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Title:
Shadowline
Series: Starfishers #1
Author:
Glen Cook
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre:
SF
Pages: 311
Words: 94K
It’s
been about four years since I last visited Cook (the last Garrett,
PI book in fact) but considering how that series whimpered out,
I’m not surprised I took so long to return. At some point in the
near future (defined now as within two years) I plan on re-reading
his Black Company, as that is probably my favorite of his stuff.
Before I do that however, I want to broaden my view of his writings.
I’ve read 33 books/stories by him so far, so I feel like I’ve got
a decent grasp on him but am always looking to learn more.
One thing I learned with this is that I do not care for Cook’s science fiction. His only other SF book I’ve read (to date) is The Dragon Never Sleeps. I gave that 3.5stars but it didn’t make me want to read more if it had been part of a series. This book was exactly the same. I didn’t hate the time, but I wasn’t experiencing Book Nirvana of any sort. I already have the rest of the trilogy on my ereader though which is why I’ll finish it off. I can’t say exactly WHY I don’t care for his SF, whether it is the characters or the plot or what. I’d like to think it is his writing, but until I re-read Black Company and see how the writing is, I don’t feel comfortable stating it is that. But man, this doesn’t “feel” like the same guy who wrote BC.
Anyway. This story is about a mercenary company that is family run, near the end of the galactic era of mercenaries. Betrayal, revenge and old fashioned stupidity are the points of this story. The “Starfishers” that this series takes its name from are mentioned and they show up to act as go-betweens for about 2-3 paragraphs. Beyond the fact that they are humans living on giant fleets that scoop up material, I don’t know a thing about them. I sure hope the next two books deal more directly with them.
This is really close to a 2 ½ star rating in terms of enjoyment in reality, but it didn’t quite dip that low so I kept it at a 3. However, if the next two books are similar in terms of enjoyment, I’ll definitely take the rating down. Don’t say I’m not generous!
I’ll end things by showing the older cover and the newer one. While the newer one is slick and semi-eye catching, it has no soul, no emotion, nothing that grabs you and makes you want to read this book. The older cover at least has some character. It’s bit more honest about the contents. You know you’re getting some groundpounder reading instead of Starfisher Space Action. It might not be the best cover ever, but at least it’s got some soul and isn’t just some slop like the new cover.
★★★☆☆
From the Publisher
The vendetta in space had started centuries before "Mouse" Storm was born, with his grandfather's raid on the planet Prefactlas, the blood bath that freed the human slaves from their Sangaree masters. But one Sangaree survived - the young Norborn heir, the man who swore vengeance on the Storm family and their soldiers, in a carefully mapped plot that would take generations to fulfill. Now Mouse's father Gneaus must fight for an El Dorado of wealth on the burning half of the planet Blackworld. As the great private armies of all space clash on the narrow Shadowline that divides inferno from life-sheltering shade, Gneaus' half- brother Michael plays his traitorous games, and a man called Deeth pulls the deadly strings that threaten to entrap them all
