June 2005 - glencook-fans - mailman.xmission.com

Spoilers for the Tyranny of the Night
by Richard Chilton 06 Oct '05

06 Oct '05

Spoilers for the Tyranny of the Night I haven't been online for a day or three - I've been reading this book at every spare moment. I hated putting it down. First, since some mail programs don't like lots of spaces before the text, a quick overview: This is three intertwined stories. One following a group that is associated with a variant of the old Norse gods, one a variant of Mameluke society (the slave soldiers of the caliphs), and a variant of a Catharist Perfect. Different terms are used but it basically looking at pagan, Christian (with heavy Gnostic overtones), and Islam belief in a world where the 'gods' are (maybe) manifestations of magical energy collected and given form. Did the creator God create man or did man's vision imposed on this magical energy create all the gods? That's a question that is mentally debated a few times in the book - an labeled a chicken and the egg one. Magical energy flows freely on this world but collects in "wells". There are 7 or 8 major wells in areas where much of the worlds gods / spirits / things that go bump in the night come from, and countless small wellsprings of power (for example, there's one going to where the norse type gods live). These power flows tend to be warmer than the ground around them, and this heat combined with the power movement in the Wells is an important factor in keeping the ice from advancing (holding off an ice age). In 'civilized' areas the various spirits, gods, and powers have all been banished or destroyed - or so it appears. The setting is clearly the Mediterranean area just before the renaissance. Countries have been relabeled, but you can spot Roman (Brothe), the Holy Roman Empire (the Grail Empire), the various Islamic groups, the Italian city states, France, Germany, and the Albigensian area. A translation guide might be worth looking at... But you don't need to know history to read this book - just because Cook borrows heavily on history is no reason you can't treat this as a normal fantasy world. Okay, that should be enough text. Now for some blank lines. To clear the screen before the spoilers. Because reading spoilers can be bad. Very bad. Okay, here's what I think is happening: Normally the Instruments of the Night are spawned, grow in power, then recycle their power into the wells as they are diminished. Some never really go, and this means an inbalance. Also, since the rise of the two big monotheologic groups more and more power has been directed to their views of God - which may be the same being, and possibly the same being as the Deves worship. This is leading to the cooling of the world. It think this is what is directing the plot - this ultra powerful being is working to move the ice back. A bit like the Director? Once there is a weapon that can affect the powerful Instruments this being inspires Else to use it to destroy a bogon - that's where his idea of using silver came from. Now on to some of the mysteries... Who killed Erief? Ask Vidgis about this one... She may have done it at the behest of her gods, but (I think) she gave the murder weapon (a dagger enchanted with his death) to her nephews to 'find' on the missionaries. They had it with them when they we taken to the Sky Fortress, left it there, and that's how it reappeared near the end of the book. What was the force that intervened when Shagot (representing the old gods), Starkden & Masant (representing the powers of magic), and Else (representing Man) battled? I'm of two minds on this. It could Rashal or something in the ring, or it could be the force behind the plot. I'm thinking it wasn't Arlensul - I can't see why it would be. Or more to the point - I can't see why Starkden & Masant survived if it was her. Maybe she would have kept the Godslayer alive to set up her battle with her father, but why did the sorcerers survive unless a factor wanted to see them latter brought down by guns firing iron and silver (driving home the lesson that Else should have learned)? Who was the angel that visited Stewpo? Again, I'm thinking it wasn't Arlensul. She might have wanted the Heroes killed, but she had other plans for that and wouldn't want to be on the field with the 'god killer weapons' being used. To me this is a sign of something pulling the strings in the background. Looking at his past series - how do the wizards of this one stack? Poorly. The most powerful one is 50 and looks 30 - he doesn't look like he'd give One-Eye a run for age, let alone one of the Taken. Their power seems based on sorcery (tapping magic from a magical source) rather than wizardry or personal power. There are grades for sensing / using power, but I doubt that Lady would notice the worse that Rashal could do. Speaking of old books, there's the Bones / Elmo comparison, but since Elmo was the classic 'grizzly old sergeant that survives everything' I think it's more reusing an archetype than borrowing from an old character. Anyhow, those are my thoughts Richard

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Interesting Book on half.com
by glencook＠dougbishop.com 25 Jun '05

25 Jun '05

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Re: [Glencook-fans] Spoilers for the Tyranny of the Night
by Grim213＠aol.com 20 Jun '05

20 Jun '05

i also had suspected Sicily, and for a brief moment, Cyprus, but the references to the size of the place and the ruined, "Cathage"-like city made me wonder if Cook didn't rearrange things a bit on the North African coast.

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Re: [Glencook-fans] Spoilers for the Tyranny of the Night
by Grim213＠aol.com 20 Jun '05

20 Jun '05

I totally agree with the Mother Sea mirroring our Mediterranean. The only place I'm having a hard time pinning down is this huge island of Shippen. Perhaps it a big piece broken off of North Africa. The references to the reduced city of Caltium Cidanta (p329) sound suspiciously like Carthage, located in modern-day Tunisia, and there are references to an important Strait nearby (strait of Gibraltar?) Anyway, Dreanger is pretty clearly a version of Egypt, with its dynasties, ruins, Upper and Lower Kingdoms, etc, which would make Ambonypsba (home of that great coffee!) Ethiopia. And Suriet is obviously Judea, home of the Jews (er...Deves).

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Re: glencook-fans Digest, Vol 1, Issue 1
by harrissg 17 Jun '05

17 Jun '05

Hi, all, What a surfpise--I write to the list just one day after Steve(?) does also, so it's being resurrected from multiple directions at once :) I'm still on vacation and about a week and a half behind in reading my email; it's going to be a while before I read more than the first digest of the new list. "Whispering Nickel Idols": As usual with Garrett novels, I read this very quickly. I agree it's an improvement over "Angry Lead Skies", which I saw as the weakest in the series. Once again, Cook has managed to include just about all the new female characters introduced in all the preceding ones: The ratgirl Sular Pinge is a major character in this one and shows every sign of developing more in the future, while the pixies from some book back are now established minor characterers as well. It doesn't have a Major New Twist like some few of the series have had; I'd rank it as about average. Off hand comment: The strange weather mentioned--an ice storm that coats everything and is followed by several inches of snow, making travel very hazardous--is an accurate depiction of a winter about 5 years ago here in St. Louis. "Tyrany of the Night": I'm about 2/3 of the way through this. Yes, a lot like Dread Empire in that it's main focus is political intrigue. But it is much more realistic in that there is no super-character in the Bragi mold or clown-character in the Mocker mold. All the people are highly believable. It's almost as if he decided to go back to the Dread Empire type of story-telling, but decided to do it right this time. (Yes, I like Bragi and Mocker, too; no, they're not believable.) One thing that's annoying is his penchant for sentence fragments. Like this. And also like this. The geopolitical map is difficult to understand because there is such a proliferation of empires, kingdoms, principalities, regions, and city-states, and it seems to be important to know which neighbors one which (and which includes which), but he doesn't provide a map or give any succinct description. I'm planning on rereading it again immediately with an eye towards taking notes so as to be able to get as clear a picture as I can. (Or maybe I should just call up Glen and ask if he has a map he'd be willing to share?) This being the first book of a trilogy, it would be Really Nice to have a sounder understanding of the geographical relationships for the forthcoming books. Oh, yes: It's entrancing reading. MINOR SPOILER WARNING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The fantasy elements are unusual in this respect: Generally speaking, I'd say there are two basic types of fantasy novels: Those where the fantasy elements dominate the nature of events in the world, and those in which the fantasy elements are a minor fillip. Generally Cook is the first category: In the Black Company, although we see a lot of Really Neat magic being wielded, its effect on the world is around the margins, except when things come to a climax in the South of the world. That's basically the case in this novel as well: The Instrumentalities of the Night are about as serious as wolves--something you have to watch out for, but not anything that affects the course of civilization (that we see, anyway). But there's a huge departure from that norm that forms a crucial plot element: A few of the gods have decided to take a very active hand in the mundane world. I have a suspicion that this is the crucial element upon which the entire series may be built: The reason Cook is telling a story from this particular moment in his world is not only the baroque politics coming to a fore, but also a dramtic change in the way in which the fantastic impacts the mundane. Steve/Stacey

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Late start
by Troy & Sue Lefman 14 Jun '05

14 Jun '05

I'm back on the list after a late restart. I won't go into details about the new books since I'm about a week late :-). I have the new Garrett novel but will have to wait for paperback on 'The Tyranny of the Night'.

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new glen cook books
by Adam Lachapelle {82264} 10 Jun '05

10 Jun '05

that's fantastic news about nickel & tyranny! no sooner do i ask than i get not one but TWO new 'cook' books. :) thanks for the info. :) -adam

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Re: [Glencook-fans] back on the list
by Pat Hannum 10 Jun '05

10 Jun '05

I thank you also Richard, I've missed this group, just thought it had died.... Pat ----- Original Message ----- From: Lee Childs Sent: Thursday, June 09, 2005 12:16 PM To: glencook-fans(a)mailman.xmission.com Subject: [Glencook-fans] back on the list Richard, Thanks for your help. I am now back on the list.

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back on the list
by Lee Childs 09 Jun '05

09 Jun '05

Richard, Thanks for your help. I am now back on the list. Now that the new Glen Cook trilogy is (I believe done) and the Garrett novel in print, I am expecting Glen Cook to start work on a new Black Company book. Lee Childs

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Re: Re: [Glencook-fans] butcher
by maserati＠speakeasy.net 09 Jun '05

09 Jun '05

> -----Original Message----- > From: ljenab(a)sunflower.com [mailto:ljenab@sunflower.com] > Sent: Wednesday, June 8, 2005 10:09 PM > To: 'Glen Cook: Science Fiction/Fantasy Author' > Subject: re: Re: [Glencook-fans] butcher > > I think he meant news on "Butcher" specifically. Anybody heard anything? If nobody (no publisher) picks it up, I say somebody drives to Glen's house and photocopies the manuscript. > Silly me, was Butcher suppsosed to be a Dread Empire novel or for an independant series ? If the latter, I think it was turned into tyranny, otherwise a commando raid on Glenn's desk is in order.

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