October 2008 - glencook-fans - mailman.xmission.com

Re: [Glencook-fans] Angry Lead Skies
by Lawrence Jenab 31 Oct '08

31 Oct '08

I thought Glen had deliberately turned Croaker into his ultimate narrator, for the express purpose of continuing the series (and maybe a universe of new series): a skeptical, insatiably curious perspective, with a passion for root causes, sympathy for human frailty, respect for courage and sacrifice, a strong moral and ethical structure (but non-judgmental), infinite resources, and no dog in the fight. It's as if he engineered the possibility of an infinite series of books, written from his favorite perspective (Glen has repeatedly stated that he and Croaker share a worldview) . Croaker could tell stories for aeons. Hell, we might find out later that Croaker narrated the Darkwar books. This was (IMO) a stroke of pragmatic genius. Here's what I hope: when Glen finishes his Garret contract, he will return to Croaker as a narrator, whether the books are "BC" or not, and write what *he* wants to write, for many years to come. ---- Michael Llaneza <maserati(a)speakeasy.net> wrote: > > On Oct 31, 2008, at 4:20 AM, Grim213(a)aol.com wrote: > > > I'm sure future books will be narrated by Croaker, he is after all > > the penultimate immortal historian now. > > > > Why does anyone think Croaker would no longer be in the series? > > > > > Good point. Hell, Croaker can tell the OLD stories too. > > -- > Michael Llaneza > maserati(a)speakeasy.net > > > > >

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Re: [Glencook-fans] Angry Lead Skies
by Grim213＠aol.com 31 Oct '08

31 Oct '08

I'm sure future books will be narrated by Croaker, he is after all the penultimate immortal historian now. Why does anyone think Croaker would no longer be in the series? **************Plan your next getaway with AOL Travel. Check out Today's Hot 5 Travel Deals! (http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100000075x1212416248x1200771803/aol?redir=htt…)

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Angry Lead Skies
by Marc Rikmenspoel 30 Oct '08

30 Oct '08

I finished Faded Steel Heat, and found it to be one of the best Garrett books, and one of Cook's better books overall. I've now started Angry Lead Skies, a book that is widely criticized, especially on Amazon, for not being up to the standard of the rest of the series. Some have speculated that it was ghost written, or is partially the work of another author. It DOES feel like Glen Cook's work to me, it just doesn't feel like typical Garrett. I've come up with some speculation on what might have happened to cause this. To begin with, the first nine Garrett books were released over a 12 year span, between 1987 and 1999. Published books are usually written between six months and several years ahead of their first publication date. Faded Steel Heat, published in 1999, was released four years after Petty Pewter Gods. It may have been written as early as 1996 or so. I'm guessing that the Garrett books were written continuously. Based on comments Cook has made in interviews, he may well have written a Garrett book over the course of several months (or even more than a year), and then immediately started the next one, with again a possible gestation time of many months. But the character and milieu were always close at hand in his mind. For whatever reason, probably due to his changing lifestyle when he retired from GM, Cook's output dropped just after the millennium. Faded Steel Heat and Water Sleeps were released in 1999. Soldiers Live came out the next year, but was written sooner, of course. In 2005 Whispering Nickel Idols and The Tyranny of the Night were released. Between 2000 and 2005, Angry Lead Skies was the only book Cook published, and was the only one written so far as I know (that is, between circa 1999 and circa 2003 when he started his next releases, a span of roughly four years, Cook only wrote one book). What I speculate from all this is that the character of Garrett had gotten away from Cook a bit when he wrote Angry Lead Skies. So, some of the continuity slipped. Katie appears from nowhere, the Grolls speak Karantine, and so on. Perhaps enough readers at the time pointed this out to Cook that he put a little more effort into the continuity in the following volumes. After finishing Angry Lead Skies and starting Whispering Nickel Idols, Cook was back in full time Garrett mode, the character and setting were close-by, mentally. I know that Cruel Zinc Melodies was already at least partially written when Whispering Nickel Idols was released in 2005, and since the 13 th Garrett book is under contract (the deal that covered Whispering Nickel Idols was for two Garrett books), it probably already exists to some degree. I haven't read Whispering Nickel Idols and Cruel Zinc Melodies yet, but I understand that they are much more in line with the rest of the series. I could be wrong with all my guessing, since I only know what I pick up as clues in interviews and such. But my best guess is that Cook lost his handle on Garrett while not doing much writing for a few years around the turn of the millennium, but has since regained his contact with the Garrett muse. I've seen comments that Cook might be winding the series down, and preparing Garrett for a more peaceful life, married to Tinnie and working full time for Weider. Could Blissful Platinum Nuptials be the title of the next volume ;-)

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Re: [Glencook-fans] Angry Lead Skies
by Lawrence Jenab 30 Oct '08

30 Oct '08

The Croaker-narrated books tend to be my favorites, but I'm glad to hear a plug for The Silver Spike, which is one of the best books in the series (or in fantasy, for that matter). How's that for inconsistency? ---- Michael Llaneza <maserati(a)speakeasy.net> wrote: > > On Oct 30, 2008, at 9:25 AM, Marc Rikmenspoel wrote: > > > With no offense intended, I disagree about how enjoyable the books > > are when Croaker isn't really present. I think these books are > > fascinating in their own right for the reason that they serve an > > important function. A first person narrator has biases, and > > inevitably doesn't record "the truth" the way another person would. > > Seeing the company and its personalities through a variety of > > narrators sheds light on many of those characters. > > > > I have to agree, as an argument I present "The Silver Spike". Croaker > is barely on the map for most of this story and leaves it in the > course.I don't think he ever even heard about the events. And it's one > of Cook's very best. > > > -- > Michael Llaneza > maserati(a)speakeasy.net > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > glencook-fans mailing list > glencook-fans(a)mailman.xmission.com > http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/glencook-fans

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Re: [Glencook-fans] Angry Lead Skies
by Lawrence Jenab 27 Oct '08

27 Oct '08

I thought I read an interview (I can't remember where) that confirmed my own suspicion, which was that the pending contract was the only reason Glen wrote the book--i.e., that he thought the character and the situation had run its course. He's written dozens of fantastic, energetic, and thoughtful books--ALS just isn't one of them, IMO. The Tyranny books, written around the same time, are so much denser and more intensely felt that I'm guessing that's where his heart was. ---- Marc Rikmenspoel <marcrik(a)gmail.com> wrote: > I finished Faded Steel Heat, and found it to be one of the best Garrett > books, and one of Cook's better books overall. I've now started Angry Lead > Skies, a book that is widely criticized, especially on Amazon, for not being > up to the standard of the rest of the series. Some have speculated that it > was ghost written, or is partially the work of another author. > > > > It DOES feel like Glen Cook's work to me, it just doesn't feel like typical > Garrett. I've come up with some speculation on what might have happened to > cause this. > > > > To begin with, the first nine Garrett books were released over a 12 year > span, between 1987 and 1999. Published books are usually written between six > months and several years ahead of their first publication date. Faded Steel > Heat, published in 1999, was released four years after Petty Pewter Gods. It > may have been written as early as 1996 or so. I'm guessing that the Garrett > books were written continuously. Based on comments Cook has made in > interviews, he may well have written a Garrett book over the course of > several months (or even more than a year), and then immediately started the > next one, with again a possible gestation time of many months. But the > character and milieu were always close at hand in his mind. > > > > For whatever reason, probably due to his changing lifestyle when he retired > from GM, Cook's output dropped just after the millennium. Faded Steel Heat > and Water Sleeps were released in 1999. Soldiers Live came out the next > year, but was written sooner, of course. In 2005 Whispering Nickel Idols and > The Tyranny of the Night were released. Between 2000 and 2005, Angry Lead > Skies was the only book Cook published, and was the only one written so far > as I know (that is, between circa 1999 and circa 2003 when he started his > next releases, a span of roughly four years, Cook only wrote one book). > > > > What I speculate from all this is that the character of Garrett had gotten > away from Cook a bit when he wrote Angry Lead Skies. So, some of the > continuity slipped. Katie appears from nowhere, the Grolls speak Karantine, > and so on. Perhaps enough readers at the time pointed this out to Cook that > he put a little more effort into the continuity in the following volumes. > After finishing Angry Lead Skies and starting Whispering Nickel Idols, Cook > was back in full time Garrett mode, the character and setting were close-by, > mentally. I know that Cruel Zinc Melodies was already at least partially > written when Whispering Nickel Idols was released in 2005, and since the 13 > th Garrett book is under contract (the deal that covered Whispering Nickel > Idols was for two Garrett books), it probably already exists to some degree. > > > > I haven't read Whispering Nickel Idols and Cruel Zinc Melodies yet, but I > understand that they are much more in line with the rest of the series. I > could be wrong with all my guessing, since I only know what I pick up as > clues in interviews and such. But my best guess is that Cook lost his handle > on Garrett while not doing much writing for a few years around the turn of > the millennium, but has since regained his contact with the Garrett muse. > I've seen comments that Cook might be winding the series down, and preparing > Garrett for a more peaceful life, married to Tinnie and working full time > for Weider. Could Blissful Platinum Nuptials be the title of the next volume > ;-)

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Glen Cook selling well
by Marc Rikmenspoel 21 Oct '08

21 Oct '08

I noticed on the web this weekend that Locus shows for its August issue that Cruel Zinc Melodies was the best selling mass market paperback Sci Fi/Fantasy title in the reporting bookstores for the previous data collecting time (probably June, realistically). This makes sense when you consider that the book has quickly gone to a 2nd printing (you can tell a book's printing at the bottom of the copyright page, unless the book is a rare example of a mistake, such as current copies of Sweet Silver Blues, which show themselves as 1st printings from 1987!). Cruel Zince Melodies was released in early May this year, even though copies were on the shelf in late April (like many of you, I spotted copies for sale as early as April 25 or so). For various reasons, I didn't purchase a copy until early August. I got it at a Borders, and it is a 2nd printing with a sticker on the back indicating that Borders accepted it as inventory on July 9. The book was of course printed at least a couple of weeks earlier, so the 2nd printing was made less than 2 months after the books debut, which is quite impressive for a 21 year old series! FWIW, I see that The Tyranny of the Night mass market edition and the trade paperback of A Cruel Wind have both gone to 2nd printings, and the first Black Company omnibus is on to a 5th printing in less than a year! So Glen Cook is moving a lot of books these days, and good for him! I have seen some internet lists of books that Sci Fi/Fantasy editors have been dealing with, and it shows that Patrick Neilsen Hayden at Tor worked on Surrender to the Will of the Night, the third volume of The Instrumentalities of the Night. A related list shows the book due at some unspecified date in 2009. I e-mailed Patrick, asking if he could shed any light, such as if Tor was aiming for a spring or summer release date, but have received no reply thus far. Finally, I have an amazon gift certificate ready to use, but I've been waiting for the trade paperback of A Fortress in Shadow to become available. Nightshade indicated they would receive it from the printer on September 29, and they now show it in a featured place on their website. So I expect Amazon to get copies in any day now, but as I write this Monday afternoon, October 20, I have yet to see it in stock anywhere.

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Glittering Stone
by James F 21 Oct '08

21 Oct '08

Hello, i was wondering if anyone knew if the last four black company books are going to be published soon or if there is an easy, inexpensive way to get copies of them. JFodera _________________________________________________________________ Stay organized with simple drag and drop from Windows Live Hotmail. http://windowslive.com/Explore/hotmail?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_hotmail_102008

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Re: [Glencook-fans] Sure is quiet!
by Grim213＠aol.com 13 Oct '08

13 Oct '08

Thanks - i love Glen's reviews - he's nothing if not consistent. **************New MapQuest Local shows what's happening at your destination. Dining, Movies, Events, News & more. Try it out (http://local.mapquest.com/?ncid=emlcntnew00000002)

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Old Tin Sorrows reissue
by Marc Rikmenspoel 12 Oct '08

12 Oct '08

Today I finally saw for myself the new printing of Old Tin Sorrows, which came out this past week. Unlike the first three reissues, which had graphic design to match Whispering Nickel Idols, this one matched Cruel Zinc Melodies (while keeping the original cover painting). I finished reading Cold Copper Tears in late July, and had to decide, should I spend the extra $ to collect used copies of Old Tin Sorrows and the following books, or wait until the Old Tin Sorrows reissue came out in early October, followed by Dread Brass Shadows in early December. I like the look of the reissue, but I'm glad I got a copy to read many weeks sooner! I wonder if the reissues will continue up through Angry Lead Skies, eventually?

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Re: [Glencook-fans] Sure is quiet!
by Grim213＠aol.com 11 Oct '08

11 Oct '08

Interesting supposition, we'll see how it pans out. Where is this interview you're referring to? **************New MapQuest Local shows what's happening at your destination. Dining, Movies, Events, News & more. Try it out (http://local.mapquest.com/?ncid=emlcntnew00000002)

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