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Faded Steel Heat | Rating | |
| A | |||
| Glen Cook | |||
| Series | Related Books | ||
| From the Files of Garrett, PI | Sweet Silver Blues, Bitter Gold Hearts, Cold Copper Tears, Old Tin Sorrows, Dread Brass Shadows, Red Iron Nights, Deadly Quicksilver Lies, Petty Pewter Gods, Faded Steel Heat, Angry Lead Skies, Whispering Nickel Idols | ||
The war over the silver mines in the Cantard may be over, but that doesn't mean that Karenta is at peace. With war's end, the soldiers are coming home, and they're not too happy to find there are few jobs available. They've all been filled, mostly by nonhumans. The city of TunFaire is reaching a boiling point over the issue. And Garrett finds himself right where he doesn't want to be — in the thick of things — when the militant humanists try to put the squeeze on his friendand sometime-employer. But why would they be so desperate to take over a brewery, of all things?
As usual, there's not much magic in evidence in the setting. Or, at least, there's not many spells being tossed about. But there's plenty of nonhumans around. Of course, that's been true for the whole series — TunFaire is a melting pot that puts America to shame. This time, however, it matters that the're not humans. The abilities inherent to those who are less, or more, than human come into play as a core issue in this particular case.
For that matter, this is a case that could only take place in TunFaire. That's far from true with the previous books; several of them could be rewritten to do away with magic entirely. One or two could even be transplanted to LA without much trouble. But this case relies too heavily on the politics and history unique to Karenta for that to be an issue.
The case itself has some drastic implications, both to the people directly involved and all of Karenta. There are plenty of twists involved, but the story never really got confusing. Nor was I ever bored. Whenever the mystery iteself began to wane a bit, Cook injected a bit of action to hold readers' attentions. Not too much — it never overwhelms the plot — but the odd chase, fight, or tight moment provides plenty of spice for the pot.
It's taken eight or nine books, but it just may be that the setting has matured at last. TunFaire always had a lot of potential, and Garrett's wry cynicism provided plenty of amusement. But only recently do I feel it has begun to actually realize that potential. This is a fine story that makes for a good addition to Garrett's case files, and would make just as good an addition to your shelves.
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