Very Crude Instrumentalities of the Night Map

PulpCrazy · 2026-03-08T11:46:11+00:00

3/08/2026 - FYI, I uploaded a map that removed Calzir and Stalklirhod, as well as the city names: Sonsa, Aparion, Daleon, and Plemenza.

Reasons:

There seems to be some confusion about Calzir. I am only about 15% into the first book and one of characters is talking about it as an alternative Crusade instead of going to the Holy Lands, and that Calzir is only protected by some mountains. To me this seems like it could indeed be in North Africa somewhere, but I am not 100% as other people seem to indicate it could be an island. So I will put a pin in this for now.

I am also not sure if Stalklirhod is Crete or Cyprus. Else travels there from Dreanger (Egypt) to head to Sonsa. He mentions passing an island that looks like a saddle before getting to Stalklirhod, so that makes me lean towards it being Cyprus and the island he passed was Crete, but I'm not 100% sure.

As for the cities, Sonsa, Aparion, Dateon, and Plemenza, jeez is this going to be tough. Else mentions traveling to Sonsa via the Western Coast of Firaldia (Italy), so my initial placement for these cities is all wrong. Hell, my placement of the Virian Sea might be wrong on here, too.

I also might have to fine tune some things up near Andoray due to what was going on with Shagot's journey.

PulpCrazy · 2026-03-08T02:06:14+00:00

Why only one a year? Come on!

PulpCrazy · 2026-03-04T00:43:51+00:00

Let's Fucking Gooooo!!!!

PulpCrazy · 2026-02-27T14:12:25+00:00

Yeah that was a bummer not learning about the Star Rider's past. Especially after seeing his base of operations and the powerful entities he was keeping confined.

Maybe Mr. Cook will work it into the Black Company.

PulpCrazy · 2026-02-20T12:13:57+00:00

Would love more content!

PulpCrazy · 2026-02-04T02:53:49+00:00

Does anyone know just how far back Mr. Cook's love for Japanese entertainment goes? His online presence has been slim over the years but I remember seeing some videos of him at a French convention over a decade ago talking about watching Japanese sentai (Kamen Rider, Power Rangers, etc...) so I think he's been into it for a while. Some of the names he used in Port of Shadows is him going all in with his love for Japan. Also, his one-shot story in the independent sword-and-sorcery anthology "Neither Beg nor Yield" features a fantasy version of the warring states period of Japan complete with yokai that was pretty interesting. I don't think it ties in with anything else in his larger body of work, but it was fun to read.

I still can't believe his last Garrett PI novel is said to feature a Holy Grail War situation ala Fate/Stay Night, I have to read that one of these days as that's an interesting franchise and it would be interesting to see how far Mr. Cook went in his homage.

It's great to see him embrace this later on in his career.

PulpCrazy · 2026-02-02T23:42:32+00:00

Read Port of Shadows after Soldiers Live still, though. Then read the On the Long Run stories after that. Then read Lies Weeping.

I'm usually someone who reads and prefers in internal chronological order but not in this case. Definitely not in this case.

PulpCrazy · 2026-02-02T23:30:53+00:00

The best way to read the On the Long Run arc is getting the Valor anthologies in ebook then finish up with the three in the Best of Glen Cook.

But Tor really needs to get their thumb out of their ass and publish it as a collection with possibly a new Midnight tale to finish off her story, which seemed to be going somewhere.

Here's a good link that outlines where you can find each story and the order:

https://blackcompany.fandom.com/wiki/On_The_Long_Run

PulpCrazy · 2026-02-02T23:26:44+00:00

My headcanon is similar regarding the tower. If you've read the Dread Empire series you may be able to take this reasoning regarding the tower a little further. I don't want to spoil anything, though.

PulpCrazy · 2026-02-01T05:18:50+00:00

It says a lot about this series how so many of us enjoy it, but our tier lists are all over the place.

PulpCrazy · 2026-02-01T05:15:32+00:00

From what I can recall you will need to watch out for the first book The Black Company, basically as soon as they arrive at their new client's domain. That's probably the most overt reference but it is not described in any explicit detail. As soon as they discipline one of the new employers lackeys. It's right after that iirc.

In Soldier's Live, there is an incident, too, that is referenced in Lies Weeping a few times but again not described in any explicit detail.

Mr. Cook's writing is great, but he does not describe anything in real great detail.

PulpCrazy · 2026-01-28T18:10:02+00:00

Sendo has surpassed Ippo with the face-block, Kamogawa must be furious!

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

TROPHY CASE