Sweet Silver Blues

In any reasonably thorough exploration of the space of Urban Fantasy, the bizarre combination of hardboiled noir detective stories and fantasy, Glen Cook's Garrett, PI series is definitely a necessary read. From my understanding, Garrett is one of the first urban fantasies written. It certainly is a landmark in the genre.

One of the things I loved most about the story was the world. Garrett's world is significantly more creative than the UF norm: a low-fantasy merging of our world with a secret society of individuals with special powers. Garrett lives on a totally original, fully-fledged fantasy realm where magic is the norm and dark elves, ratmen, ogres, and more coexist with humans in noisy, busy, and overcrowded cities. The atmosphere show more of cities themselves, especially TunFaire, where Garrett lives, feels a bit like Anhk Morpork: a cheerful, amoral chaos where mythical creatures rub shoulders with practical magical inventions. The world also has a complex history: there is an ongoing war between two of the human-inhabited countries over an area of silver mines, since silver is a necessary ingredient used by wizards in their spells. Cook does a fantastic job twisting common mythical creatures into new, creative, and realistic-feeling versions. For example, unicorns are vicious creatures that travel in packs and hunt humans.

The front blurb of my book called compared Garrett to Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe, and while I do think that Garrett is a prime example of a famous hardboiled detective, I don't think that detective is Marlowe. To me, Garrett feels more like a reincarnation of Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade from The Maltese Falcon. Unlike Marlowe, Garrett tends not to engage in the obligatory private detective snarkfest and even in his narration, he avoids the colorful metaphors that characterize Marlowe's narration. Marlowe is the quintessential tarnished knight on the mean streets: outwardly cynical, he is actually a chivalrous (read chauvanistic) softhearted idealist. He speaks joshingly and disrespectfully to women and constantly objectifies them physically, but internally puts them on a pedestal. Marlowe's tragedy is that he wants to see all women as pure and beautiful damsels to be protected and sheltered, but the femme fatales he encounters constantly disappoint him. Garrett, like Sam Spade, has none of Marlowe's idealism. Both Garrett and Spade tend to treat women as "a bit of tail" to be used and discarded. Granted, the women that Garrett encounters are completely obnoxious, but I was still shocked by Garrett's total disregard for their safety. In one scene, women he is familiar with are captured by enemy agents and threatened by vampires. Garrett is unfazed and doesn't rescue them, even though he has the opportunity. Marlowe would have been incapable of such an action. However, this attitude does track with Spade's, who was much more competent than Marlowe at coolly judging a situation and taking the most logical and safety.

Garrett also captures Spade's enigmatic personality. Like Spade, he appears to be very comfortable with death and murder, to the point that he does exhibit any outward reactions of regret or sadness when a character he knows is killed. To me, this made for a very interesting read, since even though Garrett acts as a first-person narrator, I was often left unable to interpret his true feelings. Garrett tends strip events of emotion during his narration, and I often found his few comments about his feelings to be cryptic. He also tends to skip over the details of his journeys or battles, summarizing them in a single sentence and spending much more effort on the minutiae and inconveniences of travel. Although perhaps less engaging to read, I thought this wasn't necessarily a problem, as it gave Garrett a unique phlegmatic voice: that of someone who avoids remembering or repeating unpleasant events. The duality and differences between the narrator's presentation of himself and his true emotions is one of my favorite aspects of first-person. The book definitely captures the hardboiled detective vibe. Garrett himself must do dubious deals with individuals even more brutal than himself. He must make questionable decisions that have fatal consequences. Yet despite all this, the book is coloured in humour and creativity.

Overall, I enjoyed reading the book, but not for the characters, or even, really, the plot; the world was so engaging that it captured my interest and imagination. I'll be picking up the next book; I hope, but don't particularly expect, to like the characters more, but I'm fairly sure that the fantastic and creative world that Garrett inhabits won't disappoint. show less

Cook is spare in the details. He keeps the whole story flying along by use of bantering conversation. He does not write out every step of the way for the reader – he does expect the reader to fill in the gaps and surmise what has happened in the interval.

There is also a Loghyr, which is an very strange character that in this novel is playing the rôle exactly of Nero Wolfe. Garrett might borrow a bit from Archie Goodwin whenever he meets the Loghyr for a consultation. I probably added a star to my rating just because this element of the story amuses me.

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Title: Sweet Silver Blues
Series: Garrett, P.I.
Author: Glen Cook
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 320
Format: Digital Edition

Synopsis:

Garrett, a Private Investigator, is hired by the Patriarch of some cobbler elves to carry out his sons last wishes. It doesn't hurt that the son and Garrett both served in Cantard and survived their army stint in that region. The father reveals that his son was getting rich in speculating on silver prices, show more with help from a woman in the Cantard who is probably on the enemies side. This same woman is one that Garrett fell in love with back in the day. So to help out an old dead buddy and maybe see the love of his youth, Garrett agrees to go into the Cantard and get the woman back to TunFaire where she will inherit a small fortune.

Unfortunately, the dead brother has a sister named Rose and Rose wants all that money for herself. She tries to hire Garrett, seduce Garrett, threaten and assault Garrett and eventually she is forced to team up with Garrett. Garrett also hires the help of various people to go on this trip with him.

Turns out the Lady is a vampire now. Garrett and Co kill the Bloodmaster, escape with the Lady and another vampire Garrett's coworker wants for reasons of his own and make it back to TunFaire. The Lady is welcomed by the cobblers as an unofficial inlaw and given the best treatment to reverse the vampirism. Morly, Garrett's coworker uses his vampire to destroy the local crimelord who has been making threats against Morly.

Everyone is relatively happy and everybody gets paid. Garrett also hooks up with Rose's cousin so the detective fulfills the mission AND gets the girl. Not bad.

My Thoughts:

Nothing brilliant with this book but it was the most fun I've had so far this month besides with Shaman King. Light hearted rompy fun.

Cook is obviously riffing on the Hardboiled Noir Detective thing and if I was better versed in that genre I might be able to appreciate this even more. As it is, a hard drinking, hard headed, hard fisted detective living in an Urban Fantasyland works really well. I guess this isn't strictly Urban Fantasy, as it isn't our world at all, but it has all the earmarks of a mixed group of humans and supernatural and a city and the goings ons that happen in cities. (the stinking, filthy, cowflop places).

Cook still yanks his readers around with making his characters know things that aren't revealed to us and having “things happen” very suddenly with almost no warning. I know I missed particulars but I just sat back and let the story roll, even if I didn't perhaps catch all the whys & wherefores. Cook has a style that while not exactly the same, is similar enough so an astute reader can pick up on it from his Black Company books or his Dread Empire series.

I have zero interest in straight up detective fiction. Not mysteries, but Detective Fiction. However, throw in some paranormal stuff and bam, it really works for me. And Garrett is no whiny, crybaby, “poor me, the Council doesn't like me” miserable sodding jackass like some other character I can think of whose name rhymes with Harry Dresden. I can't say that if you hate Dresden you'll like Garrett, but if Dresden made you give up on Urban Fantasy, Garrett might be able to punch you in the head until you admit you really DO like Urban Fantasy now, honest sir!

As long as no pedophile wizard shows up to ruin the series like Cook did with his last Dread Empire book, I suspect I'll be glad to work my through the 15+ books in this series.

★★★☆½ show less

It's likely a sign of aging, but my brain kept distracting me with that song from the nursery rhyme about mares eat oats and does eat oats.

Mares eat oats and does eat oats,
And little lambs eat ivy

The song slurs it all together:

Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey
A kiddley divey too, wouldn't you?


So every time P.I. Garrett's sidekick Morley Dotes appeared, a half-elf notorious for his fighting and gambling, I found myself starting to rhyme, clearly making it impossible to view him with a shred of trepidation. Is it too much to ask if Cook would rename the character?

This is the first in a series starring Garrett, an ex-soldier trying to make a living as a detective. The twist is that the setting is a fantasy world peopled show more with gnomes, elves, vampires, unicorns and centaurs. Don't worry, this isn't Rainbow Fairyland colored in pastels; we are talking about Glen Cook, after all, so the gnome ladies have nasty tempers, the vampires are all cold predators, the unicorns hunt for meat, and the centaurs have a tendency to work the angles. Initially, Garrett does some investigating around town, but it isn't long before he hooks up with a friend, Morley Dotes, to provide him with some muscle. Morley convinces him to hire on three grolls (goats gruff?) instead of pack mules. It's a fun plot that centers on tracking down a mysterious dame for an inheritance, a woman who just happened to be Garrett's first love.

Cook's trademark paucity of details is a perfect match for the hard-boiled detective. I disliked the Black Company series for it's lack of world-building and environmental-social context, but it works well for the detective caper. Language is enjoyable, and for me, one of the redeeming aspects of the book. Cook uses a modified period cant that sometimes requires a moment of double-think to interpret. For instance, there's a fight: "A club whipped the air where my head had been. I have the guy a kick in the root of his fantasies, then clipped him in the cheek as he bent to pray." Garrett's the a peculiar way of talking elevates it a bit above simple farce.

Names aside, characterization is acceptable, even if they all resonate anti-hero. Again, trademark of what I've read of Cook's, where even people with more noble intentions are complicit in illegal and ethically questionable actions. Garrett's slightly more on the positive side of the moral line--while he'll lie to almost everyone (except The Dead Man) with utter sincerity, he never killed anyone. Except for in the war. Until recent events. But he didn't mean it. However, it is worth noting the women are the worst sort of stereotypes: shrewish castigating woman; saucy barmaid with a temper; gentle unobtainable beauty that needs rescuing. Oink! Garrett and Morley are slightly more complex with back stories lending positive aspects to dubious actions. On the other hand, the majority of antagonists are confusing, involved in a barely comprehensible political maneuvering. It echoes the hard-boiled detective, where the investigator is caught in events larger than his limited scope.

I have to wonder if Morley's silly naming was intentional; it was such an unusual name within the book's world as well. In fact, the entire book has a fantasy-farce feel, reminding me (here we go again) of [b:M.Y.T.H. Inc. Link / Myth-Nomers and Impervections|64364|M.Y.T.H. Inc. Link / Myth-Nomers and Impervections (Myth Adventures, #7-8)|Robert Lynn Asprin|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1309212391s/64364.jpg|62482], like part of the point is playing with literary conventions and having fantasy characters behave in inexplicably modern ways. For instance, there was a long-running joke between Garrett and Morley about vegetarian diet versus carnivore, and the effects on the bowels and mood. It was amusing enough for a short time, but eventually the style tends to grate on me. A single book is a perfect dose (Doze)--it is not a series I'd read in entirety back to back. Frankly, I rather like Lee Martinez or Pratchett's take on the genre if I feel like reading farce.

Ultimately, while I did buy it--it isn't carried by my library system--I'll likely donate it to the library so someone else with more affection for the genre can enjoy.

Three stars.

Cross posted at http://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2013/04/21/sweet-silver-blues-by-glen-cook-or-ste... show less

First in a series of books written in the early years of urban fantasy as a genre. The majority of those that I've been reading recently have been set in a recognisable world with just magical elements or creatures added in to make the difference. This one takes a different tack by adding the hard-boiled private detective, a la Sam Spade, to an altogether made up world which contains those aforementioned magical bits. Garrett, the PI at the heart of the series, is a hero of the long-running and still active Cantard war (i.e. he survived his tour of duty) and provides the narration for this tale. He's hired by a gnome called Willard Tate who's son, Denny, had died in an accident and has left a fortune in silver in his will to a woman show more that his father had never heard of. Garrett knew Denny from his time after he got out of the army with both of them frequenting ex-servicemen establishments and a friendship was built which had somewhat lapsed over the years since. He also recognises the name of the woman having had a fling with her in his teenage army days and still holds a candle for his early crush. It soon becomes apparent that the hoard of silver has not been obtained by legal means and so there will probably be other nefarious types interested in its disposition so Garrett's first order of business will be to hire some protection. Morley Dotes, a half-elf of the dark variety fits that bill and as they're heading into the Cantard suggests taking along some grolls (human/troll hybrids) instead of mules. They can carry twice as much for twice as long and they're a lot more handy in a fight. Garrett also enlist some help from the Dead Man, a Loghyr killed some four hundred years ago but they tend to stick around a while even after they die. A deductive genius who also happens to have psychic powers but because of his condition unable to leave his current locale so Garrett turns to him for advice and any pointers he might be able to supply. So then it's time to gather up Morley and the grolls along with a couple of unexpected tagalongs and set off on his investigation and try to find the missing heiress.

This is much more aimed at the fantasy end of the spectrum than the majority of the genre. I'd say it was more of a quest adventure than a true detective story though the lead character is a very typical hard-boiled private detective type. The tone of the narration is very straightforward and matter of fact. The world-building is there but the point of focus never strays far away from the main plot. Characters are fleshed out through interaction with each other rather than extended descriptive passages though anyone wanting strong female characters should probably not look here. Those that do feature are treated as the typical dames that the genre is famous for. There is enough humour to lighten the mood when the tension rises as the investigation uncovers much more than a simple missing persons case. I wasn't transfixed by the story and I know from reading some of the author's other work he can do better but as this was an early book by him I'm willing to progress with the series and see how it goes. show less

I used to really like this series when I was younger, but tried re-reading the first book recently and just couldn't get into it. Still like the idea of the fantasy/noir detective mashup, but the characters seemed more flat than I remember, the story didn't grab me, couldn't understand why girls threw themselves at the protagonist seconds after meeting him. But the book didn't change; I guess I did.

Glen Cook's "fantasy noir" series is full of humor and adventure, in about equal proportions. I'm a sucker for the hard-boiled detective and this particular brand of humor, so it's not surprising I like this series.

Not-so-subtle allusions to Raymond Chandler and Rex Stout's books abound (it's not that hard to figure out who an obese savant, who never leaves the house, and delights in withholding solutions from his partner represents). Despite the similar "Garrett meets damsel-in-distress, Garrett gets into matters over his head that are more complicated than they seem, Garrett muddles through" structure of each book, they never become boring. The humor is just too good.