Water Sleeps
core novel 1999 The Chronicles of the Black Company
Record
| First published | 1999 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 4.10 (8,464 ratings, collected 2026-09-12) |
| Page count | 470 |
| First-edition ISBN | 0812555341 |
Synopsis
Water Sleeps finds most of the Black Company's senior leadership held in magical stasis beneath the glittering plain near Taglios, leaving a much smaller band of survivors to carry on the fight in their absence. Sleepy, previously a minor figure, now serves as annalist and acting captain, supported by Ky Sahra, described as Murgen's wife and the practical heart of what remains of the Company, along with their young son Tobo and the perpetually feuding wizards One-Eye and Goblin. This reduced force wages a guerrilla campaign against Soulcatcher, the last surviving Shadowmaster and a sorceress of formidable power, while also contending with the stirrings of a sleeping death goddess and her fanatical followers, the Deceivers. Much of the struggle unfolds as psychological warfare, with the survivors' own doubts and fears posing as great a danger as any external enemy while they work to free their trapped comrades.
Where it sits
- Universe: The Chronicles of the Black Company
- Series: Glittering Stone core; position 3 of 4 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Glen Cook
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings and are never conflated: a book's place in one says nothing about its place in the other.
- Publication order, within the series Glittering Stone: position 3 of 4: previous She Is the Darkness (1997) · next Soldiers Live (2000)
Sources
← The Chronicles of the Black Company dossier · All universes
Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.