24. Glen Cook Discussion

[Philip Overby]

As we almost make it to 1/4 of the way through 100 authors, it seems like I started doing this a long time ago. But I'm enjoying learning about authors I don't know much about and hearing opinions.

Number 24 is Glen Cook, someone I've read a little of, but I'd probably should be reading a lot more. Cook is probably most famous for his Black Company series which deals with a group of mercenaries and their adventures. Cook is often pointed to as one of the authors that really did "gritty fantasy" first, being that he dealt with soldiers who spoke like soldiers and not kings, queens, and high adventure. He's also written film-noir style fantasy(which makes sense if you've read the Black Company) in the Garrett P.I. series.

Anyone have thoughts on Glen Cook?

 

[Steerpike]

Glen Cook = Black Company = Awesome

 

[Ankari]

Glen Cook's Black Company series has inspired the likes of Steven Erikson. He admits as much in forward written in one of the books. Glen Cook will give you memorable characters, an easy writing style, and a few surprises that will keep you hooked. He is also the godfather of grimdark. For that alone, I'm grateful.

After I stumbled upon one of his books, and read it, I devoted myself to finishing the series. This was no easy feat, as many of his books fell out of print. Another publishing house later put the series in three omnibuses.

If you want to emulate the gritty, necessary bond shared by longtime soldiers in a band, this series is for you. He also does a decent job of worldbuilding, and seamlessly integrating it into his stories.

I enjoyed his earlier books in the Dread Empire series. Actually, I liked them all but the last one. I don't know what it was. I think I detected a drop off in the quality of his writing. Anyway, out of respect, I'll give it another stab.

For anyone interested, the final book is called A Path to Coldness of Heart. The story itself may not intrigue you, but the history of it will. Someone stole his original manuscript. He had to rewrite it from scratch.

 

[GeekDavid]

I've read the first of the Garrett, PI stories and found them remarkably similar to the Nero Wolfe non-fantasy mysteries. However, despite that, I thought they were a lot of fun.

 

[ThinkerX]

I've read his 'Black Company', Garret', and 'Dread Empire' series, along with an SF book or three.

Glen Cook is definitely a very good story teller -and he has to be, because the actual quality of his writing is often not that great. He overuses words, including adverbs, but the story shines through despite this.

 

[Philip Overby]

I've read his 'Black Company', Garret', and 'Dread Empire' series, along with an SF book or three.

Glen Cook is definitely a very good story teller -and he has to be, because the actual quality of his writing is often not that great. He overuses words, including adverbs, but the story shines through despite this.

I think this is a good example of discussions we have a lot around here. Does story trump writing? It sounds like in Cook's case (for you anyway) that is true. I find his writing to be accessible and easy to get into and the overuse of words never really stood out to me because his style was so different to most fantasy I had read up until that point. You can definitely see how Erikson was inspired by him because Cook just thrusts you into the world and lets you figure things out as you go. I know this method can be disorienting for some, but this is one of things I really enjoyed about the Black Company (the only book I've read so far.)