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The Tyranny of the Night: Book One of the Instrumentalities of the Night Kindle Edition

by Glen Cook (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 202 ratings
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The Tyranny of the Night launches a sweeping fantasy adventure series from Geln Cook, author of the popular "Black Company" novels

Welcome to the world of the Instrumentalities of the Night, where imps, demons, and dark gods rule in the spaces surrounding upstart humanity. At the edges of the world stand walls of ice which push slowly forward to reclaim the land for the night. And at the world's center, in the Holy Land where two great religions were born, are the Wells of Ihrain, the source of the greatest magics. Over the last century the Patriarchs of the West have demanded crusades to claim the Wells from the Pramans, the followers of the Written. Now an uneasy truce extends between the Pramans and the West, waiting for a spark to start the conflict anew.

Then, on a mission in the Holy Land, the young Praman warrior Else is attacked by a creature of the Dark-in effect, a minor god. Too ignorant to know that he can never prevail over such a thing, he fights it and wins, and in so doing, sets the terrors of the night against him.

As a reward for his success, Else is sent as a spy to the heart of the Patriarchy to direct their attention away from further ventures into the Holy Lands. Dogged by hidden enemies and faithless allies, Else witnesses senseless butchery and surprising acts of faith as he penetrates to the very heart of the Patriarchy and rides alongside their armies in a new crusade against his own people. But the Night rides with him, too, sending two of its once-human agents from the far north to assassinate him.

Submerged in his role, he begins to doubt his faith, his country, even his family. As his mission careens out of control, he faces unanswerable questions about his future. It is said that God will know his own, but can one who has slain gods ever know forgiveness?

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

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  1. Book 1 of 4
    Instrumentalities of the Night
  2. Print length
    430 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publisher
    Tor Books
  6. Publication date
    June 1, 2005
  7. File size
    1051 KB
  8. Page Flip
    Enabled
  9. Word Wise
    Enabled
  10. Enhanced typesetting
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  11. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

In the Wells of Ihrain lies--perhaps--the magical key to resisting the Dark, whose walls of ice are advancing against human holdings. The humans have settled into an uneasy truce with the Pramans, who possess the wells, as a result of the crisis, but, in gross violation of the truce, the Pramans are about to send a spy, the warrior Else, to the human Patriarchy of the West. Else has defeated a creature of the Dark in battle--an outcome that was supposed to be impossible, and on the principle of "Do a little more, and you will be given still more," he is tapped for the espionage assignment, which by the end of this book, at least, hasn't become the suicide mission it seems to be. Whether it will in the next book assures plenty of fantasy readers for the immediate sequel to the first volume of the Instrumentalities of the Night, which promises to be a grim and sweeping epic, indeed. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

Praise for Glen Cook

"Cook's talent for combining gritty realism and high fantasy provides a singular edge."
--Library Journal on Water Sleeps

"Cook provides a rich world of assorted races, cultures, and religions; his characters combine the mythic or exotic with the realistic, engaging in absorbing alliances, enmities, and double-crosses."
--Publishers Weekly on Bleak Seasons

"Sheer page-turning fun!"
--Robin McKinley on Bleak Seasons

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B003J4VEOU
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Tor Books; First edition (June 1, 2005)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 1, 2005
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1051 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 430 pages
  • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 0765306840
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 202 ratings

About the author

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Glen Cook

Glen Cook

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Glen Charles Cook (born July 9, 1944) is a contemporary American science fiction and fantasy writer, best known for The Black Company fantasy series.

Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo by Harmonia Amanda (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
202 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

dave wawrzynski
5.0 out of 5 stars fantastic
Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2023
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Loved this series when I read it the first time and I love it still reading it again! Great book to pick up!
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Woofdog
4.0 out of 5 stars Initial volume shows promise, resembles Dread Empire with some issues
Reviewed in the United States on August 15, 2006
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This volume resembles the writing style found in the Dread Empire series, The Dragon Never Sleeps, and The Tower of Fear, with some emphasis on politics and political intrigue, though nothing to the degree in Shadowline. Cook has described this series as taking place in a political map roughly that of 12th century europe, but in a world where both the black sea and the mediterranean sea are landlocked, and thus those seas are substantially shallower than in our world (evaporation rate of both would be higher than replacement without the atlantic influx), as well as the notable factor that magic is real and gods are active in this world. I will note that the huge number of kingdoms named in this book make lack of any geographic reference impossible. Even in Dread Empire there were only a handful of named major kingdoms, with a few more salted in over time. A handful of references to major historical events in the roman ('brothen') period (Teutoberg Forest, Hannibal Barco's years in Italy, the backdrop of several Crusades in preceding centuries) provide some roadmarks, but you are pretty much on your own.

This book follow 3 viewpoints, the primary being an agent sent into the realm of the vatican to try to gain intelligence useful to agents of a client kingdom of the caliphate (you finally get a clue to where Draegnar is 3/4's of the way through the book as an indirect historical aside, why bother at all). In this world magic and gods are quite real, and the latter play a major role behind the scenes in the plot. As with the books I mention above, Cook provides a brutal story with little of the fluff that much modern fantasy contains, though else's identity not being more widely disseminated seemed dubious, given who knows it.

Great book, looking forward to the next one.
6 people found this helpful
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H. Wu
5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding
Reviewed in the United States on August 27, 2020
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Product arrived earlier than expected, and in better than expected condition. Book was sealed, as indicated in the description was a possibility, so dustcover was in excellent shape. I will have confidence working with this seller again in the future.
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Kindle Customer
3.0 out of 5 stars A sometimes dry, but fascinating story of an alternate world's middle ages in a world where magic and Gods exist
Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2015
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First thing, this book will not appeal to everyone. Without at least a basic knowledge of Middle Ages Europe, the Middle-East, and the Crusades; most of what is being written (and not being written) will pass over the reader's head. The countries, mountains, seas, religions, and religious figures all have different names; but almost everything has a real or historical counterpart from our own history.

Second warning, if you have read Glen Cook's other works; especially the Dread Empire series and the Black Company; this entire series is rife with tropes from his other writings. Else Tage might as well be Bragi Ragnarson except he was raised as a Sha-Lug in Dreanger (Mameluk in Egypt). Most of the characters from this series have analogies in his other books; though the Ninth Unknown (does not appear in this first book) is refreshing and interesting. Other well-hashed themes include an extremely jaded view of religion, creepy pedophilia, MERCENARIES!!!!!, and lots of grandmas sucking eggs.

The side-story characters from the End of Connec are well-written and original; but also are left holding the bag on most of the less action-packed parts of the series. The reader gets a real "meanwhile, back at the ranch" feel whenever it cuts to them. Though writing is of good quality from the viewpoint of the good-hearted, long suffering people on the opposite end of the war the protagonist is involved in; it also doesn't really seem to add to the book. One could cut out all the Brother Candle parts from the series; and still have an interesting (if much abbreviated) book.

Likewise, the main character's viewpoint changes in some ways that are very well-planned and written; and others that don't follow logically. Else Tage is alternates from dangerously saavy and wise; to naive and the victim of a narrow-world view. It seems that when it comes to survival instincts, he's a genius; but is mentally slow to a fault in personal matters.

In the later books, much like the Black Company characters they are expys of; Heris (Sleepy), Vali and Lila (Shukrat and Arkana) become very interesting later in the series and have the capability to steal the show and make things interesting.

Now, if you are still reading, this is still a good book and Cook's writing always pulls you in. Forearmed and forewarned about the need of a historical context, the reader should be able to put 2 and 2 together in regards to places and Gods. In fact, figuring them out at times takes on a side activity to the book. Even with a pretty good knowledge of history and geography I'm not sure where Grolsach is.
The fact that no one is black and white or even a static character keeps things interesting and keeps things from getting too dry.
6 people found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Vintage Glen Cook
Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2022
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This could be hard to read for GC fans who aren’t familiar with early Europe kingdoms, religious battles, and the sheer number of power changes throughout early Europe and the Middle East. Then toss fantasy elements into the stew. Lots of reviewers were overwhelmed by the sheer number of names GC throws out. I think he just wanted to show the pandemonium of the time. Readers can ignore all of the names if they just focus on the lead character, Else Tage/Piper Hecht. Then the vintage GC shines through. GC is not for Sword and Sorcery fans. GC has a prose style all his own. His creativity is on a par with the best writers of our day. Enjoy him while you can.
2 people found this helpful
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Ebnindy
5.0 out of 5 stars 5 stars
Reviewed in the United States on August 16, 2021
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Putting in the required 20 words when I just want to rate this 5 stars because it is excellent. Word
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Holly Powley
5.0 out of 5 stars I cannot get enough of Glenn Cook's sword & sorcery ...
Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2015
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I cannot get enough of Glenn Cook's sword & sorcery books!
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Top reviews from other countries

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Client Kindle
4.0 out of 5 stars excellent (presque)
Reviewed in France on May 24, 2016
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J'aurais mis 5 étoiles si:
il y avait une carte
d'accord c'est l'Europe et les pays du pourtour de la Méditerranée
mais il n'y a pas non plus d' index des lieux
ni des hommes , des non-humains ou des états
et il faut vraiment s'accrocher les 80 premières pages
après,on ne peut plus lâcher....
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Lesende Ratte
5.0 out of 5 stars Komplexe Fantasy-Adaption des europ.Mittelalters
Reviewed in Germany on June 18, 2014
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"Instrumentalities of the Night" ist sehr komplex, sehr unterhaltsam, stellenweise auch sehr lustig - letztlich aber nur bedingt spannend. Eine übergeordnete Spannung fällt hier m.E. der Vielzahl parallel aufgebauter Handlungstränge und Schauplätze zum Opfer.

Cook hat bei Ausgestaltung der hier erzählten Welt mehr als nur dezente Anleihen im Mittelalter etwa zum Zeitalter der späten Kreuzzüge genommen. Er hat eher die europäische und arabische Welt um 1200 1:1 komplett adaptiert und nur leicht angepasst (und alles umbenannt). Man ist daher an etlichen Stellen im Buch versucht, Cooks Welt mit realen historischen Plätzen (Palästina/Arabien, Frankenreich, Byzanz, Rom, Deutsches Kaiserreich, Mongolen,...) und Zusammenhängen abzugleichen, um so besser über einen Überblick zu erhalten über die zahlreichen wirkenden Fraktionen und deren Zusammenhänge. Und das sind wirklich viele....

Der zentrale Charakter, Else Tage, fängt als vielversprechender "quasi arabischer" Offizier einer Spezialtruppe an und wird auf seinem verschlungenen Werdegang begleitet bis hin zum Kommandanten der Armee des "quasi katholischen" Kirchenstaats, der am Ende in Band 4 einen Kreuzzug ins heilige Land leitet. Zwischen diesen Eckpunkten liegen diverse kleine und große politische und militärische Verwicklungen und Ränke, mystische bzw magische Großereignisse sowie private und intime Begebenheiten und Abhängigkeiten.

Die Charaktere sind wie fast immer bei Cook durchweg vielschichtig, nie nur gut oder nur schlecht, sondern jeder von seiner persönlichen Motivation getrieben in seinem eigenen Kontext nachvollziehbar handelnd. Durch später noch hinzukommende, teils halbwegs zielichtige, skurille Strippenzieher wie Piper Hechts (aka Else Tage) magisch begabte (Ur-)Großväter und sonstige Familie kommt auch der Humorfaktor nicht kurz. Da werden deutliche Erinnerungen zB an die verschlagenen Zauberer der "Black Company" wach.

"Instrumentalities of the Night" hat rein gar nichts gemein mit der üblichen 08/15 Fantasy, auch wenn einige Standardelemente (Zwerge, Dämonen, Zauberer) auftauchen. Die Art, wie Cook diese Elemente einbringt, ist wiederum recht eigen - bei den spät hinzukommenden Zwerge beispielsweise spielt Cook lustvoll augenzwinkernd etliche Klischees aus. Cooks grundlegende Dämonenphilosophie wiederum ist in ähnlicher Form auch bei Terry Pratchett zu finden

Zwar hangelt sich die Story entlang nicht weniger militärischer Ereignisse, wird da aber oft eher ungenau. Cook interessieren hier oft eher einzelne Figuren vor/nach einem solchen Ereignis wie einer Schlacht, oder auch das Ergebnis und die Auswirkungen, weniger die Schlacht selbst. Mit der Auswirkung, dass sich "Instrumentalities of the Night" stellenweise atmosphärisch an geschichtswissenschaftliche Bücher erinnert.

Alles in allem sind die "Instrumentalities of the Night" unbedingt lesenswert für jeden, der sich nicht von Komplexität abschrecken lässt, gerne mal Fantasy abseits ausgelatschter Pfade liest und auf eher rüden Humor steht
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Birger Johansson
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, but keep a list of the names.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 31, 2014
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First, be advised that the official book description at Amazon.co.uk is a mistake, it pertains to a different book (The Serpent Sea, by Martha Wells).
-This is the first book in a tetralogy. Like The Dark Company, it provides a perspective from common soldiers, but also a perspective from a cathar priest and a princess in the court of the Holy Roman Empire.
Other reviewers have provided an outline of the plot and mentioned the difficulty of keeping track of all names and places.
I will provide a supplemental list of names below to make it easier to keep track of who is who.

The era resembles the 12-13th centuries with a flashback intp 10th century Andoray (Norway). the geography is the same as our world with different names. Some minor geographical alterations: Memphis and Cairo are represented by a single city. Alicea (Carrara) is to the east of Sonsa (Pisa) instead of the west.
Dropping sea levels are merging Corsica and Sardinia into a single island called Artecipea.
The ruins of Andesqueluz(Petra) are older than in out world. Tariq's rock (Gibraltar) is physically joined to North Africa by a narrow isthmus.
In our own world, the distances in the Arctic prevented the hunters from having a single, common god of winter but in the novel they have a winter entity called Kharoulke the Windwalker -possibly a Wendigo.

Names and honorary names of patriarchs (popes): Honario Benedocto -Sublime V. Joceryn Quito -Pacificus Sublime (easily confused with his predecessor). Hugo Mongoz -Boniface VII. Rocklin Glas -Bellicose.

Other names:
Sturlanger = vikings, Gedanke = Siegfrid, Eiref Eralssson = Eric Bloodaxe of Norway,
Seatts = Sami /Lapps, Shallow Sea = Baltic, Grand Marshes = Pagan territories near the southern Baltic, in constant war with teutonic knights based in Duarnenia.
Guretha = Königsberg. Grail Empire = Holy Roman Empire.
Ihrian / Holy Lands = Holy Land, Vantrad = Jerusalem, Andesqueluz = Petra,
Dreanger = Egypt, Lucidia = Syria/ domain of Ottoman Turks subject to the Caliphate of Baghdad.
Deves and dainshaukin = Jews and a kind of proto-jews. Peqaad = arabs. Calzir = Moorish state in southernmost Italy.
Al-Khazen = capitol of Calzir, possibly Cozensa. Direcia = Iberian peninsula. Hun-tai At = Mongols.
Ghargarlicean empire = Persia.

Gordimer the Lion = Egyptian warlord, originally from the ranks of the Sha-lug (Janissars),
Platadura = coastal city in eastern Spain, competing with Italian merchant republics.
Firaldia = Italy, Brothe = Rome, Sonsa = Pisa. Plemenza = Bologna or Florence. Jagos mountains = Alps,
Hochwasser = Innsbruck. Connec = southern France, Viscesment = Avignon, seat of the anti-patriarch.
Maysaleans = cathars.
Grade Drocker = Sorcerer from the Brotherhood of War (Templars). Son of Muniero Delari.
Ferris Renfrew /Lester Temagat = Spymaster, advisor to the court of the Grail Empire. Bronte Doneto = principate, cousin to Sublime V.
Principates of the Collegium = papal Curia.
Muniero Delari = A principate of the Delari clan. Paluda and Divinio Bruglioni, Gervase Saluda = the Bruglioni clan.
Soultaken = Former mortals whose bodies are used by the Aesir gods as tools to reach beyond their normal sphere of influence.
Krepnight, the Elect = A warrior, willed into existence by Kharoulke the Windwalker, serving the same purpose as soultaken.
Seska the Endless = dark god from the Egyptian pantheon. Asparas = minions of Kharoulke.
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Sylvia
2.0 out of 5 stars Pas pour moi
Reviewed in France on April 9, 2019
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Il y a une avalanche de noms, c'est confus et les scènes n'arrivent pas à me captiver. Alors tant pis, je capitule. Pourtant j'adore La Compagnie Noire et je sais que Glen Cook peut être un très bon écrivain. Mais là, je n'accroche vraiment pas. Dommage.
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R. M. Lindley
3.0 out of 5 stars curious - 3.5 stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 25, 2009
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Greg Cook can write excellent military fantasy - see The Chronicles of the Black Company - but this is not it.

The premise is certainly interesting and original. A slave warrior, Else Tage, loads a newly invented cannon with silver and fires it at an aggressive demigod. The God dies, and understandably the remaining supernatural entities are somewhat aggreived...

The setting for this tale is a complex world that seems to mirror 11th century Europe and Asia, complete with rival popes and crusades to the Holy Land. In addition, a subplot concerning religious heretics seems to be inspired by the Cathars of Southern France.

Unfortunately, the detail of this new world is overwhelming and there is no map, makign much of the political and military manouvering hard to follow. A large cast of characters introduced in rapid succession only adds to the confusion.

These problems could have been redeemed by good action sequences, but these are strangely lacking. I only experienced a couple of genuinely gripping page turning moments, whereas the Black COmpany was famous for them.

I was still compelled to read to the end, and I would hope future books will improve now that much of the establishing work has been done. Still, this is not Glen Cook's best.
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