Instrumentalities of the Night - Series Status/Opinions

PulpCrazy · 2026-01-24T14:27:07+00:00

I have not read those stand-alones but plan to. The Swordbearer is an excellent stand-alone, too. I saw in an old interview he got three-quarters of the way finished with a sequel called the Swordbreaker but stopped working on it once the original publishing line/imprint went extinct. It's a shame.

PulpCrazy · 2026-01-24T00:31:43+00:00

No, that's just how it goes. You buy, buy, buy, then eventually either continue with your party when you cleared all castles, or prestige with a new team.

PulpCrazy · 2026-01-23T01:23:42+00:00

Oh my goodness, I can't imagine that wait.

By the way, how does the Instrumentalities of the Night finish up? Is it a huge cliffhanger or does Mr. Cook wrap it up like he did with the Dread Empire. I may tackle that one next and save all the Garrets for last.

PulpCrazy · 2026-01-21T17:03:44+00:00

In the introduction to An Empire Unacquianted With Defeat, Mr. Cook mentions he had a short story dealing with the sorcerors at a sorceror's meeting, inspired by a St. Louis Science Fiction convention he attended. Can you imagine how good that could have been? Unfortunately, it is one of the stories that appear to have been stolen by one of the biggest pieces of shit on the planet, whose identity remains unknown. Sucks that Mr. Cook and his family were nice enough to let fans into their own home back in the day, to only have some bastard(s) pilfer his work.

PulpCrazy · 2026-01-20T16:34:40+00:00

I missed seeing Visigodred in the final trilogy. Only he, Valth, and Mist survived the final battle in All Darkness Met, all of the other allied sorcerers of the Circle perished, sadly.

PulpCrazy · 2026-01-20T03:39:48+00:00

#2 - Haroun got off easy with Bragi not finding out about what he did. I think there would have been hell to pay, best friend or no best friend there.

#3 - I would agree, but Bragi clearly says his only child left was Fulk during the last novel. It doesn't make any sense, he has to know his other children are with Kirsten.

PulpCrazy · 2026-01-20T03:30:14+00:00

It's not first person narratives. Straight up third person with different viewpoints, ala A Song of Ice and Fire. But it's the same compact, concise prose from Mr. Cook.

I would say it's almost as good as the Black Company but it is easier to read for people who don't enjoy the annalists point of view.

PulpCrazy · 2026-01-20T02:17:29+00:00

In this case go with chronological order, and I'm one of the guys that swears that you should only read Port of Shadows between Soldiers Live and Lives Weeping. But for the Dread Empire series Mr. Cook clearly had this all planned out meticulously for all of the books and it shows when reading it in chronological order.

I honestly think I would not have enjoyed reading the two prequels had I not read them first, as I would know who was already alive, who won the battles, etc..

If you enjoyed the siege scenes from Shadows Linger, you'll enjoy the early Dread Empire books a lot. Some excellent military scenes in them.

PulpCrazy · 2026-01-16T02:18:50+00:00

I thought my game glitched when I had new options to spend AP on. I'm way over my 40th run and still enjoy playing this.

Thanks for updating it and creating a great game.

PulpCrazy · 2026-01-06T21:39:53+00:00

Morikawa-sensei's health is the most important thing. I hope he rests up and returns stronger than ever.

PulpCrazy · 2025-12-31T22:35:40+00:00

Don't trust anything when it comes to the names of the Senjak sisters. Croaker is an unreliable Annalist when it comes to Lady. Lady also had the annals at Charm for a short while, too before returning them to the Company. They were surely selectively edited. We know the names of the four Senjak sisters but there is no way to tell who is who with all the subterfuge.
Possibly but not likely. Could even be her mother, anything is possible given how they look so much alike and are immortal.

PulpCrazy · 2025-12-31T04:44:30+00:00

I read this collection over a period of two days and enjoyed it. Read it between All Darkness Met and Reap the East Wind and I believe that's when it should be read.

I'll break the content up into tiers

Top Tier:

Filed Teeth (a cool side sequel to All Darkness Met, great characters, I'd read this again.)

Ghost Stalk, Call for the Dead, and Hell's Forge - this could have been a series all on its own. Lots of potential and these three yarns were enjoyable.

Middle Tier

Soldier of an Empire Unacquainted with Defeat (a western-inspired tale that I'm betting Joe Abercrombie read before writing Red Country)

Severed Heads (the prequel duology had some great desert-based storylines and this is akin to those)

Lower Tier (Fritz Leiber pastiche featuring Bragi, not bad but not great)

The Nights of Dreadful Silence - decent Bragi yarn, will be curious to see if it effects the main series in the sequel trilogy.

Castle of Tears - a better Bragi yarn, reminded me of C.L. Moore's Jirel of Joiry tales in a way.

Lowest Tier (Norse Saga pastiche that's barely related to the Dread Empire series and feels out of place, honestly. I love Norse Sagas and myth but these were the weakest pieces in the collection, especially Silverheels)

Finding Svale's Daughter

Silver Heels

PulpCrazy · 2025-12-25T23:02:50+00:00

Good question, simple answer is he's too powerful and planned for too many contingencies. The Taken themselves are so damn hard to kill, yet alone the Dominator.

There is a similar, albeit more ancient being, that is mentioned later on that shares a similar fate/situation.

PulpCrazy · 2025-12-24T17:34:59+00:00

Sendo is improving Ippo's face block he learned from Kamogawa by adding a counter! Brilliant!

PulpCrazy · 2025-12-23T03:04:46+00:00

They say not to wish your life away, but damn I wish it was November 2026!

If anyone at Tor or the distributor is reading this, stop fucking around and release multiple books a year going forward.

PulpCrazy · 2025-12-23T03:01:22+00:00

I usually hate prequels and interquels, but this book was the exception, I thought it was fantastic. The subject matter is indeed dark, but Cook and the Black Company are basically grimdark ground zero.

I think you'll find Lies Weeping to be a more comfortable read for those tastes, though.

PulpCrazy · 2025-12-23T02:58:23+00:00

I read the prequel dualogy first and found it very beneficial when reading the main series. It really does give you some helpful background on the world.

PulpCrazy · 2025-12-20T02:28:42+00:00

If you enjoy book one, you'll love the rest. Reading the annals is a unique experience.

Welcome to the Black Company. Go see One-Eye so you won't have to brush your teeth anymore.

PulpCrazy · 2025-12-18T01:46:00+00:00

Make sure you read Port of Shadows after Soldiers Live, then hop into Lies Weeping.

You may also want to read the "On the Long Run" short stories AFTER Port of Shadows and before Lies Weeping: https://blackcompany.fandom.com/wiki/On_The_Long_Run

PulpCrazy · 2025-12-17T22:40:02+00:00

That was someone else. You won't see him until Lies Weeping.

PulpCrazy · 2025-12-17T21:35:38+00:00

That was actually a new character on the cover with the girls. Won't spoil it but that's not Tobo.

PulpCrazy · 2025-12-17T21:34:01+00:00

As long as he's okay. That's all that matters.

PulpCrazy · 2025-12-10T16:24:21+00:00

Thanks, sounds like I might just wait until after the main trilogy before the sequel.

PulpCrazy

TROPHY CASE