The Tower of Fear

This book is somewhat unique in the books I have read by glen cook. While there are military elements present they are secondary to the story and battles do not play a notable role. The political intrigue, a story of 3 factions interested in control of the city, as well as the goals of the Witch and the infighting in 2 of the factions, one of which at least superficially resembles imperial rome. More generally this book appears to be well informed by classical studies in general and in one particular case it is hard not to think of a certain event in the Punic Wars. Realistic portrayal of characters, believable political goals and machinations, and sympathetic characters from most sides make this a pleasure to read. If you enjoyed The Dragon Never Sleeps or Shadowline, the political violence will seem more muted here but the tapestry he weaves is arguably more complex.

"Tower of Fear" is yet another excellent book by Glen Cook. It's very well-written, exciting, and suspenseful. Unfortunately, as with almost all of Cook's books, this one is hard to find (i.e., it appears to be out of print). I don't know why publishers don't re-print these books. Outside of the Black Company books, almost none of them are now available. I know that the SFBC publishes 3 (or 4, now) books which consolidate the Garrett series (another excellent series). But, these older works, which I read decades ago (and believe are all excellent) have just vanished. If you can grab a copy of this book, do so. I rate it at 5 stars out of 5.

Set in a city resembling Carthage during the Punic Wars, Cook has written a masterpiece of intrigue, patriotism and desperation surrounding the events after the fall of a great city. If you like your anti-heroes to be frighteningly competent, you'll love Azel. The novel is very dark and should please anyone who has read Mr. Cook's Garrett or Black Company novels.

While most authors tend toward a creativity based either on the "art" behind prose, or the "craft" of storytelling, Glen Cook apparently decided to encompass both within this novel. In a genre that is possibly threadbared by overuse of quasimidieval settings (knights/English Castles/etc.), Cook developed a Jerusalem-like city that was completely believable from a socio-political viewpoint, and threw in economic, artistic, and philosophical elements as well. Artistically, the novel is lavish with minutae that make the very architecture come to life. The craft of writing is taken to its summit via the best characterizations one may ever encounter, coupled with a plot that proves Cook to be one of the more inspired authors in the genre.

The Tower of Fear perhaps the best example of Cooks ability to intertwine plots and scemes. The amazing thing is, that while he must have had to use a flow chart to create the thing, he tells the story(stories) in such a way that you don't need to see it for yourself. The intertwinning of the plots is ingenious, and yet totally logical at the same time. I have not seen such briliant insight into the minds and scemes of characters,combined with the often conflicting interelationships between characters/plots, since the Dune series. If you want to see what a literary master is, read this book!!!