Mar 20
Art direction: Right, I want this cover to scream EVILLLLL! Have a cloaked dark figure drawing a pentagram with a big nerd fantasy dagger. Have you ever been LARP’ING? Just like that!
Thanks to CSA!
(Rating: 4.42 out of 10)
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January 8th, 2010 at 5:29 pm
That figure is plainly meant to be Soulcatcher, who wears a morion with face-concealing guard at absolutely all times. Every sentence Soulcatcher speaks is spoken in a different voice, so even its sex is unclear. (That’s not exactly what Soulcatcher is trying to hide, though.)
Hugely powerful (one of the Ten Who Were Taken), hugely dangerous, somewhat insane, and very wrapped up in the plot. As one of the most capable sorcerers alive Soulcatcher definitely does not need to draw pentagrams to wreak havoc, but it’s a fairly quick graphical way of saying ‘magical’.
(And, yes, they all have noms de guerre like that, to hide their true names, often descriptive but not always (for instance there’s no evidence that Croaker, narrator of the first four books, croaks especially much). The names are wonderful, especially the names of the Ten: Bonegnasher, the Hanged Man, the Howler, Nightcrawler, Stormbringer, Moonbiter… nothing says ‘evil empire’ like that sort of horrible name. They’re ridiculously overdone, yes, but that too is by design. It just doesn’t become clear what the design is until the end of the first book, or possibly the third.)
January 8th, 2010 at 11:56 pm
I quite enjoyed this series. I picked them up probably close to 10 years ago on a hoilday to the US. I only read/bought the first 3 when i was over there but i remember thinking they were enjoyable.
I’ve never seen them (or any other Glen Cook) books in any UK bookshops, but they were short and fun to read and had pretty dark characters (but likeable) aswell.
awful covers though. super cheesy.
January 10th, 2010 at 10:31 am
“Croaker” could be an allusion to dying, as in to “croak it”. Would that make any sense with regard to the series’ narrator?
January 10th, 2010 at 5:31 pm
Croaker was groups medic/doctor if my memory servers me right. I guess croaker would be appropriate given his daily dosage of handling death.
I can barely remember anything about the story though to be honest.
January 12th, 2010 at 8:55 am
And you learn something new every day. You’re right, that’s obviously the origin of Croaker’s moniker, and I’m feeling a right idiot now for not spotting it earlier.
April 20th, 2010 at 1:19 am
Glenn Cook wrote the first Black Company novels and others while working at a GM plant where every 1.5 minutes it requires his attention. He thus have plenty of time to write the novels.
December 15th, 2010 at 11:35 am
“Welcome to this evening’s edition of Won’t Glen Cook, Can’t Glen Cook! Tonight, our special guest Soulcatcher will learn how to bake a Necromancer Surprise…”