The Dragon Never Sleeps

Being republished by Night Shade in February of 2008. this book, more than any other (except maybe Shadowline), represents Cook's ability to mix byzantine familial politics with military SF. Tracing the stories of several different parties, military, corporate, and rogue, built in a story-world that seems detailed and real, I finished this book wishing more stories existed in this universe. this book rarely seemed slow, and as usual it has the brutally realistic depiction of people, motivations, death, and ambition that cook does so well. Overtones of the roman empire and its ongoing dilemna in dealing with an increasing barbarian population within its expanding borders is reflected in some of the background and starbase-planning of this novel, and a more roman overtone is added overtly through the use of legionary names for guardships, and latin-names for planets (not sure if they are historical settlement names, don't recognize any). From interviews I know cook does read a considerable amount of military history and this at times seeps in pretty notably into his work. on the downside, it is a very convoluted series of plot threads, characters and their clones plotting and scheming independently, in some cases questions/motives which are never really answered or at least I missed it, and as noted elsewhere, much of the book hinges on a plot device, Turtle being shown the starbase and its defenses in detail, though cook pulled it off very well, i never saw it as odd until looking back after finishing. The similarity in tone and some politics to Shadowline really strikes me as I look back on it. , though even shadowline had a much clearer ending. This book has obvious sequel potential which was not pursued. buy this book!

One of the best space operas I've read - my only complaint is that Glen Cook never wrote a sequel. The story revolves around a Canon Guardship (think a massive starship the size of a moon with the firepower to obliterate a star system) and the attempts to break the grip of the guardship fleet on the galaxy. Add in issues with an immortal crew now several thousand years out of step with current society, a rebellion drawing on the resources of 100's of star systems, alien empires trying to covertly topple the system, a means of rapid interstellar travel created by some unknown race in the distant past, mix them all together and you have something bigger and much better than Star Wars.

I ordered this title sight unseen, with no prior knowledge of its storyline or quality. With "Dragon" in the title, I figured I was getting another good gritty dark fantasy novel. Even a weak Glen Cook paperback is worth paying out of print bookseller prices, so I went for it.I was pleasantly suprised to get this particular book in the mail! Space opera is the best way to describe the genre, showing all sides of a declining, far flung insterstellar empire maintained by a remote administration. Policy is made and enacted by a fleet of dreadnaughts that are few and far between the stars. They protect their empire against remote hostile alien forces, and against the enemy within, nascent kingdoms of merchant princes scheming to master not only their own solar systems but the big catch -- capturing a stellar warship! All sides have their idealists, their practical realists, and their outright fools, and all put forward extraordinary effort to advance their agendas. Many of Glen Cook's books have an epic scale, but this one is amazing, with hundreds of combat ships duking it out across whole solar systems, dead soldiers resurrected in their own cloned bodies, star fleets dispatched by computer, dead tactical officers' minds manifested as vertual beings that gradually lose touch with humanity, intelligent starships generating animatrons who can be seduced by a nymphomaniac spoiled heiress, manhunts over a whole arm of the galaxy, and a breathtaking chase sequence that made me think of the opening credits from the original "Star Wars". As always Cook shows us these events from the point of view of those who do the work. Oh, the title is a metaphor. The empire of humanity is a pile of jewels sought by avariscious beings within and without. The "Dragon" who guards it is the interstellar fleet that must be constantly vigilant, and not always nice. Thus, their fleet directive ... "The Dragon Never Sleeps". Some of the characters are aware of where they stand in relation to this metaphor, some are not. There's a great sequence where the tragic hero of the piece, recruited by petty empire grabbing employers, puts them in their place by saying "I've dealt with thieves before."Did I mention this was the best book I read in the year 2000?

Glen Cook is a helluva writer. He never seems to get the respect he deserves; his stuff sells well but he never seems to "break out" the way others (who may or may not be better writers) have and continue to do.And this may well have been Glen's best book so far.Sad it's been out of print since its single first edition, more than ten years ago.I recall buying it, because i buy every Glen Cook novel that comes out, and reading it in basically one sitting (and even though i read nearly 1000 words/minute, that was a longish read, because this is a *big* book). Not too long after that, as we were setting out on a seven-hour drive (to an SF convention, as it happens) my wife asked me if i had anything interesting she could read on the trip. I handed her "Dragon". She protested that she didn't like Cook's stuff. I persuaded her to try it.As we were arriving in Louisville, she looked up and said "Okay -- when can I read the sequel?"But there isn't a sequel. It's wide-open for a sequel. The last line almost *demands* a sequel.But Glen won't write one. And i've bugged him about it on and off at SF conventions for years -- he just grins and says "Don't feel like it" or words to that effect.But, even given the fact that this book really *needs* a sequel and there isn't one and there apparently ain't gonna *be* one, i cannot recommend it too highly as a classic example of how to do space-opera *right*.Would be well-worth the effort of finding a copy if you like well-written, well-thought-out extremely wide-screen Space Opera; particularly, anyone who likes either David Weber's "Honor Harrington" series or "Doc" Smith's "Lensman" books needs to read this.

Glen Cook does his very best work in this incredible book that begs for a sequel. Plot, characterization and just plain imagination are Cook at the top of his game. I have read this book at least half a dozen times and find more hidden in it's depths at every reading. What a pity this is not a series like the wonderful Black Company. Glen Cook is the most under-appreciated writer of modern day. How lucky I am to have found him.