Another excellent book from Glen Cook. This strikes a good balance between the members of the old guard and involvement of the younger members. It is clearly a transition to the future direction of the company and provides the beginning stages for the conclusion of the series. ( )

While this was still a good Black Company novel, it felt a lot like an interim novel. We're approaching the end, but not quite there yet, and there was some filler to put in before we got there. Not as good as most of them. ( )

Home, Home on the Plain: Once again we get a switch in annalists - of necessity since Soulcatcher dropped most of the main characters (other than Goblin and One-Eye) into a stasis trap in the depths of the Fortress With No Name. It is Sleepy this time, who got some slight mention in She Is The Darkness, mostly because she was masquerading as a he. Sleepy, along with Murgen's wife Sahra are hard at work getting even with Soulcatcher, Mogaba, and the usual select crew of bad guys. When they aren't pulling someone's chain they are trying to find a way to re-enter the Glittering Plain and release Murgen and all the other Black Company regulars.

The story takes place almost entirely in Taglios, which is now the center of Soulcatcher's 'protectorate.' I'm not sure why the witch chose that title, since the only thing she ever protects is herself. And she is more than content to spend the lives of innocent citizenry if she feels the least bit threatened. Sahra and Sleepy and the remaining fragments of the Black Company have gone into hiding with the help of the Nyueng Bao. They wage a war of irritation with the Protector and the Radisha. They spy, paint slogans on walls, and even resort to kidnapping in order to keep everyone off balance while they engage in a desperate search for a key to the Glittering Plain and some knowledge on how to rescue the captives.

Murgen, the only one of the captives still conscious is still around as a disembodied source of intelligence and advice, and Tobo, Murgen and Sahra's son also plays an important part as he begins to display significant skills as a sorceror. This is a tale told in small, detailed steps, both by Sleepy and by Cook himself as he gives us frequent updates looking over the shoulders of the villains. What with Murgen's ghostly presence and Sahra's day job as a housecleaner in the palace it's no wonder that Mogaba finally remarks that keeping a secret is hardly worth the effort.

Glen Cook always manages to have things work out differently from the reader's expectations and Water Sleeps is no exception. This includes the discovery that there is a fourth volume in this trilogy, which has already covered a lot of ground. But there always seems to be more to find out, and one more volume to read.

Unfortunately, yet another narrator; fortunately, she's better than Murgen was. If we ignore the fact that the entire plot is predicated on the fact that the good guys have conveniently forgotten that they have the key to shut down the bad guys instantly, it's a better story than the two preceding volumes. ( )

http://www.sfreader.com/read_review.a... ( )