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 ;-)
It's nice to chat with another Cook fan. Personally one of my favorite authers. You seem to have done alot of research which is really cool. Myself have been pretty lazy on the auther research. But I will say this everytime I hit the book store he is one of the first authors I look for. Faded steel heat was the first Garrett book I read. At the time thought it was really great. Cook has the ability to bring humor to any situation. I am in the Navy stationed on board a submarine and find myself laughing outloud with in the rack (bed). He talks of continuing the Black Company series but not sure how well that will go. Croaker makes those books along with the Lady and I just can't see much comming of another book. I will read it however just because it is Cook. I am on my second time through that series......Kind of going slow since I have already read it. Have other books that have head of the line. Well It's late for me hope to talk more...Lance On Thu, Oct 23, 2008 at 11:22 PM, Marc Rikmenspoel <marcrik@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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On Thu, Oct 30, 2008 at 1:53 AM, lance mortensen <lmortensen1@gmail.com>wrote:
He talks of continuing the Black Company series but not sure how well that will go. Croaker makes those books along with the Lady and I just can't see much comming of another book.
I agree that Croaker makes those books. The ones in which is largely absent from lack a certain something. He doesn't have to be the narrator (the one Lady narrated was wonderful, but the character has to be there. Yes, I know that 'the character' of those books is the Company itself, but the Company only seems to live when Croaker's around. Richard
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. Cook is smarter than people sometimes realize. Lady in particular bent the truth in her volume. She was used to being powerful, and using people as tools. Once the seige of Dejagore was broken, for example, she claims she merely sent Murgen on a mission. In fact, we learn later from Murgen, she put a spell on him to breifly take over his will. It's little details like this that I find it fun to discover. As to "research," it's something I can't help but do, as I'm a natural born historian. I've actually written several books of World War 2 history, you can find my books under the name Marc Rikmenspoel on Amazon and similar sites. Gathering information and giving it too much thought is *fun* for me, no matter how On Wed, Oct 29, 2008 at 11:11 PM, Richard Chilton <rchilton@auracom.com>wrote:
On Thu, Oct 30, 2008 at 1:53 AM, lance mortensen <lmortensen1@gmail.com>wrote:
He talks of continuing the Black Company series but not sure how well that will go. Croaker makes those books along with the Lady and I just can't see much comming of another book.
I agree that Croaker makes those books. The ones in which is largely absent from lack a certain something. He doesn't have to be the narrator (the one Lady narrated was wonderful, but the character has to be there.
Yes, I know that 'the character' of those books is the Company itself, but the Company only seems to live when Croaker's around.
Richard
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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@speakeasy.net
On Thu, Oct 30, 2008 at 1:28 PM, Michael Llaneza <maserati@speakeasy.net>wrote:
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.
I had forgotten The Silver Spike - which was one of the better books... To be honest, I was thinking mostly of Water Sleeps - a book which has very little Croaker. As for the "Lady vs The Truth", that was fun to read, but in both of those books Croaker featured heavily. And we learn more from some of those books - if Croaker had been the only narrator we would have never known that he has the eyes of a psycho killer - which he appears not to know (none of his friends will tell him, and others - well you don't go around pissing off the psycho with the sword, do you?). Maybe I miss the Old Company too much... Or maybe there was too much death for the Company's character to be maintained? Who's left from the old days? Going further, who's left from the first books of the South? There's Lady playing with her new powers, Croaker watching and writing everything, and... well who else is left? The Company we knew is gone, as are the villains they fought. In the new books there won't be any Limper, or even Shadowmasters. The new 'rulers' of the empire are weak sisters compared to the Lady's new Taken, can't hold a candle to Whisper, and Soulcatcher would eat them for lunch - so what eldritch force stands againt them? Then again, Cook might pull it off - give us a New Crew to follow. If anyone can do it then he can. Richard
I can't speak for any of the books of glittering stone, since I haven't yet found any of them, but I found The Silver Spike to be just as enjoyable as the other books in the series. Croaker's dark and cynical outlook played more to my taste, but really it's Cook's writing that captivates me. I do find myself sorely missing the Old Company though. The social dynamic of that group was enough to keep me snickering through the worst of their perils. Tim On Thu, Oct 30, 2008 at 3:36 PM, Richard Chilton <rchilton@auracom.com>wrote:
On Thu, Oct 30, 2008 at 1:28 PM, Michael Llaneza <maserati@speakeasy.net>wrote:
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.
I had forgotten The Silver Spike - which was one of the better books... To be honest, I was thinking mostly of Water Sleeps - a book which has very little Croaker.
As for the "Lady vs The Truth", that was fun to read, but in both of those books Croaker featured heavily. And we learn more from some of those books - if Croaker had been the only narrator we would have never known that he has the eyes of a psycho killer - which he appears not to know (none of his friends will tell him, and others - well you don't go around pissing off the psycho with the sword, do you?).
Maybe I miss the Old Company too much... Or maybe there was too much death for the Company's character to be maintained?
Who's left from the old days? Going further, who's left from the first books of the South? There's Lady playing with her new powers, Croaker watching and writing everything, and... well who else is left? The Company we knew is gone, as are the villains they fought. In the new books there won't be any Limper, or even Shadowmasters. The new 'rulers' of the empire are weak sisters compared to the Lady's new Taken, can't hold a candle to Whisper, and Soulcatcher would eat them for lunch - so what eldritch force stands againt them?
Then again, Cook might pull it off - give us a New Crew to follow. If anyone can do it then he can.
Richard
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participants (5)
-
lance mortensen -
Marc Rikmenspoel -
Michael Llaneza -
Richard Chilton -
Timothy McNamara