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glencook-fans-digest      Monday, August 7 2000      Volume 01 : Number 002




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Date: Sat, 5 Aug 2000 20:48:33 -0500
From: "David George" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (glencook-fans) SL:spoilers don't read unless you are finished

If you have not read The Dread Empire novels, then you probably have not
seen Glen Cook clean house.  The battles in Soldiers Live remind me a lot of
the battles in Dread Empire: setup, battle offered, maneuver, then
eventually chaos and a real winnowing of the ranks.

I'm sitting here trying to remember how people died in the whole BC series
and even at Charm, the big blowout, the company tends to pull through pretty
well, at least in terms of named, core cast.  Juniper is the next big deal,
where named characters get cut down.  Then Barrowlands.  But the way that he
deals with folks in SL is more like the Dread Empire to me.

The ending was a surprise.  Especially once Taglios falls and Mogaba is gone
and Booboo has been captured.  I'm sitting there saying: now what?  But I
was overall pretty happy with it.  Can't think of any loose ends going into
Glittering Stone that were not wrapped up completely.  Except Catcher, but
clearly Cook has a soft spot for her.  As do I.  Good villains are hard to
find.

And there are enough threads out there to spin new tales from, if Cook
should succumb to temptation.  I'm speaking monetarily, here, not
necessarily artistically.  I'll keep reading as long as he keeps writing
this good, whatever he cares to turn his hand to.  I think the market for
more BC is probably not tapped yet.

Who else came out of this like Mogaba at least a little more?  Sure, he's a
scumbag, but he played every trick he could and was a worthy foe, up to the
end.  I don't think his sense of honor ever made up for the betrayals, but
he showed the regrets and the glimmer of good that really makes for a good
Glen Cook villain.

- ----- Original Message -----
From: Michael Scholl <[e-mail]>
To: <[e-mail]>
Sent: Saturday, August 05, 2000 1:24 AM
Subject: Re: (glencook-fans) SL:spoilers don't read unless you are finished


> Spoiler warning! Turn back know oh faint of heart!
>
>
> Eric,
>
> I'm ready to discuss.  Finished this morning.  I have
> to say that the ending was quite a suprise.
>
> As the grim reaper cut through the company, I became
> concerned that there wouldn't be enough characters to
> continue the series.  I was real concerned that the
> death of Croaker, Glen's symbolic self in the series,
> would foretell the end of the series.
>
> However, as it stands, Glen has quite a bit of grist
> for the mill.  Croaker-God guardian of the plain with
> numerous worlds unexplored.  Lady, juiced up and ready
> to go.  Soulcatcher and Booboo on ice.  A freezer full
> of old, nasty personages of unknown origin, attitudes,
> talents and trouble.  Bad-ass, brain-damaged Tobo, who
> is more interesting than wonderboy-Tobo.  Giggling hot
> blond mages. Suvrin as a new Captain of a company of
> kick-ass veteran soldiers.
>
> I really hated to see the old folk go (Sleepy! you had
> so much potential!).  I'm very glad that Glen appears
> to have interest in continuing the series.  Had
> Croaker taken a dirt nap I was pretty sure that the
> series was dead.  However, as things are now there
> seems to be a real potential for a continuation of the
> series.
>
> If Glen ever becomes interested in pursuing other
> works, I'd love to see a collected works where other
> writers would be allowed to write Black Company short
> stories.  Each would begin with "in those days the
> Company was in the service of ...."
>
> Michael
>
> --- Eric Herrmann <[e-mail]> wrote:
> > > Is anyone else who has finished SL, just sitting
> > around wondering what to do
> > > next?
> >
> > I've exchanged reviews with several people already.
> > So I know there are
> > people who have finished. I don't know why they
> > haven't posted to the list
> > yet.
> >
> > No need to be timid people. Just put SL in the
> > subject and it is assumed to
> > be a spoiler. Just keep the rest of the subject
> > clean and you can put
> > anything in the body.
> >
> > Come on. I've been waiting 4 months to talk about
> > this book.
> > I'm giving it till the weekend and then I'm spoiling
> > everything. <g>
> >
> > Eric Herrmann
> > <[e-mail]>
> >
> >
>
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Kick off your party with Yahoo! Invites.
> http://invites.yahoo.com/
>

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 05 Aug 2000 16:56:07 -0700
From: "Sam Felice" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (glencook-fans) SL editing (no spoilers)

I've noticed that this is a growing problem in many books these days.  And =
you can tell that the problem lies with the modern computerized bookwriting=
 industry.  Even though Glen may write his books by hand, somebody goes =
and types them into a computer, and they get spellchecked and proofread =
that way before a human ever looks at them.  That's how you get people =
having a "food time" instead of a "good time".  The word food is spelled =
correctly, so a computer won't flag it, but it's obviously the wrong =
word.=20

Supposedly, there are still humans proofreading and copy-editing these =
books before they're typeset.  But who knows what goes on in those =
publishing houses now.  As I mentioned earlier, it's been something I've =
been noticing more and more of lately.  I noticed it MANY times throughout =
the book Prophecy that I just finished reading.  And it really annoyed me. =
 It doesn't change how well you enjoy the story, but it's like watching a =
movie and having someone in the corner talking.  It pulls you out of the =
moment and makes you realize you're just reading a book/watching a movie.

I'm beginning to think like you, where I'm going to start complaining when =
I see these errors pop up.  I can forgive one or two.  That's human error. =
 But when you get up to 10, 20, 50, 100.  That's just lazy.

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 07 Aug 2000 10:14:52 -0600
From: Eric Herrmann <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (glencook-fans) SL Sequel (spoilers)

on 8/7/00 7:47 AM, [e-mail] at [e-mail] wrote:

> Moving forward, I don't think it would be appropriate to have a sequel
> directly related to the Company. "In those days the Company..." just doesn't
> fit anymore.

I think the sequel is the Senjak sisters. Now that the men they competed for
(Dominator and Croaker) are no longer available and Dorotea is the equal in
power to Sylith, they patch up their differences and go shopping. That is
shopping for kingdoms, empires and worlds.

Eric Herrmann
<[e-mail]>

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 6 Aug 2000 12:35:11 EDT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: (glencook-fans) SL:  SPOILERS, read after you're done (long)

In a message dated 8/5/00 8:01:19 PM, [e-mail] writes:

>A couple questions though:  I don't quite understand that whole "barrier"
>at the bottom of the nameless fortress, leading to kina's lair.  How come
>Blade couldn't get through it after trying so long, and then Sleepy easily
>walked through?

Because she a girl, silly. Actually, I don't know. It is interesting to see
that Tobo wasn't going through either and Blade was sure that had he
lit the fires it would have made no difference. My best guess is that it
would have made a difference, but he'd convinced himself it wouldn't
have. No one wants to spend days on a problem only to have someone
else come up with a solution in seconds. Once they saw they only had
two more steps to go....

>Also, did it ever explain what happened to Sahra?  It seemed like she was
>just not there, and we never got a reason why or where she went.

Well, considering that Croaker, Murgan, and Tobo were satisfied that she
wasn't coming back, and that the narration places her alongside her dead
relatives...I'm calling her dead.

>And it seemed to me that Howler died way too easily.  I know it was shadows
>that got him, but still...this is a guy that people have been trying to
>kill for centuries and he dies on a simple raid.

I don't buy him as dead either. I'm guessing he headed out for parts unknown.
He got what he wanted, why stick around? Okay, so it's in his nature to be a
follower, but still.

I thought he was going to show back up, since there is a scene where it
could be him.

Page 455-456 [Last line]: The tip of the knife touched cloth. It passed
through,
found flesh, then a rib. Lady shifted her weight so she could drive the blade
between bones.
   She never sensed it coming. The blow, seemingly struck to the right side of
her head, was powerful enough to hurl her sideways a half dozen feet, into a
wall. [...]

   A whiff of old death, of graveyard mold, hung in the air of the room.

Okay, a stretch, but Kina isn't a fast enough thinker on her feet to prevent
Goblin from killing her, but she can do so for her daughter? Kina hasn't shown
the ability to manifest physically anywhere outside of the Grove of Doom
(and then only after rites and ceremonies and in the body of a statue), so I
don't see her thinking fast enough and being able to smack both Lady and
Booboo. I'm placing my bets on the Howler.

Look at the Howler death scene again. Seems to me I can't recall them even
hauling the body out, let alone disposing of it. 'Course I can't find that
scene
now, but a few shadows never hurt anyone. :)

christopher....

------------------------------

End of glencook-fans-digest V1 #2
*********************************

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