An Empire Unacquainted with Defeat (Dread Empire) [Hardcover]

Glen Cook (Author)

Book Description

Series: Dread Empire | Publication Date: June 23, 2009

Glen Cook has been heralded as the godfather of modern heroic fantasy; his influence on the genre is unquestionable. But long before Garrett, P.I., before The Instrumentalities of the Night, before The Black Company, there was The Dread Empire... The Dread Empire, a gritty world of larger-than-life plots, nation-shattering conflict, maddening magic, strange creatures, and raw, flawed heroes, all shown through the filter of Cook's inimitable war-correspondent prose. The Dread Empire, spanning from the highest peaks of the Dragon's Teeth to the endless desert lands of Hammad al Nakir, from besieged Kavelin to mighty Shinshan, the Empire Unacquainted with Defeat, with its fearless, masked soldiers, known as the Demon Guard...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

These 10 shadowy short stories take place in the same world as Cook's 1980s Dread Empire sword and sorcery novels. Ghost Stalk, Call for the Dead and the previously unpublished Hell Forge form an episodic tale of a damned crew's quest to escape hell. The other stories stand alone but share settings and characters, including the despotic empire itself, which lurks as an unseen but omnipresent menace. In this gloomy world, all are subject to the whims of those above them, quests rarely end happily and comic elements are limited to gallows humor. Fans of Fritz Leiber and Steven Erikson will enjoy these unjustly overlooked tales. (Sept.)
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Night Shade Books; 1St Edition edition (June 23, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1597801402
• ISBN-13: 978-1597801409
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #473,433 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Old Works by Cook Worth the Read, September 11, 2009

By 

Michael Burke (New England) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: An Empire Unacquainted with Defeat (Dread Empire) (Hardcover)

As an long time fan of Glen Cook's work with the Black Company and the Garrett Detective series, I was excited when Night Shade Books began releasing old works by Mr. Cook, including his Dread Empire series. As it would turn out, I loved the Dread Empire as much as the other world Cook has created. This last book, An Empire Unacquainted with Defeat, is a bit different in that it is not a continuation of the epic story line in the Dread Empire, but a collection of short story works within that world.

Before each new story the author also includes some thoughts as to the story being told such as where it first appeared and some history of himself in those times as he was writing it. Maybe I'm just a bit of a homerish fan of Cooks, but I really enjoyed this book and there are some great small stories that could have easily bloomed into bigger stories. Some of them also cross over into the time line of the main Dread Empire saga and were pretty neat to add to the flavor of that world.

If you are old fan of Glen Cook and have missed this or the Dread Empire series I highly recommend it. If you are new to reading Cook's work try it out as well as the Black Company and Garrett Detective novels.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Short fiction in the Dread Empire, July 15, 2010

By 

John Middleton (Brisbane, QLD, AUST) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: An Empire Unacquainted with Defeat (Dread Empire) (Paperback)

This is a nice collection of short stories set in the world of the Dread Empire, although previous exposure to other Dread Empire volumes is not necessary. At most about half the stories "depend" on being Dread Empire, and only to the extent of adding to the story if you know a little about it.

Cook is better known for his Black Company and Garrett PI novels, but he shows here that he can work in short fiction as well.

The best stories are "Filed teeth", "Soldier of an Empire Unacquanted with Defeat", which is almost a novella, and the first Vengeful Dragon tale. All of the contents are well worth reading though.

Simply put, these tales are fun, if a little dark. Here's hoping NightShade gets around to publishing a 4th Dread Empire collection.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Made me a Glen Cook Fan, June 29, 2009

By 

Bryan Bullinger "Teddybull" (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: An Empire Unacquainted with Defeat (Dread Empire) (Hardcover)

For me, these books finally gave substance to Fantasy Fiction. It wasn't the Thud and Blunder of Conan or Gor. It was interesting, developed, 'real' characters working against insurmountable odds. And, trust me, the Shinshan are as bad a bunch off dudes as you will find. The Military SF aspect is realistic. The diplomatic intrigue is well thought out. The magic system works and is internally consistent. A good read of an interesting story well told.