QUSHMARRAH

by Glen Cook

Qushmarrah, cit fire et florissante, conquise par trahison, occupe depuis six ans par les Hrodiens. Qushmarrah, cit rsistante, hante par le retour possible de son matre assassin, le prtre-sorcier Nakar. Une ville aux nerfs ports vif par les enlvements rcurrents d'enfants de six ans. Une ville en attente de la dflagration qui ne manquera pas de se produire. Dans un univers qui n'est pas celui de la Compagnie noire, non plus celui o Hrod serait Rome et Qushmarrah Carthage, l'issue d'une guerre Punique, Glen Cook prend un malin plaisir brouiller les pistes, inverser les rles et redistribuer les alliances. Guerriers du dsert, cohortes de soldatesque et leurs gnraux, tueurs fous, kidnappeurs, sorcires et rsistants s'affrontent, se trahissent et s'entre-tuent dans un rcit chevel la manire incisive d'un grand styliste de la fantasy.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Dark Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy, Audiobook, Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction

Paperback

First published August 1, 1989

About the author

Glen Cook was born in New York City, lived in southern Indiana as a small child, then grew up in Northern California. After high school he served in the U.S. Navy and attended the University of Missouri. He worked for General Motors for 33 years, retiring some years ago. He started writing short stories in 7th grade, had several published in a high school literary magazine. He began writing with malicious intent to publish in 1968, eventually producing 51 books and a number of short fiction pieces.
He met his wife of 43 years while attending the Clarion Writer's Workshop in 1970. He has three sons (army officer, architect, orchestral musician) and numerous grandchildren, all of whom but one are female. He is best known for his Black Company series, which has appeared in 20+ languages worldwide. His other series include Dread Empire and and the Garrett, P.I. series. His latest work is Working God’s Mischief, fourth in the Instrumentalities of the Night series.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/glencook

Reviews

[✘✘ Sarah ✘✘ (former Nefarious Breeder of Murderous Crustaceans) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Previous rating: 4 stars.
New rating: 4.686978978 stars. And a half. Because duh and stuff.

➽ And the moral of this reread is: Why I ever bother to read non-CookBooks™ is any shrimp’s guess.



See? Even the Commander in Chief of my Murderous Crustacean Armies of Doom, Fleet Admiral Bartholomew DaShrimp III, seems to think wasting time on crap stuff non written by God Glen Cook is kinda sorta pointless.



[October 2016]

· We are the Reunited and Slightly Indestructible Black Company Mercenaries Oh and By the Way Glen Cook is our God Buddy Read (WatRaSIBCMOaBtWGCioGBR™) with Evgeny, Choko and Eilonwy ·

Friendly warning: clear your schedule and grab a snack. I don't have much to say about this book, so this crappy non review will very logically be totally pointless. And never-ending. Yeah, that too. You're welcome.

Okay, I think I need to devise a Special Glen Cook Rating System (SGCRS™) here. I mean, compared to the kind of crap I usually read, this book deserves a 20-star rating. BUT. Compared to the best Fantasy series that ever was and ever will be (The Black Company. Also written by Cook. Duh) it probably deserves a 3.5 star rating. So I shall very logically rate it 4.5 stars. There. That makes sense.



Welcome to The Wonderful World of Glen Cook (TWWoGC™)! Where everyone's favourite hobby is to screw everyone else over! It's heart-warming! It's delightfully touching! It's beautiful!



Oh yes, most definitely. Love for deviousness. For duplicity. For betrayal. For double-crossing. And for dubious machinations. Because, yes, TWWoGC™ is Backstabbing Heaven (BH™). Also known as Ulterior Motives Paradise (UMP™). Also, also known as Evil, Wicked Schemers Unite (EWSU™) {insert happy, contented sigh here}

In pure Glen Cook fashion perfection, there isn't a single good-good guy in the story. Okay, so most of the characters here aren't as deliciously villainous as those of The Black Company, but some of them come delectably close. What is amazing with Cook is how incredibly well-developed his characters are. Each and everyone one of them is made of multiple, complex, rich layers. Which makes them feel real. And impossible not to like. I mean, even the evilest of bastards is always irresistible in TWWoGC™! {insert happy, contented sigh here}

[Warning: digression ahead]

Oh bloody hell. I should have started at the beginning. I'd promised myself to write a coherent review for this one, but the 13-year-old fangirl in me inevitably takes over whenever I visit TWWoGC™, and my IQ drops from 1,583 to -14,586. Which means my fascinating, ever enlightening thoughts all kinda sorta get slightly disorganized in my little Mensa head, and chaos ensues ← in case you were wondering: no, I haven't had another close encounter with the vodka bottle. Not yet anyway. Hey, that's an idea! I'm pretty sure my little grey cells would be all perky and stuff after a few glasses! ♫ Hakuna some vodka ♫

Okay Sarah, get ahold of yourself, you can do this. This is serious Fantasy stuff for serious Fantasy readers, and you can write serious Fantasy reviews. Of course you can . So, forgive me Father Glen Cook, for I have digressed, and all that crap.



Don't ask me what habits #1 and #2 are supposed to be, I have no idea.

First things first? Sure, no problem. Your wish is my command and stuff. Here we go:

① The character list at the beginning of this book is so daunting, it freaked the shrimp out of me and made me think I was suffering from an acute case of I have the Dumbest of Dumbs (IhtDoD™). I have to admit I was never a character/location list kind of person to begin with, because these things tend to confuse the fish out of me. Well, I thought the lists I'd come across before reading this book were confusing. Hahaha. I can be so delightfully naive sometimes. I'm telling you, my Little Barnacles, you've never been baffled, perplexed and generally befuddled until you've tried to read this list here. So I decided to do the bravest, most logical thing: I skipped the freaking list. I mean, I survived the first chapters of The Black Company, so I figured I could survive not reading the Character List of Doom and Destruction (CLoDaD™). And that worked really well for me. Right.



Okay, to be honest, the character list does come in pretty handy once you start reading the book. No, forget "pretty handy," the thing is a bloody shrimping lifesaver. I mean, there are so many characters that it's difficult to keep track of them all at first. Add to that the different factions they belong to, their past history, and the fact that some characters are referred to by different names and you get an ever-so-slightly discombobulated me. And the moral of this never-ending ① is: in Glen Cook you shall trust no matter what. If he put a character list at the beginning of his book, there is a reason. So read the silly thing, you harebrained decapod! ← that's me talking to myself, in case you were wondering.

② This book should be 100 200 pages longer a series. There is so much going on, so much background history that is literally screaming to be developed (because yes, background histories do scream once in a while), and the plot is so beautifully dense that, at 375 pages, the book feels much too short. And I'm pretty sure the story would have gained a lot in clarity, had the book been longer. I mean, you kind of get thrown into the melee head-first, and by the time you feel completely immersed in the world and delicious scheming…boom! The end!



Yep, that's right, even Darthy thinks this sucks BIG time.

③ There are kids in this story. They are not freaky in any way. Which is really weird when you know what Cook is capable of in this particular department *waves at the Daughter of Darkness* The kids in this story are actually despicably cute ← yes, this is really me writing this review. No, my account has not been hacked. And NO, I still haven't touched the vodka bottle. After I read the first scene involving these kids, I had to double-check the book cover. I mean, Glen Cook the God of All Things Evil (GCtGoATE™), coming up with kids so irresistible even I want to kidnap adopt them? I don't think so. Well guess what? It turns out that YES, this story was indeed written by GCtGoATE™, and YES there are despicably cute kids in it. Despicably cute kids whose overwhelming cuteness didn't make me convulse to death.



Shocking, I know. I must admit I am quite flabbergasted myself. Only Ilona Andrews had been able to bypass my Cuteness Allergy until today.

④ Glen Cook is a God.

⑤ Glen Cook is a God.

⑥ Glen Cook is a God.

And that's about it. I think. Oh no, wait, I forgot something!



There. That's much better.

[Choko · Rating 4 out of 5]

*** 4.25 ***

A buddy read with the Glen Cook aficionados at BB&B!!! Just so we can remember how a master weaves a story!

I do not know how GC does it! He is so different from the majority of Fantasy writers out there, his writing so deceptively simple, and his storytelling above and beyond anything I can qualify!!! He blows me away every time and the only complaint I have with this book - it was not enough!!! I needed more! It took a while to get into the world, which as in all of his writings is complex and intricate, and just when you get into it, get to know the characters and get fully invested in the story, boom- it is over! I think I got spoiled with the 9 books of the "Chronicles of the Black Company" and was prepared for a humongous tome, when it was just a regular size book and it was not enough to satisfy my hunger for more of his dubious characters, the political and religious set-up, the constant backstabbing and political jostling for power, and as always, the little touches of magic - just enough to make things more complicated, but not enough to be a predominate element, thus making the whole world very easy to relate to. My friend and buddy reader Sarah said it best - yes, he is a fantastic storyteller, yes, he can come up with a world and a story to blow your mind, but what realy makes him stand out from the field is the way he develops his characters! No flat or simple characters here. Somehow, even the dude that just walks on the street when couple of the characters are chatting, even that dude adds something to the atmosphere, and we feel like we can see, smell and hear him, because he is given a personality all his own. I have said this before, but I am of the persuasion who believes that Glen Cook is a Genius!!! This does not mean perfect or incapable of mistakes, but he gets darn close to it!

I am not going to get into the story, but the set up is of a City-State which has been occupied and under the rule of an old enemy, who took over by toppling a Dark Wizard down and with that ending a drought the Wizard was using as a show of power. There are 3 ethnic groups involved and the main focus of the story is the positives and negatives that come with such political occupation and when do the "good guys" stop being justified for all the methods they use in order to take down the "bad guys"... It seems that the lines between good and bad are almost non-existent in most of GC's novels, which is very true in this one. Also, the reasoning behind the betrayal and the driving force behind the Witch's action is the same - love! Who knew Glen Cook is such a romantic???:)):)) I would recommend this to all who enjoy intrigues and plain good writing!!! I am a forever fan of Glen Cook!!!

I wish you all Happy Reading and enjoy the beautiful Fall weather!!!

[Michelle F · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me, 30 years later: So. Wow. This Glen Cook fella, hey guys?

Both simple in the grandest scheme and densely layered in its details, The Tower of Fear is accomplished and compelling.

For fans of political fantasy, the scenario is straightforward: an occupied city is approaching a crisis point as factions vie to achieve their own aims.

Although most standout for masterly writing, the story itself also kept me hooked. The Tower of Fear is a standalone book, and Cook weaves a lot of complexity into its (relatively) few pages. This is praise, yes, but also a warning of sorts. There's a handful of factions, and so. many. names and though I think Cook handled it deftly, it can get a bit much.

I've finally acquired the first of the Black Company books, and having read this as a placeholder I am really excited to jump in.

[Eilonwy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Original Review (2016)Another great read from Glen Cook! I'm not sure I can write a summary for this, since the story is crazy complex and I spent most of the book being slightly confused at the same time as being completely hooked.

The story takes place in Qushmarrah, a seaside desert city where three factions struggle for control -- the natives, the Herodians, and the Dartars. The book has a somewhat Biblical feel, as the Qushmarrahans seem Semitic, the invading Herodians seem Roman, and the Dartars are a tribe who left their home on the other side of the mountains to seek water due to a drought. Each group has their own language and their own deity. To complicate matters, a very small group of characters continue to worship Gorloch, an extremely unpleasant local deity.

Everyone wants power, so the book is full of Glen Cook's trademark double-crossing and backstabbing, shown through the eyes of individuals who are either directly involved, or just caught in the swirl. And it's got all of the author's great characterization and always awesome worldbuilding.

I'm giving this four stars instead of five mainly because I thought the writing made this book unnecessarily more confusing, primarily by referring to the characters too many ways. One person would be referred to at various times by (1) first name, (2) last name, (3) appearance, and (4) profession or title, sometimes all within the same scene. There are so many characters that this made it really hard to keep them all straight. I personally prefer authors to pick one name for any given character and stick with it, thank you!

If you want a taste of Glen Cook without committing to a long series, this book is a great way to do that! I may not be gushing about this the way I did over the Black Company books, but Glen Cook is a freaking genius and this book was brilliant.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Reread Update (2019): This book was just as good as a reread (although it helped that I had managed to forget everything about it in 3 years!). And having read more Glen Cook since 2016, I found myself viewing this story as a sidebar in the world of The Instrumentalities of the Night, just set further in the past and on the African side of the Mediterranean rather than the European/Middle Eastern sides. I loved that world, so it was great to feel back there for a while. And this time I had a MUCH easier time keeping track of all the characters.

Again, highly recommended as an introduction to Glen Cook if anyone is curious about his brand of fantasy.

Check out my Buddy Mercenaries' reviews:

Evgeny
Sarah
Choko

[Layla ✷ Praise the sun ✷ · Rating 4 out of 5]

No one ever told the truth. Everyone was maneuvering and trying to manipulate everyone else.

This 384 pages standalone book follows the interwoven stories of 46 (more or less) characters and it takes time to get into.

None of the characters are simple, they plot and backstab, there are secret agendas and hidden motives everywhere, and trying to guess what everyone really is up to is part of the fun of reading a Glen Cook book. I rarely - if ever - guess right when it comes to his stories because his stories are so unique, original and unlike all the other stuff that I have read. That makes the guessing even more fun, and once you start to understand the who is who and what is going on here, this book becomes unputdownable and ends way to soon.

If you like political intrigue, unique writing, dark fantasy worlds and complex characters, this book is for you.

Recommended.

[Joe Eames · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite novel of all time, followed closely by Cook's "The Silver Spike" (which you shouldn't read until after reading the first 3 black company books). I must have read The Tower of Fear about 15 times now. Each time I'm amazed by what a master he is, and why I had such a hard time with the typical formulaic fantasy books of "group of adventurers goes off to find artifact X".

The gray characters, the interweaving plots, the blindsiding developments...all are truly amazing. Using an atypical locale is also a fresh take on fantasy. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves fantasy but is tired of formulaic D&D knockoffs.

In many ways this is the book I wished the song of ice and fire would have been. Like George R R Martin's novels, this book is full of gray characters that are neither evil nor good, but unlike his novels, this actually is a single story with a beginning, climax, and end, instead of constant rising action over and over and over with no resolution.

[William M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

4 AND ½ STARS

My first experience with dark fantasy author Glen Cook could not have been more enjoyable. I always look for a good story, solid technical writing that exudes confidence, a strong vocabulary with a unique style, believable and original characters, rich atmosphere, and an overall consistency from beginning to end. It is rare for a writer to have strengths in most of these categories. Glen Cook has them all.

This book is crafted masterfully like the construction of a champion chess game. Every new chapter delicately builds upon the last, with each development having an impact on the story. A single character's decision has a domino effect, creating new choices, options, and dangers of everyone involved. I found myself nearly breathless how well everything came together. If there was a criticism to be made of the book, it would have to be the handful of places where the dialogue felt too modern with phrases that didn't seem organic to the world Cook has created. Those few times pulled me out of the story, but fortunately, that did not happen often.

I was so impressed with this book, I have already ordered 3 more titles from this author (The Dragon Never Sleeps, Passage At Arms, and The Black Company omnibus). Anyone interested in fantasy without the clichéd orcs, ogres, elves, dwarfs, and magical weapons, will be refreshingly surprised with this stand-alone novel. Cook has renewed my interest and faith in the dark fantasy genre. I can't wait to read more.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars A really good tale with complex, interesting characters. A bit slow to start but once the betrayals and plans start to be put in motion, it doesn't stop. Plots within plots, friends who aren't, enemies who need to cooperate, tough choices. My first Glen Cook but not my last. If this is typical of his work, I'm in for some great reading.

[Chris Hawks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Following a slow-ish start, this book has completely blown me away. I love Cook's Black Company stuff (the only other Cook books that I've read) and this might be even better. Cook shows that he's the master of the "gray" character, filling the book with multiple, overlapping POVs from all factions involved. Barring one or two characters who are just plain jerks, there are no real bad guys here; just men and women doing what they feel they need to for a cause that they feel is just.

The plot revolves around the middle-east-flavored city of Qushmarrah, formerly ruled by the dark lord Gorloch and his sorceror Nakar, now occupied by the monotheistic Herodians and their mercenary Dartar tribes. Throw in an underground Qushmarrahan rebellion called The Living, who seek independence for their city; and Nakar's widow, intent on resurrecting her deceased husband. Then put a carpenter and his family smack in the middle of all of it.

All of this in a standalone novel under 400 pages. Wow.

[Gibson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essenziale

Ahimè unico romanzo fantasy tradotto di Cook, vive di uno stile asciutto, essenziale, che non regala nulla al lettore, nemmeno il più piccolo aiuto. La storia viene mostrata mentre accade, con repentini cambi di prospettive ogni poche pagine che si incastrano al disegno generale, regalando al lettore il compito di saldarne la forma.
Ci si trova direttamente nel mezzo delle situazioni, sono esse a parlare e non l'autore. All'inizio si può accusare il colpo, ma se ci si lascia catturare dal meccanismo si rischia di rimanerne affascinati.

La trama non è particolarmente elaborata, ma grazie alle pennellate di Cook gli eventi creano un'atmosfera intrigante in grado di costruire il piccolo mondo in cui si svolgono le vicende, senza bisogno di abbondare in descrizioni.
Uno stile che su di me ha lasciato un segno indelebile, precursore di quello che sarà perfezionato da Steven Erikson.

[John Behnken · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book reminded me that Glen Cook is a master. He hits the story hard from 4 different directions - all conflicting groups of players and all likeable to some degree. In the end, you're left wondering who you should be routing for, if anyone. Even the most dispicable of characters are likeable in some ways. Very hard to put down. One of his best efforts to date.

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've generally liked everything I've read by Cook.

[Ben Tamm · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to know what Glen Cook was smoking when he wrote the second half of this book! The first hundred or so pages are a slog, filled with so many characters it makes War and Peace seem desolate and uninhabited. There’s also a lot of exposition; when you’re thrust into the middle of a fictional conflict that’s spanned years, some exposition is good and necessary. But the cultural, political and personal ramblings of so many entities seemed to be going absolutely nowhere for too long. Then, sweet Jesus, we hit the second half and we also hit our stride. All the posturing and squabbling begins to take real shape. Things are put in motion. Suddenly we begin to actually care what these characters are doing. Glen Cook takes the mangled carcass of his own beginning and, with a few bandaids and by the help of Gorloch constructs one of the most riveting finales ever written in the fantasy genre. The tedious nature of the start is made well worth it by the finish, and if you have the patience to slog through the mire you’ll reach the far shore of Glen Cook’s writing prowess.

[Su · Rating 2 out of 5]

I only read it because I mistook Glen Cook for Monte Cook, he of TSR fame, and G.Cook's other work was well-received.

Quite formulaic and traditional, it's a standard rendition of the average man caught up in epic events. The clash of cultures works well, and the simmering stew-pot of lethal politics works well, marred only by some improbable romance and questionably-founded character motivations.

I have to admit my interest slackened towards the end as the political and power stalemate finally broke down into something more exciting, my immersion was a bit broken by so many names that all sounded the same, leading to some confusion, backtracking and rereading. Speed-reading probably didn't help.

By the time it finally wound up, I was happy for it to do so, which is not a good feeling I suppose. The epilog and epilog to the epilog was kind of strange, almost as though the author intended to write more, but didn't, but also didn't want to just leave the plot hanging where it ended.

A decent by-the-numbers romp for diehard fantasy fans, but don't expect anything groundbreaking.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tower of Fear is a novel by Glen Cook. It is set in a city ruled by an invader. It was won from a tyrant who ruled the land with an iron fist.

The book is a complicated interweaving of plots and plans. The occupier, the Resistance, the supporters of the old regime, the mercenary tools of the invader, and the common people of the city are all represented. As is usual for Cook, it is impossible to pick a side and label them The Good Guys, though there are are a few people who are definitely not.

The characters, and the motives that move them, are all well written and believable.

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book back in the fall of 1990, but for whatever reason, despite being a fan of Glen Cook, particularly the Black Company books, I just never got around to actually reading it before. I think I started it once or twice back in the 90s, but for some reason it never quite grabbed me.

So now, not quite 35 years later, I finally did actually sit down and read it, and while it's not the best Glen Cook, it's certainly an entertaining story.

This one is a standalone, although it probably wouldn't take too much work to retrofit it into the Black Company books or something.

The setting is the vaguely middle eastern-feeling city of Qushmarrah. Prior to the events of the book, Qushmarrah had been under the rule of the sorcerer Nakar; then, about six or seven years ago, a combined force of Herodians (Roman analogues) and Dartars (desert nomads) defeated Nakar in a war (although the wizard leading their forces was also lost in the conflict with Nakar) and conquered and occupied the city, which the Qushmarrans are not particularly happy about (not that they were necessarily thrilled with Nakar's bloody reign either).

So now, you have the locals (some of whom belong to a rebel group aimed at ousting the occupiers; and that group has its own faction), the Dartars and the Herodians all engaged in very complicated intrigues against each other, sometimes making alliances of convenience with one faction against the other; and most of the locals would prefer not to be under occupation, thank you very much, but would also prefer to just be left out of the whole, simmering mess.

And now somebody has started kidnapping children of a certain age, which is just the sort of thing to set a fuse to the whole powder keg of a city ...

There was a lot going on in this one -- Cook has POV characters (sympathetic and otherwise) from pretty much all of the factions, most of whom have entirely valid (well, in their opinion) reasons for doing what they're doing; and when the action does come, it's as fast & furious as you'd want, and with increasing amounts of magical pyrotechnics as things come to a head. Honestly, this could probably be turned into a pretty entertaining 10-12 episode miniseries if anyone wanted to try their hand at it.

So I'm glad that I finally got around to reading this, sorry it took me 35 years to do so, and will probably read it again without waiting for another 35 years to elapse.

[Jess Big Cat · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting low fantasy tale of intrigue, machinations, backstabbing, and ultimately a race against time. There are plenty of deep characters (but IMO most were kinda boring) and an interesting setting involving a loosely Eastern Mediterranean-influenced city held by Roman-esque troops, so tensions are high. There are those who are flourishing under the new rule, others nurse grudges, and plenty of innocents in the middle.
After a series of child snatchings the city is even tenser, and one day a snatcher grabs a child that sets in motion a series of events that threatens to take the entire city apart due to guile, a little witchcraft, and misunderstandings.

[Francesco Manno · Rating 3 out of 5]

http://panopticonitalia.blogspot.it/2...

The tower of darkness is a book original and unusual, because, unlike many other novels of sword and sorcery, the focus is not placed on enterprises of some hero wiry, but the socio-political context inherent in the occupation of a given territory (approaching the saga Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson).
The action and magic in this novel are secondary. Glen Cook propels us into an imaginary world that has significant similarities with the Middle East, in the period of Roman occupation (or if you want Byzantine).
The author dwells in detail to describe the mood of the inhabitants of the city of intolerant Qushmarrah, subject to foreign government of the Herodians.
First we have the Living, a paramilitary organization secret to prepare the ground for a coup and composed of war veterans. Then there are the Herodians (similar to the Romans) who occupy the city and who are hated by the population. Thirdly involved the Datar (similar to the Arabs), a nomadic and mercenary, who claim allegiance to the Herodians, betraying Qushmarr.
The protagonist of the story is Aaron, qushmarr a carpenter by profession, who never accepted the shame of defeat and that has serious doubts about the possibility that some of his fellow countryman betrayed during the war, selling the Herodians and encouraging their victory . Aaron is not a hero or an anti-hero, but a simple man struggling to defend their family and who is willing to put aside his ideals to protect her.
Although it plays a key role, is the magic and specifically we have the Witch, wife of the terrible necromancer Narkar, trying in every way to reincarnate the soul of her husband in that of a child and does not hesitate to kidnap the youth of the city of Qushmarr to achieve its purpose, arousing the anger of the local population.
Ultimately, this is a book that I recommend to those who prefer the dense interweaving political action.

[Marco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Giudizio estremamente parziale, ma La Torre di Tenebra è il libro che mi ha fatto innamorare del genere fantasy, e quindi avrà sempre un posto speciale nel mio cuore. All’epoca, quando avevo 12/13 anni, leggevo quasi esclusivamente gialli e horror, e anzi presi questo libro in biblioteca solo perché il titolo e l’orrida copertina della versione italiana mi avevano fatto pensare trattarsi di un romanzo horror.
Ricordo ancora la crescente ammirazione e meraviglia con cui divorai il libro, affascinato dalle molteplici sotto-trame e dall’ambiguità dei vari personaggi e delle differenti fazioni. E soprattutto la delusione nello scoprire, a libro finito, trattarsi dell’unica opera – e lungi dall’essere la più famosa – di Cook disponibile in italiano. Cosa che, vergognosamente, credo continui ad esser vera ancora oggi.

Riletto in lingua originale a quasi vent’anni di distanza, il libro ha sorprendentemente superato l’esame del tempo: decisamente meno originale ed innovativo di quanto mi fosse apparso alla prima lettura, e con un finale non all’altezza, il libro si fa comunque apprezzare grazie alla complessità dei numerosi protagonisti, tutti in qualche modo apprezzabili e ben motivati nelle loro azioni, e alla scrittura estremamente asciutta e diretta – stile spesso criticato, ma che personalmente apprezzo notevolmente.

[Redsteve · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had forgotten just how good this one is. TOWER OF FEAR is one of Glen Cook's few stand alone novels. Set in a more-or-less classical period fantasy Near East, with cultures similar to Carthage/Phoenicia, Rome, Bedouin Arabia, and Palestine, this book has more points of view than is typical for one of his novels, with characters ranging from soldiers, spies, officers, nomads, and magicians to artisans and children. There is plenty of action and intrigue (with double and triple crosses and elaborate plots), and while much of the action is centered around the "death" of an evil sorcerer more than ten years ago, magic has little direct impact on most of the characters (until, of course, it does). Few characters are purely good or evil (although there are a few) and most of them are just trying to survive in an occupied city. ALL have their own agendas, and, for the most part, when one of them says "Now, I'm going to be honest with you," it means that they are going to start lying like hell. As always, excellent world building, plotting and dialogue. Solid 4 stars. Maybe 4.25. Reminded me a bit of the BLACK COMPANY novel, THE SILVER SPIKE.

[Robert Noll · Rating 3 out of 5]

Positives:
* Different fantasy setting (a desert as opposed to a more lush environment);
* Epilogue 2 covers the outcomes for the major characters;
* Good use of three separate warring factions in an occupied city.

Negatives:
* Twice as many characters as necessary;
* No map;
* Gratuitous profanity;
* Incorrect usage of "till" instead of 'til (just use "until" and avoid the problem) and inclusion of the phrase "muttered under his breath." Just mutter something. Can you mutter over your breath?
* The plot seems to move in fits and starts.

[Christine · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got to page 76 and had to give up. This saddens me since the premise is good; I would love to see this story done well. The distraction in this book is the characters; the author introduces far too many too quickly with names too similar for the reader to keep track. I spent most of my time flipping back to to try to figure out what character belonged to what faction. A review can be seen on my blog, http://coffeecupthoughts.wordpress.co...

[Hokuto · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's been a long time since I read this so I'm going off very vague memories, but I wasn't much impressed by this book; it was a little exciting at the beginning and some excitement at the end, but I remember nothing of what's in the middle.

[Trent Mikesell · Rating 1 out of 5]

I could not finish it despite the good reviews.

[Lance Lybert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book, but I felt like the ending could have been better. Solid 3.4

[Shaun · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had heard that Tower of Fear was Glen Cook's best work and it is hard to disagree. It starts out a little clumsily, in that it does the thing a fair amount of complex fantasy does by assaulting you with a bunch of fantasy names of people and places that are hard to keep track of. After you settle in though, and begin to grasp what is happening it is really quite good.

It doesn't do the thing a lot of fantasy does where it is "good vs evil." There are multiple factions, each with their own motivations, and though there are some people who you will think suck, and other people you will agree with, for the most part everyone is just doing their best with their own beliefs. You might find someone you root for, or you might be like "wow everyone here kind of has a point." I think it's really impressive when you can write from multiple perspectives and give equal weight to them all.

The one complaint i have, is mostly a complaint because I just finished a Path to Coldness of Heart. That book was filled with pedophilia and really made me question Glen Cook a lot. This book has basically one small mention of inappropriate thoughts. A character is making love with his wife, and being a big family in a small living situation some of his family notice. A much younger sister in law sees, and the man has very inappropriate thoughts about her. It's weird, and gross, though the character himself is ashamed of the thoughts. Maybe it was put in there to show that even regular family men are capable of wickedness. I don't know. It probably wouldnt' have stuck out so much if I didn't just read so much pedophilia in his book A Path to Coldness of Heart. Now I kind of have to wonder about Glen Cook.

[Roldegar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Glenn Cook da il meglio di sé in questo romanzo fantasy auto conclusivo, tessendo un’incredibile tela di intrighi politici dal tono crudo e realistico. Nulla infatti sembra lasciato al caso, curando i dettagli con una maniacalità tale da provare un brivido lungo la schiena quando i tasselli del mosaico, centellinati di capitolo in capitolo, iniziano a comporsi formando l’immagine completa. Scritto adoperandosi del punto di vista di molteplici personaggi, inizialmente disarmante (avendo nomi esotici dal gusto arabeggiante), ognuno ben caratterizzato, con motivazioni dalle sfaccettature complesse; ognuno ben collocato nella struttura sociale e militare di Qushmarrah, la città costiera un tempo governata dal temibile Nakar l’Abominio. Ombre si aggirano per i suoi vicoli labirintici, mentre la città sopravvive giorno dopo giorno all’occupazione militare delle forze Erodiane. Un’ambientazione che ricorda molto l’occupazione romana della Siria, ma con una sua unica personalità. I toni magici non sono mai predominanti, al punto da dimenticarsi di star leggendo un fantasy. È con immenso piacere che consiglio a chiunque voglia qualcosa di originale, fuori dai soliti connotati medievali triti e ritriti, questo capolavoro semi dimenticato di Glen Cook (oscurato dalle sue opere maggiori, come la trilogia della Black Company). Saprà incollare gli occhi alle pagine come pochi romanzi sanno fare.

[Randall Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not your typical fantasy. This one is hard to rate because I could just as easily given it one star, but since the writing was good, and the plot so excellent and complex, I had to give it four stars. Though well-written, this is just not my style of book. I nearly stopped reading it because of the multitude of characters that are introduced at the beginning. Though this is helped by a long listing of characters before the book begins, it still took nearly 100 pages before I got them all sorted out. Not only were there a lot of characters, the names were difficult and not easily distinguished from one another.

The novel reads more like a spy/espionage novel than a fantasy as it centers around multiple factions trying to gain control of a city. Not a sword and sorcery fantasy by any means as the title seems to suggest. It was good, it was interesting - but I didn't like it. Well, I kinda did. *shrug*

[Javier A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

'The Tower of Fear' sank its claws into me and did not avail until I was done with it. Cook weaves a masterful and complicated thriller, with several factions, multiple character perspectives, succulent intrigue, and excellent prose.

The book does not tarry, does not let up, and does not bore during any of its pages —which are of surprising brevity for such a complicated tale. On top of all which I listed above, the book manages to present compelling and believable characters whose presence are critical to the plot.

Cook should also be commended on presenting a situation which is morally gray, with no clear 'good' faction (though there are individual personages of immense evil) where one doesn't know who to root for for the majority of the book —save, perhaps, the carpenter, Aaron.

What else can I say? Glen Cook's done it again —the talented bastard!

[Vincent · Rating 4 out of 5]

A big plot focused on the smaller details.

This book doesn't sound great from the description and the opening chapter reads like a cliché but everything gets better after that.

There is a big plot with gods and wars and generals but most of the time we focus on the lives of the ordinary people caught in the middle.

The characters are well rounded and believable, a mixture of good and bad but all with realistic motives and emotions.

The plot has lots of twists and turns and keeps you guessing right until the end.

The magic is kept to a minimum leaving plenty of room for regular betrayals and back-stabbing.

It lacks the scale of the Black Company novels but it is a very quick and enjoyable read.