The Black Company by Glen Cook
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Black Company is heralded as a dark and gritty work--Glen cook has been called the grandfather (father maybe?) of Grimdark—and it is definitely gritty and at times dark. Glen also writes detective fiction and though I have not read any of his detective fiction there are definitely elements of the hardboiled detective novel in his work.
There is a certain joy at discovering the sources of ideas for later authors. Steven Erikson list’s Glen Cook as a major influence on his Malazan Book of the Fallen. The influences range from the gritty military fantasy atmosphere to naming conventions for soldiers and even to the possible character seed of Quick Ben in the taken Soulcatcher.
There is an abundance of military action, intrigue, magic great and small, and character’s with varying degrees of development. I enjoyed the first installment very much and will be purchasing the Tor omnibus editions as a result.


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The Cobra's Lair: A Black Brothers' Saga Tale by M.G. Floyd
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a great story with all of the classic trappings of the sword & sorcery genre. The setting and characters are well developed for a short story. The action is face paced, well done, and driven by character and story; reminiscent of the vibrancy of Howard and Leiber.

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Hyperion by Dan Simmons
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Dan Simmon's sci-fi masterpiece is a complicated work.

Using a frame story ala the Decameron and the Canterbury Tales it recounts the individual tales of six of seven pilgrims journeying to the Time Tombs on the eponymous world of Hyperion. Hyperion is a world within the world-web of the Hegemony (a sort of galactice empire), hungered after by the non-hegemony Ousters, and home to the legendary Shrike, a monster/god around which a cult has formed. On the eve of a looming intergalactic war seven pilgrims make their way to the Time Tombs to make a request of the Shrike.

Each of the pilgrims tales is told in a different style. Dan Simmons effectively mixes horror, sci-fi, detective, romance, and thriller genres.

Unlike many classics of the sci-fi genre the characterization is as deep as the ideas are grandiose. I found the tale of the scholar, Sol Weintraub, particularly moving, but also enjoyed General Kassad's military sci-fi story, and the poet's tale. Simmon's attempt at a hardboiled detective story comes off a bit lame, though still enjoyable, and manages to nearly capture the genre's attitude, if not atmosphere, in a way that is beyond Jim Butcher.

Six short stories set in a frame story is a real gamble. A gamble, in this case, that pays off more often than not. The writing varies from terrific to tedious. The skill of each tale also varies, which makes me wonder whether the author's skill improved as he wrote and the stories were cobbled together in a different order than they were written, or more likely, his skill at each genre was heterogenous. The book references literary works, and seems to rather smugly asserts its own literariness, without actually being literary. This coupled with the less than anti-climatic ending of the frame story resulted in a lower rating than some of the individual stories deserve.

I started reading Keat's poetry as a result of reading this book, but I am not sure if I'll read novel's sequel.

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Emperor of Thorns by Mark Lawrence
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Finishing a good book is always a pleasure, but finishing a great series is bittersweet.
There is a grieving process even when you know a character is in a better place. You change as you journey with a character, you become wiser, and you let go.

Emperor of Thorns is a good, borderline great book, that finishes a series that is an achievement for fantasy. Mark Lawrence is one of the most skilled writers of fantasy today. He is a master craftsman of dark dreams in a field of stumbling journeyman.

The Emperor of Thorns begins slow, but builds inexorable momentum. The pages turn faster as Jorg hurtles toward the destiny you knew was coming since Prince of Thorns. Suspicions are confirmed and answers beg more questions. By the time you figure out who the Dead King is you know how the book is going to end...but you're wrong.

Jorg, you magnificent bastard, I am going to miss you. I am glad you're gone.

The relief of removing a thorn is so pleasurable, that it is almost worth the pain. Jorg is the prick you didn't know you were missing.

Now onto Prince of Fools!



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