Specifically, three chapters from the book have already been published as standalone short-stories – and, regardless of whether you have read them before or not, you can certainly tell this is the case. In the end, therefore, we end up with a book that needed an editor’s firm hand on the tiller.įor those intent on going in to reading Port of Shadows with a critical eye, an unfortunate harbinger of trouble is seen on one of the very first pages of the book under the heading “Copyright Acknowledgements”. We have seen it with authors like Neal Stephenson, Brandon Sanderson, and others, and now I think we see a glimpse of it with Glen Cook In short, the level of fan hype and critical success gives the author too much control and, in turn, relieves an editor of the necessary tools and influence to do their job properly. Unfortunately, all that hype – justified though it may have been – has led to, what I believe, is a growing trend in the publishing industry. So, when Glen Cook announced that he would be publishing his first new Black Company novel in seventeen years, one would certainly have hoped for something that lived up to the genre-breaking days of yore.

You can see the impact of Cook’s contribution to fantasy literature in the works of authors like Steven Erikson, to name but one great author. Reading his stuff was like reading Vietnam War fiction on peyote.” Steven Erikson, the author of the renowned Malazan Book of the Fallen series is most often quoted regarding Cook, saying that Cook “single-handedly changed the face of fantasy … He brought the story down to a human level, dispensing with the cliché archetypes of princes, kings, and evil sorcerers. There are very few authors who have revolutionised a literary genre like Glen Cook did for fantasy fiction. When it was announced that Glen Cook would be penning his first new The Black Company novel in seventeen years the hype was, understandably, at fever pitch.

Author glen cook