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Garrett Files #1
Sweet Silver Blues
It should have been a simple job. But for Garrett, a human detective in a world of gnomes, tracking down the woman to whom his dead pal Danny left a fortune in silver is no slight task. Even with the aid of Morley, the toughest half-elf around, Garrett isn't sure he'll make it out alive from a land where magic can be murder, the dead still talk, and vampires are always hungry for human blood.
320 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
About the author
Glen Cook
189 books3,334 followersGlen 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
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
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 343 reviews
April 10, 2012
My apologies to the legion of Dresdenites who may be about to burn me in effigy...but Garrett's files are far more entertaining to peruse than those of Jim Butcher's more famous creation. And while I enjoy many aspects of the Dresden stories, Harry himself annoys the bejesus outta me and taints my happy when I read them.
I had SO MUCH MORE FUN with this story and this character.
Garrett is a hard-boiled, freelance Private Investigator in a world in which humans live and work alongside a variety...and I mean a VARIETY...of different fantasy races called "breeds." Garrett's a smart, sarcastic "ex-marine" who quips and comments his way through the narrative and had me laughing out loud on more than one occassion. He's the glue that holds the wild plot together and his tone is perfectly paired with the plot.
Speaking of the plot...
PLOT SUMMARY:
Garrett is hired by a gnome business man to locate a mysterious woman, whose been named the sole beneficiary of his son's will. To complicate matters, solving the mystery will require Garrett to return to the Cantard, the front line of the ongoing war between the two main empires of the world, and where Garrett served his time as a marine.
Prior to venturing into the Cantard, Garrett recruits some "help" in the form of (1) a legendary dark elf bodyguard/assassin and (2) a pair of HUGE "beer drinking" Grolls (see above quote by way of explanation) to act as muscle.
In addition to the main thread, there are at least half a dozen sub-plots that will keep you on your toes, but the author does a nioe job of never letting the story get bogged down. The pace remains brisk while Cook still manages to provide a wonderful introduction to the larger world in which this story (and the sequels take place).
I thought the balance in this regard was excellent.
THOUGHTS:
As someone who enjoys fantasy stories that contain a variety of different races shown in fresh ways, I had a lot of fun with Cook's original take on some standard fantasy tropes. Most of the "breeds" can mate with humans and other "breeds" and so you get a very cosmopolitan society. Here's a list of just a few that I thought were cool:
Grolls: See above...this description gives you a good idea of Garrett's "tone" throughout the book.
Vampires: these are the vicious, nasty version that are neither cute nor sparkly.
Loghyr: A "living" corpse (possibly immortal). Killed 400 years ago and possessing a genius intellect and psychic powers.
Dark Elves: fast, strong and deadly...Bruce Lee with pointy ears.
Unicorns: Not your typical beauty as these are vicious, nasty meat eaters who kill without the slightest provocation...mostly just for fun.
Centaurs: Liars, cheats and con-men.
Plus, gnomes, witches, pixies, giants, shape-shifters,wizards and more.
Bottom-line, I had a ton of fun with this book and can't wait to read the sequels, which I hope are just as good.
4.0 stars. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!
April 21, 2013
It's likely a sign of aging, but my brain kept distracting me with that song from the nursery rhyme about mares eat oats and does eat oats.
Mares eat oats and does eat oats,
And little lambs eat ivy
The song slurs it all together:
Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey
A kiddley divey too, wouldn't you?
So every time P.I. Garrett's sidekick Morley Dotes appeared, a half-elf notorious for his fighting and gambling, I found myself starting to rhyme, clearly making it impossible to view him with a shred of trepidation. Is it too much to ask if Cook would rename the character?
This is the first in a series starring Garrett, an ex-soldier trying to make a living as a detective. The twist is that the setting is a fantasy world peopled with gnomes, elves, vampires, unicorns and centaurs. Don't worry, this isn't Rainbow Fairyland colored in pastels; we are talking about Glen Cook, after all, so the gnome ladies have nasty tempers, the vampires are all cold predators, the unicorns hunt for meat, and the centaurs have a tendency to work the angles. Initially, Garrett does some investigating around town, but it isn't long before he hooks up with a friend, Morley Dotes, to provide him with some muscle. Morley convinces him to hire on three grolls (goats gruff?) instead of pack mules. It's a fun plot that centers on tracking down a mysterious dame for an inheritance, a woman who just happened to be Garrett's first love.
Cook's trademark paucity of details is a perfect match for the hard-boiled detective. I disliked the Black Company series for it's lack of world-building and environmental-social context, but it works well for the detective caper. Language is enjoyable, and for me, one of the redeeming aspects of the book. Cook uses a modified period cant that sometimes requires a moment of double-think to interpret. For instance, there's a fight: "A club whipped the air where my head had been. I have the guy a kick in the root of his fantasies, then clipped him in the cheek as he bent to pray." Garrett's the a peculiar way of talking elevates it a bit above simple farce.
Names aside, characterization is acceptable, even if they all resonate anti-hero. Again, trademark of what I've read of Cook's, where even people with more noble intentions are complicit in illegal and ethically questionable actions. Garrett's slightly more on the positive side of the moral line--while he'll lie to almost everyone (except The Dead Man) with utter sincerity, he never killed anyone. Except for in the war. Until recent events. But he didn't mean it. However, it is worth noting the women are the worst sort of stereotypes: shrewish castigating woman; saucy barmaid with a temper; gentle unobtainable beauty that needs rescuing. Oink! Garrett and Morley are slightly more complex with back stories lending positive aspects to dubious actions. On the other hand, the majority of antagonists are confusing, involved in a barely comprehensible political maneuvering. It echoes the hard-boiled detective, where the investigator is caught in events larger than his limited scope.
I have to wonder if Morley's silly naming was intentional; it was such an unusual name within the book's world as well. In fact, the entire book has a fantasy-farce feel, reminding me (here we go again) of M.Y.T.H. Inc. Link / Myth-Nomers and Impervections, like part of the point is playing with literary conventions and having fantasy characters behave in inexplicably modern ways. For instance, there was a long-running joke between Garrett and Morley about vegetarian diet versus carnivore, and the effects on the bowels and mood. It was amusing enough for a short time, but eventually the style tends to grate on me. A single book is a perfect dose (Doze)--it is not a series I'd read in entirety back to back. Frankly, I rather like Lee Martinez or Pratchett's take on the genre if I feel like reading farce.
Ultimately, while I did buy it--it isn't carried by my library system--I'll likely donate it to the library so someone else with more affection for the genre can enjoy.
Three stars.
Cross posted at http://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2013/0...
Mares eat oats and does eat oats,
And little lambs eat ivy
The song slurs it all together:
Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey
A kiddley divey too, wouldn't you?
So every time P.I. Garrett's sidekick Morley Dotes appeared, a half-elf notorious for his fighting and gambling, I found myself starting to rhyme, clearly making it impossible to view him with a shred of trepidation. Is it too much to ask if Cook would rename the character?
This is the first in a series starring Garrett, an ex-soldier trying to make a living as a detective. The twist is that the setting is a fantasy world peopled with gnomes, elves, vampires, unicorns and centaurs. Don't worry, this isn't Rainbow Fairyland colored in pastels; we are talking about Glen Cook, after all, so the gnome ladies have nasty tempers, the vampires are all cold predators, the unicorns hunt for meat, and the centaurs have a tendency to work the angles. Initially, Garrett does some investigating around town, but it isn't long before he hooks up with a friend, Morley Dotes, to provide him with some muscle. Morley convinces him to hire on three grolls (goats gruff?) instead of pack mules. It's a fun plot that centers on tracking down a mysterious dame for an inheritance, a woman who just happened to be Garrett's first love.
Cook's trademark paucity of details is a perfect match for the hard-boiled detective. I disliked the Black Company series for it's lack of world-building and environmental-social context, but it works well for the detective caper. Language is enjoyable, and for me, one of the redeeming aspects of the book. Cook uses a modified period cant that sometimes requires a moment of double-think to interpret. For instance, there's a fight: "A club whipped the air where my head had been. I have the guy a kick in the root of his fantasies, then clipped him in the cheek as he bent to pray." Garrett's the a peculiar way of talking elevates it a bit above simple farce.
Names aside, characterization is acceptable, even if they all resonate anti-hero. Again, trademark of what I've read of Cook's, where even people with more noble intentions are complicit in illegal and ethically questionable actions. Garrett's slightly more on the positive side of the moral line--while he'll lie to almost everyone (except The Dead Man) with utter sincerity, he never killed anyone. Except for in the war. Until recent events. But he didn't mean it. However, it is worth noting the women are the worst sort of stereotypes: shrewish castigating woman; saucy barmaid with a temper; gentle unobtainable beauty that needs rescuing. Oink! Garrett and Morley are slightly more complex with back stories lending positive aspects to dubious actions. On the other hand, the majority of antagonists are confusing, involved in a barely comprehensible political maneuvering. It echoes the hard-boiled detective, where the investigator is caught in events larger than his limited scope.
I have to wonder if Morley's silly naming was intentional; it was such an unusual name within the book's world as well. In fact, the entire book has a fantasy-farce feel, reminding me (here we go again) of M.Y.T.H. Inc. Link / Myth-Nomers and Impervections, like part of the point is playing with literary conventions and having fantasy characters behave in inexplicably modern ways. For instance, there was a long-running joke between Garrett and Morley about vegetarian diet versus carnivore, and the effects on the bowels and mood. It was amusing enough for a short time, but eventually the style tends to grate on me. A single book is a perfect dose (Doze)--it is not a series I'd read in entirety back to back. Frankly, I rather like Lee Martinez or Pratchett's take on the genre if I feel like reading farce.
Ultimately, while I did buy it--it isn't carried by my library system--I'll likely donate it to the library so someone else with more affection for the genre can enjoy.
Three stars.
Cross posted at http://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2013/0...
June 27, 2020
Ok, I finished it and loved it!!! It reads like a cross between Chandler and Pratchett! Add Cook's native awesomeness and you can't go wrong with Garrett P. I. ❤️1
February 21, 2022
🕵️ Sleuthing Mercenaries R Us Buddy Read (SMRUBR™) with the MacHalos and stuff 🕵️
Sam Spade meets goblins and gnomes and vampires, oh my! And courtesy ofGod Glen Cook, too! What more can you ask for, I wonder? Not bloody fishing much, methinks. (Apart from a couple of juicy newborn babies to sacrifice and a bucket glass of single malt scotch, that is.) I mean, who better than the Uncontested King of Short Sentences, Straight Up Stuff and Super Extra Economical Descriptions (UKoS³USaSE²D™) to write a no BS story about your not-so-typical hardboiled detective? Why no one, obviously .
So. This book is what happens when you take classic Noir fiction, mix it up with Not Urban Neither Epic Fantasy (NUNEF™), throw in a whole bunch of scrumptiously scrumptious characters, add a most generous dose of Hahahahahahahaha and shake nefariously (I said shake, not stir. Get it? Good).
That’s not really what I had in mind, but yeah, sure, whatever and stuff.
Shaking and not stirring like so, you get an ex-marine-turned-detective guy called Garrett, hired by a local gnome entrepreneur to locate a mysterious dame. Your fairly typical Noir tale, really. Except from the gnome part maybe. And from the fact that Garrett’s sidekicks are a slightly lethal, alcohol abstinent, vegetarian dark elf with a gambling problem (aka Morley aka boyfriend #12,458 aka Poof! Gone! Harem!), a very hot, 450-pound, psychic living corpse in dire need of a bath (aka Chuckles), and super chummy frog-looking, pro-thumping, easily-inebriated, loincloth-clad groll triplets of the sexey warty green toes (it’s a giant! It’s a troll! It’s a groll!). Yes, definitely your fairly typical Noir tale. Bogart would feel right at home playing Garrett in the screen adaptation, if you ask me. (If he wasn’t somewhat very dead, that is.)
The rest of the cast is pretty yummy, too. We’ve gotmost delightful bitchy, cunning gnome ladies, malevolent, meat-eating unicorns (yay!), duplicitous, double-crossing centaurs, and nasty vamps. Sorry, what? All the characters are slightly villainous and vile and basically not good guys and stuff? Well, err, yes? I mean, this is Glen Cook, not the Care Bears 🙄. Okay, where was I before you so rudely interrupted me? Oh yes, the rest of the cast. We also have shape-shifting spies (handy that), goblins, pixies, wizards, witches, and asshole horses. Because it is a truth universally acknowledged that all horses are assholes. Just ask Garrett. Or Curran 👋 waves at his Furriness 👋.
Oh yeah, asshole horses are smug as shrimp, too.
What else? Well the story is Super Extra Fast Paced (SEFP™) and the dialogues are funny as fish. (My boyfriend Morley’s digestion-related speeches and bowel-based retorts never get old.) There’s irony galore and sarcasm aplenty. (Some of Garrett’s lines are instant classics. Sorry, what? You’d love to see a few examples? Hahahahahahaha. Nice try.) As in any Noir story worthy of its name, twists and turns abound. The plot is intriguing and in pure, glorious Cook style, even the sub-plots have sub-plots. But worry not for even the most feeble-minded barnacle will be able to understandwhat the shrimp is going on the story, as this book is rated pretty low on the Cook Scale of Utter Confusion (CSoUC™). (A mere 2, aka a complete joke compared to The Dragon Never Sleeps, which was rated 424+ the last time I read it.)
Oh yes, that is definitely something to be quite cheery about.
➽ Nefarious Last Words (NLW™): Some people think Garrett is Happy Dresden’s grandpa thrice removed (or something). Some people should think twice before insulting one ofGod’s Glen Cook’s characters. Unless some people want to have my murderous kids slightly unleashed on them, that is.
P.S. Morley’s veggie brainwashing worked so well on me I’m seriously considering ditching my shrimp breeding program in favor of watercress farming. Yep, that’s howdeliciously edible good my boyfriend is. Ha.
👋 To be continued and stuff.
· Book 2: Bitter Gold Hearts ★★★★
· Book 3: Cold Copper Tears ★★★★
· Book 4: Old Tin Sorrows ★★★★★
· Book 5: Dread Brass Shadows ★★★★
· Book 6: Red Iron Nights ★★★★★
· Book 7: Deadly Quicksilver Lies ★★★★★
· Book 8: Petty Pewter Gods ★★★
· Book 9: Faded Steel Heat ★★★
· Book 10: Angry Lead Skies ★★★★
· Book 11: Whispering Nickel Idols ★★★★
· Book 12: Cruel Zinc Melodies ★★★★
· Book 13: Gilded Latten Bones ★★★★
· Book 14: Wicked Bronze Ambition ★★★
[Pre-review nonsense]
It is a truth universally acknowledged that Glen Cook can write just about anything. Even YA Historical Paranormal Romance. And sometimes Funny as Fish Noir Fantasy (FaFNF™), too.
See? Even Blackadder agrees with me on that one. And I have it on good authority that he's always been a hugeSilly Harry Dresden fan. Which is saying something and stuff.
➽ Review to come and stuff.
P.S. So many new Cuddly Fluffy Companions (CFC™) tokidnap adopt here! Looks like I need to have a Nefarious Petting Zoo (NPZ™) extension built post haste! (It's getting super crowded in there, what with my recent acquisitions courtesy of Drizzzzt and stuff.)
Sam Spade meets goblins and gnomes and vampires, oh my! And courtesy of
So. This book is what happens when you take classic Noir fiction, mix it up with Not Urban Neither Epic Fantasy (NUNEF™), throw in a whole bunch of scrumptiously scrumptious characters, add a most generous dose of Hahahahahahahaha and shake nefariously (I said shake, not stir. Get it? Good).
That’s not really what I had in mind, but yeah, sure, whatever and stuff.
Shaking and not stirring like so, you get an ex-marine-turned-detective guy called Garrett, hired by a local gnome entrepreneur to locate a mysterious dame. Your fairly typical Noir tale, really. Except from the gnome part maybe. And from the fact that Garrett’s sidekicks are a slightly lethal, alcohol abstinent, vegetarian dark elf with a gambling problem (aka Morley aka boyfriend #12,458 aka Poof! Gone! Harem!), a very hot, 450-pound, psychic living corpse in dire need of a bath (aka Chuckles), and super chummy frog-looking, pro-thumping, easily-inebriated, loincloth-clad groll triplets of the sexey warty green toes (it’s a giant! It’s a troll! It’s a groll!). Yes, definitely your fairly typical Noir tale. Bogart would feel right at home playing Garrett in the screen adaptation, if you ask me. (If he wasn’t somewhat very dead, that is.)
The rest of the cast is pretty yummy, too. We’ve got
Oh yeah, asshole horses are smug as shrimp, too.
What else? Well the story is Super Extra Fast Paced (SEFP™) and the dialogues are funny as fish. (My boyfriend Morley’s digestion-related speeches and bowel-based retorts never get old.) There’s irony galore and sarcasm aplenty. (Some of Garrett’s lines are instant classics. Sorry, what? You’d love to see a few examples? Hahahahahahaha. Nice try.) As in any Noir story worthy of its name, twists and turns abound. The plot is intriguing and in pure, glorious Cook style, even the sub-plots have sub-plots. But worry not for even the most feeble-minded barnacle will be able to understand
Oh yes, that is definitely something to be quite cheery about.
➽ Nefarious Last Words (NLW™): Some people think Garrett is Happy Dresden’s grandpa thrice removed (or something). Some people should think twice before insulting one of
P.S. Morley’s veggie brainwashing worked so well on me I’m seriously considering ditching my shrimp breeding program in favor of watercress farming. Yep, that’s how
👋 To be continued and stuff.
· Book 2: Bitter Gold Hearts ★★★★
· Book 3: Cold Copper Tears ★★★★
· Book 4: Old Tin Sorrows ★★★★★
· Book 5: Dread Brass Shadows ★★★★
· Book 6: Red Iron Nights ★★★★★
· Book 7: Deadly Quicksilver Lies ★★★★★
· Book 8: Petty Pewter Gods ★★★
· Book 9: Faded Steel Heat ★★★
· Book 10: Angry Lead Skies ★★★★
· Book 11: Whispering Nickel Idols ★★★★
· Book 12: Cruel Zinc Melodies ★★★★
· Book 13: Gilded Latten Bones ★★★★
· Book 14: Wicked Bronze Ambition ★★★
[Pre-review nonsense]
It is a truth universally acknowledged that Glen Cook can write just about anything. Even YA Historical Paranormal Romance. And sometimes Funny as Fish Noir Fantasy (FaFNF™), too.
See? Even Blackadder agrees with me on that one. And I have it on good authority that he's always been a huge
➽ Review to come and stuff.
P.S. So many new Cuddly Fluffy Companions (CFC™) to
April 29, 2011
I definitely enjoyed this book, my first read by Mr. Glen Cook, and the first of many, I think. This series is a scrumptious idea: hard-boiled noir detective with faerie creature-infused fantasy, the setting not quite urban, and not quite traditional fantasy. Mr. Cook has made his own world here, and it's a fun world. I must admit that I was a bit confused at times. The characters speak in a 'cant' that took me to some time to get the hang of. Sort of like 40s movie speak, but unique to this story, with some fantasy/magic-specific references. The narrative is on the terse side, which I do like, but at times I did have to reread to make sure I was getting the drift.
The characters stand out, particularly Garrett. He's quite the tough guy, a wiseacre, who doesn't like to take orders, but will do so if the mission calls for it. He's not infallible, which is good, but he's very capable. He's not quite a boy scout, but he does have a deeply-held sense of honor that emerges on a fairly regular basis, despite his cynical narrative voice. The secondary characters are just as interesting. In this case, Garrett's mentor is an undead corpse-like being who has lots of wisdom and smarts to make up for his decaying body. And his sidekicks are a vegetarian, lecherous elf/human hybrid, and three troll/human hybrid heavies with female names, and the inability to hold their liquor. The 'deadly dames' are two sexy gnomes, one with a bad temper, and another with a bad reputation that she happily earned. Garrett is on the hunt for his ex-flame who inherited his recently deceased friend's bequest of one-hundred thousand marks of coinage. He has to go to the toughest country in the realm, and deal with ferocious unicorns, a shifty centaur, and really nasty vampires, and other heavies of various species.
I definitely appreciate the fruits of Glen Cook's imagination on offer here, and the humor was great. It made up for my moments of confusion. Although Cook keeps the action nicely interspersed in with the often-times humorous narrative, the climax was fantastic in its intensity, as Garrett and his crew take on a whole nest of vamps.
Although I did love straight mysteries growing up, I love fantasy/paranormal mysteries even more. This book has not helped my addiction. I'm glad I've been collecting these books, because I want to keep checking in with Garrett, PI on his adventures in and around TunFaire.
The characters stand out, particularly Garrett. He's quite the tough guy, a wiseacre, who doesn't like to take orders, but will do so if the mission calls for it. He's not infallible, which is good, but he's very capable. He's not quite a boy scout, but he does have a deeply-held sense of honor that emerges on a fairly regular basis, despite his cynical narrative voice. The secondary characters are just as interesting. In this case, Garrett's mentor is an undead corpse-like being who has lots of wisdom and smarts to make up for his decaying body. And his sidekicks are a vegetarian, lecherous elf/human hybrid, and three troll/human hybrid heavies with female names, and the inability to hold their liquor. The 'deadly dames' are two sexy gnomes, one with a bad temper, and another with a bad reputation that she happily earned. Garrett is on the hunt for his ex-flame who inherited his recently deceased friend's bequest of one-hundred thousand marks of coinage. He has to go to the toughest country in the realm, and deal with ferocious unicorns, a shifty centaur, and really nasty vampires, and other heavies of various species.
I definitely appreciate the fruits of Glen Cook's imagination on offer here, and the humor was great. It made up for my moments of confusion. Although Cook keeps the action nicely interspersed in with the often-times humorous narrative, the climax was fantastic in its intensity, as Garrett and his crew take on a whole nest of vamps.
Although I did love straight mysteries growing up, I love fantasy/paranormal mysteries even more. This book has not helped my addiction. I'm glad I've been collecting these books, because I want to keep checking in with Garrett, PI on his adventures in and around TunFaire.
May 16, 2013
A detective novel based in a fantasy world with a tough guy who is also a wise guy. Add to that an author who has always had the ability to convey humor in the most awful of battle situations (see the Black Company novels), and this looked like a great read. In all honestly, it was a good book. Unfortunately, I am one of those people that doesn't really like detective stories whether they are based in real life, 19th century London (see Sherlock Holmes), or fantasy worlds. So don't let the 2 star rating keep you from giving this book a chance, because for me to give a detective novel a "like" probably means it was a damn good read.
Read
June 23, 2015DNF'ing at 65%.
I tried, really I did. I should have loved this. I'm into mystery/noir, I'm into fantasy, and I'm highly into the cross-genre mash-up of them both. Plus, I'm a big fan of Glen Cook from his Chronicles of the Black Company books. So wtf happened?
It just didn't......grab me. The world-building was pretty slick, and it had the banter down pat, but....meh. Just meh.
Maybe because I've read some pretty amazing noir and some pretty amazing fantasy over the past few months, and my delight needed something MAJORLY done right to overcome my high expectations. Either way, I'm pretty bummed. I thought I'd found a new 14-book-or-so series to sink my teeth into. But now, sadly, I move on to something else.
I tried, really I did. I should have loved this. I'm into mystery/noir, I'm into fantasy, and I'm highly into the cross-genre mash-up of them both. Plus, I'm a big fan of Glen Cook from his Chronicles of the Black Company books. So wtf happened?
It just didn't......grab me. The world-building was pretty slick, and it had the banter down pat, but....meh. Just meh.
Maybe because I've read some pretty amazing noir and some pretty amazing fantasy over the past few months, and my delight needed something MAJORLY done right to overcome my high expectations. Either way, I'm pretty bummed. I thought I'd found a new 14-book-or-so series to sink my teeth into. But now, sadly, I move on to something else.
January 2, 2016
I had a hard time deciding what I thought about this one. I really wanted to like it. Originally published in 1987, it's one of the earlier examples of urban fantasy, and that says a lot in itself. Although according to the Wikipedia the genre was officially acknowledged in the late 80s, I feel the late 90s is when it really came into its own, and it is still extraordinarily popular, especially with women (as evidenced by all the urban paranormal romance series out there). So I give him props for doing something relatively original at the time, even though private investigator is such a cliche in the genre now. But the book just couldn't quite keep it together.
The huge cast of characters and all the scheming they went through, while usually I enjoy some intense scheming, this time only served to disinterest me. Pretty soon I had to juggle half a dozen story lines and I didn't care about any of them, which made it more of a chore to read then anything because I had to keep flipping back to see who the hell he was talking about. There was a mystery to be solved in there somewhere but I didn't care about it. I can understand the seeds getting planted for sequels, but I was so bored with the story in this one by the time I got to the end, no sequel will come in sight for me. The women...oh god, the women. Even the one Garrett hates he can hardly take his eyes off because of her "lavish figure" or some such malarkey. Here's a nice quote from page 69:
"The boat began to drift away from the wharf. The women took my advice, sprinted and jumped. A delectable bundle of goodies plopped into my arms. Morley popped up and caught Rose, making suitable purrs at the advent of unexpected treasures...she made no effort to peel herself from me. I thought about pushing her away - sometime next week."
At this point, blatant sexism is practically what I'm used to in urban fantasy, but it still enrages me. The two women are never more than annoying, chattering, and good looking background noise, who also happen to need rescuing now and then.
So besides sexism and a plot that I couldn't care to keep up with, there was also the issue of the writing style. Often something "subtle" would happen. The author would point this out to us, probably by Garrett looking significantly at a character or a revelation within the narration...only half the time, I was so confused as to what he was talking about, I would reread the scene a couple times to figure out what I had missed. This happened in action scenes as well, it felt like there would be whole sentences missing and it left me furrowing my brow in question. Once again, I feel this was a missed opportunity for me to get into the story. The author obviously wanted the reader to feel like they were solving the mystery by seeing something subtle in the descriptions he gave us, but it fell so flat as to render me confused and helpless, so I'd just plow on and hope it would be explained. Sometimes it was, sometimes not. By the end of the novel I didn't care anymore to try to find out.
The huge cast of characters and all the scheming they went through, while usually I enjoy some intense scheming, this time only served to disinterest me. Pretty soon I had to juggle half a dozen story lines and I didn't care about any of them, which made it more of a chore to read then anything because I had to keep flipping back to see who the hell he was talking about. There was a mystery to be solved in there somewhere but I didn't care about it. I can understand the seeds getting planted for sequels, but I was so bored with the story in this one by the time I got to the end, no sequel will come in sight for me. The women...oh god, the women. Even the one Garrett hates he can hardly take his eyes off because of her "lavish figure" or some such malarkey. Here's a nice quote from page 69:
"The boat began to drift away from the wharf. The women took my advice, sprinted and jumped. A delectable bundle of goodies plopped into my arms. Morley popped up and caught Rose, making suitable purrs at the advent of unexpected treasures...she made no effort to peel herself from me. I thought about pushing her away - sometime next week."
At this point, blatant sexism is practically what I'm used to in urban fantasy, but it still enrages me. The two women are never more than annoying, chattering, and good looking background noise, who also happen to need rescuing now and then.
So besides sexism and a plot that I couldn't care to keep up with, there was also the issue of the writing style. Often something "subtle" would happen. The author would point this out to us, probably by Garrett looking significantly at a character or a revelation within the narration...only half the time, I was so confused as to what he was talking about, I would reread the scene a couple times to figure out what I had missed. This happened in action scenes as well, it felt like there would be whole sentences missing and it left me furrowing my brow in question. Once again, I feel this was a missed opportunity for me to get into the story. The author obviously wanted the reader to feel like they were solving the mystery by seeing something subtle in the descriptions he gave us, but it fell so flat as to render me confused and helpless, so I'd just plow on and hope it would be explained. Sometimes it was, sometimes not. By the end of the novel I didn't care anymore to try to find out.
December 27, 2020
My first foray into the world of Glen Cook, and this one dates from 1987 but it's chock full of paranormal critters, summed up here as "breeds," and some of them are surprisingly new to me. I wonder why I don't see more of them in the literature.
For example, there's the loghyr (and how do you pronounce that?)--a telepathic corpse with an attitude. The loghyr died several hundred years ago, but loghyrs decompose very slowly. Our first-person narrator, Garrett P.I., calls him the Dead Man and visits him to gain insights, which come with a heavy dose of sarcasm and general obstreperousness. Telepathically, mind you; something like Atticus talking to Oberon in Hounded but the loghyr seems to have Garrett in the role of the dog. And Garrett is oddly solicitous, paying for Dead Man's advice by bathing him, doing housekeeping, etc. These scenes are the high point of the book for me, and there are all too few of them.
And then there are the gnomes. One source describes this book as a human private detective (Garrett) in a world of gnomes. The gnomes barely come up to Garrett's chest, but apparently he's quite attracted to female gnomes. Three of them, anyway; nothing graphic here, but you realize he's slept with at least two, and elsewhere he indicates that the "breeds" in general can cross-breed with humans and produce healthy hybrids, such as Garrett's partially willing companion on this adventure, Morley Dotes, who's half human and half "dark elf."
What happens is that a bunch of gnomes hire Garrett to handle a gnome issue, but to do his job he has to call on the Dead Man (loghyr), Morley (half dark elf), and three grolls, two of whom are identical twenty-foot tall strongmen named Doris and Marsha. Grolls seem to be a cross between trolls and giants, and it's another species (besides the loghyr) that I'd really love to see younger authors play with. Then a centaur named Zeck Zack forces his way into the adventure, the group has to face the threat of a herd of vicious, carnivorous unicorns, and the target turns out to be a nest of vampires of the very nastiest kind you've ever read about.
Garrett himself is a hard-boiled Philip Marlowe type, and he's telling the story so we have to see this realm through his eyes. Everyone has agendas, secrets, and ulterior motives (especially the females), and the world that's so full of so many interbreeding "races" is also locked into a never-ending war between two empires, the Karentine and the Venageti. Garrett is a veteran on the Karentine side, before he became a private investigator, and the quest leads Garrett, Morley, and the grolls inevitably into the war zone (called the Cantard), where those unicorns roam and vampires keep their blood slaves.
The story twists and turns, with lots of corrupt politics on top of everything else, but thankfully by seeing it through Garrett's eyes only, the nobles and the palace intrigues stay mostly behind locked gates. So the atmosphere is a hybrid of 1940s crime fiction and the commoners' side of medieval cities--with gnomes, elves, loghyrs, grolls, centaurs, unicorns, vampires, and oh yes, there's an Old Witch too. All the nonhumans are pretty much out in the open where they belong, and that's another thing I liked in the world Cook has created.
It's a blast, and by the way, 58 chapters in only 311 pages!
For example, there's the loghyr (and how do you pronounce that?)--a telepathic corpse with an attitude. The loghyr died several hundred years ago, but loghyrs decompose very slowly. Our first-person narrator, Garrett P.I., calls him the Dead Man and visits him to gain insights, which come with a heavy dose of sarcasm and general obstreperousness. Telepathically, mind you; something like Atticus talking to Oberon in Hounded but the loghyr seems to have Garrett in the role of the dog. And Garrett is oddly solicitous, paying for Dead Man's advice by bathing him, doing housekeeping, etc. These scenes are the high point of the book for me, and there are all too few of them.
And then there are the gnomes. One source describes this book as a human private detective (Garrett) in a world of gnomes. The gnomes barely come up to Garrett's chest, but apparently he's quite attracted to female gnomes. Three of them, anyway; nothing graphic here, but you realize he's slept with at least two, and elsewhere he indicates that the "breeds" in general can cross-breed with humans and produce healthy hybrids, such as Garrett's partially willing companion on this adventure, Morley Dotes, who's half human and half "dark elf."
What happens is that a bunch of gnomes hire Garrett to handle a gnome issue, but to do his job he has to call on the Dead Man (loghyr), Morley (half dark elf), and three grolls, two of whom are identical twenty-foot tall strongmen named Doris and Marsha. Grolls seem to be a cross between trolls and giants, and it's another species (besides the loghyr) that I'd really love to see younger authors play with. Then a centaur named Zeck Zack forces his way into the adventure, the group has to face the threat of a herd of vicious, carnivorous unicorns, and the target turns out to be a nest of vampires of the very nastiest kind you've ever read about.
Garrett himself is a hard-boiled Philip Marlowe type, and he's telling the story so we have to see this realm through his eyes. Everyone has agendas, secrets, and ulterior motives (especially the females), and the world that's so full of so many interbreeding "races" is also locked into a never-ending war between two empires, the Karentine and the Venageti. Garrett is a veteran on the Karentine side, before he became a private investigator, and the quest leads Garrett, Morley, and the grolls inevitably into the war zone (called the Cantard), where those unicorns roam and vampires keep their blood slaves.
The story twists and turns, with lots of corrupt politics on top of everything else, but thankfully by seeing it through Garrett's eyes only, the nobles and the palace intrigues stay mostly behind locked gates. So the atmosphere is a hybrid of 1940s crime fiction and the commoners' side of medieval cities--with gnomes, elves, loghyrs, grolls, centaurs, unicorns, vampires, and oh yes, there's an Old Witch too. All the nonhumans are pretty much out in the open where they belong, and that's another thing I liked in the world Cook has created.
It's a blast, and by the way, 58 chapters in only 311 pages!
November 14, 2011
I went into this book not only hoping, but expecting, that I would like it. I liked the idea of the noir-style detective story in the fantasy setting, and the notion of it being different from most urban fantasy's in that it's set in a fantasy world as opposed to our own. Plus it came recommended.
But it just didn't work for me. The characters never clicked for me - I was never invested in them and didn't particularly care about either the outcome or the story or what happened to our erstwhile heroes along the way. And I never really got the humor I was told was there - except a few bits with the grolls.
And the story itself was slapdash and convoluted. One reviewer said that it felt more like short scenes stitched together instead of a fully cohesive narrative, and I think that's a really good assessment. And there were just so much going on, being thrown in almost randomly, but I never felt any real suspense or tension from the odds. For instance,
Overall, I was just disappointed in the overwhelming meh-ness of it all.
Unfortunately, I bought the omnibus but, honestly, I have very little interest in continuing with the series. *le sigh*
But it just didn't work for me. The characters never clicked for me - I was never invested in them and didn't particularly care about either the outcome or the story or what happened to our erstwhile heroes along the way. And I never really got the humor I was told was there - except a few bits with the grolls.
And the story itself was slapdash and convoluted. One reviewer said that it felt more like short scenes stitched together instead of a fully cohesive narrative, and I think that's a really good assessment. And there were just so much going on, being thrown in almost randomly, but I never felt any real suspense or tension from the odds. For instance,
Overall, I was just disappointed in the overwhelming meh-ness of it all.
Unfortunately, I bought the omnibus but, honestly, I have very little interest in continuing with the series. *le sigh*
December 16, 2013
**edited 12/15/13
In any reasonably thorough exploration of the space of Urban Fantasy, the bizarre combination of hardboiled noir detective stories and fantasy, Glen Cook's Garrett, PI series is definitely a necessary read. From my understanding, Garrett is one of the first urban fantasies written. It certainly is a landmark in the genre.
One of the things I loved most about the story was the world. Garrett's world is significantly more creative than the UF norm: a low-fantasy merging of our world with a secret society of individuals with special powers. Garrett lives on a totally original, fully-fledged fantasy realm where magic is the norm and dark elves, ratmen, ogres, and more coexist with humans in noisy, busy, and overcrowded cities. The atmosphere of cities themselves, especially TunFaire, where Garrett lives, feels a bit like Anhk Morpork: a cheerful, amoral chaos where mythical creatures rub shoulders with practical magical inventions. The world also has a complex history: there is an ongoing war between two of the human-inhabited countries over an area of silver mines, since silver is a necessary ingredient used by wizards in their spells. Cook does a fantastic job twisting common mythical creatures into new, creative, and realistic-feeling versions. For example, unicorns are vicious creatures that travel in packs and hunt humans.
...And that's all I'm going to post here. The rest of my (rather verbose) review is posted over here at Booklikes.
Why? Because I disapprove of GoodReads' new policy of censorship, and will no longer allow my full reviews to be posted here.
In any reasonably thorough exploration of the space of Urban Fantasy, the bizarre combination of hardboiled noir detective stories and fantasy, Glen Cook's Garrett, PI series is definitely a necessary read. From my understanding, Garrett is one of the first urban fantasies written. It certainly is a landmark in the genre.
One of the things I loved most about the story was the world. Garrett's world is significantly more creative than the UF norm: a low-fantasy merging of our world with a secret society of individuals with special powers. Garrett lives on a totally original, fully-fledged fantasy realm where magic is the norm and dark elves, ratmen, ogres, and more coexist with humans in noisy, busy, and overcrowded cities. The atmosphere of cities themselves, especially TunFaire, where Garrett lives, feels a bit like Anhk Morpork: a cheerful, amoral chaos where mythical creatures rub shoulders with practical magical inventions. The world also has a complex history: there is an ongoing war between two of the human-inhabited countries over an area of silver mines, since silver is a necessary ingredient used by wizards in their spells. Cook does a fantastic job twisting common mythical creatures into new, creative, and realistic-feeling versions. For example, unicorns are vicious creatures that travel in packs and hunt humans.
...And that's all I'm going to post here. The rest of my (rather verbose) review is posted over here at Booklikes.
Why? Because I disapprove of GoodReads' new policy of censorship, and will no longer allow my full reviews to be posted here.
January 2, 2023
3.5/5
Glen Cook is an author that I intellectually know I should love but just doesn't jive with my style. At
least, that's what I thought about him having tried and failed to read the Black Company three times. It was excellent world-building but, for some reason, I wasn't able to appreciate it the way I wanted to so I ended up dropping the series. Still, I was attracted to the prospect of another supernatural PI story. I'm a huge Dresden Files fan and the idea of a normal non-magical PI in a fantasy world seemed a cool reversal.
The premise is Garrett is a former Marine in the service of the kingdom of Karenta that survived his term of service before becoming a private investigator. A former friend of his is killed in an accident and leaves his vast fortune to a mysterious woman. Named executor of their estate, Garrett is compelled by the substantial fee he's offered to go back to war-torn Cantard in order to find her.
For the most part, I very much enjoyed the book and the whole idea of a detective novel in a fantasy land is something I'm absolutely down for. I mentioned that I felt like Dragon Age 2 would have been improved greatly if instead of being a nobleman, Hawke had ended up opening a private Inquisitive service. Anyway, the parts about investigating Kayean Kronk's mysterious disappearance as well as dealing with the late Denny Tate's partners are the best in the book.
Unfortunately, the final third of the book is a bit of a let down as it goes from being a detective novel to being more straight action fantasy with battles against unicorns, vampire hunting, and other fights to the death that are less interesting. There's also the fact women aren't terribly well-represented in the book. Rose Tate, one of a pair of beautiful redheaded gnomish sisters, threatens to tell everyone Garrett raped her at one point. Which, later on, he gets her back for along with a beating from one of her goons by sending a man to kidnap her then spank her naked in public. Yeah. Yikes.
I was also somewhat disappointed with the fact we never get much in the way of conversation with Kayean Tate. Despite being someone who is the focus of numerous interesting storylines, she says all of two words in the novel. I feel like conversations with the protagonist would have been a lot more interesting than stabbing vampires through the heart with unicorn horns. Which, compared to my fourteen-year-old-self's fantasy tastes, must sound like blasphemy.
Overall, Glen Cook is a fantastic author and I really love this peanut butter and jelly sandwich he's made of genres. Unfortunately, I really wish he'd stuck with the PI elements of the book heavier than he did. He sort of wandered off into, admittedly, very well written action scenes. I will probably read the rest of the series but I hope the handling of the feminine sex gets better.
Glen Cook is an author that I intellectually know I should love but just doesn't jive with my style. At
least, that's what I thought about him having tried and failed to read the Black Company three times. It was excellent world-building but, for some reason, I wasn't able to appreciate it the way I wanted to so I ended up dropping the series. Still, I was attracted to the prospect of another supernatural PI story. I'm a huge Dresden Files fan and the idea of a normal non-magical PI in a fantasy world seemed a cool reversal.
The premise is Garrett is a former Marine in the service of the kingdom of Karenta that survived his term of service before becoming a private investigator. A former friend of his is killed in an accident and leaves his vast fortune to a mysterious woman. Named executor of their estate, Garrett is compelled by the substantial fee he's offered to go back to war-torn Cantard in order to find her.
For the most part, I very much enjoyed the book and the whole idea of a detective novel in a fantasy land is something I'm absolutely down for. I mentioned that I felt like Dragon Age 2 would have been improved greatly if instead of being a nobleman, Hawke had ended up opening a private Inquisitive service. Anyway, the parts about investigating Kayean Kronk's mysterious disappearance as well as dealing with the late Denny Tate's partners are the best in the book.
Unfortunately, the final third of the book is a bit of a let down as it goes from being a detective novel to being more straight action fantasy with battles against unicorns, vampire hunting, and other fights to the death that are less interesting. There's also the fact women aren't terribly well-represented in the book. Rose Tate, one of a pair of beautiful redheaded gnomish sisters, threatens to tell everyone Garrett raped her at one point. Which, later on, he gets her back for along with a beating from one of her goons by sending a man to kidnap her then spank her naked in public. Yeah. Yikes.
I was also somewhat disappointed with the fact we never get much in the way of conversation with Kayean Tate. Despite being someone who is the focus of numerous interesting storylines, she says all of two words in the novel. I feel like conversations with the protagonist would have been a lot more interesting than stabbing vampires through the heart with unicorn horns. Which, compared to my fourteen-year-old-self's fantasy tastes, must sound like blasphemy.
Overall, Glen Cook is a fantastic author and I really love this peanut butter and jelly sandwich he's made of genres. Unfortunately, I really wish he'd stuck with the PI elements of the book heavier than he did. He sort of wandered off into, admittedly, very well written action scenes. I will probably read the rest of the series but I hope the handling of the feminine sex gets better.
October 7, 2020
Entertaining fantasy adventure
Garrett is an entertaining character with enough humor to keep things interesting. He surrounds himself with colorful, original friends and colleagues, including a dead guy, making a job to find an heir of a friend, into a really frightening fun adventure.
Garrett is an entertaining character with enough humor to keep things interesting. He surrounds himself with colorful, original friends and colleagues, including a dead guy, making a job to find an heir of a friend, into a really frightening fun adventure.
June 27, 2017
I had to force myself to finish this book. At times I was bored. At times I was confused. At times I was irritated. I found very little of the book engaging.
I should have loved this book. It was a noir style detective novel set in an urban fantasy world. Urban fantasy is my favorite genre. While it's been awhile, I remember thoroughly enjoying my Sam Spade/Philip Marlowe phase. (Although, I'm afraid if I re-read them now I'll find them terriby sexist. On the other hand, they can't be worse than this book.) And I've seen Laura at least a dozen times.
The storytelling in this novel felt so choppy, leaving the plot feeling convoluted. There were SO many characters, all of them flat. The only interesting aspect to them was imagining them as different creatures, which was HARD for some if them because of the way Cook wrote them. If it hadn't been for the constant mention of eating habits I would have forgotten that Morley was elven as he acted just like Garrett, if only a bit more violent. I think my favorite character was Dead Man.
The Goodreads blurb starts off with "it should have been a simple job." Well, it WAS a simple job and no amount of characters that Cook threw in to attack Garrett and his peeps or hard-to-follow side plots meant to add suspense and a level of conspiracy to the main story changes the fact that the whole story was just Garrett tracking down a missing person in a dangerous area. When I say hard to follow, I mean it. Suddenly everyone is in a different scene. Characters just appearing and disappearing. Suddenly you're in the middle of action and you're not sure how you got there. New characters being introduced that just add a layer of confusion to what the hell is going on.
The worst part about all that was, I could not have cared less about any of it. None of the characters were engaging or sympathetic. They could have all .
I have to mention the sexism and irritating portrayal of women. The only woman who was worth anything was the . Tinnie and Rose. The most annoying characters who serve zero purpose other than to have someone to rescue (repeated - seriously, Rose had to be "rescued" like 5 or 6 times, at least) or someone to f*@% (pardon my French). They were not constantly around, so the reader does not have to deal with a constant flow of sexism, but ugh, when it is there it is so infuriating. At one point Garrett gets so upset at Rose that he...puts her over his knee and spanks her. *blink* *blink* Um, excuse me? Her reaction? Nothing. As though, somehow, that is perfectly acceptable.
The only reason why I gave it two stars is because there are aspects to the world-building that I found interesting. If the plot, story-telling and character development had been better, it may have been a good book. The setting had potential. But that is the only redeeming thing about the book, and it wasn't strong enough to carry the book's other weaknesses.
TL;DR Skip this book and just read Jim Butcher. Yeah, his books are formulaic, but at least they make sense. And I don't remember them being annoyingly and unnecessarily sexist, like this book.
I should have loved this book. It was a noir style detective novel set in an urban fantasy world. Urban fantasy is my favorite genre. While it's been awhile, I remember thoroughly enjoying my Sam Spade/Philip Marlowe phase. (Although, I'm afraid if I re-read them now I'll find them terriby sexist. On the other hand, they can't be worse than this book.) And I've seen Laura at least a dozen times.
The storytelling in this novel felt so choppy, leaving the plot feeling convoluted. There were SO many characters, all of them flat. The only interesting aspect to them was imagining them as different creatures, which was HARD for some if them because of the way Cook wrote them. If it hadn't been for the constant mention of eating habits I would have forgotten that Morley was elven as he acted just like Garrett, if only a bit more violent. I think my favorite character was Dead Man.
The Goodreads blurb starts off with "it should have been a simple job." Well, it WAS a simple job and no amount of characters that Cook threw in to attack Garrett and his peeps or hard-to-follow side plots meant to add suspense and a level of conspiracy to the main story changes the fact that the whole story was just Garrett tracking down a missing person in a dangerous area. When I say hard to follow, I mean it. Suddenly everyone is in a different scene. Characters just appearing and disappearing. Suddenly you're in the middle of action and you're not sure how you got there. New characters being introduced that just add a layer of confusion to what the hell is going on.
The worst part about all that was, I could not have cared less about any of it. None of the characters were engaging or sympathetic. They could have all .
I have to mention the sexism and irritating portrayal of women. The only woman who was worth anything was the . Tinnie and Rose. The most annoying characters who serve zero purpose other than to have someone to rescue (repeated - seriously, Rose had to be "rescued" like 5 or 6 times, at least) or someone to f*@% (pardon my French). They were not constantly around, so the reader does not have to deal with a constant flow of sexism, but ugh, when it is there it is so infuriating. At one point Garrett gets so upset at Rose that he...puts her over his knee and spanks her. *blink* *blink* Um, excuse me? Her reaction? Nothing. As though, somehow, that is perfectly acceptable.
The only reason why I gave it two stars is because there are aspects to the world-building that I found interesting. If the plot, story-telling and character development had been better, it may have been a good book. The setting had potential. But that is the only redeeming thing about the book, and it wasn't strong enough to carry the book's other weaknesses.
TL;DR Skip this book and just read Jim Butcher. Yeah, his books are formulaic, but at least they make sense. And I don't remember them being annoyingly and unnecessarily sexist, like this book.
August 4, 2012
This turned out to be a very fun book to read despite my initial thought that the circumstances seemed a bit contrived and overblown. It also suffers from maybe a little too much detail and far too many names at once for a first time visitor to this world. It does take a few chapters to grow on you, but once it does it becomes a very engaging noir-detective story set in a fantasy (urban) world of continous war, entrigue, supernatural, and a wide range of humanoid life. Somewhere in the middle of the book I mentioned it to a friend and described it as what Jim Butcher's Dresden Files would have been if written by Terry Pratchett. I see this series having much more entertainment value than the Dresden books, and a more subtle and engaging intelligence than Pratchett's body of work. Quirky yet full of convoluted plot twists that despite all cynicism was still able to surprise me. I'll definitely be reading more of these and hoping Mr Cook is able to live up to the potential that lurks within these pages despite the 'first book in the series' roughness that keeps me from rating it higher.
January 30, 2021
As a lover of fantasy and detectives I've long had Glen Cook's Garrett Files on my TBR. This review is for the first in the series, but I expect to read through it this year.
What to Expect
A private detective of sorts, set in an interesting fantasy world. The tone isn't quite a noir gumshoe, a bit more of an adventurous thriller, but fits quite comfortably with genre tropes. The setting has the usual fantasy tropes of not-really medieval urban scenes, but interesting takes on races and mixed-race society. Cook certainly gives the impression of depth without going into too many details.
The plot is very fast paced as Garrett crams a fair bit of action and travel in his attempts to locate a missing heiress to a huge fortune. Told in first-person POV, this reads like a tight, classic, fantasy/PI blend.
What I liked
I enjoyed the world-building. I do wish there were more details, as Cook gives tantalising glimpses. On the other hand, one also appreciates the clipped style that explains just enough and doesn't bog the reader with slow expositions. Garrett himself is the classic such adventurer: ex-military, does the odd PI jobs, mixes with the wrong crowd, and has his inner code to push him forward.
What to be aware of
In speaking of fantasy and PI tropes, Cook has also picked up some of the less savoury ones. Most characters other than Garrett are a bit flat, and this is very noticeable with the women. The story and protagonist can get downright chauvinistic at times. This is definitely a book you read for the thrill of adventure, not of the inter-character relationships or a modern take on gender roles.
Felix's Review
Felix thought Garrett had potential, if he only stopped to think some times. He seems to rush headlong into action and trouble -- which he handles admirably, Felix admitted -- but where a bit more caution and forethought might be warranted. When I pointed all the times Felix told me he relied on his own luck, he said, "yes, well, it's a lot easier reading about it then being in the midst of action." Some characters just have a tendency to talk back.
That said, Felix did enjoy the adventures, despite the world being low on magic as he understands it, so will be following his next adventures with interest.
Summary
Take this story for what it is. It's a fun adventure set in an intriguing world, a very much "guy"-type action novel. If you like classic detectives and tight fantasy, this should be on your reading list.
--
Enjoying the reviews, but wondering who the heck is that Felix fellow? Glad you asked! He's the protagonist of the Togas, Daggers, and Magic series, an historical-fantasy blend of a paranormal detective on the background of ancient Rome.
Assaph Mehr, author of Murder In Absentia: A story of Togas, Daggers, and Magic - for lovers of Ancient Rome, Murder Mysteries, and Urban Fantasy.
What to Expect
A private detective of sorts, set in an interesting fantasy world. The tone isn't quite a noir gumshoe, a bit more of an adventurous thriller, but fits quite comfortably with genre tropes. The setting has the usual fantasy tropes of not-really medieval urban scenes, but interesting takes on races and mixed-race society. Cook certainly gives the impression of depth without going into too many details.
The plot is very fast paced as Garrett crams a fair bit of action and travel in his attempts to locate a missing heiress to a huge fortune. Told in first-person POV, this reads like a tight, classic, fantasy/PI blend.
What I liked
I enjoyed the world-building. I do wish there were more details, as Cook gives tantalising glimpses. On the other hand, one also appreciates the clipped style that explains just enough and doesn't bog the reader with slow expositions. Garrett himself is the classic such adventurer: ex-military, does the odd PI jobs, mixes with the wrong crowd, and has his inner code to push him forward.
What to be aware of
In speaking of fantasy and PI tropes, Cook has also picked up some of the less savoury ones. Most characters other than Garrett are a bit flat, and this is very noticeable with the women. The story and protagonist can get downright chauvinistic at times. This is definitely a book you read for the thrill of adventure, not of the inter-character relationships or a modern take on gender roles.
Felix's Review
Felix thought Garrett had potential, if he only stopped to think some times. He seems to rush headlong into action and trouble -- which he handles admirably, Felix admitted -- but where a bit more caution and forethought might be warranted. When I pointed all the times Felix told me he relied on his own luck, he said, "yes, well, it's a lot easier reading about it then being in the midst of action." Some characters just have a tendency to talk back.
That said, Felix did enjoy the adventures, despite the world being low on magic as he understands it, so will be following his next adventures with interest.
Summary
Take this story for what it is. It's a fun adventure set in an intriguing world, a very much "guy"-type action novel. If you like classic detectives and tight fantasy, this should be on your reading list.
--
Enjoying the reviews, but wondering who the heck is that Felix fellow? Glad you asked! He's the protagonist of the Togas, Daggers, and Magic series, an historical-fantasy blend of a paranormal detective on the background of ancient Rome.
Assaph Mehr, author of Murder In Absentia: A story of Togas, Daggers, and Magic - for lovers of Ancient Rome, Murder Mysteries, and Urban Fantasy.
January 8, 2021
“I have a little trouble with my temper, especially when I have a hangover. I was halfway to the door with two feet of lead-weighted truncheon before sense penetrated the scrambled yolk.”
Mickey Spillane meets Terry Pratchett. Not sure who Cook was sending up, but the result is a funny, way-over-the-top fantasy-noir. Well written.
“I’m just trying to do right by my son. Trying to carry out his last wishes.”
“We’ll put up a statue. When does the clam open up? Or do I go home and finish sleeping off this hangover?” Why do they always do this? They bring you in to handle a problem, then lie about it or hide it from you. But they never stop screaming for results.
It’s not all that good, but it is entertaining. Popcorn for the brain. Probably won’t pursue more Garrett adventures.
“I don’t believe that stuff about windows of the soul. I’ve seen too many lying eyes. But beyond hers lay nothing but shatter-sharp flint and frosty iron.”
Mickey Spillane meets Terry Pratchett. Not sure who Cook was sending up, but the result is a funny, way-over-the-top fantasy-noir. Well written.
“I’m just trying to do right by my son. Trying to carry out his last wishes.”
“We’ll put up a statue. When does the clam open up? Or do I go home and finish sleeping off this hangover?” Why do they always do this? They bring you in to handle a problem, then lie about it or hide it from you. But they never stop screaming for results.
It’s not all that good, but it is entertaining. Popcorn for the brain. Probably won’t pursue more Garrett adventures.
“I don’t believe that stuff about windows of the soul. I’ve seen too many lying eyes. But beyond hers lay nothing but shatter-sharp flint and frosty iron.”
May 29, 2011
This book is amazing. It certainly wasn't what I was expecting. The idea of a Private Investigator in a Fantasy setting was too rich for me to pass up when I heard about it -- but I wasn't expecting it to be as funny as it was.
Garrett, a P.I. in TunFaire, is hired by a family of gnomes to find a girl who their recently deceased family member and friend of Garrett has left a substantial chunk of silver to. Garrett hires Morley as his body guard and a few grolls to make the voyage to "The Cantard" -- a nasty place by the way everyone seems to refer to it in the book. During their little adventure they have to deal with vampires, a shapeshifter, venagati spies, vampires, and unicorns.
Glen Cook does an amazing job with this. Garrett is a very witty character. I found myself unable to wait to turn the pages and find out not only what events would happen, but how Glen Cook chooses to describe the events that transpire and the witty rapport between Garrett and Morley -- the half-darkelf muscle-for-hire.
I still like the book, but I think it was a bit short. It didn't take me long to read it at all, partly because of its length and partly just because I was enjoying it so much. As I said earlier, I enjoyed Garrett's wit throughout this entire book. The way he describes the events that take place in the book are usually pretty funny and kept me laughing every other page.
Drawbacks are that sometimes I couldn't figure out what was going on because of that wit. Instead of describing the goings on in a straightforward type of manor, he would put things a different way using metaphors. If I didn't understand those metaphors then I had no idea what was going on in that particular scene. This really only happened a few times, but I kept feeling like I was missing something. There was especially one event where Garrett has an epiphany about where to look to find this girl they're after. It seems like he "feels" this sort of line that goes from one place to another place that he's in the middle of. But I never figured out why or what was going on there. Maybe I just missed something or wasn't paying attention when I read that part -- I don't know.
Glen Cook really has a way with keeping secrets from his readers. Garrett notices something or Morley tells him about something and he makes mention of it in passing to clue you in that its there, but that the details of whatever it is will be disclosed when they are pertinent -- he just doesn't want you to know everything just yet. And I think he executes this rather well most of the time.
I almost felt like more could have been done to improve the book, but I'm still quite satisfied with it anyhow and I do recommend it to those who enjoy witty sarcasm in their books.
Garrett, a P.I. in TunFaire, is hired by a family of gnomes to find a girl who their recently deceased family member and friend of Garrett has left a substantial chunk of silver to. Garrett hires Morley as his body guard and a few grolls to make the voyage to "The Cantard" -- a nasty place by the way everyone seems to refer to it in the book. During their little adventure they have to deal with vampires, a shapeshifter, venagati spies, vampires, and unicorns.
Glen Cook does an amazing job with this. Garrett is a very witty character. I found myself unable to wait to turn the pages and find out not only what events would happen, but how Glen Cook chooses to describe the events that transpire and the witty rapport between Garrett and Morley -- the half-darkelf muscle-for-hire.
I still like the book, but I think it was a bit short. It didn't take me long to read it at all, partly because of its length and partly just because I was enjoying it so much. As I said earlier, I enjoyed Garrett's wit throughout this entire book. The way he describes the events that take place in the book are usually pretty funny and kept me laughing every other page.
Drawbacks are that sometimes I couldn't figure out what was going on because of that wit. Instead of describing the goings on in a straightforward type of manor, he would put things a different way using metaphors. If I didn't understand those metaphors then I had no idea what was going on in that particular scene. This really only happened a few times, but I kept feeling like I was missing something. There was especially one event where Garrett has an epiphany about where to look to find this girl they're after. It seems like he "feels" this sort of line that goes from one place to another place that he's in the middle of. But I never figured out why or what was going on there. Maybe I just missed something or wasn't paying attention when I read that part -- I don't know.
Glen Cook really has a way with keeping secrets from his readers. Garrett notices something or Morley tells him about something and he makes mention of it in passing to clue you in that its there, but that the details of whatever it is will be disclosed when they are pertinent -- he just doesn't want you to know everything just yet. And I think he executes this rather well most of the time.
I almost felt like more could have been done to improve the book, but I'm still quite satisfied with it anyhow and I do recommend it to those who enjoy witty sarcasm in their books.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 15, 2013
A hardboiled detective story in a fantasy world.
Plot
Garrett, a human PI in a world filled with elves, centaurs, gnomes and other assorted non-humans, is hired to find a beneficiary of his late buddy Denny. Denny left a fortune in silver to a woman no one in Denny’s family has ever seen. The search leads Garrett to confrontations with spies and vampires, as several conspiracies interlock and explode in his face. Corpses pile up, but of course, as the novel is the first in a successful series, Garrett comes out on top. He finds his damsel and triumphs over his enemies.
Characters
Garrett is a former soldier, tough, rough and utterly manly. No shred of culture or education, but he is street-smart, brave, and honest. To a degree. His helpers in this adventure are a keen fighter Morley, a vegetarian half-elf with an agenda of his own, and three grolls – some half-breed creatures, strong like behemoths and with about the same level of intelligence.
Most of the supporting extras are men (or rather males) of various species. None described as nice. Actually, no one nice seems to live in the dirty world of Cook’s invention. I wouldn’t want to ever visit there.
The only three women appearing in the cast are two shrews (one a bit better than another) and one victim (the one Garrett is searching for). None described in any way complimentary, except the surface prettiness. None can take care of herself. All of then need the macho guys to protect them.
Overall impression
The pacing is fast, the language clean and sparse, and the story reads easily, but I can’t say that I liked it much. Everything – the world and the characters – is primitive, one dimensional, with no hidden depth. If it was a comic, it would’ve been in B&W, with no colors needed. I read other novels of this subgenre, including Frank Tuttle and Alex Bledsoe, that I liked much better. On the other hand, they wrote their books several decades after this one was published. As one of the first in the subgenre, this novel wasn’t bad at all.
Plot
Garrett, a human PI in a world filled with elves, centaurs, gnomes and other assorted non-humans, is hired to find a beneficiary of his late buddy Denny. Denny left a fortune in silver to a woman no one in Denny’s family has ever seen. The search leads Garrett to confrontations with spies and vampires, as several conspiracies interlock and explode in his face. Corpses pile up, but of course, as the novel is the first in a successful series, Garrett comes out on top. He finds his damsel and triumphs over his enemies.
Characters
Garrett is a former soldier, tough, rough and utterly manly. No shred of culture or education, but he is street-smart, brave, and honest. To a degree. His helpers in this adventure are a keen fighter Morley, a vegetarian half-elf with an agenda of his own, and three grolls – some half-breed creatures, strong like behemoths and with about the same level of intelligence.
Most of the supporting extras are men (or rather males) of various species. None described as nice. Actually, no one nice seems to live in the dirty world of Cook’s invention. I wouldn’t want to ever visit there.
The only three women appearing in the cast are two shrews (one a bit better than another) and one victim (the one Garrett is searching for). None described in any way complimentary, except the surface prettiness. None can take care of herself. All of then need the macho guys to protect them.
Overall impression
The pacing is fast, the language clean and sparse, and the story reads easily, but I can’t say that I liked it much. Everything – the world and the characters – is primitive, one dimensional, with no hidden depth. If it was a comic, it would’ve been in B&W, with no colors needed. I read other novels of this subgenre, including Frank Tuttle and Alex Bledsoe, that I liked much better. On the other hand, they wrote their books several decades after this one was published. As one of the first in the subgenre, this novel wasn’t bad at all.
February 23, 2018
Rating
Review
*** This review originally appeared on Out of this World Reviews. ***
Sweet Silver Blues by Glen Cook is the first of the Garrett, P.I., novels set in Cook's pseudo-urban/traditional fantasy world. Glen Cook is perhaps best known for The Black Company series. Unfortunately, Sweet Silver Blues follows in that series' knack for introducing confusion and leading the reader on such a herky-jerky path that it's nearly impossible to see how one dot is connected to another.
That being said, it's not all bad. Cook presents a colorful array of bruisers, Garrett is about as moody and cynical as any private investigator has a right to be, and the case he set’s himself upon is solid and straightforward. But the pursuit of clues is a slow one as Garrett and his motley companions travel abroad to the Cantard, a sort of front where a war is being waged. Monsters abound, including some of the more well-known types—elves, centaurs, unicorns, and vampires—along with some that are new, like the grolls that accompany Garrett. There's plenty of backstabbing and double-crosses, and a climatic, no-hold's barred finale. But it takes a long time to get there. The novel weighs in at a modest 311 pages; not long by any means, but, still, it could have been about 50 pages shorter.
Although I was not completely satisfied with the storytelling, I did finish Sweet Silver Blues (if that means anything). I also only read the first of The Black Company books, which were also written by Glen Cook. I think this series is going to get the same consideration. I think I have to conclude that me and Cook are just not compatible.
Review
*** This review originally appeared on Out of this World Reviews. ***
Sweet Silver Blues by Glen Cook is the first of the Garrett, P.I., novels set in Cook's pseudo-urban/traditional fantasy world. Glen Cook is perhaps best known for The Black Company series. Unfortunately, Sweet Silver Blues follows in that series' knack for introducing confusion and leading the reader on such a herky-jerky path that it's nearly impossible to see how one dot is connected to another.
That being said, it's not all bad. Cook presents a colorful array of bruisers, Garrett is about as moody and cynical as any private investigator has a right to be, and the case he set’s himself upon is solid and straightforward. But the pursuit of clues is a slow one as Garrett and his motley companions travel abroad to the Cantard, a sort of front where a war is being waged. Monsters abound, including some of the more well-known types—elves, centaurs, unicorns, and vampires—along with some that are new, like the grolls that accompany Garrett. There's plenty of backstabbing and double-crosses, and a climatic, no-hold's barred finale. But it takes a long time to get there. The novel weighs in at a modest 311 pages; not long by any means, but, still, it could have been about 50 pages shorter.
Although I was not completely satisfied with the storytelling, I did finish Sweet Silver Blues (if that means anything). I also only read the first of The Black Company books, which were also written by Glen Cook. I think this series is going to get the same consideration. I think I have to conclude that me and Cook are just not compatible.
July 18, 2017
Let me preface this review by stating that I am a BIG fan of Cook's Black Company series and, as such, am predisposed to like Cook's work. Additionally, as a member of THE privileged class (i.e. a male, college educated, white, anglo/saxon, protestant with a middle class upbringing) I don't react with as much rancor to sexist characters as immediately, or as strongly, as someone who has battled the system to prove their merit in a world where the cards are stacked against them. I also must point out the obvious, that some of the sexist traits of the "protagonist" are part of the author's whole shtick in penning the novel. If you go back and review Bogart's portrayal of a detective in the Big Sleep or a tough guy in To Have and To Have Not and others through the lens of modern sensibilities, I dare say he will not fare so well. As such, I decided not to change my original rating of three stars. The book certainly was not great literature, but it passed the time sitting in a hospital sick room. I liked the "snarky" tone and the occasionally clever word play. Given the fact that the book was written 30 years ago, it was notable that rereading it did not evoke the same horror as revisiting another book for which I had fond memories, such as Heinlein's Puppet Masters. We are reading this book as part of my book club and I suggested it might not go over well following up Puppet Masters, but was overruled. Fortunately, I guess, I was called away before we got together.
August 19, 2016
SSB is the first installment of Glen Cook's Garrett series. Garrett is a "Confidential Agent" in a fantasy world inhabited by elves, gnomes, trolls, vampires, sorcerers, you name it. The entire series is like American P.I./hard-boiled detective fic combined with fantasy. When I first read the description I thought: "This is not for me." It sounded hokey. I am not into fantasy with elves, dwarves and the like.
But dammit, these books are great.
This book, as with all in the series, is told in first-person from Garrett's POV. He is a veteran of the Cantard Wars, a beer drinker, womanizer, brawler, and all around normal guy. Until he gets on a case. Then he becomes obsessed.
This book is filled with colorful characters, realistic dialog, and an involving plot hinging on a mystery. Even if you think this sounds silly or whatever, do yourself a favor and give it a try. You cannot go wrong here.
Oh, btw, for those who are new to the genre of sf/f-- ignore the cover. It is in no way representative of the book's content. Well, with the exception of Garrett himself maybe. Have fun.
But dammit, these books are great.
This book, as with all in the series, is told in first-person from Garrett's POV. He is a veteran of the Cantard Wars, a beer drinker, womanizer, brawler, and all around normal guy. Until he gets on a case. Then he becomes obsessed.
This book is filled with colorful characters, realistic dialog, and an involving plot hinging on a mystery. Even if you think this sounds silly or whatever, do yourself a favor and give it a try. You cannot go wrong here.
Oh, btw, for those who are new to the genre of sf/f-- ignore the cover. It is in no way representative of the book's content. Well, with the exception of Garrett himself maybe. Have fun.
July 23, 2011
I actually stopped "reading" this about a third of the way in and skimmed through the rest of the book. The story just lost my interest. Not to mention it was overly convoluted, with names and places and people flying this way and that. I get that the author was trying to develop some sort of conspiracy, but it felt awkward and forced. There was just too much stuff. Perhaps I just wasn't in the proper frame of mind. When I started the book, I was reminded strongly of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files and Simon R. Green's Nightside books. That said, I enjoyed the Dresden Files and Nightside books a hell of a lot more than I did Sweet Silver Blues. They weren't as complicated and, being an uncomplicated kind of person, that appealed to me greatly.
June 20, 2012
Oh, boy. I can't say how awesome I thought this book was. As an opening drum-roll, it works very well. Introducing characters in a way that lets them live in the history they have together seems to be a specialty for this author. The only thing I can't decide is which character is my favorite. Is it Garrett, who can slug it out with Saucerhead Tharpe just before talking dirty-lawyer speak? Or Morley, who could charm the pants (literally) off just about any woman and still manage to nag Garrett about eating his veggies? Then there's the triplets from different moms, a bunch of gnomes in a shoe shop, carnivorous unicorns, and a conspiracy with international ramifications...
So of course I love it. On to the next.
So of course I love it. On to the next.
April 19, 2014
I probably didn't do this book any favours in the way I read it (battered old pb which I read in bits and pieces, as for example, while brushing my teeth), but also never quite got over the OTT-for-my-liking "hardboiled" attitudes to the female characters in the book. This started with Rose, who consistently "needed" a spanking (and got one), and who apparently justified the need by threatening Garrett that she'd claim he raped her if he didn't do what she wanted him to. Pity, because I enjoyed the set-up and quite a lot about the story, and suspect the series could become more to my taste if I read more. The to-read shelf is groaning as it is, though, so I probably won't.
March 20, 2017
Re-read, read this back in the late 80's. A hard boiled mystery that's a cross between epic fantasy, Nero Wolfe and the The Big Sleep , right down to the father client with the two wild girls. Garrett's Wolfe is a dead man and not as interested in food and flowers as sleep. I have to agree with another reviewer here that I find Garrett much more entertaining then Harry Dresden.
January 2, 2023
3.5/5
Glen Cook is an author that I intellectually know I should love but just doesn't jive with my style. At
least, that's what I thought about him having tried and failed to read the Black Company three times. It was excellent world-building but, for some reason, I wasn't able to appreciate it the way I wanted to so I ended up dropping the series. Still, I was attracted to the prospect of another supernatural PI story. I'm a huge Dresden Files fan and the idea of a normal non-magical PI in a fantasy world seemed a cool reversal.
The premise is Garrett is a former Marine in the service of the kingdom of Karenta that survived his term of service before becoming a private investigator. A former friend of his is killed in an accident and leaves his vast fortune to a mysterious woman. Named executor of their estate, Garrett is compelled by the substantial fee he's offered to go back to war-torn Cantard in order to find her.
For the most part, I very much enjoyed the book and the whole idea of a detective novel in a fantasy land is something I'm absolutely down for. I mentioned that I felt like Dragon Age 2 would have been improved greatly if instead of being a nobleman, Hawke had ended up opening a private Inquisitive service. Anyway, the parts about investigating Kayean Kronk's mysterious disappearance as well as dealing with the late Denny Tate's partners are the best in the book.
Unfortunately, the final third of the book is a bit of a let down as it goes from being a detective novel to being more straight action fantasy with battles against unicorns, vampire hunting, and other fights to the death that are less interesting. There's also the fact women aren't terribly well-represented in the book. Rose Tate, one of a pair of beautiful redheaded gnomish sisters, threatens to tell everyone Garrett raped her at one point. Which, later on, he gets her back for along with a beating from one of her goons by sending a man to kidnap her then spank her naked in public. Yeah. Yikes.
I was also somewhat disappointed with the fact we never get much in the way of conversation with Kayean Tate. Despite being someone who is the focus of numerous interesting storylines, she says all of two words in the novel. I feel like conversations with the protagonist would have been a lot more interesting than stabbing vampires through the heart with unicorn horns. Which, compared to my fourteen-year-old-self's fantasy tastes, must sound like blasphemy.
Overall, Glen Cook is a fantastic author and I really love this peanut butter and jelly sandwich he's made of genres. Unfortunately, I really wish he'd stuck with the PI elements of the book heavier than he did. He sort of wandered off into, admittedly, very well written action scenes. I will probably read the rest of the series but I hope the handling of the feminine sex gets better.
Glen Cook is an author that I intellectually know I should love but just doesn't jive with my style. At
least, that's what I thought about him having tried and failed to read the Black Company three times. It was excellent world-building but, for some reason, I wasn't able to appreciate it the way I wanted to so I ended up dropping the series. Still, I was attracted to the prospect of another supernatural PI story. I'm a huge Dresden Files fan and the idea of a normal non-magical PI in a fantasy world seemed a cool reversal.
The premise is Garrett is a former Marine in the service of the kingdom of Karenta that survived his term of service before becoming a private investigator. A former friend of his is killed in an accident and leaves his vast fortune to a mysterious woman. Named executor of their estate, Garrett is compelled by the substantial fee he's offered to go back to war-torn Cantard in order to find her.
For the most part, I very much enjoyed the book and the whole idea of a detective novel in a fantasy land is something I'm absolutely down for. I mentioned that I felt like Dragon Age 2 would have been improved greatly if instead of being a nobleman, Hawke had ended up opening a private Inquisitive service. Anyway, the parts about investigating Kayean Kronk's mysterious disappearance as well as dealing with the late Denny Tate's partners are the best in the book.
Unfortunately, the final third of the book is a bit of a let down as it goes from being a detective novel to being more straight action fantasy with battles against unicorns, vampire hunting, and other fights to the death that are less interesting. There's also the fact women aren't terribly well-represented in the book. Rose Tate, one of a pair of beautiful redheaded gnomish sisters, threatens to tell everyone Garrett raped her at one point. Which, later on, he gets her back for along with a beating from one of her goons by sending a man to kidnap her then spank her naked in public. Yeah. Yikes.
I was also somewhat disappointed with the fact we never get much in the way of conversation with Kayean Tate. Despite being someone who is the focus of numerous interesting storylines, she says all of two words in the novel. I feel like conversations with the protagonist would have been a lot more interesting than stabbing vampires through the heart with unicorn horns. Which, compared to my fourteen-year-old-self's fantasy tastes, must sound like blasphemy.
Overall, Glen Cook is a fantastic author and I really love this peanut butter and jelly sandwich he's made of genres. Unfortunately, I really wish he'd stuck with the PI elements of the book heavier than he did. He sort of wandered off into, admittedly, very well written action scenes. I will probably read the rest of the series but I hope the handling of the feminine sex gets better.
November 14, 2019
Entertaining. Tough detective running around with a couple of grolls, a dark elf and a centaur to find a dame.
Vampires, army clashes and silver play a big part in this crazy adventure. Tough for me to follow at times, as there are a lot of agendas in this book, but it was enjoyable, looking forward to the next one, I like Garrett's voice and the characters.
Vampires, army clashes and silver play a big part in this crazy adventure. Tough for me to follow at times, as there are a lot of agendas in this book, but it was enjoyable, looking forward to the next one, I like Garrett's voice and the characters.
December 22, 2018
Deeply entertaining, delightfully engrossing, and all around fun.
The Black Company was my entry to Glen Cook's writing style, and this book is more of the same, but with the 'fun' turned up. Spare, wry, and cynical, we follow a case that maybe spirals out a bit more than expected, and maybe has some leaps that don't quite follow, but we can chalk it up to a world conceit and move on.
Cook is very much a fan of just throwing the reader into his worlds, and this book is no different. What does this thing mean? What is that reference? How do you say that? Who cares, he's not explaining. It's a strength here, and it's played well.
The sardonic humor is on full display here, and it's a joy to read; but I would ask for women characters that are more than just cardboard cutouts. And that might just be the biggest criticism: It's pulp/noir, so everything is shallow, but it'd have been nice to see a bit more development overall, and named women characters that aren't just for 'eye candy'.
The Black Company was my entry to Glen Cook's writing style, and this book is more of the same, but with the 'fun' turned up. Spare, wry, and cynical, we follow a case that maybe spirals out a bit more than expected, and maybe has some leaps that don't quite follow, but we can chalk it up to a world conceit and move on.
Cook is very much a fan of just throwing the reader into his worlds, and this book is no different. What does this thing mean? What is that reference? How do you say that? Who cares, he's not explaining. It's a strength here, and it's played well.
The sardonic humor is on full display here, and it's a joy to read; but I would ask for women characters that are more than just cardboard cutouts. And that might just be the biggest criticism: It's pulp/noir, so everything is shallow, but it'd have been nice to see a bit more development overall, and named women characters that aren't just for 'eye candy'.
April 11, 2023
Adventure and action in the world with magics. Recommending
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