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glencook-fans-digest    Thursday, November 23 2000    Volume 01 : Number 062




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Date: Wed, 22 Nov 2000 21:47:23 -0500 (EST)
From: Igor Filippov <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (glencook-fans) Swordbearer

Since we seem to have started the line "such-and-such sucks"
I have to say - I couldn't finish "Tower of Fear" even though
I tried to start it twice ...

Igor

On Wed, 22 Nov 2000 [e-mail] wrote:

> In a message dated 11/22/2000 6:05:14 PM Central Standard Time,
> [e-mail] writes:
>
> >
> >
> >  Sam, you are absolutely correct.  The Swordbearer sucks.  Glen says so
> >  himself.
>
> Though Glen was harsher on the sequel that didn't get published.
>
>
> =======================================================================
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>


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

Date: Wed, 22 Nov 2000 21:52:48 EST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: (glencook-fans) Swordbearer

Has anyone here read David Drake? Do you think Drakes' style is similar
to Cooks?

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

Date: Thu, 23 Nov 2000 02:24:31 -0400
From: Richard Chilton <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (glencook-fans) Swordbearer

Igor Filippov wrote:
>
> Since we seem to have started the line "such-and-such sucks"
> I have to say - I couldn't finish "Tower of Fear" even though
> I tried to start it twice ...
>

I enjoyed Tower of Fear - but thought each of the epilogues could have
been a book.  Reading it I almost felt I was walking into a movie
halfway through (big battles fought, city conquered) and leaving after
someone whispered to me what happened in the next few scenes and in the
sequel.

It was a different book.

Richard

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

Date: Mon, 13 Nov 2000 18:35:00 -0600
From: "Don" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (glencook-fans) Swordbearer

Going to reply to more than one message here, so I apologize in advance.

That Said,
Bill, Welcome to the list. I wouldn't  read Garrett right away. Save it
until you learn to love the Author as well as the genre. If your looking for
something more BC then go with Tower of Fear. Lots of hard to kill Wizards.
The Dread Empire is very good but as has been said very hard to find. The
later DE books (publishing date) are better written (IMHO) but are
uncompleted without the earlier chronicles. Not to mention that the series
is not completed.

For those of you that hated Tower of Fear, I am saddened. I thought it was a
great read. Sucked me right in. I didn't want it to end. As for the
Swordbearer... I liked it because it was Cook. I could probably read it
again, but it was no classic.

Darkwar was good, but a tough read.

I'm almost done with Dragon Never Sleeps. Damb good book. I Picked it up
used for $3. Can't beat that.

Hey Eric. What happened to the Book of the Month anyway?

Don
"In time, what's deserved always gets served."- COC


- ----- Original Message -----
From: Richard Chilton <[e-mail]>
To: <[e-mail]>
Sent: Thursday, November 23, 2000 12:24 AM
Subject: Re: (glencook-fans) Swordbearer


> Igor Filippov wrote:
> >
> > Since we seem to have started the line "such-and-such sucks"
> > I have to say - I couldn't finish "Tower of Fear" even though
> > I tried to start it twice ...
> >
>
> I enjoyed Tower of Fear - but thought each of the epilogues could have
> been a book.  Reading it I almost felt I was walking into a movie
> halfway through (big battles fought, city conquered) and leaving after
> someone whispered to me what happened in the next few scenes and in the
> sequel.
>
> It was a different book.
>
> Richard
>
> =======================================================================
>  To unsubscribe, subscribe, or access the archives of this list,
>  visit <http://www.xmission.com/~shpshftr/GC/GC-Mail.html>.


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

Date: Mon, 13 Nov 2000 18:37:22 -0600
From: "Don" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (glencook-fans) To the List

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

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Content-Type: text/plain;
    charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

Happy Thanksgiving Everybody. Get Some Bird!

Don=20
"In time, what's deserved always gets served."- COC



- ------=_NextPart_000_0073_01C04DA0.C2D021A0
Content-Type: text/html;
    charset="iso-8859-1"
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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content=3D"text/html; charset=3Diso-8859-1" =
http-equiv=3DContent-Type>
<META content=3D"MSHTML 5.00.2614.3500" name=3DGENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Happy Thanksgiving Everybody. Get Some=20
Bird!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2><BR>Don <BR>"In time, what's deserved =
always gets=20
served."- COC</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV></BODY></HTML>

- ------=_NextPart_000_0073_01C04DA0.C2D021A0--


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

Date: Thu, 23 Nov 2000 02:35:39 -0700
From: Eric Herrmann <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (glencook-fans) New to list

on 11/22/00 1:09 PM, Amy Weathers at [e-mail] wrote:

> Hmmm.   So if I move to Poland,  maybe I could finally get my hands on
> _October's Baby_

You don't have to move to Poland. There are several good online Polish
bookstores who will sell you a copy. And you have time, while they are
shipping, to learn Polish! <G>

Look for the Booksellers page of links on the website.

Russia is also publishing Dread Empire. Same deal.

- --
Eric Herrmann
<[e-mail]>


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

Date: Thu, 23 Nov 2000 02:46:27 -0700
From: Eric Herrmann <[e-mail]>
Subject: (glencook-fans) Book-of-the-Month

on 11/13/00 5:35 PM, Don at [e-mail] wrote:

> Hey Eric. What happened to the Book of the Month anyway?

The October Book-of-the-Month went so well that I hesitated to try and
duplicate it's success. <sarcasm>

I'll take part of the blame for that. I was busy in October and didn't have
a lot of time to moderate the discussion.

Why don't we try again when you finish "Dragon" since that was the book for
October.

As for having another one, I'd say either "Swordbearer" or "Tower of Fear"
for January after the holidays. Anyone got a better choice?

- --
Eric Herrmann
<[e-mail]>


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

Date: Thu, 23 Nov 2000 16:11:44 +0100
From: "Marcin Welnicki" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Odp: (glencook-fans) New to list

>

> Russia is also publishing Dread Empire. Same deal.
>
> --
> Eric Herrmann
> <[e-mail]>
>
Eh, but Russian has more strage letters!( we've got about 9 of them ;))

Mocker
>
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>


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

Date: Thu, 23 Nov 2000 16:04:19 +0100
From: "Marcin Welnicki" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Odp: (glencook-fans) New to list

> Hmmm.   So if I move to Poland,  maybe I could finally get my hands on
> _October's Baby_
>
> Amy
>
> Ha, If you can read Polish i can send u a copy:)

Mocker



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

Date: Thu, 23 Nov 2000 19:17:32 -0400
From: "Pardoz" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (glencook-fans) Swordbearer

On Wed, 22 Nov 2000 17:52:48 -0000, Joseph McGrath wrote:

>Not enough history about
>that thing. And the same thing goes for the character Ragi or Bragi (?)
>in,"An ill Fate Marshaling."

    Bragi Ragnarson.

>Well not really his character. There wasn't
>enough info on the Portals they used to ferry troops in and out of a war
>zone.

    Umm...you did know _Ill Fate_ was the seventh book in a series,
right?  The history and operation of the portals was developed along
about book 3, with some intriguing revelations on same in book
6....(Pity we'll probably never see the conclusion of the series due to
gross publishorial incompetence).

- --
BENEFACTOR, n.  One who makes heavy purchases of ingratitude, without,
however, materially affecting the price, which is still within the means of
all.



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

Date: Thu, 23 Nov 2000 22:59:27 -0600
From: "David George" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Glen Cook and David Drake (Re: (glencook-fans) Swordbearer)

I have read (and continue to read) lots of David Drake.  There are
similarities between Drake and Cook in topic (mercenary stuff, some SF, some
fantasy) but I'd say their writing style is very different.  I used to work
in this bookstore in Chapel Hill and Drake would come in and visit and talk
to folks.  Back then, I liked Glen Cook a lot but had a hard time getting
into Drake.  I could kick myself now, because now I really like the way he
writes.

As to similarities, they are in roughly the same age group, as I recall.
Both served in the military, Cook in the Navy, Drake in the Army.  Both seem
to know a lot about Roman civilization.  Drake, I believe, may have majored
in ancient history or classics in undergrad.  Not sure how Glen comes by the
knowledge, other than plain old interest and research.

Two things about Drake that are really different from Cook: first, Drake is
very detail oriented.  If he throws something in from engineering or
technology, classical mythology or ancient culture, chances are good he
researched it in some detail.  I can recall him (in conversations)
disparaging lazy writing that did not get the details right, and I have to
agree that when a writer gets details wrong, it detracts from my enjoyment
of the parts they got right.  By contrast, I'd say that Glen Cook often
avoids detail.  When Glen uses details in his stories, I am generally
satisfied, but he often blows right by details.  Are the details important?
It's up to the reader to decide, I suppose.  In Drake's writing I appreciate
them; in Cook's writing, I don't mind when they aren't there.

Second thing is that Drake's characters, especially his soldiers, are often
just a hair shy of losing it and blowing someone away for saying the wrong
thing.  Like a whole freaking platoon of Ravens.  People riding the ragged
edge of combat stress disorders are abundant.  There are not a lot of
happy-go-lucky folks in Drake's stories.  In fact, there are some pretty
sick puppies.  Drake tends to write third person, Cook in first person.
Cook's voice tends to gloss over or skip a lot of the sickness that is
nonetheless implied by what he's said.  (Example: Mercy, the seargeant who
goes into the tavern to find the poisoners in Black Company).  What I mean
is not that the Drake characters are badder than the Cook characters, it's
just that Drake's voice doesn't hide much.

I think that soldiers from the Black Company would be able to run with
Hammer's Slammers and vice versa. Both have written some badass characters
in their works, though I'd take Joachim Steuben over Raven in a dark alley,
on viciousness alone (since one is SF, the other Fantasy, the meeting is
unlikely).  (Sorry, it's just been too long since this list had a Raven vs.
? comment and I lost control.)

If you are considering picking up some David Drake and you are already a
Cook fan or a merc/military fiction fan, I'd recommend starting with the
Hammer's Slammers stuff--it's still widely available new and used.  A lot of
the books are collections of short stories, but there are also some novels.
I think Rolling Hot is probably the best of the Hammer novels in my opinion,
but I also liked The Voyage.  I also liked The Sharp End, and a Cook fan
might find that one appealing.  I didn't dislike any of them.

If you just want to read fantasy, his latest series (first book is Lord of
The Isles) is good but is not much like anything Cook has written and is
also pretty different from a lot of the rest of Drake's work too.

DG

- ----- Original Message -----
From: <[e-mail]>
To: <[e-mail]>
Cc: <[e-mail]>
Sent: Wednesday, November 22, 2000 8:52 PM
Subject: Re: (glencook-fans) Swordbearer


> Has anyone here read David Drake? Do you think Drakes' style is similar
> to Cooks?
>
> =======================================================================
>  To unsubscribe, subscribe, or access the archives of this list,
>  visit <http://www.xmission.com/~shpshftr/GC/GC-Mail.html>.


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

End of glencook-fans-digest V1 #62
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