Glen Cook biography

Glen Cook was born on the 9th July 1944 and is an American writer of science fiction and fantasy novels.

Glen Cook first began writing in high school, providing the occasional article for the school newspaper. After high school Cook spent time in United States Navy before working full time at a General Motors assembly plant. It was while he was at GM that Cook began writing in earnest, producing as many as three books a year. Outside of writing Glen Cook is an avid stamp collector and enjoys watching the Cardinals play baseball.

Cook's work is known for its realism, Steven Erikson once said that Cook was responsible for single-handedly changing the field of fantasy by removing the stereotypes and cliches that were previously inherant in the genre, replacing them with real, human characters and believable situations. Erikson also went on to say that the Dread Empire trilogy was the biggest influence on his own writing with its grim reality and historical complexity.

Cook was able to call upon his own experiences in the US Navy when writing The Black Company series, making sure that the military characters behaved as they would in real life.

Glen Cook books

Glen Cook writes both science fiction and fantasy books; below is a selection of his best and best known fantasy works.

The Black Company

• The Black Company - Books of the North (1984)
• Shadows Linger - Books of the North (1984)
• The White Rose - Books of the North (1985)
• Shadow Games - Books of the South (1989)
• Dreams of Steel - Books of the South (1990)
• Bleak Seasons - Books of the Glittering Stone (1996)
• She Is The Darkness - Books of the Glittering Stone (1997)
• Water Sleeps - Books of the Glittering Stone (1999)
• Soldiers Live - Books of the Glittering Stone (2000)

Dread Empire

• The Fire in His Hands (1984)
• With Mercy Toward None (1985)
• A Shadow of All Night Falling (1979)
• October's Baby (1980)
• All Darkness Met (1980)
• Reap the East Wind (1987)
• An Ill Fate Marshalling (1988)

Glen Cook interviews

SFSite.com interviews Glen Cook in 2005 and they discuss his writing process, how he makes his fantasy work so realistic and what books he likes to read and much, much more. Glen Cook interview on SF Site.

Latest news: Glen Cook

Wood Elves are for wimps
July 28, 2009 will see the release of The Light of the Burning Shadows : Book Two of the Iron Elves (Pocket Books). The Iron Elves series is written in the grand tradition of such fantasy luminaries as Terry Brooks, JRR Tolkien, and Glen Cook, as well as military adventure author Bernard Cornwell. [...]

The Black Company by Glen Cook reviewed
After reading that Glen Cook was a huge influence on the fantastic Steven Erikson I felt compelled to find out more about the man that Erikson says changed the face of the fantasy genre. After reading The Black Company you can certainly plainly see the Cook influence in the Malazan magnus opus. Glen [...]