists in fantasy but Cook does it with style. Much more concerned with the overarching plot or the development of characters, he leaves the setting to the imagination and breezes through a story in a few pages when it would take another author chapters to describe it all.

However, this approach can lead to some complications. Such as big reveals at the end coming too fast, happening in a moment, and then left to sit - the reader expected to just accept it.

One thing to be said, though. Glen Cook writes a series, not a book. This holds true in the Dread Empire as well as in the Black Company. You're not meant to read one of them, you'll come away unfulfilled. You're meant to read them all.

[Vanessa · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Every woman had a smidgeon of a need to be whorish."

I like Glen Cook for writing fantasy that holds up relatively well 30+ years later, but in this book I just couldn't get past the simplistic portrayal of Nepanthe as a woman. Maybe it's because the book spends no time at all on details and character development, but she acted like a child, making seemingly random decisions, never coalescing into someone realistic and three- dimensional. (For example, we never see any real development of her relationship with Mocker, and he is portrayed as an unattractive fool for much of the book, but then she's suddenly madly in love with him and I went "whaaat?")
I think there could have been an interesting story to tell about a woman in her circumstances - trapped in a high castle and caught in the middle of her brothers' war, terrified of men because she's hardly met any that aren't related to her, stalked by a powerful wizard, etc. - but that story isn't told. Instead she's a pawn for Cook's plot points, bouncing from one authorial decision to the next without ever giving us a glimpse of a real character with her own personality and motivations.

The chapters showing the backstory of Varthlokkur and how he came to be were the most interesting.

[Lundos · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first ~65% is a complete mess of name dropping - both character names and places - and the story shifts back and forth between characters and time jumping around Pulp Fiction style.
The writing style is abrupt and jarring and while this makes sort of sense in the Black Company (just read that again a couple of days ago), here it's just annoying and difficult to get into. The characters aren't as likeable as Croaker, Elmo and One-eye, and the plot is ... well... very hard to understand. Even after reading the ending. I get that it was the Star Rider wanting to kill the two old Princes of the Dread Empire, but who is the Star Rider? Who is the Director? The Dark Lady must be death

There are some real genius in some of this, but it's very hard getting a reading flow, since some of it is dropped without forewarning and without a possibility to even guess.

On a side note some of the characters could/must be inspiration for SE. E.g. Saltimbanco/Mocker insiration for both Pust and Kruppe? Funny language, playing an unimposing clown, mule, smarter than they seem, etc.

[Cj · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being dropped head first into this world, with no background information of how the world functions and little explanation as it continues can be a bit distracting. However, I ignored that eventually and just read the story, taking the plot points as they came; kind of letting the story wash over me instead of my usual intense interaction with it. I loved it. Eventually the novel fleshes out and is rewarding, but still feels like it was more a short story: it was just a slice of a bigger picture.

Read this if you like Glen Cook or are interested in seeing a real starting point for authors like Steven Erikson and Joe Abercrombie. I cannot be sure how influenced they were personally, but the style is there.

Don't read this if you are looking for an intense character based story, or one with deep and heartily explained details of everything fantastic.

This is a gritty, adventure written succinctly in style, yet broadly in story structure. Well worth the time for fantasy readers interested in the 'deep cuts' of the genre.

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been away from Cook for too long, The Black Company was one of the first fantasy series that I really dove into, and you can see the roots of what he accomplishes with that series here.

This book stands on its own as an excellent Sword and Sorcery story that regularly made me think "Hell Yeah"

As with most Sword and Sorcery stories there are things that have not aged well, but nothing that rose to the point of turning me off from the story.

Very enjoyable. Looking forward to October's Baby

[Reagan Chiu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting little book, still don’t quite know what to make of it. Really interested in where the rest of the series is going

[Redsteve · Rating 2 out of 5]

Probably my least favorite of the Dread Empire books. This one is both magic-heavy and backstory-heavy - and by backstory, I mean incidents that happened hundreds of years before the main events of this book. The plot is convoluted and the characters either morally ambiguous or outright evil (not in itself a bad thing). The first time I read these books, I started with (October's Baby - book #2); if I'd started with this one, I probably wouldn't have continued with the series. In some ways, A Shadow of All Night's Falling feels more prequelly than the actual prequels (The Fire in His Hands and With Mercy Towards None). It's not terrible, but is heavy in the magic-curses-destiny thing. This is also a "Mocker-heavy" story - Bragi and Haroun are essentially side characters here. Not to say that I don't enjoy the Mocker (he's an awesome character), but I'd like to see more of the others. Even making allowances for this being written in the 1970s, Nepanthe, the only major female character, is pretty two-dimensional. 2.5 stars.

[William Gerke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rereading Cook's "Dread Empire" books on my way to "A Path to Coldness of Heart." I was struck by how clearly this is his early work. Parts of it are awkward. Other parts are lyrical. Many of the elements of classic, epic fantasy are here, but already Cook puts them through his blender and they come out unrecognizable. Here are very real characters playing out what would appear to be epic dramas. Varthlokkur's history, especially, played out between the lines of the main story, shows how someone can go from being a farm boy to the great dark wizard in a way that feels very real.

I'd love to know how much of the prequels he'd mapped out, as Haroun, Bragi, and Mocker all spring to life with full backgrounds and histories. Who would start a fantasy series these days with major characters already married or having lost their kingdom to an enemy? That's one thing Cook has always done well--drop you into a world that feels like it has run backwards (and will keep running forward) from where you are.

[Drew McCaffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Significantly better than the first time I read it—so much so that I wonder if I had a fever the first time or something.

Or perhaps I’m just more seasoned when it comes to Cook’s style and idiosyncrasies. This book is a very tightly woven story, full of neat plots and solid if not the most surprising twists. Nepanthe and Mocker are more fun than I remembered, and Varthlokkur has more depth.

I’m excited to finally move on and read October’s Baby, after all these years.

[Erth · Rating 4 out of 5]

now i am hooked. This was such a great, easy and creative book. i was hooked after the first page.

The characters were easy to fall in love with and follow, along with the story. the author made the mental visions so easy and vivid of the surroundings and the characters actions felt so real.

i would highly recommend this author and this book.

[Robert Collins · Rating 2 out of 5]

I persevered, waiting for the Cook magic to happen; nothing. I didn't care about the characters who appeared thin and ill formed.
Perhaps The Chronicles of the Black Company had raised unrealistic expectations.

[Frank Deming · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a mess of a story line. This is an early work of Cook’s. Very difficult to keep track of what was going on made worse by the contrived speech patterns of the character Mocker. Back to Garrett and the Black Company novels

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed both his Dread Empire and Black Company books, although probably preferred the Black Company works.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read some of these books before I figured I would start them again and read the entire series. It is a good time to delve into something like this again.
I love the way Glen Cook writes but this book is the one in the series I find is the hardest to get into for some reason. It is epic, character driven fantasy and in the same vein as Joe Abercrombie books these are not nice people. These are not paladins or knights of virtue. They are money hungry, power hungry and sometimes ruthless and just plain evil.
Still, this book is good and tells a generational tale of a elder, empire damning wizard and his quest to find the woman he is destined to be with. She of course doesn't know this and therefore is resistant and downright hard to deal with, as she should be. What unfold here is a tale of building history and the paths up to and beyond future tales. The Dread Empire is mentioned actually rarely, as it is the very thing described; Dread!
Overall this book is enjoyable and the characters, Mocker and the Lords, as well as the heavy hitters, all are interesting and defined well as per their motivations and desires. This is the beginning of a lot of page turning for me and I feel just fine about it.

Hope everyone is reading a lot and staying away from this bug. As a person in healthcare who actively screens people for sickness, I know more than most what these things can do and how to avoid it. Be safe all, and hold close to one another as best you can. A word, typed, texted said or written is still powerful. It shows attention and care. Use it.

Danny

[Michael T Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I tried reading this twice before and, for whatever reason, found it impenetrable. I gave it one more try since I like Cook's Black Company stuff so much, and Erikson (who wrote my favorite book) says he owes a ton to him (very obvious from Black Company). For whatever reason, the book 'clicked' this time through, and holy hell. Erikson definitely improves on what Cook does here, but you can see so much that he and Esslemont liberally borrowed here. Sambaltico/Mocker is obviously a template for Kruppe/Iskaral Pust, etc, etc.

But enough of that! I liked the way that, while there is a plot for the first half of the book, it's not until around the second half that you realize how things actually fit together. It worries me that the further I get in this series, the more I'll lose track of the big picture going on in the background (definitely the case in Erikson's Malazan series).

Also fun: while the Dread Empire's influence is certainly felt in this book, they are so not part of the main plot that they're not even shown on the frontispiece map! I kept looking at it every few chapters, thinking I must be misunderstanding something.

I also enjoyed how people changed sides and forgave incredibly easy. If all life could be so politely handled ...

Definitely looking forward to more from the series.

[Lauregul · Rating 2 out of 5]

Die Stormkings, sieben Geschwister mit magischen Fähigkeiten, nehmen Iwa Skolovda ein und streben danach, sich ein großes Imperium aufzubauen. Napanthe, die einzige Frau unter den Geschwistern, wird von ihren Geschwistern als Herrscherin der Stadt zurückgelassen. Sie langweilt sich in ihrer Rolle, bis ein seltsamer Mann in die Stadt kommt. Kurz darauf entbrennt ein Machtkampf unter Magiern, der nur von dem dahinterstehenden Liebesdrama überschattet wird.

Das ganze Buch ist ein großes Durcheinander. Die Geschichte weiß selbst nicht, was sie sein möchte: ein Liebesdrama, ein epischer Kampf zwischen Magiern, eine Komödie... Ein solcher Genremix ist zwar möglich, funktioniert hier jedoch nicht. Dazu kommen plötzliche Zeitsprünge, die nicht dazu beitragen, die Geschichte zu entwirren. Außerdem will irgendwie einfach keine Spannung aufkommen. Während des ganzen Buchs wartete ich auf den Moment, in dem es klick macht und die Handlung Fahrt aufnimmt. Aber zu so einem Moment kam es einfach nicht. Die Story schwappt nur so vor sich hin – und auf einmal ist sie einfach zu Ende.

Die Welt wirkt, als hätte sie Potential. Die zahlreichen legendären Magier sind interessant und, würde das Buch sich wirklich mit ihnen befassen, hätte ich es vermutlich deutlich interessanter gefunden. Passend dazu sind auch fast alle Hauptcharaktere uninteressant. Nepanthe und ihr "lustiger" Sidekick erfüllen ihren Zweck, haben aber absolut keinen Charakter, ebenso wie auch die anderen Protagonisten. Lediglich die beiden Nebencharaktere „Old Man“ und „Star Rider“ sind spannend und mysteriös, da beide eine interessante Hintergrundgeschichte zu haben scheinen, die aber leider nie näher beleuchtet wird.

In einem Wort zusammengefasst: langweilig. Das Buch bleibt trotz interessanter Konzepte absolut langweilig. Womöglich sind die Folgebände besser.

[Kelly Charmaine Marie Flanagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an interesting read. Mostly due to starting this across two cells just as I finished Cook's other series, which happens to end with a title do close to this one I accidentally got caught up in the wrong book for say 40 pages, not realizing when next read,on other cell seemed to be off by pages since I didn't recognize the story in front of me. So, a couple short story reads to clear the Etch A Scetch up there and I was gold on no longer thinking 'where is Cutter?' at least twice a paragraph.
Sigh

The next day I was Really glad that Cutter was a tool in this book, and my appreciation has only grown.
Besides having intensely enjoying this story, the depth of character building, plotting (of course) as well as the world building, I am happy to note the growth of Cook's talents. I am kicking myself for somehow having decided not to taste his flavor of writing. For lack of snacks today, I am sorry I missed out for years. I guess just another chance to remember if you haven't tried it, you can't know. Never judge a book by its cover. Ever.
Oh. Don't stick your tongue out at wizards.

[Devi · Rating 4 out of 5]

The writing style of this book mystified me a little. I decided it was remiss of me to have not read any of Glen Cook's novels but as with all these epic writers sometimes is a little had to work out where you're supposed to start, let alone really know what to expect. So i just stared here.

This book had the tone of an account almost, and had a certain emotional distance because of that. But what seemed to save it and make it far more engaging was the casual dialogue. People spoke in a way that seemed modern without there being any slang or colloquialisms, and it took the edge off what have might been a dry read, and gave the story the kind of humour I'm more used to seeing in British stuff. I'm still a little confused about who this Black Company is, or even if I'm reading books in the right order, but taken as a single story I still quite enjoyed it.

[Ramunas K · Rating 3 out of 5]

A strange one. The world was full, alive, colourful ...especially in the darker shades. Many times it made me think of scenery from Elden Ring, which is an amazing thing in itself.

Several times I was about to quit, but something happened and drew me right back in. I am grateful for that.

Only by the end did I really get into it. All the mystery of the world really shined through here. Until then I many times wondered where all of this story was going and the long conversations between the characters felt too long. I would rate the end of the book (last 100 pages, last 1,5 hour) with five stars, and all the previous with three.

Listened on audiobook this one.

[Drew · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first foray into Glen Cook's writing. Mostly quite good. Certainly Saltimbanco/Mocker inspired Kruppe from the Malazan series?

I love those kinds of characters. In the competition in my own brain, Kruppe is a finalist for greatest character in all of fantasy.

Saltimbanco provided the most entertaining aspects of this book. But the sheer creativity of the final act makes me glad I bought the first three paperbacks in the Dread Empire series.

Shortish and sweet. And worth the trip.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Sam Macuga · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beginning was so confusing, oh my lord. Got super into it though and maybe it was better to just be thrown right in? The archaic writing is interesting but also hard to follow sometimes, especially with how Mocker speaks… like what the helly
The father twist was actually really surprising even though should’ve seen it coming but not too sure on this whole father and son going after the same girl 😭😭
Nepanthe has potential to be a badass though, PLEASE Glen PLEASE
Yay for politics and super confusing worldbuilding!! It’s fun to try and piece together lmao

[Leif · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went in a little sceptical of this, coming from Glen Cook's more familiar ground-level fantasy informed by gritted teeth and strong characters. What would his take on high fantasy's more epic storylines be like?

It's great. Paper thin in some respects, and with the hangover of fantasy and Cook's bias towards masculine ideals that have been deservedly discredited by now, but otherwise really, really compelling.

[Robert Heckert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Points for making such a unique and tangible magic system. Very interesting environments and staccato descriptions.

Points taken away for being very unclear at times. I'm all about not holding the reader's hands, but the limited explanation borders on the opaque and undeveloped.

Cook strikes the right balance in the first three books of Black Company. Start there.