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A review by aoc
Sweet Silver Blues by Glen Cook
4.0
Sweet Silver Blues is another book I put off for no real reason and I've done it for almost ten years at this point. Why? No idea, but it might have something to do with the fact it's only the first book in what is a series known as Garrett Files or Garrett, PI. Had I known it would turn out like this I would've read it all the way back.
Before delving into the novel itself I should make it clear my favorite video gamer adventure is most likely Discworld Noir and baring the license rights and some of that game's signature black humor Sweet Silver Blues is precisely that in literary form. What do I mean by that? Well, we follow one Garrett who works as a private detective for hire in city of TunFaire and, as fate would have it, he accepts a certain job for the patriarch of the local Tate family of gnomes. As befitting all mysteries this one has a lot more going on, drawing from Garrett's old marine days serving his country of Karenta and an old flame to exploring more sordid elements of TunFaire's criminal underbelly as he's forced by circumstance to enlist aid for his endeavor, but that's something you should explore for yourself if you pick up Sweet Silver Blues.
Seeing is this one is a detective mystery I can go even less into detail than I usually would, but I'd still like to point out I really did appreciate the fact it IS a mystery novel first and foremost instead of being an exercise for Cook to show off his fantasy setting. Don't misunderstand because a lot happens and plot even takes couple of leaps I didn't exactly follow as they rely more on Garrett's own intuition without making the reader privy to how he came to such conclusions yet all the necessary information about the characters, places and events are doled out in appropriate chunks so you don't have to read through paragraphs of purple prose. Those familiar with Cook's writing from his best known series The Black Company may be intimate with his writing style which seems to leave people polarized – some love his utilitarian and no-nonsense style while subtly building events in the background and some dislike how direct and simplistic it may seem. That's really up to you and he's back to his old tricks in this one. I especially enjoyed seemingly throwaway comments regarding the war between Karentia and Venageta which may develop into some major in the future.
Let's give characters some love. Truth be told I'm surprised I can remember so many of them considering the story has basically two characters who are firmly in the spotlight; Garrett himself and his comrade on the more shady side of things – half-dark elf brigand extraordinaire, Morley Dotes. His vegetarianism is cause of many laughs and antics, but opposed to more cynical and simultaneously [secretly] idealistic disposition of his friend Morley is more on the dangerous side with equally as analytical and keen mind. One simply bent more on crime and no qualms about killing if need be. These two characters feel like not so much two sides of the same coin, but rather the same side of two different coins. We also have other characters joining the troupe as story progresses ranging from various half-breeds such as insanely strong groll triplets, mix of troll and giant with poor tolerance for alcohol, centaur popping in and out, ratkind who really love their sweets and can be persuaded to do anything for them and other darker elements I won't spoil. There's a varied offering at hand and author goes into quite the effort to characterize them via racial or personal quirks.
And to keep things short for a change I think that's about it.
Not everything is perfect, especially our highly archetypal protagonist when compared to other detective stories with a dash of noir thrown into the mix seeing as he's a cynic with a heart of gold, but I'll re-iterate I enjoy Sweet Silver Blues a lot. Towards the end of the novel there were couple of bits I wasn't clear on, but that could be based on how much we know about Garrett's knowledge of the world or current events. It's a really short book so if you're even remotely interested in fantasy that deals with more than just a group of heroes bashing in evil doers give this one a read.
Before delving into the novel itself I should make it clear my favorite video gamer adventure is most likely Discworld Noir and baring the license rights and some of that game's signature black humor Sweet Silver Blues is precisely that in literary form. What do I mean by that? Well, we follow one Garrett who works as a private detective for hire in city of TunFaire and, as fate would have it, he accepts a certain job for the patriarch of the local Tate family of gnomes. As befitting all mysteries this one has a lot more going on, drawing from Garrett's old marine days serving his country of Karenta and an old flame to exploring more sordid elements of TunFaire's criminal underbelly as he's forced by circumstance to enlist aid for his endeavor, but that's something you should explore for yourself if you pick up Sweet Silver Blues.
Seeing is this one is a detective mystery I can go even less into detail than I usually would, but I'd still like to point out I really did appreciate the fact it IS a mystery novel first and foremost instead of being an exercise for Cook to show off his fantasy setting. Don't misunderstand because a lot happens and plot even takes couple of leaps I didn't exactly follow as they rely more on Garrett's own intuition without making the reader privy to how he came to such conclusions yet all the necessary information about the characters, places and events are doled out in appropriate chunks so you don't have to read through paragraphs of purple prose. Those familiar with Cook's writing from his best known series The Black Company may be intimate with his writing style which seems to leave people polarized – some love his utilitarian and no-nonsense style while subtly building events in the background and some dislike how direct and simplistic it may seem. That's really up to you and he's back to his old tricks in this one. I especially enjoyed seemingly throwaway comments regarding the war between Karentia and Venageta which may develop into some major in the future.
Let's give characters some love. Truth be told I'm surprised I can remember so many of them considering the story has basically two characters who are firmly in the spotlight; Garrett himself and his comrade on the more shady side of things – half-dark elf brigand extraordinaire, Morley Dotes. His vegetarianism is cause of many laughs and antics, but opposed to more cynical and simultaneously [secretly] idealistic disposition of his friend Morley is more on the dangerous side with equally as analytical and keen mind. One simply bent more on crime and no qualms about killing if need be. These two characters feel like not so much two sides of the same coin, but rather the same side of two different coins. We also have other characters joining the troupe as story progresses ranging from various half-breeds such as insanely strong groll triplets, mix of troll and giant with poor tolerance for alcohol, centaur popping in and out, ratkind who really love their sweets and can be persuaded to do anything for them and other darker elements I won't spoil. There's a varied offering at hand and author goes into quite the effort to characterize them via racial or personal quirks.
And to keep things short for a change I think that's about it.
Not everything is perfect, especially our highly archetypal protagonist when compared to other detective stories with a dash of noir thrown into the mix seeing as he's a cynic with a heart of gold, but I'll re-iterate I enjoy Sweet Silver Blues a lot. Towards the end of the novel there were couple of bits I wasn't clear on, but that could be based on how much we know about Garrett's knowledge of the world or current events. It's a really short book so if you're even remotely interested in fantasy that deals with more than just a group of heroes bashing in evil doers give this one a read.