Doomstalker

As a fan of Cook's The Black Company series, I occasionally dip into his other works. This one shares some of the things that make the Black Company great: quite minimalist writing that is very on point psychologically as we follow our protagonists' travails in a gritty world, non-sentimental but adept at depicting deep bonds among those who face life-threatening situations together, delving into a number of existential topics.
Darkwar trilogy takes place on an alien planet facing Ice Age, inhabited by a canine-like species the meth. Cook takes his time establishing the setting. About the first third is all about getting acquainted with the matriarchal tribal society of the meth in general, and the main protagonists Marika and her show more relationships in particular. Action proper starts when they face invasion by nomadic meth tribes.
It is slowed-paced, but I found it engaging throughout as it mixes Marika's coming of age, getting to know an alien world and an alien species, their societal structure and problems and uncovering of the mysterious psychic abilities possessed by some.
The trilogy is really a single book published in three parts, even the chapter numbering continues uninterrupted. show less

I thought that Cook's Black Company series was entertaining enough, so I picked up this trilogy when I came across it...
I have to start with a complaint, though. Not only is the cover art on this book just terrible, from an artistic/aesthetic standpoint, but it's pretty obvious that the book didn't get read by the artist, and there was a severe lack of communication going on. ALL of the characters in this book are wolflike aliens – they live in a matriarchal pack structure, are described as having long muzzles, paws, and fur. They whine, howl, and twitch their ears. So why are all of the characters in the cover art distinctly human? (Well, I guess they have kinda funny-looking eyes and big ears. But still.) Argh. Anyway.

Marika is an show more adolescent living in a remote packstead. From youth, she's had unusual mental powers, which cause some of the elders to be hostile toward her. But in one dire winter, her home is invaded and destroyed. Her only path may be to join the silth – feared and respected sorceresses who are supposed to protect the people – but who, obviously, have been failing, and have generated resentment. Marika discovers there may be a lot more to her world than her rural upbringing allowed her to know... but even among the silth, there are those with an inexplicable hostility toward her... myths and legends of the Doomstalker may be to blame.

Although the story has many original and unique details, this is still well-trodden ground, as far as the plot goes. It's also one of those stories where the trilogy is really all one book – randomly divided into three parts for marketing. Entertaining, so far, but not exceptional. show less