Book Review – The Tyranny of the Night

Author: Glen Cook
Cover Artist: Jane Adele Regina
Publisher: Tor
Binding: Hardcover
Publication Date: January 2007

The Tyranny of the Night begins Glen Cook’s new series The Instrumentalities of the Night, set in a world that mirrors medieval Europe in the time of the Crusades.

It is a time of political and religious turmoil. The Patriarch in Brothe is calling for a new crusade by the lands of the West to drive out the infidel Pramans from the Holy Lands in the east, which are the site of the Wells of Ihrian and source of all magic power in the world. Yet, heresy flourishes in the heart of the West and even the Patriarch himself has been elected illegally, supplanting the rightful Patriarch who is powerless to take back his place.

Meanwhile, the Pramans in the East are not sitting idly. Gordimer the Lion, Kaif of al-Minphet has sent his best warrior, the young Else Tage into the lands of the West to work his way into the heart of the Patriarchy and turn their attention away from a new crusade. Else departs on his mission, bearing a new and terrible knowledge that will set the very gods (referred to as the Instrumentalities of the Night) themselves against him…

I have to say I had a tough time deciding how I felt about this one. The overall plot was interesting enough to keep me reading, and Cook certainly has a good eye for the gritty and realistic.

However, the prose and narrative don’t fare as well and are marred by considerable choppiness. I almost gave up on the book early on because of this, but after persevering for a while, I was able to get past that and finish it.

In sum: The Tyranny of the Night doesn’t bring anything incredibly new to the table, but it’s a much stronger start to a new series than some I could name, in spite of the problems noted.

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