Sunday, August 16, 1998
Title: Faded Steel Heat
Author: Glen Cook
Publisher: ROC
By my reckoning Faded Steel Heat is Glen Cook's 9th tale of Private Investigator Garrett. With the long running war over, many soldiers have returned to Tun Faire to find themselves unemployed. Forming a group known as The Call, racial tension is running high. When splinter groups try to extort funds from Garrett's friends at the Weider Brewery he becomes involved. But when Garrett gets involved nothing runs smoothly and soon he finds himself caught between the human right, the mob, the secret police, a group of shape shifters, mercenary centaurs and more gorgeous woman than even this charming rogue can deal with.
Cook manages to create something unique with these magical detective stories. There is a strong fantasy element - a land full of wizards, elves and all manner of creatures. But the whole presentation and detective angle creates a whole other noir mind set. Garrett's cases are always genuine - building from client contact, through clues, to whatever conclusions dictate. And as one would expect the whole PI, first person narrative is spot on and very funny.
Each novel is self contained and each story can be read individually without difficulty. The cast of characters is colourful and engaging: The Dead Man, a creature that has been dead for 400 years, but its race are notorious for hanging around; Morley, proprietor of the only vegetarian establishment in town and dark elf assassin; Tinnie Tate, professional red head and heart breaker.
On top of all the self contained story there is always a wealth of detail which fleshes out the characters and the country they live in. This serves to give context to the story but also amasses between the books to offer an impressive continuity. Characters are recurring and these details can become complementary to your enjoyment - passing favours returned as often as old enemies. Which adds another dimension to these works - making each one all the more compelling.
Unfortunately Glen Cook's is not readily available in the UK, whether this applies to the rest of the world I do not know. My first contact with Garrett was in his second novel Bitter Gold Hearts (oh yeah - the names follow a pattern also) with a second hand import copy. Since then my collection has been brought together from vigilance of import book sections and various travels. I can't recommend these books highly enough, though I am clearly biased, each time I come across a new Garrett novel is a cause for excitement!
RVWR: PTR
August 1998
