An Ill Fate Marshalling

by Glen Cook

Overview

King Bragi Ragnorson decides to join Chatelain Mist’s coup against the Dread Empire. Varhlokkur — the King’s wizard — tries to dissuade Ragnorson from this chosen path, but only the drum-beat of war is heard. The King’s Spymaster Michael Trebilcock joins with the wizard to stave off The Ill Fate Marshaling, to no effect.
Many of the characters from past volumes take center stage, and the climatic events of this book shake the world of the Dread Empire to its very core, creating A Path to Coldness of Heart. Glen Cook’s final Dread Empire novel was to have been published 20 years ago, but the manuscript was stolen, and the fate of The Dread Empire has been in Limbo — until now! Night Shade is proud to present the long delayed final Dread Empire Trilogy, of which An Ill Fate Marshaling is Volume 2.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781597803212
Publisher:	Night Shade Books
Publication date:	11/01/2011
Series:	Dread Empire Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
File size:	657 KB

About the Author

Glen Cook is the author of dozens of novels of fantasy and science fiction, including The Black Company, The Garret Files, Instrumentalities of the Night, and the Dread Empire series. Cook was born in 1944 in New York City. He attended the Clarion Writers’ Workshop in 1970, where he met his wife, Carol. “Unlike most writers, I have not had strange jobs like chicken plucking and swamping out health bars. Only full-time employer I’ve ever had is General Motors.” He currently makes his home in St. Louis, Missouri.

Date of Birth:

July 9, 1944

Place of Birth:

New York City, New York

Editorial Reviews

This character-driven epic fantasy novel from 1988 has not aged well. Cook reintroduces the womanizing and quick-tempered Bragi Ragnarson, soon after his ascension to the throne of Kavelin (as described in Reap the East Wind, republished in October). While all appears calm after the recent victory against the Dread Empire, factions within the kingdom are already plotting to replace Bragi with someone more malleable, while the new king begins to feel trapped by his new responsibilities. When the exiled princess Mist approaches him asking for aid to retake her kingdom, Bragi recklessly agrees, throwing his army into yet another war, leaving his own throne unprotected, and ostracizing his most powerful ally, the wizard Varthlokkur. While the repetition of major events from the first installment is helpful for new readers, the heavily abbreviated fight scenes, dull and laconic prose, and haphazard plot are uninspiring. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly