Great review! You nailed it. That is one of my favorite SF books. It is typical of Cook's books, that they start slow, but by the end, everything comes together in a titanic struggle for all the marbles. This one starts in a slum with characters that seem marginal but by the end we have starships assaulting star fortresses with the marginal characters following a character development arc that shows them earning their forward progress. The Tower of Fear and the Starfishers trilogy have these characteristics. All of these books, including "Dragon" do feel like you are sprinting to make sense of what is happening. This is because Cook has a deep understanding of his book's background world and the reader is dumped into it to discover it for themselves. The ideas come thick. I smiled when you were sharing the names of the characters because they are so memorable and appropriate for the character. Fortunately, I read it when I was young enough - back in 1988 maybe and I was 28 - to feel that I had the time to reread it with the background in place. Today at 65, I worry that I won't read all the books that I want to read and re-reading is a luxury I can't afford. The Tower of Fear is one of Cook's fantasy books (not in in his Dread Empire series.) Like Dragon, we start with low-level characters doing relatively unimportant things who by the end of the book will be leading armies and fighting great evils in the space of several hundred pages. Honestly, Cook is one of my favorite writers, and this is for his books outside of the Black Company and Garrett series, which is not to say that I don't enjoy those more popular books.
Marginal characters, at least to the settings described, becoming integral to massive upheaval is a time tested plot structure. It taps into the our psychological wish fulfillment of seeing those who are seemingly insignificant being very significant.
Thank you! I know very little about Glen Cook other than "the black company exists" so it's wonderful to get a review of one of his other books. It sounds very interesting and I would be interested in hearing about concepts from some of his other books now.
I've read The Dragon Never Sleeps a number of times. It is one of the few books I've reread and I'm glad I did. Knowing where the story is going reveals so much as you read it again. For years it was unavailable and I had lost my copy so I was glad when it was made available again. Thank you for your review.
One of the biggest things I remember about the book is that I didn't know who to root for. Cook manages to get you to root for and against the same characters. Eventually I realized that most were either corrupt, cruel, or unsympathetic, except for the Sergeant! I rooted for her the whole way.
@@paulcooper3611 Reading an author over and over again expecting a different reading experience might be insanity. Or as someone once said, “The definition of insanity is believing any quote you find on the internet which is attributed to Albert Einstein.”
Fantastic review! I couldn't keep up with anything in The Dragon Never Sleeps. You did a better job of explaining the story than Cook did in the novel. The Starfishers Trilogy and Passage at Arms is gonna blow your mind!
@@JosephReadsBooks Here I was hoping you had a better time of it and could explain the novel to me. Still interested in his other SF. I’m guessing your opinion is they are easier to comprehend?
@@vintagesf They are at the same level or easier than The Black Company. The first Starfishers book is on par with The Black Company in break neck speed and world building. The other two shift it down to an easier gear. And Passage at Arms is just top tier military SF. Think submarine warfare but in space. There is a bunch of technical stuff but it doesn't get in the way of the story. I think you will really enjoy them.
Joe, I totally understand how hard it was keeping up with the book. There are so many story threads. I enjoyed rereading it because you recognize the puzzle pieces more easily the second time around.
Hi Richard, not read any of his books but I do have one on my shelves, same PoD format as yours. Maybe it'll get a look-in next time that shelf pops up on bookshelf bingo!
Great review! You nailed it.
That is one of my favorite SF books. It is typical of Cook's books, that they start slow, but by the end, everything comes together in a titanic struggle for all the marbles. This one starts in a slum with characters that seem marginal but by the end we have starships assaulting star fortresses with the marginal characters following a character development arc that shows them earning their forward progress. The Tower of Fear and the Starfishers trilogy have these characteristics.
All of these books, including "Dragon" do feel like you are sprinting to make sense of what is happening. This is because Cook has a deep understanding of his book's background world and the reader is dumped into it to discover it for themselves. The ideas come thick. I smiled when you were sharing the names of the characters because they are so memorable and appropriate for the character.
Fortunately, I read it when I was young enough - back in 1988 maybe and I was 28 - to feel that I had the time to reread it with the background in place. Today at 65, I worry that I won't read all the books that I want to read and re-reading is a luxury I can't afford.
The Tower of Fear is one of Cook's fantasy books (not in in his Dread Empire series.) Like Dragon, we start with low-level characters doing relatively unimportant things who by the end of the book will be leading armies and fighting great evils in the space of several hundred pages.
Honestly, Cook is one of my favorite writers, and this is for his books outside of the Black Company and Garrett series, which is not to say that I don't enjoy those more popular books.
Marginal characters, at least to the settings described, becoming integral to massive upheaval is a time tested plot structure. It taps into the our psychological wish fulfillment of seeing those who are seemingly insignificant being very significant.
Thank you! I know very little about Glen Cook other than "the black company exists" so it's wonderful to get a review of one of his other books. It sounds very interesting and I would be interested in hearing about concepts from some of his other books now.
The next Glen Cook book I'm looking for is actually a trilogy, 'Starfisher'.
I've read The Dragon Never Sleeps a number of times. It is one of the few books I've reread and I'm glad I did. Knowing where the story is going reveals so much as you read it again. For years it was unavailable and I had lost my copy so I was glad when it was made available again. Thank you for your review.
One of the biggest things I remember about the book is that I didn't know who to root for. Cook manages to get you to root for and against the same characters. Eventually I realized that most were either corrupt, cruel, or unsympathetic, except for the Sergeant! I rooted for her the whole way.
Good review as always Richard. I’ve always found Cook hit and miss. When he’s on, he’s on. But sometimes…
@@GrammaticusBooks I think this is true of most prolific authors. Law of averages.
I'm guessing that the books of his I tried were all misses. I gave up on him pretty quickly.
@@paulcooper3611 Reading an author over and over again expecting a different reading experience might be insanity. Or as someone once said, “The definition of insanity is believing any quote you find on the internet which is attributed to Albert Einstein.”
Brilliant Thumbnail!
😎
Never heard of this one, thanks for putting it on the radar.
The Glen Cook expert is @josephreadsbooks
Check out his channel if you want to learn more.
Fantastic review!
I couldn't keep up with anything in The Dragon Never Sleeps.
You did a better job of explaining the story than Cook did in the novel.
The Starfishers Trilogy and Passage at Arms is gonna blow your mind!
@@JosephReadsBooks Here I was hoping you had a better time of it and could explain the novel to me. Still interested in his other SF. I’m guessing your opinion is they are easier to comprehend?
@@vintagesf They are at the same level or easier than The Black Company.
The first Starfishers book is on par with The Black Company in break neck speed and world building.
The other two shift it down to an easier gear.
And Passage at Arms is just top tier military SF. Think submarine warfare but in space. There is a bunch of technical stuff but it doesn't get in the way of the story.
I think you will really enjoy them.
@@JosephReadsBooks Great! I’ll see which one I find first!
Joe, I totally understand how hard it was keeping up with the book. There are so many story threads. I enjoyed rereading it because you recognize the puzzle pieces more easily the second time around.
Hi Richard, not read any of his books but I do have one on my shelves, same PoD format as yours. Maybe it'll get a look-in next time that shelf pops up on bookshelf bingo!
Will fate guide you to Cook books? (Hope you're not an accountant, or if you are, one with a sense of humour.)
@vintagesf ha, see what you did there! The book I have is "A Matter of Time"
Hitherto not familiar with Cook, but a big big fan of John Berkey! Miss seeing his posters and art everywhere.
I have a poster of one of Berkey's covers in my library.
It’s nice that you reviewed a cook book, but I don’t eat dragon ‘cause I’m a vegetarian
@@CptSamelsSigils Tough to descale with a fish scaler.
@@vintagesf 🤣