The Wordsmiths and the Warguild

Chronicles of an Age of Darkness #2

by Hugh Cook

Vol 2: Wordsmiths & the Warquild, Vol 3: The Women & the Warlordsm & Vol 7 The Wazir & The Witch

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Novels, Science Fiction Fantasy, High Fantasy, Science Fiction, Adventure

316 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1987

About the author

Hugh Cook was a cult author whose works blend fantasy and science fiction. He is best known for his epic series The Chronicles of an Age of Darkness.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

While on the run from an arranged marriage, Togura Poulaan accidentally kills a monster and is mistaken for a great hero. The Wordsmiths, an organization of wizards, send him on a quest to solve the mystery of the Odex, a shiny disc that seems to be a magical treasure chest, frequently vomiting forth treasure, monsters, and refuse. After a disastrous ball, Togura's young lover disappears into the Odex. Can Togura figure out a way to get her out and lose his festering virginity?

That Hugh Cook sure crafted fantasy characters that broke the mold. Togura is young, cowardly, and horny as hell. He blunders from one misadventure to the next, encountering cannibals, pirates, horny sea dragons, wizards, the list goes on and on. Through no actions of his own, he gradually gets closer and closer to his goal, the index to the Odex and the rescue and boning of Day Suet.

While the Chronicles of an Age of Darkness is a series, they aren't so tight that you have to read them in any certain order. Easter eggs abound for those who've read more of Hugh Cook's saga, however. The pirates of the Warwolf make an appearance, as do Bluewater Draven and several other recurring characters. Some scenes in The Walrus and The Warwolf are touched upon from other angles.

If you're looking for the young hero going against great odds, you won't find it here. If you're looking for a hilarious tale about a teenager that's more like someone you know, here it is. You won't be disappointed.

[Doug · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are tired of fantasy series that always rehash the same themes and tropes without trying anything new, then pick up this series by New Zealand author Hugh Cook and I assure you, you won't be disappointed. Cook's series is absolutely off-the-rails wild and epic. I have no other words. This particular novel, The Wordsmiths and the Warguild, almost has no traditional plot, and instead focuses on one young lone hero, Togura Poulaan, as he stumbles his way across a vast landscape of war and insanity, dodging fate after fate, and in general avoiding any sort of real heroics. Togura is just a normal guy. He's not even a Frodo - a regular person thrust into an epic war, who must rise to the challenge and do his part. He still remains normal and regular throughout the novel by doing what any normal person usually does when faced with certain death - he runs away.

One of the most fascinating things about this novel is that the plot is in parts extremely accelerated - multiple insane things happen all on a page or less - or else it's extremely drawn out, and our hero Togura spends years in the same situation, doing generally nothing. It's a risky pacing move, but in my opinion it pays off beautifully and makes the novel feel even more epic.

Like the other novels in this series, they are all loosely connected but they don't follow a typical fantasy series plot where each book is directly connected to the rest. Some books focus on multiple characters (like the first one), in typical high-fantasy fashion, while other books (like this one) focus on just on protagonist. All of Hugh Cook's books make references in small ways to the others, and some characters reappear, but each book is also it's own unique entity. It's a bit like reading Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. Hugh Cook still has the humor of Pratchett, but he also focuses on realism and warfare and his novels are undeniably gritty and violent in parts.

This is just a brilliant fantasy novel. Chronicles of an Age of Darkness is in general just a criminally underrated series that unfortunately didn't gain much attention when it was first released. Hugh Cook is a masterful author who unfortunately passed too soon.

[Ed · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just spent 20 minutes writing a proper review of this, only for Goodreads to cruelly delete it when I clicked save.

Anyway, to sum up, this is a brilliant, picaresque farce reminscent of Terry Pratchett, but with a weird and horrifying core that gives it its own unique flavour.

The story revolves around Tongura Poulaan, a minor noble in a dull backwater, whose hapless attempts to avoid an arranged marriage lead to him being embroiled in a quest not of his own choosing with tragic and hilarious consequences.

What is remarkable is that although this book features many characters and events from the preceding novel (only from a different point of view), the tone is totally different, focussing as it does on the comic (mis)adventures of a single character in a minor bit of local history, rather than a collection of powerful characters embroiled in high-stakes, high fantasy adventure.

I loved the character of Tongura. Rarely is the central character of a fantasy novel so amusingly inept, ignorant, prone to total failure, and interested only in losing their virginity, whilst not being killed in the process. Cook is very fond of thrusting poor old Tongura into another hellish situation, just when the reader is thinking that maybe this time he has found a way to escape the machinations of the plot.

Overall this was a joy to read: funny, darkly imaginative, refreshing, perfectly paced, and full of interesting little intersections with the rest of the series.

This series, in my opinion, is cruelly overlooked and deserves a proper reprint. If you are a lapsed fantasy fan, looking to get back into the genre, or someone who is tired of the by-the-numbers power fantasies that choke the shelves of most high-street retailers, then you should start reading this as soon as possible. You can pick up most of the volumes second-hand for a pittance right now as well.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

An underrated jewel of fantasy, ahead of its time.

A young man, scarcely more than a boy, is swept up in a quest to save his love. On the way he will encounter betrayal and treachery, wizards and dragons, barbarians and war, pirates and ninjas. Could there be a better model for pulp fantasy?

Well, possibly we could have a boy with a sword and a birthmark and an evil overlord. To be sure the main character, Togura Poulaan, fits the bill of being a boy more or less, for while in some societies (and no doubt by his own standards) he may be considered a man fully grown, by many others he is barely a strippling who has yet to experience the joys and hardships of manhood and is but a callow (if reasonably well mannered and quite sympathetic) youth. Also, there is indeed a sword in the book. In fact there are several. Some of them even used by Togura. Not one of them though happens to have been stuck in a stone, be blessed with magical powers, or wielded by an ancient hero of might and fame. The presence of overlords is likewise problematic, as there is mention and feature of people in some position of power, but it is difficult to comment with any real certainty on their moral character. A good few of them are less than pleasant, and some indeed might get up to some activities that some might consider to be 'evil'. However, looking at their actions through a contemporary lens we might assume that their actions are not only fairly representative of their time (is this not the second book in the Chronicles of an Age of Darkness), but also considered fairly standard by the local cultural norms. Finally, as to the presence of any birthmarks to be possessed by young Togura, whether in an interesting crown-like shapes or otherwise, the text is entirely silent. So, for those who would dismiss this volume as a derivative example of that genre known as 'pulp fantasy', playing on that well known image of a certain barbarian and giving rise to the 'sword and sorcery' sub-genre which flourished from the 60's well into the 80's and typified by authors such as he who gave us the albino with the sword, then you will find yourself very much mistaken!

While it is true that The Wordsmith and the Warguild was written during the 80's, it was in the latter part of that decade and the tropes and dreary rehashings of familiar plots and images which had once been so so exciting, fresh and new were quite simply old hat. Hugh Cook was well familiar with this genre and rather than setting out to lampoon it, or rail against it in seeking out new styles of fantasy such 'urban fantasy' or 'new age faerie-tale revival' or half a dozen different styles which came about as authors tried something new, he embraced it and then subverted it with the skill of a master craftsman who certainly knew his way around a turn of phrase or an ironic comment. Through the use of juxtapositioning images which should be evocative of shining heroic fantasy with gritty realism and shocking taboos thrown casually into the mix, the author brings us into a world which is far more real than almost any fantasy book ahead which came before it.

The inhabitants of Sung had their own unique cultural heritage, the intricacies of which were seldom appreciated by outsiders; it included lively games such as "Stone the Leper," and detailed religious rituals such as those laid down for strangling unwanted children and disposing of aged relatives.

This kind of dark humour is a forerunner of much more recent authors such Joe Abercrombie who has done so much good work in giving fantasy a gritty, realistic feeling that we can come to grips with and appreciate. Cook's main character of Togura, (dare we say hero?) is flawed. To be fair, he is not as flawed as some of the main protagonists in some of his other books and is actually a fairly nice fellow, if a bit flakey and with a tendency not to pay attention. He consistently fails to act in the typical heroic fashion and events move him, rather than he moves events. What is heroic is how he manages to pull through these events, not so much through his own efforts, but more by good luck and the occasional boot up the arse to get him moving in the right direction. It is easy to identify with Togura, and not because he is a perfect figure with great teeth and rippling muscles. No, it is because he is basically a normal guy trying to do the best he can. Sometimes he is a little foolish, sometimes he is a little cowardly, sometimes he is a little slow on the uptake - but he survives, and he pulls through and when push comes to shove he manages where other people would die, give up, or fall foul to some other misadventure.

The genius which is that of Cook does not stop with giving us a great character to identify with, or the supporting cast of miscreants, luminaries and random by-standers. His story weaving, bringing in elements of his previous book, The Wizards And The Warriors and overlapping sections of that plot is the first taste we get of what the rest of the Chronicles will be like. This is not a simple sequel to his previous book, this is a book in its own right with its own characters. If there is a main character which lives through each of this ten volume series, it is the world and the events which take place in it - often over a period of years or even decades. Cook weaves characters in and out of his books, the main becoming the minor, the minor becoming the main. A chance reference to someone becoming a fascinating insight into one character or clashing viewpoint of another. Here we once again come across Elkor Alish, one of the main characters from the last book, but largely in passing. Bluewater Draven is a far more important character, a minor one from the previous book, but one who will again feature in The Walrus And The Warwolf along with the seemingly irrelevant character of Drake. References to Yen Olas Ampadala are likely to be entirely forgotten, yet she will be the main character in The Women And The Warlords, and Guest Gulkan and Hostaja Sken Torsen-Pitilkin will of course be major players in The Witchlord and the Weaponmaster, as well as appearing like single connecting thread through (every one of?) his other books. The depth and interrelated plots and weavings which Cook presents us really cannot be properly appreciated with a single read. While enjoyable enough and excellent to be able to read fresh and for the first time, we can also gain so much more in reading this book in context with the others mentioned above. To be sure, one should definitely read the Chronicles in the order they were written (though if one does not, it is not a major problem or plot spoiler), but to go back and reread this volume (and others) in context is a joy and it great to see a master storyteller at work. This is not the first, second or even third time I have read this book or the series as a whole.

While there may be flaws - and yes there are, for what is perfect? - and some people will not appreciate the fabulous quality of these books - on account of them being tasteless morons who deserve to be stoned to death... or possibly they just have different things they like - it is unfair to consider this book alone. It stands so well with its fellows and while a shorter volume and to be sure it is an earlier and rawer voice that Cook uses here, is never the less is still a pillar of the series. With a lighter and more playful tone than some of his later books, he walks a fine line between giving us the sword and sorcery guilty pulp pleasure we happily enjoy and stimulating our minds and challenging our perceptions.

Cook makes commentary in the book which is not simply comic or shocking. His use of irony to make a more serious point and strike a shot across the bow of conventional thinking is already present here and a foreshadowing of his later books.

It could be said that they had no concept of land ownership; unlike the greedy, depraved peoples of other civilisations, they did not build fences, dykes, ditches or walls to mark off little fields and the gardens as "mine" and "yours." Instead, they had a healthy, spiritual attitude towards the land, which they regarded as a communal heritage; they celebrated this healthy, spiritual attitude by butchering anyone caught trespassing on their territory, and by making such incompetent trespassers the main course at cannibal feasts.

This kind of literary commentary, while tongue in cheek to a certain degree, touches on deeper points. Cook presents certain arguments and then deflates the pomposity of them allowing us to see argument and counter argument. He presents the situation, he strips it of some of its self-important veneer and then he abruptly leaves it is for us to ponder on, or to ignore as we choose. Years later we can see similarities to this in Steven Erikson's work. Hugh Cook really was ahead of his time and this book, like the others in this series, should be read with the clear knowledge that he was not simply writing another sword and sorcery novel or even series, he was challenging the whole fantasy genre.

Sadly, Cook was ahead of his time and his books were not as popular as he had hoped his incredibly ambitious 60 volume series would be. The Chronicles only stretch to a mere 10 volumes. These do however form a full set. Alas, Cook passed away some years ago now, and we will not see this classic series continued. There is however plenty to appreciate in this book and the other volumes. While largely out of print, there are copies around and at least some of his books are available online on his now pretty much defunct website. If you are a fan of fantasy, and most especially intelligent fantasy which is well written, makes you think and breaks the mould, then I cannot recommend this book - and the others in the series - enough.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The subtitle of this tale is "the Questing Hero," and the protagonist, Togura Poulaan, does find a quest, and even commits to pursuing it. Then a series of weird and chance events take him far from everything he knows, and romp trumps quest for most of the remainder of the book. Under Cook's guidance, this means monsters and strange peoples with even stranger - and, for visitors, sometimes mortally dangerous - traditions, exotic lands, and times of terrible trial; in short: a fun and crazy story.

I've read two out of the ten books that Cook wrote for his Chronicles of an Age of Darkness series, and in each Cook had an incredible and fecund talent for the imaginative. Like "Walrus and the Warwolf" (book four), this tale moves a brisk pace, careening through plot points with an enthusiasm that is catching (and, when contrasted with the narrative pace that contemporary writers favor and employ, amazing). So, too, are the characters human and frail and subject to appetites that are partly to blame for the circumstances that these characters find themselves in. Again, the story features a young, boyish protagonist who is obsessed with women and drink, and again, Cook works these passions into the story to both comic and dramatic effect.

The fantasy that Cook wrote is unlike anything that I've seen today, and without a doubt his take on the genre is preferable. Instead of political machination and character rumination and world building that collectively amount to bloat and boredom, Cook focuses on people driven by their desires in places that are full of weird and wonderful shit. Robots, dragons, magic, portals, pirates, potions, artifacts, cults, swordsmen, monsters - were I to list them all, probably your reaction would amount to the same one that I've frequently experienced while reading Cook's work: what in the hell?

Will I read on, and keep trying to find these out-of-print gems on amazon.co.uk? You bet.

[Patrick Stuart · Rating 4 out of 5]

"'History is what we understand. The rest is a waking nightmare. History is the explanation of who holds the knife. Without this explanation, all we understand is the pain.'"


This was a charming and quite short book which the publishers apparently made him write because the *first* second volume of the series had a woman in it. Here, an actual, normal early-teenage boy with an IQ of 100 ends up on an adventure and acts pretty much as an actual teenage boy would act, the difference in character between Togura and the she sheer minimum protagonist energy of people like Drake Dedragon Douhay or the Wizards and Warriors of 'Wizard and Warriors', being a sometimes remarked-on part of the books theme. What if a man with enough heroic luck to throw him into situations was just a normal man?

Because its mainly about a normal guy dealing with a chaotic world, the book is more of a petri-dish for extremely Cook-ish qualities. If you liked them in other books you will like them here; worldbuilding, (or revealing), through discursion and wild digression, a cynical, perhaps more tragic, worldview with an empathic heart, deep and amusing interlacements which make the chronicle.. well a chronicle; one big story, and lovely, odd, goblin-mode onomatopoeic prose;


"'Zaan', said the sun.

The ice-white light ran through his blood in splinters.

It was fading.

'Clouds,' he said.

A frog answered him. He spoke. It answered again. His teeth hurt. Then came the rain, drenching away the last of the sunlight. The skiring wind fladdered and scooped, outpacing his eyesight; it came in rents and buffets, sending the shimmy-shimmy leaves stappering and plattering from down to around. Some dead at his feet. He kicked them from ventral to dorsal.

'Tog,; he said.

Asking for someone.

He couldn't remember who.

His legs went balder-shalder-tok through the rain perhaps autumn or winter. His third leg was a gnarled and unyielding strake padded with moss and wort where it jammed home to his armpit. The music of a flute cut closer than a knife; hard, high, unyeilding, it lacerated his heart. He felt his pulse-beats bleeding through his body. The wind blew furnace-hot; he shivered, his teeth tok-tok chin-cha-chattering."

Add digressions on ethnology and the now-customary lovely nature writing by what I assume to have been a keen hiker, which reminds me a lot of the mountain-climbing in 'The Work Ourouboros'.

On now, to book Three!

[Mac · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was an incredibly exciting adventure of a young man that really can't commit to an epic quest that life seems to put him on.

The Wordsmiths and the Warguild is the 2nd book in the 10 book series by Hugh Cook, and although it was very different than the 1st book, it doesn't disappoint. The amazing thing about Hugh Cook's writing is that he is constantly subverting your expectations. We all know of the fantasy tropes about boys who start a quest and in the process become men and undergo change and turn out a hero at the end. Welp, Cook doesn't go with that.

Togura Pouulan is our main protagonist whether he likes it or not. He doesn't seem to want to do anything except get laid. He is constantly trying to weasel out of any responsibility placed on him. He is careless, loose lipped, and makes terrible decisions. So basically he is a typical teenager. The quest he goes on has so many different phases that you get lost along with Togura throughout the course of this book. Taken captive by forest witches, enlisted as a pirate only to fight off sea serpents, an apprentice to a great wizard, married to a trans-gendered plainsman in a horse tribe; these are just some of the situations that Togura finds himself in. The surprising thing is, he always just accepts his fate and tries to adapt to his current condition.

That's what I love about this book. You never know what is going to happen next, but you accept whatever Cook throws at you. You learn that you can trust Cook to tell a good story even though you have a desired path you want the characters to go on. When Togura first left his home, he left behind a lot of unresolved plot points, and that bugged me because i didn't want to read about what was happening next, I wanted him to return to his hometown and figure out what he was going to do about his family, his love, his betrothal, and so on. But you can't count on that. This is a whirlwind story that never slows down. He is constantly on the move from one place to the next, and never by choice. The world Togura lives in is very ephemeral, and you can't hold on to anything as permanent. Characters are constantly falling in and out of Togura's life, and you never know if you are going to see them again when they leave, or even if you want to see them again.

Overall I really liked this book. I gave it a 4 stars even though it probably deserves a 5. I just liked book 1 a bit more I think, and since there are 8 more to go, I can't just give all of them 5 right? Maybe I can and will...

[AID∴N · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fine grotesque picaresque.

The non-plot gives Cook ample room to demonstrate his knack for comedic writing and to show off half-glimpses of the bizarrerie of his world, but since the book by necessity involves inconsequential people doing inconsequential things there is little appeal to the novel other than as an addendum to the heftier volumes in the series.

But since I sometimes feel like an inconsequential young man who often does inconsequential things, I rather enjoyed it.

[Philip Armstrong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Climax? We don't need no stinkin climax in our revisionist examination of quest fantasy.

[Mark Redman · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5🌟
The Wordsmiths and the Warguild by Hugh Cook is the second book in his Chronicles of an Age of Darkness. The story is about Togura Poulaan, a minor noble in the dull backwater kingdom of Sung. Togura Poulaan accidentally kills a monster and is mistaken for a hero which is the last thing he wants. Togura is approached by the Wordsmiths guild who want him to solve the mystery of the Odex. A magical treasure chest, frequently vomiting forth a cornucopia of weirdness. Togura's young lover also disappears into the Odex. Togura needs to find a way to get her out.

Firstly, there is no linear plot in The Wordsmiths and the Warguild. It follows the Terry Pratchett school of plotting. The story focuses on a young Togura Poulaan. Much like Pratchett's Rincewind, Togura is your average man who finds himself thrust into an epic challenge of finding the index to the Odex a magical treasure chest. The results lead him to stumble across countless landscapes. Which sees Togura dodging war and trying to avoid any actions of a real hero. When faced with near death he does his best to run away Rincewind-style.

This series was written by Cook in the late 1980s to mid-1990s. It reads like nothing I have read before or even comparable to modern fantasy. Cook's main focus is characterisation with some good world-building mixed in. There is a whole cabinet full of completely weird wacky shit that just blows your mind, and it is funny. Cook has a whole metaverse of plots and characters that thread and weave into each other, so various characters whose adventures have already been documented in the first book thread into the second. It is all quite clever.

The story is often funny and amusing as you follow Togura’s highs and lows. Like a lot of 80s fantasy, there is a lot of travelling across unfamiliar landscapes and there seems nothing plot-wise happening. However, I didn't read this for the plotting but for Cook's avant-garde approach which feels refreshing from a Tolkien-era of 1980s fantasy.

A great series and I'm looking forward to reading book three. Highly recommend this book if you are looking for something a little different but with some familiar themes.

[Belinda Vlasbaard · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars - English hardcover

A confrontation of exotic women, brawny pirates, quarrelsome dragons, and the crusty old Wizard of Drum on his quest for the index to the rediscovered odex of Ore, a magical disc filled with the riches and knowledge of bygone civilizations.

It took me 2 weeks to read Wizard War (read a bit, put it down, lose it, repeat..)..
However, when I did finish it I wanted MORE!

I read it again, and then picked up a copy of The Questing Hero. I read this book in one sitting! It was captivating.. A definate must read!

[Rex Hurst · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second in the Chronicle of an Age of Darkness series, the events in this book, as with all the entries in this series, take place simultaneously with the first book and while it is not necessary to have read the first one, it does accent the plot. This deals with a hapless questing hero looking for a magical item (actually a technological one, but he isn't aware of it), to free his captured lover. The book is done in a humorous amoral tone with very few obviously purely good or evil characters.

On the minus side, some chapters can be skipped. There is a lot of the main characters simply wandering, hallucinating, whining, and describing what he is eating. Quite a lot of that actually. There is a wizard character that comes and is never seen again. But these make sense because of why the book was written.

This was not meant to be the second book the Chronicles of an Age of Darkness series. It was requested by the publishers as a bridge for the next novel, The Women and the Warriors. Thus there is a rushed element, you do not see in further books. But it is still enjoyable and fun story about a young man that accidently becomes a questing hero.

[Zivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is available as a free e-book on the author's website: zenvirus.com

This is my first Hugh Cook book. I was very pleasantly surprised.
This is grown up Fantasy, without the fluff of fairy tales.

The protagonist Tagura reminds me of the Discworld's Rincewind but more realistic and without The Luggage to bail him out.
He is an anti hero in an anti fantasy adventure.

I was really disappointed to find that not a single Hugh Cook book is available on Audible.com.

[Myke Halstead · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would start over and read it again, but there's more in the series. Damn fine book.

[Lauregul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Togura Poulaan verliebt sich Hals über Kopf in die Tochter einer rivalisierenden Famile. Als diese urplötzlich entführt wird, begibt er sich – etwas widerwillig –auf eine gefährliche Reise, um sie zu retten, die ihn in die verschiedensten Gegenden der Welt führt.

The Wordsmiths and the Warguild ist der zweite Band der Reihe Chronicles of an Age of Darkness. Dabei ist die Geschichte jedoch nur lose mit der des ersten Bands verknüpft. Immer wieder tauchen Gegenden, Geschehnisse sowie Personen aus dem Vorgänger auf, die Hauptstory jedoch hat nichts mit der des ersten Bands zu tun.

Die Story ist ein ziemliches Durcheinander. Zwischendurch ist immer wieder nicht mehr klar, ob Togura sich überhaupt noch auf seiner Quest befindet oder ob er sie aufgegeben hat und einfach nur noch irgendetwas tut. Diese Handlungstruktur scheint eine wiederkehrende Charakteristik der Chronicles of an Age of Darkness-Bücher zu sein, da der erste Band diesbezüglich sehr ähnlich ist. Trotz dieses Durcheinanders ist die Geschichte nicht unbedingt schlecht, sondern einfach ziemlich absurd und ab und zu auch recht lustig.

Toguras Entwicklung über das Buch hinweg ist glaubhaft. Er steht das ganze Buch hinweg immer wieder im Konflikt mit seiner Quest sowie sich selbst, kämpft sich aber letztendlich durch und tut immer das, was ihm im entsprechenden Moment richtig vorkommt. Besonders gut gefallen mir einige der Nebencharaktere wie zum Beispiel Draven, ein Piratenkapitän, der die seltsamsten (Lügen-)Geschichten erzählt. Dass einige dieser Nebencharaktere laut den Klappentexten der zukünftigen Bücher immer wieder eine Rolle spielen werden, ist für mich eine der Hauptmotivationen, die Reihe weiterzulesen.

Die Geschichte führt den Leser immer wieder an Orte, die bereits im ersten Band eine Rolle spielten. Es fühlt sich gut an, diese aus anderen Blickwinkeln zu einem anderen Zeitpunkt der Welt betrachten zu können. Das Worldbuilding ist dabei solide, geht aber nie besonders in die Tiefe. Meine Hoffnung ist hier, dass die Folgebände mit den weiterhin lose verknüpften Geschichten, die für mehr und mehr verschiedene Blickwinkel sorgen, langsam aber sicher die Welt immer weiter ausführen und sie so immer realer werden lassen – das ist für mich der zweite Hauptgrund, die Reihe weiterzuverfolgen.

Alles in allem ist The Wordsmiths and the Warguild ein nettes Buch für zwischendurch. Die Handlung ist leicht verständlich und sorgt zwischendurch für das eine oder andere Schmunzeln. Wer aber eine besonders tiefe oder besonders spannende Handlung erwartet, wird enttäuscht sein. Da ich neben den zuvor genannten Gründen einfach sehen möchte, welche Ideen Hugh Cook sonst noch hatte, werde ich jedenfalls auch den nächsten Band lesen.

[Nia Sinjorina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chronicles of  an Age of Darkness: volume 2

With my doubts about the quality, depth, and craftsmanship from volume 1,  I read  The Wordsmiths and the Warguild with a more critical eye.

I will say straight off that the author has a fantastic imagination and a wicked sense of humour, two elements that made me fall in love with the works of Iain M.Banks: just one example is the Odex, its operation, and the manifestations thereof. In its relating, one can see an immense past of high technology through just a sliver of the post apocalyptic window presented and, as with parts of Jordan's The Wheel of Time, I do wish more words could be spent on that past, but perhaps that is the price of having a foot in both science fiction and fantasy.

This book is amusing, locking onto one character and journeying with him through a series of adventures, a few highs but mainly lows. In that, there is a quite a bit travelling around, then stopping, then having an adventure, then travelling somemore. I understand it forms a mainstay of fantasy but it has annoyed me since my earliest days, since it screams of the Fantasy Tourist Board (surely a Pratchett creation). If there is magic, there should be portals, jumping, teleportation, relocation otherwise what is the point? Something I think the whole genre is sponsored by the makers of hiking gear.

It has been documented that one of Cook's strengths is his character presentation and development and it shines out here just as much as in volume 1. They are rich, believable and even when ridiculous, credulously so.

An enjoyable read but more a travelogue that part of a coherent tale: maybe it will come as more volumes are read. There again, it says chronicles, so perhaps that what is is, a set of stories vaguely connected by the world in which they are set.

Fleecy Moss, author of the Folio 55 SciFi fantasy series (writing as Nia Sinjorina), End of a Girl, Undon , and 4659 now available on Amazon.

[Jp · Rating 4 out of 5]

While not as epic as its predecessor, this is the better of the series (so far!). Better paced, better written, it's really a bit of a hoot, especially as we become more involved with the pirates later in the story.

Togura, the protagonist of this tale, is essentially a decent fellow, much easier to like than the more deeply flawed characters of the previous novel. He is far from perfect, but you can't help but empathise as the universe uses him like a football to kick from pillar to post. In fact it's Hugh Cook's acerbic wit and humour which turn what would be an otherwise fairly ordinary story into a rollicking adventure; at times I found myself laughing out loud.

On a final note, as I'm reading these 30 years later, it's amazing how much depth there is to these books. The brief vignettes of humour or philosophy really appealled to me as an adult, which I doubt they would've as a kid (especially Togura's unrelenting quest to lose his virginity), yet even back then I loved the evocative language, amorality and most of all the realism; life can suck, get a helmet.

[Ian Schagen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Volume 2 of Chronicles of an Age of Darkness has a single protagonist, who interacts briefly with some of the characters from other volumes. He has aspirations to be a hero, but is rather a pawn of fate, his survival through a series of adventures owing much to chance. The writing is quirky and often amusing, although the plot is, as ever, highly far-fetched.

[Ace Brownstone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although a decent picaresque, the actions of the story have little impact on the overarching plot that runs through the series, making it less interesting and lacking in gravitas than say the first book; while being blander as a picaresque and less consequential than the fourth book.

[Eddy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some quite humourous parts, but as it (deliberately) avoids any kind of satisfactory plot or overarching story, it feels limp.

[Michael Vawser]

2 copies

[Ceri Sambrook · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm cheating and using this reveiw for all Hugh Cook's Chronicles of an Age of Darkness.
Take almost every fantasy cliche and trope you can think of and give it to Eddings or Jordan and you get 'The Belgariad' or 'The Wheel of Time'- entertaining enough but otherwise souless pap. Give them however to Hugh Cook and you get your tiny mind blown. He turns everything on its head like no other author before or after him. Wizards, magic bottles, monsters and heroes are used in such a fresh imaginative way that you are glued to the story page by page. Humour pervades every book to a varying degree and one of the great disappointments in life is that he never finished the whole set as he saw them- though luckily each book can be read as a stand alone novel, rewarding fans with nods, winks and links akimbo, otherwise complete reads in themselves.
I cannot recommend these books enough- even if you are not a fantasy fan; believe me these books will nothing like you expect and I think represent a truly unique literary experience

[Timday · Rating 4 out of 5]

classy voigt drake makes comeback

[Steve]

Chronicles of an Age of Darkness