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Product Description
Product Description
At long last, the conclusion to Glen Cook''s Dread Empire saga has arrived! King Bragi Ragnarson is a prisoner, shamed, nameless, and held captive by Lord Shih-kaa and the Empress Mist at the heart of the Dread Empire. Far away in Kavelin, Bragia''s queen and what remains of his army seek to find and free their king, hampered by the loss or desertion of their best and brightest warriors. Kavelina''s spymaster, Michael Trebilcock, is missing in action, as is loyal soldier Aral Dantice. Meanwhile, Dane, Duke of Greyfells, seeks to seize the rule of Kavelin and place the kingdom in his pocket, beginning a new line of succession through Bragia''s queen, Dane''s cousin Inger. And in the highest peaks of the Dragona''s Teeth, in the ancient castle Fangdred, the sorcerer called Varthlokkur uses his arts to spy on the world at large, observing the puppet strings that control kings and empires alike, waiting... For the time of the wrath of kings is almost at hand, and vengeance lies along a path to coldness of heart.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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4.1 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great book, but little closure, Jan 5 2012
By aPlateOfGrapes - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: A Path to Coldness of Heart (Hardcover)
Maybe you just started reading the re-released Dread Empire books. Maybe you're like me and you've been waiting a few decades for come closure to the events in the last book. Either way, the final installment is finally here. This book is basically the four final un-published books rolled into one. Due to the manuscripts for the final two books being stolen from Mr. Cooks home in the '80's and the success of the Black Company series, the final installments of the Dread Empire were shelved. Mr. Cook agreed to write the final chapter in return for Nightshade Books publishing the other books in the series.On to the book... I feel that Glen Cook's writing has gotten better over the years, which is to be expected as someone perfects their craft. I won't get into spoilers here (see below if you're interested), but the book focuses on addressing what happens to the major characters.
One of the great things about this book, and Glen Cook's works in general, is that characters are real. They don't conform to good/bad stereotypes. For example, there's one character in this book, Babeltausque, who has some major character flaws and you're constantly asking yourself "is he a good guy, or a bad guy?" In the end he's like many people you know, he's both good and bad... he's just a guy.
***Spoiler Alert***
Now on the the critique... it relates to the ending. There are many unresolved plot lines at the end of the book. Most of the book built to a final showdown with the Star Rider, but we never really figure out what happened to him. What will Haroun now do that his son is dead and he's got a new baby on the way with his wife? These and other issues weren't fully resolved because, in life, we rarely have full closure and resolution and that's the way Glen Cook writes. From a storyteller/realism perspective, ending a book this way makes sense. However, as readers we've become... trained to expect loose ends to be tied, conflicts to be resolved, and characters to have closure. This doesn't happen at the end of the book, and it may tick some readers off. I didn't feel this was enough to dock it a star, because this is true to Glen Cook's style. He's not a formulaic writer, and that's why his readers love his work.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
An ending of sorts, Jan 12 2012
By John Middleton - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: A Path to Coldness of Heart (Hardcover)
Apparently this is the end for the Dread Empire stories: what was originally going to be 4 books has now been condensed into one and published after a 25-year hiatus. I guess this is a compromise of Cook's original vision, and to a degree the story reflects this.A Path to Coldness of Heart opens with the reappearance of a long-forgotten main character, back from the dead, and spends a lot of time back in the history of the Dread Empire sequence, with El Murid and the Star Rider also returning. It's a fully ensemble cast on show, both old and new, and for all the incarcerated Bragi Ragnarsson is our protagonist, he is not much more than first among equals.
This has the closest to a Big Bad Evil Guy we have seen for a while, with the goal of the story the disposal of the Star Rider, legendary sower of chaos across the ages. In effect, Varthlokkur and Empress Mist are trying to knock off a god, and they are using everyone else to hand to assist in that goal. To that end, Bragi will have to change, others will have to make their own compromises, and we start to see some possible futures for the Dread Empire.
The story is fun, and well told, but occasionally leaves things hanging and the ending is more than a little unsatisfactory. There is no denouement to speak of, and really, when you are ending a whole 10 volume epic fantasy, you notice its missing. Yes, its realistic that bad things happen to good people and vice versa: but its not storytelling per se.
If I did not know this was the last volume in the series, I would think there were more novels coming. I don't think that's ideal, myself. But for all that complaining, its still a good read, fast paced and fun. Its gritty throughout, and almost nasty in places, but with good reason, not gratutiously done. If you like Joe Abercrombie style stuff, this is a must read.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
25 years, Feb 2 2012
By John Smith "NoOne" - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: A Path to Coldness of Heart (Hardcover)
I have been waiting for this novel for 25 years, and I must say it does not disappoint. Glen Cook's writing style is far from elegant, but the stories he tells are compelling. In this novel, many things are resolved, many mysteries are revealed, and if the ending is somewhat dissatisfying, it does match life. Life is very rarely neat. Highly recommended blue collar, gritty fantasy fiction.
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