Customer Reviews

The Walrus And The Warwolf

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a part of Hugh Cook's Chronicles of an Age of Darkness series. This is an excellent series, with much more believable charecters, places and events than the norm. For example, when an army marches to war, it is as likely to be defeated by disease, terrain or stupidity as it is to be broken in combat.

That said, this is a fairly light, fun read. While rougish boy thieves and glittering knights are (thankfully) absent, there are fewer of the underlying messages and tensions in this than in some of the series. This is more 'standard' fantasy than most of the series, but still is still significantly more satisfying than many books in the genre. Drake is a relatively straightforward and impulsive character, who fast talks, lies and dodges his way out of many dangerous situations.

* Note: a feature which is present through the whole series is that the action in this book, rather than following from the events of the previous books, is actually simultaneous to them. Thus the characters are effected by some of the same events, and sometimes interact directly with one another!

* Also: Living in Australia, I get what I believe to be the English editions of these books, but I have seen and heard about the ones released in the USA. The UK editions have neater names, better covers (some of the US ones are HIDEOUSLY gaudy) and are better in other ways - such as the second book being published as one volume, not as two very skinny ones.

This is my all time favourite fantasy series, and this is on of the best in the series. Cook has a unique style of writing, and isn't afraid to break away from the normal c**p the genre tends to churn out.

He has some interesting (although not always original) ideas, and this book is one of the best examples of that.

By the way, Hugh Cook is a New Zealander, although many references state he is English.

A vast(ly) amusing picaresque tale, this book would probably have gone on too long if it weren't for one of the greatest fantasy heroes ever. drake dreldragon douay is a complete nutter and will charge into any situation with a quip on his lips and you charging inches behind - a revolutionary non-standard fantasy book - not your conveyor belt dungon dross - beg borrow or steal a copy now!!

This book is definitely the best book in the series and the place any new reader to Hugh Cook should start. Why no one has made it into a movie escapes me as the main character would leave the average adventure movie lead grasping for breath. It's real old school "boys own adventure" stuff - a ripping yarn. Sadly the author passed away recently so we can't expect anything new in this series, which is rather old now anyhow.

We start out with lead as a young lad getting involved with pirates and traveling the sea, ending with him growing up and getting involved in all sort of reckless adventures in between. The world he inhabits is not ordinary SF high tech, but rather a dying world that obviously once had high tech (some of which still works and seems like magic to some of the inhabitants) but has now decayed into semi barbarism. So really anything goes to keep the adventure rolling. Despite starting off a little slow it's well worth taking you're time. I've read this many times and still really enjoy.

As one review stated, "buy, beg or steal a copy". If you like adventure SF fantasy it's a must read.

the best bit is when the the pirate Drake comes across a nuclear submarime base and you start to wonder what direction the book could take then.. This is an amazing love story, I'm here trying to buy my third copy having lent the previous two to ex-girls who 'lost" it. It twists and turns through the most all encompassing saga you've ever read, taking in ancient wars, extict gods, oppresive armies and a worm that stops you getting drunk...and all the way through Drake's jus' tryin' to get the girl. It's so good.

I think this is the best of the 10, closely followed by the Witchlord and the Weaponmaster. The interaction of the characters amongst all of novels is fantastic. The whole potential post apocalyptic theme (through the swarms) could be further explored - which as far as I am aware has not been done yet.

Where is volume 11?

The best fantasy epic I've ever read. I first read this book ten years ago and I still think it rocks. If you like fantasy and you die without reading this, you've lived in vain...

Drake Dreldragon Douay. Now that's a heroes hero. Real, powerful, flawed and by far the most talented liar on all of stokos. This novel is a stand alone that can be enjoyed even without owning or reading the other chronicles. Aquire it at any cost

I have read this book over 50 times, and everytime I pick it up to read again, I find more to love about it. The characters are colourful, and full of life. Hugh Cook has outdone himself, and many other fantasy writers, with this novel.

I believe this is the greatest book ever writen.

To people about to start the series... I found it much more enjoyable to begin the saga from this book, then to read the rest in any order... it seems to work out better that way.

The Walrus and the Warwolf was recently reprinted as part of Paizo's Planet Stories line, and I found it a real disappointment. I had planned to try to track down the other 9 books in the "Chronicle of Darkness", but after reading W&W, decided not to. Perhaps the story is better read as part of the entire series, but it was billed a very readable on a stand alone basis. I beg to disagree.

From a meandering introduction followed a "gee wow isn't this cool" tale about unlikeable people doing unsavory things. Now, I loved Joe Abercrombie's Best Served Cold, so in the right hands nastiness can be made to work. Unfortunately, Cook was no Abercrombie. This book should rock - it has pirates! - but doesn't.

Dialogue that was meant to be witty wasn't - I groaned regularly, and laughed once. In 400 pages. The characters were poorly drawn, and what there was was unlikeable. Only Jon Arabin was at all interesting - everyone else was disagreeable, pitiable, or both.

Our protagonist Drake Douay is a foolish teenager who spends the book in pursuit of his love - well, lust, at least at first - Zanya. In all that he has a enormous compendium of adventures in a future earth where lost science and magic coexist.

It certainly is not standard fantasy, and perhaps this was groundbreaking in the 1980's. Reading this book in 2010, that is not enough to save it for me. But if you see it on a shelf, pick it up and read a few pages at random: if you like it, keep going, and then go buy it. Tastes differ. But if you don't like it at first, don't keep going, as does not really change: the book does not pick up at page 100, say. What you see is what you get, all the way through.