Water Sleeps (Chronicle of the Black Company) [Hardcover]

Glen Cook (Author)

Book Description

Series: Chronicle of the Black Company | Publication Date: March 1999

For years, Glen Cook's Black Company series has built a major audience among fantasy fans. Beginning as paperback originals in the 1980s, continuing in hardcover in the 1990s, this epic of warfare between sorcerers and demigods, all told from the "worm's-eye" view of the soldiers and functionaries who fight for them, has riveted a generation of readers. If the Joseph Heller of Catch-22 were to tell the story of The Lord of the Rings, it might read like the Black Company books. There is nothing else in fantasy like them.

Now Cook brings the latest cycle of the epic to a major climax, as the survivors of the disaster at the end of She Is the Darkness regroup in Taglios. Determined to free their fellow warriors held in stasis beneath the glittering plain, they journey there under terrible conditions, arriving just in time for a magical conflagaration in which the bones of the world will be revealed, the history of the Company unveiled, and new worlds gained and lost -- all at a terrible price.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The eighth volume of the military-fantasy saga of the Black Company of mercenaries, set in a world strongly flavored with elements of South and Southeast Asia, holds to the high standards of previous volumes. It is some years after the close of She Is the Darkness, when their nemesis, Soulcatcher, locked most of the company in a magical stasis field; now the motley band of survivors exists at the sufferance of the Radisha of Taglios. This doesn't keep them from wanting to rescue their comrades, however. The survivors' leader is the young woman Sleepy, once the ward of Murgen the Standardbearer but now his successor as Annalist of the Company. She organizes her ragtag followers to steal the various sorcerous secrets of ways to penetrate the stasis field and eventually to kidnap the Radisha of Taglios herself. The rescue party then hotfoots it, with Soulcatcher, her general Mogaba and Kina the Destroyer close on their heels. This novel stands more sturdily on its own than most Black Company books, thanks to the exceptional richness of the world building, exemplified in particular by its feel for Eastern religion. It is compelling to see the dregs of society groping toward a certain nobility through loyalty to lost comrades. The actual rescue has a whiff of anticlimax about it, but the revived Black Company has no shortage of surviving enemies, and further adventures are practically guaranteed and eagerly anticipated.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

After a 15-year wait, the surviving members of the Black Company marshal their resources and begin an arduous journey back to the glittering plain in an attempt to rescue their captured brethren from a timeless prison. Told from the perspective of an Annalist haunted by dreams of the past and visions of the future, the eighth chronicle of the last of the Free Companies encompasses accounts of guerrilla warfare and open battle as well as the everyday struggles of soldiers caught in a war for survival against immortal enemies. Cook's singular talent for combining gritty realism and high fantasy provides a hard edge to this popular fantasy noir series. Highly recommended.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 412 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; 1st edition (March 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312859090
• ISBN-13: 978-0312859091
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.8 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #920,213 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Is there a better series of novels with heroes this nasty?, July 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Water Sleeps (Chronicle of the Black Company) (Hardcover)

I am always surprised when a new Glen Cook novel hits the stands. Outside of the success of his "Garrett" novels (which are a lovely blend of Raymond Chandler meets J.R.R.), he has to be the most overlooked writer in the fantasy genre. His "Dread Empire" series of novels (of which there were seven (7) published) combined political machinations with big-time wizardry, meddling immortals and believable ordinary characters (with ordinary flaws) into a grand mesh set on a world scale. He had planned at least two more novels in the series but poor sales forced its "retirement". Let us all hope that this does not happen with The Black Company. My greatest fear is that the latest book will be the last and the story will not yet be finished. Water Sleeps is another example of Glen's gritty storytelling at his best! Best of all, there is room for more novels with the hooks and unanswered questions that he leaves us with! The presence of Croaker and Lady (or lack of presence would better describe it) is the one thread that has bound the entire series together. Having them restored will allow Mr. Cook to tantilize us with further tales - should enough people purchase the novels - and also allow for the development of the newest wizard in the group - Murgen's son. Write on.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An entertaining read with a little disappointment, March 8, 2000

By 

Patrick (Indiana, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Water Sleeps: A Novel of the Black Company (Glittering Stone) (Mass Market Paperback)

"Water Sleeps" is definitely a page turner. The plot is nicely constructed and seems to have more direction than "She Is the Darkness". Sleepy, the new annalist, keeps the company spirit alive as she pulls some tricks truly worthy of the Black Company's style. As someone else noted, Cook definitely seems to be getting into saga mode. I don't think one more book will wrap up this series. Count on at least two.

Now the gripes (SPOILERS AHEAD! Skip the rest if you haven't read the book): It would have been nice to have some dialogue with Croaker and Lady, at least at the end. I also noticed some inconsistencies in the story. For example, when Soulcatcher's sabotaged carpet gives way, she sees the words 'Water Sleeps' written in the sky. Later, Cook writes that she didn't know the carpet breaking was sabotage until she checked her other carpet and saw that it too was sabotaged. Somehow I think 'Water Sleeps' as she fell would have been a good clue.

As for someone's comment wondering why the Company hasn't gotten Soulcatcher's true name, I'd go further than that. Why the heck did they leave her alive anyway? In "She Is the Darkness", they dragged around Howler and Soulcatcher for no good reason. 'They might come in handy' is not a compelling reason to keep two incredibly dangerous enemies alive. I don't recall any better reasons being given (someone enlighten me, by all means, if there was). I couldn't believe that an outfit that can be as ruthless as the Black Company would let those two live when they caught them unless it was VERY important. Sorry, this just drove me nuts as I read 'She Is the Darkness'. Now Cook may be doing it again at the end of 'Water Sleeps', though not quite as badly, with Narayan and Longshadow. Maybe we can chalk up Narayan's continued life to Kina's subtle influence on his captor... maybe. Okay, my rant is over. 'Water Sleeps' is quite good, certainly better than 'She Is the Darkness'.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Cook traces back to his roots.., December 13, 1999

By 

Aaron C. Stewart - See all my reviews

This review is from: Water Sleeps (Chronicle of the Black Company) (Hardcover)

Following up on the storyline as established in She is the Darkness, Cook really gets back into character (so to speak) by duplicating the style he used in White Rose.

Told from both first person and third person perspective, this book involves the reader in a plot of intrigue, deception, and general mayhem, relying on the reader's intuition and understanding of previous events, evoking thoughts seldom generated by other authors of this genre.