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A review by shookone
She is the Darkness by Glen Cook
2.0
This one was a swing and a miss, I’m sad to say. A lot of wheel spinning, a lot of characters acting very foolishly for no reason that is adequately explained (seriously Croaker is warned about a betrayal approximately 958 million times throughout this book and is still gobsmacked when it actually happens), a lot of events that should be huge enough to rock the status quo of the series that are instead treated as barely anything. It’s frequently a frustrating read.
Worst of all is Murgen’s ability to observe events happening in different times and places. This plot device was pretty effective in the last book because Cook mostly limited it to Murgen reliving events from his own life, so it still felt like he was taking an active role in the book’s events. In this book the character mainly uses it to spy on enemies and allies alike, and it just leads to a feeling of watching a guy sleepwalk his way through an entire novel. It really does drain the book of any kind of forward momentum, even when very big things are actually happening.
I will say things pick up towards the end. The Company spends most of the book standing around in one spot, but once they finally get moving it gives the plot a badly needed shot in the arm. Things get weird, they get a little creepy, and there’s a hell of a cliffhanger. It’s not enough to save this book, but it’s enough to make me excited about reading the next one.
Worst of all is Murgen’s ability to observe events happening in different times and places. This plot device was pretty effective in the last book because Cook mostly limited it to Murgen reliving events from his own life, so it still felt like he was taking an active role in the book’s events. In this book the character mainly uses it to spy on enemies and allies alike, and it just leads to a feeling of watching a guy sleepwalk his way through an entire novel. It really does drain the book of any kind of forward momentum, even when very big things are actually happening.
I will say things pick up towards the end. The Company spends most of the book standing around in one spot, but once they finally get moving it gives the plot a badly needed shot in the arm. Things get weird, they get a little creepy, and there’s a hell of a cliffhanger. It’s not enough to save this book, but it’s enough to make me excited about reading the next one.