Customer Reviews

Water Sleeps: A Novel of the Black Company (Glittering Stone)

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

"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'.

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.

Since long before Glen Cook began writing the Annals of the Black Company, I've been a fan of his work, but it wasn't until the inaugural book of the series that I truly came to know his genius. Now, 20+ years and thousands of miles later, it seems that the Company has worn itself away into an empty shadow of what it was.

Where do I start? I miss Croaker. He is by far the greatest narrative voice in the series. A physician with the eyes of a molester, the mind of a tactitian, and the soul of a poet, he alone has been able to touch upon the heart of what makes the Company what it is.

As the years pass, and other Annalists (it seems we have a new one every book) take up the pen, the Company sheds a little of the character which made it distinct. I understand and applaud Mr. Cook's decision not to halt the ravages of time -- as old, dear members of the Company fall, it is only natural that new characters be introduced. Yet none of these characters resonate with the power of old... off hand, I couldn't name a single one of them. As for the Old Guard? Mercy, Elmo, Tom-Tom, Goblin, One-Eye, Otto, Hagop, Silent. The names come so easily, because the characters who bore them meant something, given life and colour with the passion of Croaker's pen.

And now? Of the Brothers listed, only two remain. Meanwhile Murgen faces a wife whose youth and beauty faded while he slept. Croaker and the Lady retreat ever further into the shadows on the outskirts of the Company. And who is there to replace the "Old Crew"? People we know nothing about, people we care nothing about.

"They are the future." But what good is such a future when the fire inside has burned itself out. Like One-Eye, it seems that the heart of the Company is withering quietly into senility, leaving nothing of value behind.

All in all, I give it 3 stars. It was a well-written story, and thankfully tied up a number of loose ends. But the narrative voice was so empty, so ignorant of the Black Company's soul, that I was left with only sadness, that so fabulous a group of characters could come to this.

Once again we get a switch in annalists - of necessity since Soulcatcher dropped most of the main characters (other than Goblin and One-Eye) into a stasis trap in the depths of the Fortress With No Name. It is Sleepy this time, who got some slight mention in She Is The Darkness, mostly because she was masquerading as a he. Sleepy, along with Murgen's wife Sahra are hard at work getting even with Soulcatcher, Mogaba, and the usual select crew of bad guys. When they aren't pulling someone's chain they are trying to find a way to re-enter the Glittering Plain and release Murgen and all the other Black Company regulars.

The story takes place almost entirely in Taglios, which is now the center of Soulcatcher's 'protectorate.' I'm not sure why the witch chose that title, since the only thing she ever protects is herself. And she is more than content to spend the lives of innocent citizenry if she feels the least bit threatened. Sahra and Sleepy and the remaining fragments of the Black Company have gone into hiding with the help of the Nyueng Bao. They wage a war of irritation with the Protector and the Radisha. They spy, paint slogans on walls, and even resort to kidnapping in order to keep everyone off balance while they engage in a desperate search for a key to the Glittering Plain and some knowledge on how to rescue the captives.

Murgen, the only one of the captives still conscious is still around as a disembodied source of intelligence and advice, and Tobo, Murgen and Sahra's son also plays an important part as he begins to display significant skills as a sorceror. This is a tale told in small, detailed steps, both by Sleepy and by Cook himself as he gives us frequent updates looking over the shoulders of the villains. What with Murgen's ghostly presence and Sahra's day job as a housecleaner in the palace it's no wonder that Mogaba finally remarks that keeping a secret is hardly worth the effort.

Glen Cook always manages to have things work out differently from the reader's expectations and Water Sleeps is no exception. This includes the discovery that there is a fourth volume in this trilogy, which has already covered a lot of ground. But there always seems to be more to find out, and one more volume to read.

Water Sleeps is easily my favorite Black Company novel, but for what may be an unusual reason: I really like the character of Sleepy! Glen Cook has generally had a tradition of including strong female characters in his novels -- the Lady, the White Rose, Soulcatcher, Sahra, the Daughter of Night, etc. However, most of them (exceptions: the Radisha and maybe the White Rose) were somewhat stereotyped in that they were seductresses, impossibly (unrealistically, were it not for sorcery in several cases) beautiful women.

None of that is true for Sleepy. An aging, celibate career transvestite who makes a living as a deadly tactician? What's not to like? I think Glen Cook has finally created a female character I can identify with -- someone who trades on ability rather than a habit of manipulating men sexually to get what she wants.

In the real world, most women are not Ally McBeal/Britney Spears/Seven of Nine/any of the highly cosmetically or surgically altered fashion plates the media spews at us every day. Many of us would not want to be! Historically, a number of female movers-and-shakers have not been unnaturally beautiful. It's nice to see a character in the series who finally reflects this.

A friend got me started on Black Company, although I had already been reading the Garrett series. I had begun to lose interest in the Black Company, but this book brought it back! I've been recommending it to all my friends, and have already ordered a copy of the next one (release August 2000. Hardback but I'm hooked again).

This book is the best one in the series! As the style of writing changes from one Annalist to another, I become more and more impressed with Cook's work. Water Sleeps is a must buy. I am already eagerly awaing the next in the series! This truly shows that the series chronicles The Black Company, not just a few selected characters. Excellent.

Great book. Love 'em all really, but all the earlier ones seemed more self contained. You know ... end of the book ties up most loose ends. Now he seems to be getting into the Saga mode -- ever since the "glittering stone" ones started. But I really love how he puts a sense of quasi-realism back into sci-fi, killing off even heros sometimes.

"Water Sleeps" is the Eigth Chronicle of the Black Company (the ninth book in the series if you count the Silver Spike). A Series known for its writing style as much as for its gritty "anti-hero" perspective on High Fantasy, Cook returns the reader to the characters and events following the treachery at the end of the Seventh Chronicle, "She is the Darkness".

The novel introduces us to the new Annalist, Sleepy, who took over the position in the Black Company when the three former Annalists were entombed in magical stasis beneath the plain of Glittering Stone. Fifteen years has passed since the "core" of the Black Company was Captured by Soulcatcher. The remnants of the Company remain in Taglios, in hiding, plotting their revenge against their enemies and planning the rescue of their comrades.

A few things are different in the novel. A new Annalist, once again, is introduced to the reader. Sleepy is revealed to us as a woman who prefers to keep her female gender unknown to most outsiders. But, despite her change in gender, she writes in the first person sarcastic style of all of Cook's Annalists.

There are a few differences, however. Sleepy is easily the smartest Annalist so far and free of self doubt. Sleepy also manages to avoid hubris. Th reader soon recognizes that while Sleepy is "only" an Annalist, it becomes increasingly clear that she is the de facto Captain and the mastermind of all the machinations of the Company.

One of the elements of the novel which make it different from earlier Black Company exploits is that under Sleepy's command - everything more or less goes as planned. Sleepy makes no mistakes. She is patient, balanced, quick-thinking and humble. Perhaps Sleepy is less honest than Croaker or Murgen and recounts to the reader only her successes and not her mistakes - but never has the Black Company had such an easy time of it. The plans of the Company go so well that we are left wondering why it took the Company fifteen years to execute its plans for revenge and rescue.

The novel answers far more questions than it poses and manages to set up the next novel quite well at the end, if perhaps a little too neatly.

If I have a complaint with the direction of the series, it is that it is more or less clear that Cook himself does not really know where he is going with any of this. Most writers have a *clue* as to what is going to happen and where the plot of the series is headed. I don't think that Cook does. It was clear that after Dreams of Steel the series lost direction and Cook has lost patience with most of his characters. In Water Sleeps, time has marched on and claims two or our most beloved members of the Black Company. They aren't killed off with quite the same disrespect as Mocker in the Dread Empire series was, but it comes closer than we would like with one of them.

Fans should take note: this series is winding down and either the ninth or perhaps the tenth Chronicle of the Black Company is likely to be the last.