Water Sleeps - Glen Cook

"In those days the Black Company did not exist."

I started reading Glen Cook early last year when we came across the first two omnibus books during a Borders B2G1 sale. He has quickly jumped up into my top 5 list for Fantasy writers and competes with Robert Jordan, Joe Abercrombie, and Tad Williams for that elusive top spot. I'm sure most fantasy writers are just chomping at the bit to know who's at the top..... I bet with my vote they go from no-names to best sellers. *sarcasm* But, I have to say that he has created a fantastic epic with incredible depth. We're heading up my Glen Cook reading for the year with books nine and ten from the Black Company storyline.

Glen Cook writes from the perspective of the keeper of the Annals of the Black Company. Water Sleeps find Sleepy as the keeper since the horrible fate which befell the Company in the previous book. Each new Annalist writes in a different manner. It's become a little subtle in the last couple iterations, but each one has their own feel. Book One starts off with Croaker, who's rough around the edges and reminds you that this is a troop of soldiers. This write-it-how-you-say-it approach to dialogue gives you a sense that these guys are just normal. I'll admit that the first few chapters of the first book gave me pause on if I really liked the series. Once I got past that, it sunk in and you could see the genius behind the writing.

Cook also brings a deep sense of the land and people that fill the book. You see the influence of Eastern religions - primarily Indian gods and sects - on the different cultures in the current books. Each character will act on their station in life and belief system. This isn't something that's always brought up with fantasy novels.Even magic is not your normal run-of-the-mill D&D type stuff you would expect. There's magic in this realm; It's not controlled by the worship of some god. It is also pretty darn potent, but incredibly humorous!

Water Sleeps by Glen Cook is the ninth book and currently available new in omnibus with book ten. If you are interested in picking up the Glen Cook books I would highly recommend starting at book one. It will not make enough sense to pick up this book and find yourself so far from it's origins(and yet so close) that you aren't able to enjoy a fantastic story. Good and Evil is relative. Be prepared to walk Neutral more than anything else.

Rating: 8 of 10 caffeinated beverages! Yes, my highest rating, thus far! Please don't start with this book. And anyone looking for a different read that hasn't touched on Fantasy yet, but wants to.... take up Glen Cook and The Black Company. I don't believe you can go wrong with Cook's perspective. ---- Also expect to be reading the review for Book Ten coming up in the next few weeks sandwiched somewhere between Tad Williams, Robert Jordan, and Treasure Island.

"But don't be surprised if I don't feel as generous when light and warmth return to the world. Darkness always comes, but the sun also rises."

-D

Robert Jordan; He loves Dresses!

"The lions sing and the hills take flight. The moon by day, and the sun by night. Blind woman, deaf man, jackdaw fool. Let the Lord of Chaos rule."

So we have another week and another book to review. And surprise, another Robert Jordan book. Since he's written about 15,000 books, you should see at least 26 blog posts about his exhaustive line of work. Well, maybe not that many. He's an excellent author and I would highly recommend.

This week's book was Lord of Chaos. That's book 6 of 4,000. Written back in '94/95, Jordan attempted to bring forth very little conclusion to the entire series. He ended up adding about fifteen plot line's and concluding none from the previous five books. That's not to say that it isn't an excellent book, but it does add a little tedium to the series. Somewhere in book five, Jordan decided that the reader really wanted to know every character's, great or small, clothing down to the smallest thread. It takes some imagination out of it. And I'm not sure that I really want to know.... well, maybe I do since I continue to indulge in Jordan every couple years. Mind you, in 1995 I went back and read the first five books to catch up to this one.

I won't give anything away for those that might be interested in picking up the series - and find themselves interested, b/c if you aren't interested then you won't get past book one - but you'll find that the culmination of the book(with Dumai's Wells) made it worth the dress details. You'll enjoy Jordan's ability to structure debate, war, romance(this isn't a steamy novel and thankfully so), conversation, and suspense. I know I've said it before, but Jordan is a master at his craft. Tolkien defined a genre, but Jordan refined it and raised the bar. I'm itching to get to the newest book and see how well the new author has done with what Jordan gave him.

Rating: 7 of 10 caffeinated beverages! And it literally took them. I was a little behind this week and had to read a little over 200 pages last night to finish. I didn't cheat even though 6 reads probably would have allowed it!

"First things first; take care of what can be done now before worrying too long over what might never be."

-D

Heart of Darkness

This week, at the recommendation of an English major, I decided to read Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad.  When I was in high school, I am pretty sure I was supposed to read it.  I am pretty sure I didn't.  There is something about age and maturity that illuminates the things your English teachers were trying to teach you while you were too busy with the important things of life like passing notes to the cute boy three rows over and when the bell was going to ring.  Apparently, I am have not yet gained enough of this age and maturity because I had a difficult time getting through this 70 page novel this week.  I was interested in almost everything else but Conrad's characters and plot development.  Don't get me wrong, I made it through (somehow); but the problem was I didn't find it fascinating.  I saw the things my English teacher wanted me to see back then: tone, character development, social commentary, structure, etc.  But what I didn't see was a page-turner.   I think that is what I am looking for.  I need something to get me through the week, that makes me push through my day so that I can finish with a great story.  What I do not need is the middle section of Heart of Darkness.  I would have preferred to read the beginning and end and have the middle summarized for me.  There were some great early quotes forshadowing what was to come and there was the key repeated phrase of heart of darkness (in case I forgot what I was reading), but those were in the bookends of the novel.  Is there a way to get Cliff's Notes for just the middle section?
There is one good thring to be said for reading this book.  There is a book called 1001 Books You Must Read Before you Die and at the beginning of this week, I had read exactly 1 percent of the books included in it.  At the close of this week I have read 1.2 percent of the books - what an accomplishment!! 
Rating: 3

Rating System

I have given much reflection to the rating system of our books and have come to the conclusion that I will rate them on a scale from 0 to 7.  Drew has chosen the caffienated beverage rating system (it's first appearance in a blog of this kind), and that is fine with me, but I am not sure where perception and reality blur in this rating system, so I am setting out on my own path.  I figured 1 to 10 was a little too wide a range, 1 to 5 too narrow, and 0 to 7 just right.  After all, 7 is the number of completion. 
So here are my ratings on the previous books.  All future posts regarding specific books will have ratings attached (should I remember to do so).
1.  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Complete Sherlock Holmes, Vol. I: 4
2.  Angela's Ashes, by Frank McCourt: 4
3.  Eyes to See, ed. Bret Lott: 1

Wow that last one was pretty harsh...

L

Not Worth the Look

I guess Drew and I were on the same track this week.  I, too, read a book I picked up while at Mardel in Texas.  A little background to the story of this book (Eyes to See, ed. by Brett Lott):  Mardel had this amazing after Christmas book sale, and I went a little wild.  I have never purchased so many books at the same time in my life...but they were such a good deal!  You might know the sale shopping maxim: If it is on clearance, there is a reason.  Well, my book this week was subject to this maxim. 
Further background to this book:  In my book searching, book buying, excited state, I was less than attentive to the description of this book and might have passed on it otherwise.

What I thought the book was: a non-fiction lit-crit type book that discussed the hidden messages/meanings of some of the great novelists who were of the faith.

What the book actually is:  a collection of short stories by famous authors (and some not so famous) who are "of the faith"; if the reader is also of the faith, he is supposed to see hidden spiritual meaning to the stories.

With that said, I sat down to read this one and enjoyed the introduction by the editor a great deal.  He promised stories of conflict, of faith, of worship.  I was excited! 

I was disappointed. There are 10 short stories in this collection and 3 of them were decent enough to recommend. As to the faith aspect, I think the editor stretched his imagination a little bit.  Standouts were "The Blue Cross,"  by G.K. Chesterton, "A Good Man is Hard to Find," by Flannery O'Connor, and "The Story of the Other Wise Man," by Henry Van Dyke.  I am trying to not view the less than enjoyable ones as introductions to these authors and will give them a try in a longer format someday.  I don't want to say I hated this book, but it was tedious to read and I did not look forward to visiting the subjects of most of the stories, however brief the visit.  However, in looking up the book to create a link, I discovered that Lott published a second volume.  It doesn't matter how good the deal is, I think I will pass.

L

Current Ratings

Since Leah said that we might want to do some ratings I figured I might just do a quick *update* post for the first three books of the year. Until I look into K's recommendation, I'll use some archaic method.

Robert Jordan: Fires of Heaven - 8 out of 10 Caffeinated Beverages (the last book before Jordan waxes tedium)

Chuck Palahniuk: Fight Club - 5 out of 10 Actual Caffeinated Beverages / 7 out of 10 Perceived Caffeinated Beverages (I don't know how much I like Palahniuk but I'm already contemplating another one of his books - for a total of three in two years)

Frank E. Peretti: This Present Darkness - 6 out of 10 Caffeinated Beverages and one Go-Tab

It needs work as a rating system... maybe out of a 100 because I tend to be too nice. =\

This Present Book Read

Another week, and another blog post! So far we've been having fun starting up this experiment and will hopefully continue to enjoy it. We've been discussing what other books we're going to read over the next few weeks. I love fantasy books, but need to get some classics and maybe even some non-fiction to write about. I'm also down to reading two books, but I know what I am adding in as my third so I feel comfortable about reading. ;-) It's something that I got from my Mom. Dad reads one at a time.

This week I read Frank E. Peretti's novel This Present Darkness. It's Christian fiction. My parents got me the series back when I was in high school and I remember enjoying reading them at that age and thought it could be worth revisiting. Leah picked up the book series at Mardel's in Wichita Falls, TX during our Christmas vacation in preparation for our year in books. The story continues in Piercing the Darkness, but I'm going to wait to start that one up.

The storyline is about a small town in the middle of an intense spiritual battle. Peretti gives a glimpse at the unseen world that's happening all around us - one of angels and demons. I won't give much away, but it's part sci-fi, part mystery, part murder story. Most of the character development is interesting and gives a good cross section of small town happenings. You won't get any cussing and most situations aren't graphic for a young adult, or conservative older adult(which wouldn't be me since I read Fight Club last week). The progression was decent with very little slow down. The story did reach it's climax and conclusion relatively quick, but didn't feel too rushed.

Now, the one thing that I would complain or caution about is the doctrine that *might* come across from Peretti's book. In some ways, he's created a story that will reach more people, but isn't as Biblically accurate as he could be or needed to be. If you are a discerning Christian you'll be able to look past a few of these and understand where he's coming from. But, a newbie Christian or a non-Christian might see some of the demons/angels interaction and wonder about what's true and what's not. The biggest concern I could see is the naming of the demons as Rape, Anger, Jealousy, or Lies. It almost makes it appear that the demons are making the person sin. If one comes in believing that by the end of the book then why would we even need a Saviour? It's not our fault that we've been sinning, but the demons that have been possessing us! It's a slippery slope that young Christians AND long time Christians can fall into. So I caution that part of the book so that when I recommend this book you can be discerning about non-Biblical ideas. There are a couple small items as well, but that's the main gripe I have.

Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone interested in getting something a little different. Peretti gives a book that's engaging from a story standpoint, but also gives you enough leeway to let your imagination wander on what else is happening all around us. He also gives the gospel message in a fiction book. Give it a chance and see what you think. (nothing witty or humorous to really say about this one)

-D