A Path to Coldness of Heart

Dread Empire #8

by Glen Cook

At long last, the conclusion to Glen Cook's Dread Empire saga has arrived! King Bragi Ragnarson is a prisoner, shamed, nameless, and held captive by Lord Shih-kaa and the Empress Mist at the heart of the Dread Empire. Far away in Kavelin, Bragia's queen and what remains of his army seek to find and free their king, hampered by the loss or desertion of their best and brightest warriors. Kavelina's spymaster, Michael Trebilcock, is missing in action, as is loyal soldier Aral Dantice.

Meanwhile, Dane, Duke of Greyfells, seeks to seize the rule of Kavelin and place the kingdom in his pocket, beginning a new line of succession through Bragia's queen, Dane's cousin Inger. And in the highest peaks of the Dragona's Teeth, in the ancient castle Fangdred, the sorcerer called Varthlokkur uses his arts to spy on the world at large, observing the puppet strings that control kings and empires alike, waiting....

For the time of the wrath of kings is almost at hand, and vengeance lies along a path to coldness of heart.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Dark Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Speculative Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery

445 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Glen Cook was born in New York City, lived in southern Indiana as a small child, then grew up in Northern California. After high school he served in the U.S. Navy and attended the University of Missouri. He worked for General Motors for 33 years, retiring some years ago. He started writing short stories in 7th grade, had several published in a high school literary magazine. He began writing with malicious intent to publish in 1968, eventually producing 51 books and a number of short fiction pieces.
He met his wife of 43 years while attending the Clarion Writer's Workshop in 1970. He has three sons (army officer, architect, orchestral musician) and numerous grandchildren, all of whom but one are female. He is best known for his Black Company series, which has appeared in 20+ languages worldwide. His other series include Dread Empire and and the Garrett, P.I. series. His latest work is Working God’s Mischief, fourth in the Instrumentalities of the Night series.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/glencook

Reviews

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would've gone with 3.5 stars if that was an option; since not, I'm rounding up simply because I now have closure after waiting almost 20 years.

This is the book that very, very nearly wasn't -- Cook had essentially abandoned the Dread Empire series in the late 1980's due to a combination of flagging sales and the theft of the in-progress manuscript of what would have been the next book (the eighth novel out of a projected fourteen). A few years ago, Night Shade Press started doing reissues of much of Cook's older work and were able to persuade him to go back and write one more Dread Empire book, one that would wrap up the series.

I was generally pleased with it -- he managed to tie everything up in a satisfactory fashion. Pretty much every major (surviving) character from the previous books made an appearance; battle was finally joined with the true villain of the piece and (since this is Cook) there were endings even if they couldn't all be called happy. Things felt a bit rushed or perfunctory at times, but that's understandable considering he had seven books' worth of threads to resolve and he had to do so in just one book, not several. I still think that, all other things being equal, I prefer his Black Company series, but now that this one is actually completed I'm happy to recommend it to anyone who's in the mood for military fantasy on a large canvas.

[David Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was great to have this installment of the series. I enjoyed seeing the development of certain events and characters, but would have liked a bit more in some cases. So many new characters introduced at the 11th hour and so little that actually felt resolved to me. I have long wondered if Dread Empire and Black Company were connected - and seeing the line that contained "Water sleeps," just piques my curiosity more...especially with some of the revelations about the nature of the Star Rider.

In short, I want more.

[Redsteve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally! The conclusion of Cook's "Dread Empire" series - 25 YEARS after the second-to-last book (Take THAT GRRM!). Unlike the other installments, this one has no backstory secctions; allowing for narrative requirements, events go from beginning to end in "real time". On the other hand, Cook goes wild with POV changes here with over 20 characters perspectives: commoners and royalty, sorcerers, soldiers and criminals, heroes and villains, Westerners and Easterners, even monsters. It's like he's channeling Harry Turtledove. In fact, you get (at least briefly) the viewpoint of pretty much everyone whose name you learned who isn't dead yet - and, on that subject, more than one character pops up again after being presumed deceased in earlier books. A decently strong ending that pulls most of the plot threads together in a reasonably satisfying conclusion. Interestingly, while not the "good guys" by any stretch of the imagination, the Dread Empire in question (Shinsan) did NOT end up being the Big Bad for the series. Also surprisingly, this novel had the least military action of any book in the series - still a lot of violence, just no battles. 3.5 stars.

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

💀 Vanishing Unrelenting Glen Cook Mercenaries Buddy Read (VUGCMBR™) with The Overlord, My Nefarious Daughter, and (lo and behold!) my recently resuscitated Half-Barnacled Son 💀

Actual rating: 3.87895568 stars. And a half.

No, this is definitely not the best Glen Cook can do. Too long, too diluted, not enough Wonderfully Scrumptious and Slightly Superhuman Fast Forwarding Abilities (WSaSSFFA™) on display, not enough main characters being killed dead in the most ruthless fashion…BUT. It’s original as shrimp and non-Eurocentric as fish. Not to mention it’s Slightly Quite Entertaining (SQE™), features Georgie (aka the cutest, friendliest familiar ever) and is home to Bragi, one of my mostest prized possessions favoritest High Security Harem tenants. No to mention, best title ever. Not to mention², Super Extra Lickable Cover (SELC™).

Besides, this might not be Glen Cook’s best but this is infinitely better than the best crap most other Fantasy writers can write. And that is a scientifically proven fact. Damn bloody shrimping right it is. Ha!





Reading order for this series, as firmly kindly suggest by Evgeny (aka the Ruthless Glen Cook Overlord™):

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

[TheDenizen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cook spends over 400 pages meticulously setting up the pieces on a chessboard before kicking the whole thing off the table in the final 20 pages. It's well written, and features a handful of great scenes with characters I've come to enjoy, but it's not a particularly satisfying ending to the series. If I had waited 20 years for this book, I probably would've been pretty pissed. The weakest book of an otherwise solid series.

[Newton Nitro · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Path to Coldness of Heart (Dread Empire #8) – Glen Cook | 2012, 429 páginas, Nightshade Books | NITROLEITURAS | Lido de 11.02.18 a 16.02.18


SINOPSE
Por fim, chegou a conclusão para a saga Dread Empire do Glen Cook!

O rei Bragi Ragnarson é um prisioneiro, envergonhado, sem nome e preso por Lord Shih-kaa e a Imperatriz Mist no coração do Império Dread.

Longe de Kavelin, a rainha Inga e o que resta de seu exército buscam encontrar e libertar seu rei, , mas a tarefa é dificultada pela perda ou deserção de seus melhores e mais brilhantes guerreiros.

O mestre de espionagem de Kavelina, Michael Trebilcock, está desaparecido, assim como o soldado leal Aral Dantice.

Enquanto isso, Dane, Duke of Greyfells, procura aproveitar o domínio de Kavelin e colocar o reino no bolso, iniciando uma nova linha de sucessão através da rainha de Bragia, o primo Inger de Dane.

E nos picos mais altos das montanhas Dragona, no antigo castelo Fangdred, o feiticeiro chamado Varthlokkur usa suas artes para espionar o mundo em geral, observando as cordas de fantoche que controlam reis e impérios, esperando …

A ira do rei caído se despeja pelos reinos, e a vingança encontra-se ao longo de um caminho para a frieza do coração.

RESENHA
Uma excelente conclusão da Saga Dread Empire, apesar de colocar muitas tramas, que seriam melhor desenvolvidas em livros separados, ou com mais páginas.

Soube que Glen Cook havia planejado mais quatro livros depois do Dread Empire 7, mas acabou por abandonar o projeto ainda nos anos 80 e retomou 25 anos depois, resolvendo as tramas em um único livro.

Mesmo assim, Glen Cook é capaz de milagres usando palavras bem escolhidas. Diferente dos livros da Companhia Negra, em Dread Empire o escopo é imenso e bem épico.

O Império Dread, os reinos do deserto a os Pequenos Reinos todos se vêem envolvidos em jogos políticos e sobrenaturais, que giram em torno das maquinações do misterioso Star Rider e sua contraparte, o poderoso mago Varthlokkur.

Como disse nas outras resenhas, Glen Cook trabalha uma fantasia mais adulta, e no oitavo volume, ele ousou bastante, descrevendo a velhice de um rei guerreiro, a tragédia de um profeta consumido pelas drogas e vendo a religião que fundou se tornar completamente corrompida, uma rainha que perde sua pureza original e se torna sanguinária para defender seu trono.

Antes de encerrar minha resenha, recomendo ler os livros na seguinte ordem:

4,5,1,2,3,6,7,8 – Pois o 4 e 5 são prequelas, e dão informações essenciais para curtir os demais livros!

Fica a recomendação, DREAD EMPIRE é excelente para fãs da Companhia Negra, Game of Thrones, Malazan, outras obras semelhantes!

ONDE COMPRAR
AMAZON
A Path to Coldness of Heart (Dread Empire #8) – Glen Cook
https://goo.gl/FpQYGq

CONTATO

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Um grande abraço do NEWTON NITRO!

[Anthony O'Connor · Rating 4 out of 5]

And so, here we are, at the end of the Dread Empire series by Glen Cook and what a strange, wild, oddly anticlimactic ride it's been.

To be honest, it's a minor miracle this book exists at all. See, the original manuscript for the eighth book of the series was flogged by some dodgy wanker who was partying at Cook's back in the 1980s. The series, which had never been a big seller, went into what appeared to be a permanent hiatus until the good people at Night Shade Books republished Cooky's earlier works and convinced him to give the series a proper ending.

Although "ending" is a pretty dubious description, because although a lot of threads are tied up to one degree or another, there's enough left tangling for another trilogy at least. That's not to say what's here isn't satisfying, the world building and piece moving throughout the heftier than usual tome is meticulous and engaging. The actual climax, however, is brusque even by Cook's standard.

And the titular Dread Empire? Not even close to being the focus of any of it.

The Dread Empire was never Cook's best fantasy series (that would be The Black Company, natch) but it is original, engaging and influential. Rich characters, plenty of intrigue and twists a-go-go, it's worth a read despite its flaws to scratch that itch that only GC seems capable of satisfying.

Oh, and I almost forgot: the audiobook narration by Stephen Hoye is absolutely superb. He does the whole series and kills it from the jump. Bravo, sir.

[Shaun · Rating 1 out of 5]

What the hell happened to Glen Cook between the 80s and the 2010's? Did he catch some sort of "Stephen King on cocaine" disease that makes him put weird sex stuff in his books?

So there is a lot I could talk about in my review but I'm really going to talk about the 1 thing. Pedophilia. There is a lot of it.

It's starts out, there is a wizard and he's a gross pedophile, but they can make use of him so they let it slide. Then there is a pedophile that is killing the girls he rapes and they decide this is too far and launch a big investigation. They're worried it's the wizard which would be a bummer for them because then they can't use him anymore. "Thankfully" it's not, he's just the "good" kind of pedophile that doesn't murder his victims. In fact, the 13 year old girl is actually the smart, responsible "mature" one. She '"fixes" him. Not of pedophilia of course, because she's literally 13. But he is now a "good man." And it's a really good thing that he got her pregnant because now he's an honorable pedophile.

Gross.

Even without the pedophilia the conclusion of this book is a sloppy mess that really fails to pull together the narrative threads and is a major disappointment.

[malynosorozec · Rating 4 out of 5]

„Wszyscy ludzie popełniali złe uczynki, jeśli tylko dostrzegli szansę, że może im to ujść na sucho”*.


Długo czekałem na tę pozycję. W międzyczasie trzykrotnie przeczytałem pozostałe powieści Glena Cooka. Miałem nadzieję poznać wreszcie zakończenie cyklu „Imperium Grozy”, ale już po pierwszych stu stronach zdałem sobie sprawę, że nic z tego. Domyśliłem się, że autor nie zamierza żegnać się z tym akurat światem. Może to i dobrze?... Co ja piszę, na pewno dobrze! Z tym, że wolałbym, aby kolejna część przypominała te początkowe. Może coś o Krucjatach Nawami albo o czasach, gdy do władzy w Imperium Grozy dochodzili Książęta Taumaturgowie? A może młodość ojca Bragiego?
„Droga zimnego serca” przypomina niestety dwie poprzednie części. Co daje jej pozycję powieści niemalże bardzo dobrej. Szkoda, że tylko tyle.

Najbardziej razi mnie to, iż autor bardzo zdewaluował większość występujących w „Imperium Grozy” postaci. Ragnasrosn, Treblickock, Hauron, Adept – są cieniami samych siebie z poprzednich tomów. Varthlokkur, Starzec, Nephante – ich rozwój nie idzie w dobrym kierunku. Jedynie Mgła i lord Ssu-ma zasługują na pochwałę. No i dzieci Mgły.

Fabularnie – za dużo zamieszania. Krótkie rozdziały z początku czyta się dobrze, mamy nadzieje, że doskonale rozstawią postaci na planszy, ale w miarę upływu czasu nic się nie zmienia. W połowie książki nadal nie bardzo wiadomo, w jakim kierunku wszystko zmierza. Dochodząc do jej końca nie byłem pewien, czy autor tak właśnie wszystko zaplanował, czy coś jednak poszło źle.

Ślepe zaułki i całkowicie niewykorzystany potencjał części postaci – to moje pierwsze wrażenia po skończeniu lektury. I jeszcze teleportacja, i nieodłączna myśl, że coś jest nie tak, że coś nie zgadza się z wydarzeniami opisanymi w jednym z poprzednich tomów… Ale mimo wszystko nawet przez myśl mi nie przeszło, aby porzucić lekturę. Cook to Cook i potrafi wciągnąć w swój świat.

Wy, którzy czytaliście poprzednie części, i tak sięgnięcie po „Drogę zimnego serca” – powieści Glena Cooka są jak narkotyk, chce się więcej, nawet kiedy jakość, jak w tym przypadku, jest nieco niższa.
A wy, którzy nie zaczęliście jeszcze lektury „Imperium Grozy” – lepiej nadróbcie zaległości.
Pierwsze pięć powieści cyklu to absolutnie najwyższa półka fantasy. W Polsce ostatnio wydane zostały w zbiorczych tomach. Pierwszy, czyli „Okrutny wiatr”, opowiada historię wojen podzielonego zachodu z żądnym podbojów Shinsanem. W środku wszystkiego jest maleńki kraj o nazwie Kavelin i Bragi Ragnarson, barbarzyńca z mroźnej północy, który zostaje najważniejszym człowiekiem na zachodzie. Są potężni magowie (ci się autorowi udali zacnie!), królowie, dowódcy, rycerze i przede wszystkim chcący po prostu przeżyć zwykli ludzie – czyli mieszanka, do jakiej przyzwyczaja w swoich książkach Glen Cook. I konflikty zbrojne. Zarówno te stosunkowo niewielkie, w których ścierają się lokalni feudałowie, jak i te, gdzie ofiary liczone są w milionach.

O tak, trzy części zebrane w „Okrutnym wietrze” zapewniają solidną dawkę adrenaliny. A smaczku dodaje fakt, że rewelacyjny pierwszy tom jest czymś w rodzaju wprowadzenia do jeszcze lepszej kontynuacji – i to postaci, zdawałoby się, drugoplanowe odgrywają największą rolę w dalszych częściach.

Później wydawnictwo Rebis dało nam w „Fortecy w cieniu” dwa tomy, w których cofamy się w czasie do młodości dwójki spośród głównych bohaterów. Niewiele tu tytułowego Imperium Grozy, są przede wszystkim wojny religijne, które skąpią we krwi połowę kontynentu. Wszystko bardzo dobrze przemyślane, poszczególne wątki idealnie łączą się z przyszłością, znaną nam już z „Okrutnego wiatru”.

Właściwie kolejność czytania jest dowolna, jak najbardziej można zacząć od „Fortecy w cieniu”.
I to są pozycje, od których nie sposób się oderwać. Później… Później jest „Imperium nieznające porażki”, gdzie wydawnictwo zmieściło kolejne dwa tomy cyklu, dodając kilka opowiadań z tego samego świata. Te teksty, napisane na przestrzeni wielu lat, traktować można jako ciekawostkę. Znów ten sam zarzut: są dobre, miejscami bardzo dobre, ale nic więcej, co w odniesieniu do twórczości tego akurat autora zdecydowanie nie wystarcza. Powiem tak: ci, którym nie przypadną do gustu „Okrutny wiatr” i „Forteca w cieniu”, niech nie sięgają po dalsze części. Nic lepszego tam ich nie czeka. A ci podobni do mnie i tak wchłoną wszystko, co zostało opatrzone nazwiskiem: Glen Cook.

„Drodze zimnego serca”, jak już pisałem, bliżej do bezpośrednio poprzedzających ją tomów. Akcja toczy się na wszystkich możliwych frontach: w Kavelinie, Hammad-al Nakirze, Shinsanie czy Smoczych Zębiskach. Warto przed lekturą odświeżyć sobie znajomość wcześniejszych części, gdyż od początku dużo się dzieje i jak zwykle nie ma miejsce na opisy. Jest akcja. Dużo akcji.

Jeszcze słów kilka o zmianie tłumacza. Tak samo jak w przypadku „Delegatur nocy”, nie wyszło to najlepiej. Niektóre nazwy własne zmieniły brzmienie (na przykład nie znajdziemy już „Księcia Szarego Płaskowyżu”, tylko jego angielski odpowiednik. Aha… I ciągłe powtarzanie „Stary Wścibinos”…). Dla kogoś takiego jak ja stanowi to pewien problem. I nie ma mapy, która w tej akurat części bardzo by się przydała.

No, ale już nie narzekam. Za to chwalę: za okładki wszystkich części przede wszystkim. To jest coś, na co miło popatrzeć, szkoda, że na półce nie ma tyle miejsca, żeby wszystkie książki Glena Cooka mogły leżeć frontem…

A teraz podsumowuję:

Nie jest to Glen Cook w najwyższej formie, ale i tak czekam na więcej i mimo narzekań daję obiektywnie całkowicie niezasłużoną ósemkę. Ale przecież w czytaniu nie chodzi o obiektywną analizę wartości poszczególnych składowych książki, tylko o emocje, jakie wywołuje w nas owa książka. A jeśli o nie chodzi, powtórzę za pewnym kabaretem: „Będzie Pan zadowolony!”.

8/10

malynosorozec.blogspot.com
---
* Glen Cook, „Droga zimnego serca”, przeł. Zbigniew A. Królicki, wyd. Rebis, 2015, s. 396.

[Danny B · Rating 2 out of 5]

This whole last "trilogy" feels halfassed. The first two books really should have been one. In this one the plot jumped around all over the place as Cook needed to wrap up all the loose ends in this long overdue finale. Everything was rushed. The succession crisis in Kavelin was rushed. The civil war in Hammad al Nakir was rushed and still somehow unresolved. Finally the Star Rider plot was completely botched. The guy hasn't shown up at all since the first book. It was like Cook realized he needed an overarching villain to tie the whole series together so just jammed him in there. The interesting parts, such as where did he come from and why did he do this, was never covered. I mean sure this last book took so long because Cook had his original manuscript stolen. But if he decided to return to this series then he should give it a proper sendoff, not this rushed mess.

[Jacek · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought it would be better: the narration is rushed and a little too chaotic for my taste. Constantly we are swiched from one hero to another which is confusing beacause often whole scene lasts only few sentences and then we are swiched to another character. It causing that the development of our protogonists really lacking and left me cold. To make matter worse, actions and the plot is not always good explained which add a general confusion to the story. I wasn't satysfied with the ending either due to not answering to all the questions. Still to all fans of the Dread Empire series who waited so long to it is a must read.

[Sam Macuga · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second trilogy easily clears the first one, this was fun. Ending was kind of… meh… wish there’d been an epilogue but this felt like “real” in be highest capacity it could be lol.
I like how fleshed out everyone was and the turnabout on who was really “evil” even though no one was really “good”. Mist is my fave, hands down, and it was nice to see Bragi be a bit of a better person. Like now that I think about it the character arcs and how they were finished out in this book were super satisfying, probably the strongest aspect other than the managing such a complex world/plot

[Kasia Janik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nie ukrywam jestem zawiedziona zakończeniem. Widać było, że autor chciał po prostu zakończyć serię i zamknąć wszystkie wątki. Zdecydowanie za dużo postaci + dodawanie nowych które nie mają żadnego znaczenia. Musze przyznać, że zzylam się z bohaterami ale pokonanie głównego nemezis było pisane na kolanie i brakowało mi zawiłości intryg z poprzednich części. Cała serię oceniam pozytywnie jednak zakończenie mierne. (mam słabość do Varthlokkura, dont judge me)

[Maciej · Rating 1 out of 5]

To bardzo zła książka kiedyś świetnego autora. Nudna, nie wzbudzająca emocji, często nielogiczna i nie spójna. Los bohaterów był mi całkowicie obojętny. Postacie coś tam niby robią ale nie jest to w żaden sposób interesujące, a efekty tych działań są całkowicie obojętne.

[Michael M. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not completely dreadful, but contains a couple elements that left me cold.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would have been ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ except the ending was rushed.

[Macha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Glen Cook's Dread Empire series was almost completely written in the period 1979-1988, and the early Black Company novels were already in print when he wrote the Dread Empire conclusion. but that mss was stolen. the Dread Empire series had an interesting world and great characters, but there's no doubt the Black Company stuff in general was far more ambitious. so there's a gap of 24 years between the second book in the trilogy and this one, the final installment in the concluding trilogy. and there's a chasm in writing skills and general complexity - and possibly worldview, who can say - between #2 and this one too. so faithful readers of the series may be inclined to howl. but in fact the sea change is rather wonderful. it's very loosely written in the best sense, taking all the time it needs to tell the story right, meandering in point of view between all the principal players, digs deeply into their psyches as their ideas and objectives change across time, and ends up with everyone in a radically different place than they started out from, that seems completely organic. i liked it a lot in the end. i'm glad it took so long (though i feel for the writer, doomed to start again - come to think of it, that's kind of how it takes the characters, too). and along the way it has quite a lot to say about the nature and the limitations of power.

[Mike Jansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Dread Empire series by Glen Cook is one of the series that I have been following since the early nineties, when I first discovered the author and his work. I am particularly fond of Cook's ability to write about immense worlds while honing in on the particulars of even small characters, giving his writing a gritty and realistic feel, even if the themes and subjects are as magical as they can be.

This book continues where 'Reap the east wind' left off, with Bragi in captivity. Without going too much into detail, this book shows off many of the powers and influences that were hinted at or referred to in the earlier books. Unfortunately because of all those powers, the specialty wears off soon. Describing age old and very complicated characters in a few well chosen words is difficult. That for me is what is missing in this book. It is as if Cook tried to tell the high-level story, while his other books showed life from the gutter.

Still, the book answers many questions, so from that perspective I consider it a book worth reading more than once. Also, the end is still open in my opinion, so I'm not sure that this is really the last book in the series.

If you liked the previous books, you'll like this one as well.

[Richard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Even though this is "The Final Chronicle Of The Dread Empire: Vol III," the abrupt ending of the story implies strongly that there will be a Volume IV.

I have been following Mr. Cook's work ever since the original "Black Company" series, and I have noticed a phenomenon in all of his writing. Even in his "Garrett P.I." novels, each succeeding book in a series contains additional new characters and additional new plot lines, until the story becomes so convoluted and confusing that it is no longer enjoyable reading.

Even History books attempt to cover only certain time periods and major events. But the Dread Empire series seems to be an attempt to describe all of the events in a fantasy world, and all of the characters within it (major or minor indiscriminately). The complexity of the politics and family relationships, combined with the ridiculously large number of characters in the books (all of whom apparently must be mentioned in this, the last, of the series) make it difficult to keep track of who's who, and what's what, in this book.

Cook appears to have forgotten the KISS Principle, which I believe applies to good fiction as much as to anything else, so I don't believe that I will be reading any more of his work.

[Luke Coury · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really thought it was a great book and it had Cook's great style of writing that got me started on all his other books. The only reason it isn't a higher rating is because I (like it seems many others) were disappointed with the ending. It certainly leaves room for another book in the series but I doubt that's something we'll get to see.

SPOILER:

I have to say, that I was even more disappointed in the fact that the idea of the transfer streams being something more than just the portals they were used as was not completely (or at least, not more completely) explained or used to come to some greater power usage. And then a thousand little things under the streams' relationship such as with the return of Sahmahan (talk about random) or the power behind the thaumaturgic bolts that impressed.

I'm deeply disappointed in the last 30 pages as they should have been 120 pages instead explaining how this universe behind the books works, because so many possibilities were hinted out and never taken to their full potential. It, however, was still a great book besides that and definitely worth the read.

[Luka Novak · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not a bad book. It's not very good either, but it's not bad. What this books suffers from is how it was created. Cook wanted to write (at least) 4 books after "An Ill Fate Marshalling" and these were compressed into one book, this one.

Instead of dealing with Kavelin after Bragi is captured, Bragi himself, Varthlokkur and Nepanthe dealing with their own child as well as Mist's children and Ethrian, desert kingdoms and plot involving Star Rider in their own books all that is cramed into one so book feels rushed, plots resolve themselves too quickly and too smoothly, unlike previous books in series. Each of these plots are complex enough to deserve their own, separate book.

Having said that, plots are resolved well enough to not stretch credibility, even though plot involving Star Rider leaves a lot to be desired.

I guess we should be glad that Cook did finish the series, even though I believe recent increased interest in such fantasy works (partialy thanks to GRRM's "A Song of Ice and Fire") would generate enough interest for more books and longer conclusion.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

AS the last of the series, its an outstanding work. The culmination of several lives of achievement, an unlikely band together tries to take control of their world's future by defeating an enigmatic, ancient figure. If you loved the characters so far, you may be disappointed in this. The story rather than characters take the spotlight. There is some development, especially in the "family" at Fangdred. Without spoiling things... the ending is abrupt and feels totally improvised and unfinished. This may be intended, but i dont think so... and it prevents the book from getting a 5 star rating in my opinion.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's been some twenty-five years or so since Glen Cook wrote the prior Dread Empire novel. Stolen manuscripts and a lack of sales kept him from finishing the story, but the recent re-release of the series prompted him to finish the story.

And I am so glad he did. For years, I wondered what would happen to Bragi, Varthlokkur, Haroun, et al, and now I know.

I'm not going in-depth here; rather, if you read the others, particularly the original trilogy (of which books 2 and 3 are outstanding), then you know what you're getting.

Thank you, Glen.

[Lyndol Fast · Rating 5 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed this book! In it, Cook builds and brings the world and greater conflict to a head, assembling all the remaining major (and many minor) characters into a single arc. In reality, don't read this book if you have not read the other Dread Empire novels. If you have read the other ones, my recommendation has little to do with whether you will want to read this or not. If you enjoy Cook on the whole, especially his Black Company series, the Dread Empire novel feel a little more raw or unpolished but I absolutely loved them!

[Joel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book reminded me why I like Cook's writing, but all in all seemed a little rushed. There was perhaps less of the "everyday" feeling and personal motivations of the characters, and more scattered plot and action-driven happenings that seemed more like the author was trying to tie things together and wrap them up rather than explore characters and events. Still, a good read, and one that left the door open for further exploits.

[Arthur · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!
First, I'm glad I re-read the entire series sometime in the last few years. I got all the moving parts in my head save, I think one.
Second, I guess it ended, in a kind of quote unquote kind of way. In the classic sense, he almost resolved the fundamental questions of the series, but by no means did he foreclose the possibility of another book...
Loved it!

[Bridger A-10 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finishing up the Dread Empire series with a breakneck pace, A Path to the Coldness of Heart plows through all the plotlines. I can't say that some of the resolutions are entirely satisfactory, but they're all in keeping with the rest of the series. Overall it's a pretty fitting capstone to the series.

[Andre · Rating 3 out of 5]

A conclusion (or is it?) to the dread empire series. While it has the Cook writing and finding the characters again was fun, this felt to me like a thrown-together finale that lacks the finish of his other novels.

[Robert Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Obviously, there's going to be more titles to follow. The story picks up from the last book of the Dread Empire series where Bragi is captured. But, the end of this book leaves a LOT undone. So, expect more to come from Mr. Cook on this series. Can't wait!

[Steven Halter · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review.