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Dread Empire
An Empire Unacquainted with Defeat
The Dread Empire, a gritty world of larger-than-life plots, nation-shattering conflict, maddening magic, strange creatures, and raw, flawed heroes, all shown through the filter of Glen Cook's inimitable war-correspondent prose. The Dread Empire, spanning from the highest peaks of the Dragon's Teeth to the endless desert lands of Hammad al Nakir, from besieged Kavelin to mighty Shinshan, the Empire Unacquainted with Defeat, with its fearless, masked soldiers, known as the Demon Guard... An Empire Unacquainted with Defeat collects all of Glen Cook's short fiction set in the vast world of the Dread Empire, from "The Nights of Dreadful Silence", featuring the first appearance of Bragi Ragnarson, Mocker, and Haroun bin Yousif, to the culture-clashing novella "Soldier of an Empire Unacquainted with Defeat"; from "Silverheels", Cook's first published work of fiction, to "Hell's Forge", a haunting tale of cursed pirates and strange lands, appearing here for the first time. Also including a detailed introduction and extensive story notes by Glen Cook, An Empire Unacquainted with Defeat charts the development of this influential American author and the massive, multifaceted world that he created.
Skyhorse Publishing, under our Night Shade and Talos imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of titles for readers interested in science fiction (space opera, time travel, hard SF, alien invasion, near-future dystopia), fantasy (grimdark, sword and sorcery, contemporary urban fantasy, steampunk, alternative history), and horror (zombies, vampires, and the occult and supernatural), and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller, a national bestseller, or a Hugo or Nebula award-winner, we are committed to publishing quality books from a diverse group of authors.
Skyhorse Publishing, under our Night Shade and Talos imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of titles for readers interested in science fiction (space opera, time travel, hard SF, alien invasion, near-future dystopia), fantasy (grimdark, sword and sorcery, contemporary urban fantasy, steampunk, alternative history), and horror (zombies, vampires, and the occult and supernatural), and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller, a national bestseller, or a Hugo or Nebula award-winner, we are committed to publishing quality books from a diverse group of authors.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 2008
43 people are currently reading
666 people want to read
About the author
Glen Cook
158 books3,704 followersGlen 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
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
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
November 7, 2017
A collection of Cook's hard-to-find short fiction set in the world of the Dread Empire. Some of the stories are more loosely affiliated than others and, because this is his earlier work, some of them are stronger than others. But the best of them ("Soldier of an Empire Unacquainted With Defeat", "Severed Heads" and the three stories of the crew of the Vengeful Dragon) are fine stories indeed and just to have them in one place more than justifies the collection.
September 26, 2019
💀 Unexpectedly Reunited Glen Cook Mercenaries Buddy Read (URGCMBR™) with The Overlord, The Queen Formerly Known as Slowpoke, My Nefarious Daughter (aka Slowpoke wannabe #1), my Half-Barnacled Son (aka Slowpoke wannabe #2) and our recently resuscitated Kiwi 💀
And once again a CookBook makes me feel like:
Don't ask.
And also a little like:
I told you not to ask, didn't I?
➽ Full Super Extra Crappy Review (SECR™) to come and stuff. Hopefully before 2078.
➘ Reading order for this series, asfirmly kindly suggest by Evgeny (aka the Ruthless Glen Cook Overlord™):
① Book 1: A Shadow of All Night Falling ★★★★
② Book 4: The Fire in His Hands ★★★★
③ Book 5: With Mercy Towards None ★★★★
④ Book 2: October’s Baby ★★★★
⑤ Book 3: All Darkness Met ★★★★★
⑥ Book 6: Reap the East Wind ★★★★★
⑦ Book 7: An Ill Fate Marshalling ★★★★★
⑧ Book 8: A Path to Coldness of Heart ★★★★
⑨ Short stories: An Empire Unacquainted with Defeat ★★★★
And once again a CookBook makes me feel like:
Don't ask.
And also a little like:
I told you not to ask, didn't I?
➽ Full Super Extra Crappy Review (SECR™) to come and stuff. Hopefully before 2078.
➘ Reading order for this series, as
① Book 1: A Shadow of All Night Falling ★★★★
② Book 4: The Fire in His Hands ★★★★
③ Book 5: With Mercy Towards None ★★★★
④ Book 2: October’s Baby ★★★★
⑤ Book 3: All Darkness Met ★★★★★
⑥ Book 6: Reap the East Wind ★★★★★
⑦ Book 7: An Ill Fate Marshalling ★★★★★
⑧ Book 8: A Path to Coldness of Heart ★★★★
⑨ Short stories: An Empire Unacquainted with Defeat ★★★★
September 24, 2019
I had no idea what to expect from a collection of Glen Cook's short stories, since I'd never seen any of his short fiction before.
I was very pleasantly surprised by this.
The stories run the spectrum from super-dark to ... light and fluffy, which are three words I never expected to use in connection with Mr. Grim-Dark himself. I am highly impressed with Cook's versatility with the tone of each story.
They are all well-written, vivid, and entertaining, with not a wasted word in any of them.
I would not say that they're a very good introduction to the Dread Empire world, though, because these stories have dragons and demons and other fantasy elements that don't really make much appearance in the novels (which is a shame, now I know those things exist in that world). The stories stand as a sort of separate view of the lands and potential adventures that exist within the Dread Empire's world.
I enjoyed every single one of them, even the couple that are not that memorable. Overall, this is absolutely a 4-star book, and I'm happy to own a copy so I can go back and reread some of these stories when the mood strikes me.
I was very pleasantly surprised by this.
The stories run the spectrum from super-dark to ... light and fluffy, which are three words I never expected to use in connection with Mr. Grim-Dark himself. I am highly impressed with Cook's versatility with the tone of each story.
They are all well-written, vivid, and entertaining, with not a wasted word in any of them.
I would not say that they're a very good introduction to the Dread Empire world, though, because these stories have dragons and demons and other fantasy elements that don't really make much appearance in the novels (which is a shame, now I know those things exist in that world). The stories stand as a sort of separate view of the lands and potential adventures that exist within the Dread Empire's world.
I enjoyed every single one of them, even the couple that are not that memorable. Overall, this is absolutely a 4-star book, and I'm happy to own a copy so I can go back and reread some of these stories when the mood strikes me.
October 12, 2024
Cook is unapologetic: these are relatively early stories whose setting developed in the writing, and while it takes its name from the first story magnificently titled "Soldier Of An Empire Unacquainted With Defeat", the Dread Empire itself is barely on the outskirts and is actually dealt with in a separate series. So don't go in here looking for that. I went in here looking for that.
Tonewise, flavorwise, it greatly resembles the Black Company: same grit, same acidic tang to the dangerous weirdo wizards. If you were to tell me that there was some prototyping for the Black Company in this, I would believe it.
Tonewise, flavorwise, it greatly resembles the Black Company: same grit, same acidic tang to the dangerous weirdo wizards. If you were to tell me that there was some prototyping for the Black Company in this, I would believe it.
August 7, 2011
Glen Cook's Dread Empire series has always been in my eyes the poor cousin to the Black Company. Many of the tropes found in the latter make an appearance here:
1. A vast empire ruled by ancient evils (Shinsan, the "Dread Empire" of the series / The Lady's Empire)
2. A proto-Lady figure: Mist, the deposed princess of Shinsan and a formidable wizard
3. A focus on soldiers/warriors
4. A cynical weltanschauung that sees the ultimate motive for even the best rulers is getting and keeping power
5. Even the darkest dark lord had a mother at some point
What's always kept the Dread Empire from enjoying as high a status on my shelf is that I never identified all that much with the characters Cook chose to focus on: Bragi Ragnarson, Mocker and Haroun bin Yousif. My favorite character in the series is Ssu-ma Shih K'ai, from Reap the East Wind and An Ill Fate Marshalling. He's a training general for Shinsan's legions who winds up becoming part of the empire's high command, and his personality and character always appealed to me.
In An Empire Unacquainted with Defeat, Cook has collected his short stories that take place in the world of Shinsan (though only two actually deal with people from the empire). One of the interesting things about Cook's writing is that you can see a palpable improvement over time, from the really quite bad The Heirs of Babylon to his best (IMO), The Black Company series.* That makes this collection a bit uneven; there's some clunky writing in the earlier stories. None of them, however, are bad.
"Soldier of an Empire Unacquainted with Defeat" - One of the better stories. It follows Tain, an erstwhile soldier of the Dread Empire, as he tries to escape his past and the clutches of Shinsan.
"The Nights of Dreadful Silence" - A Bragi Ragnarson tale about his conspiring with a sorceror against the king of Itaskia. It's meant to be humorous more than anything else but it falls flat for me.
"Finding Svale's Daughter" - Decent but not great. It's a story about a father's attempt to find his daughter, kidnapped by the huldre.
"Ghost Stalk" - This is the first story in a sub-plot of the series about the voyages of the Vengeful Dragon, a damned pirate ship, and its crew, who are searching for redemption. The story is decent, lots of action, and Cook displays a knowledge of seamanship** that lends authenticity.
"Filed Teeth" - This is another of the better tales, and it too concerns a refugee from Shinsan. As usual with Cook, however, the focus is on the common soldier - Willem Potter, a world-weary mercenary whose primary goal in this venture is making sure his kid brother makes it through alive.
"Castle of Tears" - Another Bragi Ragnarson tale.
"Call for the Dead" - The second of the Vengeful Dragon stories. The crew is "rescued" by a sorceror for his own ends but they have different plans.
"Severed Heads" - Among the top three of the collection, this story recounts a mother's quest to rescue her son from the maleficent clutches of the sorcerors of Jebal al Alf Dhuquarneni. Like Cook's best efforts, there are subtler layers of meaning than a cursory reading might suggest,
"Silverheels" - This story is a reworking of a tale originally conceived as a Scandanavian fairy tale. A ne'er-do-well named Olav, his pony, Faith, and his cat, Silverheels, are dragooned by the huldre king to save his kingdom from two dragons. Not bad but nothing special.
"Hell's Forge" - The third Vengeful Dragon tale finds the crew once again hijacked by a power (a god, in this case) for its own ends. Once again, the crew has other plans and comes a step closer to redemption.
If you're a fan of Cook, then I would recommend this collection with little reservation. If you're not a Cook fan, I'd recommend The Black Company or one of his standalones like The Dragon Never Sleeps (SF) or The Tower of Fear. If you like his style, you can move on to this.
* The original three books of The Black Company, primarily. The so-called "Books of the South" are not quite as good - they lack a certain passion and sometimes feel as if Cook were going through the motions. Though, for my money, the ending of the ultimate volume - Soldiers Live - was perfect.
** At least it seemed authentic to this reader, who - having seen the movie "Jaws" at the age of ten - gets nervous stepping into a bathtub much less an actual ocean.
1. A vast empire ruled by ancient evils (Shinsan, the "Dread Empire" of the series / The Lady's Empire)
2. A proto-Lady figure: Mist, the deposed princess of Shinsan and a formidable wizard
3. A focus on soldiers/warriors
4. A cynical weltanschauung that sees the ultimate motive for even the best rulers is getting and keeping power
5. Even the darkest dark lord had a mother at some point
What's always kept the Dread Empire from enjoying as high a status on my shelf is that I never identified all that much with the characters Cook chose to focus on: Bragi Ragnarson, Mocker and Haroun bin Yousif. My favorite character in the series is Ssu-ma Shih K'ai, from Reap the East Wind and An Ill Fate Marshalling. He's a training general for Shinsan's legions who winds up becoming part of the empire's high command, and his personality and character always appealed to me.
In An Empire Unacquainted with Defeat, Cook has collected his short stories that take place in the world of Shinsan (though only two actually deal with people from the empire). One of the interesting things about Cook's writing is that you can see a palpable improvement over time, from the really quite bad The Heirs of Babylon to his best (IMO), The Black Company series.* That makes this collection a bit uneven; there's some clunky writing in the earlier stories. None of them, however, are bad.
"Soldier of an Empire Unacquainted with Defeat" - One of the better stories. It follows Tain, an erstwhile soldier of the Dread Empire, as he tries to escape his past and the clutches of Shinsan.
"The Nights of Dreadful Silence" - A Bragi Ragnarson tale about his conspiring with a sorceror against the king of Itaskia. It's meant to be humorous more than anything else but it falls flat for me.
"Finding Svale's Daughter" - Decent but not great. It's a story about a father's attempt to find his daughter, kidnapped by the huldre.
"Ghost Stalk" - This is the first story in a sub-plot of the series about the voyages of the Vengeful Dragon, a damned pirate ship, and its crew, who are searching for redemption. The story is decent, lots of action, and Cook displays a knowledge of seamanship** that lends authenticity.
"Filed Teeth" - This is another of the better tales, and it too concerns a refugee from Shinsan. As usual with Cook, however, the focus is on the common soldier - Willem Potter, a world-weary mercenary whose primary goal in this venture is making sure his kid brother makes it through alive.
"Castle of Tears" - Another Bragi Ragnarson tale.
"Call for the Dead" - The second of the Vengeful Dragon stories. The crew is "rescued" by a sorceror for his own ends but they have different plans.
"Severed Heads" - Among the top three of the collection, this story recounts a mother's quest to rescue her son from the maleficent clutches of the sorcerors of Jebal al Alf Dhuquarneni. Like Cook's best efforts, there are subtler layers of meaning than a cursory reading might suggest,
"Silverheels" - This story is a reworking of a tale originally conceived as a Scandanavian fairy tale. A ne'er-do-well named Olav, his pony, Faith, and his cat, Silverheels, are dragooned by the huldre king to save his kingdom from two dragons. Not bad but nothing special.
"Hell's Forge" - The third Vengeful Dragon tale finds the crew once again hijacked by a power (a god, in this case) for its own ends. Once again, the crew has other plans and comes a step closer to redemption.
If you're a fan of Cook, then I would recommend this collection with little reservation. If you're not a Cook fan, I'd recommend The Black Company or one of his standalones like The Dragon Never Sleeps (SF) or The Tower of Fear. If you like his style, you can move on to this.
* The original three books of The Black Company, primarily. The so-called "Books of the South" are not quite as good - they lack a certain passion and sometimes feel as if Cook were going through the motions. Though, for my money, the ending of the ultimate volume - Soldiers Live - was perfect.
** At least it seemed authentic to this reader, who - having seen the movie "Jaws" at the age of ten - gets nervous stepping into a bathtub much less an actual ocean.
October 30, 2011
I started out a fan of Cook's Black Company books and the started searching for more from him. This is a collection of short stories set in the world of his Dread Empire series, and I enjoyed it very much. I particularly liked the three "Vengeful Dragon" stories in the work, which are about a crew of blackguards so foul they've earned the curses of heaven and hell and are constantly being used as pawns by various gods and demons.
Well written, certainly up to Cook's usual standards. Good stuff.
Well written, certainly up to Cook's usual standards. Good stuff.
September 30, 2019
Well it is nice to be back reading Glen Cook again. It certainly feels like I have read some of his early works there. Which is fine, for it made for good reading. Being one who looks for series with multiple volumes and somewhere has the word 'epic' in the descriptions, I have never really gotten into short stories. But after slogging my way through the Revelation Space series for a second time, I think that a bunch of short stories in a familiar setting is something that I really did enjoy.
I have read in the past that Steven Erikson was influenced by Cook's Black Company series and in some of these stories, especially Filed Teeth.
I also enjoyed the pirate ship stories too. I think the characters were very well written and I could easily read more of their adventures.
Castles of Tears and Silverheels,......... yeah, not so much. Silver heels has no right to be in this book, in fact, Castles of Tears and Silverheels could both be in a book in Shrek 6 (or what ever number they are up to).
Solid short story read.
I have read in the past that Steven Erikson was influenced by Cook's Black Company series and in some of these stories, especially Filed Teeth.
I also enjoyed the pirate ship stories too. I think the characters were very well written and I could easily read more of their adventures.
Castles of Tears and Silverheels,......... yeah, not so much. Silver heels has no right to be in this book, in fact, Castles of Tears and Silverheels could both be in a book in Shrek 6 (or what ever number they are up to).
Solid short story read.
May 31, 2024
An interesting collection of short stories about the Dread Empire world. A lot of it is very early writings where you can see the building blocks of what it would become but their tone feels very different. The first short story, Soldier of an Empire Unacquainted with Defeat for me is the highlight, and feels the most in line with the books in the series. I would not say this is an essential read for most people but it was enjoyable enough.
January 12, 2016
An Empire Unacquainted with Defeat collects 10 Glen Cook's short stories from the 1970's and early 80's. These stories all take place in the world of the Dread Empire. For anyone who is familiar with this Black Company series, these stories should look familiar, for the ideas and tones of these tales would coalesce into his Black Company novels.
The stories vary in tone and engagement. Some are harder toned than others, some more mythic, and some more engaging. Almost all fall clearly under the sword and sorcery milieu, with their gritty feel, petty quarrels, ambiguous protagonists, and rampant, unbridled, and unapologetic sexism.
The collection opens with "Soldier of an Empire Unacquainted with Defeat" (1980). In this dreadfully dull and unengaging tale, a soldier from the Dread Empire hangs about with farmers while seeking a new life. I found this the single least engaging story in the book, and also the longest. Once past it, I found the remaining stories far more engaging and gripping.
"The Nights of Dreadful Silence" (1973) is a Bragi Ragnarson story. A wizard has been promised a payment by the king of his own daughter, but the king refuses to honor his word. Bragi stumbles into the argument on the wizard's side, and trickery ensues.
"Finding Svale's Daughter" (first appearance) is a fairytailish story. To be honest, I had to skim this story to remember anything about it. It's competent, like oatmeal. Its very palatablility renders it unmemorable.
"Ghost Stalk" (1978) is the first of the Vengeful Dragons stories. The Vengeful Dragon is a terrible ship, full of horrible crew, who do horrible things (trigger warning, especially terrible things to women), and meet their doom due to terrible magics. This, and the following Vengeful Dragon stories, make an excellent set. This story is also noteworthy for having the genetics of the Black Company running through it.
"Filed Teeth" (1981) is as close to a Black Company story you can get without actually putting a label onto it saying, "the Black Company." Although set in the world of the Dread Empire, it could easily be ported to the North. All the elements that would come to set the tenor and tone of the Black Company are laid out right here. Of all these stories, this is the only one which I had read in my youth, having received "Dragons of Darkness" for Christmas.
"Castle of Tears" (1979) is a Ragni Ragnarson story. This time, he goes looking for a legendary object to save a princess.
"Call for the Dead" (1980) is the second Vengeful Dragon story. Continuing where the first story let off, the damned crew are "rescued" by a wizard from a black throne. Motifs here will reappear in the Black Company's southern adventures.
"Severed Heads" (1984) is a story of vengeance where not a single word is wasted. It's a damned tight story, from beginning to end, and shames every other tale in this collection. This story also requires a trigger warning. If you can keep going, then do.
"Silverheels" (1981) is another fairytale like story. A man, a talking pony, and a talking kitten have quite an adventure in very few pages.
"Hell's Forge" (first appearance) is the final Vengeful Dragon tale. The crew is summoned by yet another evil wizard for more evilness, only to learn that any deal with the Vengeful D. crew is a bad, bad, bad deal.
All in all, I found the collection both satisfying and enlightening. I really do need to read more sword and sorcery.
The stories vary in tone and engagement. Some are harder toned than others, some more mythic, and some more engaging. Almost all fall clearly under the sword and sorcery milieu, with their gritty feel, petty quarrels, ambiguous protagonists, and rampant, unbridled, and unapologetic sexism.
The collection opens with "Soldier of an Empire Unacquainted with Defeat" (1980). In this dreadfully dull and unengaging tale, a soldier from the Dread Empire hangs about with farmers while seeking a new life. I found this the single least engaging story in the book, and also the longest. Once past it, I found the remaining stories far more engaging and gripping.
"The Nights of Dreadful Silence" (1973) is a Bragi Ragnarson story. A wizard has been promised a payment by the king of his own daughter, but the king refuses to honor his word. Bragi stumbles into the argument on the wizard's side, and trickery ensues.
"Finding Svale's Daughter" (first appearance) is a fairytailish story. To be honest, I had to skim this story to remember anything about it. It's competent, like oatmeal. Its very palatablility renders it unmemorable.
"Ghost Stalk" (1978) is the first of the Vengeful Dragons stories. The Vengeful Dragon is a terrible ship, full of horrible crew, who do horrible things (trigger warning, especially terrible things to women), and meet their doom due to terrible magics. This, and the following Vengeful Dragon stories, make an excellent set. This story is also noteworthy for having the genetics of the Black Company running through it.
"Filed Teeth" (1981) is as close to a Black Company story you can get without actually putting a label onto it saying, "the Black Company." Although set in the world of the Dread Empire, it could easily be ported to the North. All the elements that would come to set the tenor and tone of the Black Company are laid out right here. Of all these stories, this is the only one which I had read in my youth, having received "Dragons of Darkness" for Christmas.
"Castle of Tears" (1979) is a Ragni Ragnarson story. This time, he goes looking for a legendary object to save a princess.
"Call for the Dead" (1980) is the second Vengeful Dragon story. Continuing where the first story let off, the damned crew are "rescued" by a wizard from a black throne. Motifs here will reappear in the Black Company's southern adventures.
"Severed Heads" (1984) is a story of vengeance where not a single word is wasted. It's a damned tight story, from beginning to end, and shames every other tale in this collection. This story also requires a trigger warning. If you can keep going, then do.
"Silverheels" (1981) is another fairytale like story. A man, a talking pony, and a talking kitten have quite an adventure in very few pages.
"Hell's Forge" (first appearance) is the final Vengeful Dragon tale. The crew is summoned by yet another evil wizard for more evilness, only to learn that any deal with the Vengeful D. crew is a bad, bad, bad deal.
All in all, I found the collection both satisfying and enlightening. I really do need to read more sword and sorcery.
March 20, 2010
What can I say, it's Glen Cook. "Empire Unacquainted" collects his short stories set in the Dread Empire (one of his earlier settings). The quality varies. His early, lighter, more humorous material is fun, but not nearly as engaging as some of the bleaker fare. Cook's comedy is most successful when it comes from the mouths of some very dark folks.
Top of the pack are "Soldier From an Empire Unacquainted with Defeat" which feels like a classic western dressed up as fantasy; "Filed Teeth" which is one of the best dragon-hunting stories ever and highlights Cook's ability to make the magical seem gritty, real, and human; and the three Vengeful Dragon stories which feel very much like precursors to the Black Company as they are tales of bad men forced to make moral decisions as they face a deeper darkness that reflects their own.
As always, I cannot say enough good things about Cook.
Top of the pack are "Soldier From an Empire Unacquainted with Defeat" which feels like a classic western dressed up as fantasy; "Filed Teeth" which is one of the best dragon-hunting stories ever and highlights Cook's ability to make the magical seem gritty, real, and human; and the three Vengeful Dragon stories which feel very much like precursors to the Black Company as they are tales of bad men forced to make moral decisions as they face a deeper darkness that reflects their own.
As always, I cannot say enough good things about Cook.
October 26, 2025
I thought my time with Glen Cook's Dread Empire series was at an end, but it turns out there's a short story collection, the wonderfully titled An Empire Unacquainted with Defeat.
So, how is it? Overall very fine, indeed, although as with all collections it's a mixed bag.
Some of the stories are direct prequels or interquels to characters we meet in the main series, others feel barely related to the world at all. My favourites included the very fantasy/western "Soldier of an Empire Unacquainted With Defeat", "Filed Teeth", "Severed Heads" and a trilogy of stories set aboard the cursed pirate sheep The Vengeful Dragon, "Ghost Stalk","Call for the Dead" and "Hell's Forge." Apparently Cook wanted to rework those latter three into a cursed pirate ship novel (or perhaps series of novels) and was knocked back, which feels like a crime against literature, frankly.
Look, I know Dread Empire is the redheaded stepchild of Cook's output, certainly when compared to the favourite son of The Black Company, but there's a lot of great stuff here. Imagination, violence and brusque world-building, well worth a squiz if you managed to get through the wildly uneven but rewarding main books.
So, how is it? Overall very fine, indeed, although as with all collections it's a mixed bag.
Some of the stories are direct prequels or interquels to characters we meet in the main series, others feel barely related to the world at all. My favourites included the very fantasy/western "Soldier of an Empire Unacquainted With Defeat", "Filed Teeth", "Severed Heads" and a trilogy of stories set aboard the cursed pirate sheep The Vengeful Dragon, "Ghost Stalk","Call for the Dead" and "Hell's Forge." Apparently Cook wanted to rework those latter three into a cursed pirate ship novel (or perhaps series of novels) and was knocked back, which feels like a crime against literature, frankly.
Look, I know Dread Empire is the redheaded stepchild of Cook's output, certainly when compared to the favourite son of The Black Company, but there's a lot of great stuff here. Imagination, violence and brusque world-building, well worth a squiz if you managed to get through the wildly uneven but rewarding main books.
February 2, 2025
Relatos ambientados en un mundo donde un Imperio lejano ha dejado huella imborrable. Un Imperio del mal, aparentemente. Algo diferente a la afamada Compañía Negra del autor.
Historias cruentas, pero también divertidas como solo Glen Cook en su haber tiene, mis favoritas:
"Soldier of an Empire Unacquainted with Defeat", "Finding Svale's Daughter", "Filed Teeth" y por encima de todas destaca una; "Severed Heads". Una delicia de historia.
Y las tres historias de un barco pirata, el Vengeful Dragon, son remarcables también, daban para una novela que el autor menciona a ningún editor interesó.
A Glen Cook siguen sin editarlo en español…
Historias cruentas, pero también divertidas como solo Glen Cook en su haber tiene, mis favoritas:
"Soldier of an Empire Unacquainted with Defeat", "Finding Svale's Daughter", "Filed Teeth" y por encima de todas destaca una; "Severed Heads". Una delicia de historia.
Y las tres historias de un barco pirata, el Vengeful Dragon, son remarcables también, daban para una novela que el autor menciona a ningún editor interesó.
A Glen Cook siguen sin editarlo en español…
April 29, 2021
This was a very uneven collection, in every possible sense.
There was a overlong and very-very boring novella— that too in the beginning.
There were dark and rather forgettable adventures of some pirates which should actually be classified as bad ventures.
There were some silly but immensely enjoyable fairy tales and similar stuff, in the garb of sword and sorcery.
And there was 'Severed Heads'! This one work was enough to redeem the entire book, and deserves to be read and regarded as a classic.
Keep it for the last. Read all the other poorer and "meh" works before that.
There was a overlong and very-very boring novella— that too in the beginning.
There were dark and rather forgettable adventures of some pirates which should actually be classified as bad ventures.
There were some silly but immensely enjoyable fairy tales and similar stuff, in the garb of sword and sorcery.
And there was 'Severed Heads'! This one work was enough to redeem the entire book, and deserves to be read and regarded as a classic.
Keep it for the last. Read all the other poorer and "meh" works before that.
February 2, 2019
The 3 Vengeful Dragon stories were quite good, I enjoyed them a lot. Everything else was sort of a miss for me. I would probably have had more of a good impression of this book if I had read all of the Dread Empire yet, but I haven't. I started Glen Cook with the Black Company and Darkwar and am very fond of those though.
July 26, 2021
Maybe the best book in the black company cycle. This book had something most other books of the serie after the first two or maybe three tragically lacked.. A sombre, sometimes mysterious atmosphere.
I also hated that Cook could not keep the storyline as despicted in this book straight in his latter books which lead to many flaws and ruined the feeling for me...
I also hated that Cook could not keep the storyline as despicted in this book straight in his latter books which lead to many flaws and ruined the feeling for me...
June 25, 2017
I rather enjoyed this collection. Especially stories of the Vengeful Dragon. It's been too long since I've read a Glen Cook book. Time to remedy that some more.
October 12, 2019
I have a soft spot for Glen Cook even though he can write some really bad sentences sometimes. He just knows how to craft suspense.
November 8, 2011
This is first Glen Cook book I have read. It has short stories from the "Dread Empire" series. These stories are all in the classic swards and sorcery still, at times rather hardhitting and brutal.
A few of the stories were quite good. Standouts include two of the three about the "Vengeful Dragon" ship ("Ghost Stalk" and "Call for the Dead"); the third Vengeful Dragon story was a real disappointment. Another standout was "Severed Head" with its woman protagonist. A further cute story was "Silverheels". The quality of the stories was uneven, however, and others were not as good.
I don't usually read books from trilogies or longer series. Of course this means I almost never read swords and sorcery type stories any more since they all come in series. So this book was an exception, and it was better than I expected.
A few of the stories were quite good. Standouts include two of the three about the "Vengeful Dragon" ship ("Ghost Stalk" and "Call for the Dead"); the third Vengeful Dragon story was a real disappointment. Another standout was "Severed Head" with its woman protagonist. A further cute story was "Silverheels". The quality of the stories was uneven, however, and others were not as good.
I don't usually read books from trilogies or longer series. Of course this means I almost never read swords and sorcery type stories any more since they all come in series. So this book was an exception, and it was better than I expected.
November 12, 2011
This collections of tales from the world of the Dread Empire is fantastic. Finally a glimpse into the origins of some well known characters, and some new ones. The fact that much of this work was written ages before the bulk of the work was published really speaks the world creation Cook had done in his head ahead of time - so much of it was fleshed out early on. I also liked the anecdotes of where/when the tales were written - it gives a glimpse into the creative process and authors life i've never seen before.
July 19, 2009
I have been a fan of cook for the past couple of decades. For me, this book was great because it finally pulled together some of his short fiction that I was unable to track down when it was coming out. The stories themselves were pretty good and they reminded me how much I enjoyed his dread empire series. I especially liked the tales of the Vengeful D., Severed Heads and the namesake An Empire Unacquainted with Defeat.
December 31, 2011
I had thought it would be stories set in the dread empire itself, but instead it's a collection of short stories loosely set in the dread empire world. A few of them feature characters from the series, but others could theoretically be set anywhere. However, this doesn't diminish that they are all good stories and well worth checking out. The three "Vengeful Dragon" stories in particular were ones I really enjoyed a lot.
July 13, 2009
Good short stories, a great read for glen cook fans. If you're not a GC fan these stories are bit uneven and show both the best of his work and some of his flaws. A better place to start reading GC might be "the dragon never sleeps" or the first book in the black company series, "the black company".
May 5, 2013
Fun to read Cook's early stuff and see his bleak worldview develop, though his damned and doomed characters always retain a knowing glimmer of their humanity. The world of the Dread Empire is a bit more historical, and quite fun, compared with the vast, rather vague world of the Black Company. The first story is, of course, Shane...
November 25, 2011
I just love Glen Cook's style of writing; raw and witty. He affects the air of a grizzled war correspondent but it is always unlike any war our world has seen with witchcraft, magic and ghouls, real and imagined.
November 6, 2012
A collection of short stories- all set in the Dread Emppire. Each is a good read and could be turned to into something more but going from epic 2000ish pages of Black Company to a quick hour read... leaves you wanting more.
June 19, 2009
Excellent!! Classic Cook.
July 21, 2011
A book of short stories that take place in Cook's Dread Empire world. Fun to read, but I never find short stories as interesting as novels.
November 6, 2014
Short stories set in the "Dread Empire universe." Some classic Cook.
March 8, 2012
The short story that bears the name of the collection is one of my favorite pieces of fiction ever. Just brilliant in its portrait of a displaced soldier. I go back to read this again and again.
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