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Title: Chronicles of the Black Company Author: Glen Cook Rating: Not available Avg. Score: 5 Submit Comment Hits: 30

Review of Chronicles of the Black Company

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Comments for Chronicles of the Black Company

• Posted on 2008-07-19
  epic fantasy at its best!
  
  Omnibus of The Black Company [1984], Shadows Linger [1984, and The White Rose [1985]
  
  Upon surfing the Net I came across a Blog where a debate continued on the subject of whether or not Steven Erikson stole his Malazan Empire ideas from Glen Cook's Black Company. Being a devout Malazan fan, I had to come see for myself, and have discovered the answer to the question is in how you define "stole." I believe in this case, the borrowing of ideas is a complement, much as any other grand plot device which has been passed from story to story to the audience's delight. THE BLACK COMPANY came first, but it has many parallels in Steven Erickson's work, so if you like one, you might very well enjoy the other. And I believe these men might be friends, for there is a quote on the back of this omnibus by Steven Erikson praising Cook's work, as well as thanks at the beginning of Erikson's work specifically to Master Writer Glen Cook. This reader cares only that there's more of this stuff to read! It's all very good.
  
  One of the main premises both storylines have in common is something I'm a strong adherent of in epic fantasy writing: the idea that good verses bad is not a black & white concept. There are many shades of gray which improve story-telling dramatically because it's more real. In THE BLACK COMPANY, we follow the high adventures of a mercenary company whose primary honor is to each other--brotherhood is everything--honor even above keeping a contract gone sour. The main character is Croaker, the company physician and also the company historian. And this is what gets him in trouble because his readings lend impetus to his imagination and he begins making up fanciful tales about the Lady--a very powerful, nearly immortal, and not-so-nice leader of other powerfully dangerous, near-immortals who are definitely not nice--a Lady who hires the Black Company to help her put down a rebellion. Did our guys end up on the wrong side? By the time you get to The White Rose they have switched sides. After a lot of blood and battles, and loss of life. And terrors to Croaker specifically who has unwittingly captured the Lady's attention.
  
  Another aspect both writers have in common is the ability to engross the reader with gross [lots of blood and gore], then turn around and make you laugh, then dump you out of your chair with unexpected grief. Master Writer Cook started it, and does an excellent job enthralling his audience. If you haven't read Cook or Erikson, I suggest you start with Cook whose style has more of a clip to it, and doesn't bounce between as many viewpoints either, so is thus easier to digest.
  
  Cook's BLACK COMPANY stories are highly recommended for fans of epic fantasy in the sword & sorcery sub-genre. His magical world-building, deep-wisdom-characterization, fast-moving plots, and engaging story-telling are all so well done it is a pleasure to name him a Master Writer.
  
  Score: 5
• Posted on 2008-05-23
  Boring, but not too interesting
  
  As one reviewer said, he does not put too much frilly stuff in here. The story is so devoid of character development and scene description that it's as if he were recounting the highlights of something to someone else who had been there with him. This is perhaps the most juvenile piece of published writing I have encountered since I was in elementery school.
  There are so many good Fantasy Novels out there by the likes of Gene Wolfe, Donaldson, George Martin, Neil Gaiman, Guy Gavriel Kay, to name a few, that one has to wonder how this book has survived.
  I was just questioning myself; why do I bother to rant about it? I guess I'm angry for wasting good money on its purchase.
  Score: 1
• Posted on 2008-04-28
  Glen Cook's best work!
  
  The Chronicles of the Black Company is a blast! The story is epic in nature but told from the gritty bleak perspective of the foot solders involved in world saking events. The story starts small with the solders of the Black company taking a new contract. It swiftly escalates into epic fantasy of the best kind. Dark, soul devouring maginc permeates the whole text. The Black Company fulfills its contracts with wits and ruthlessness realizing that eventually all of its employers will betray them. The men of the Black Company survive by being loyal in reality only to its on members.
  A great dark fantasy read.
  Score: 5
• Posted on 2008-04-02
  Tough to get through
  
  I was really looking forward to reading this book. I like dark, gritty fantasy that breaks cliches. Other reviews point to this as a groundbreaking book. As a result I was excited to read the story. I was disappointed.
  
  The writing style - while probably groundbreaking - was tough to follow. There is very little description. I read the book and still couldn't tell you exactly what the plot was. It is certainly written like a journal, from the company medic's point of view. While this style is groundbreaking, it's just tough follow and get a grip on the story. I kept feeling like there were huge parts of the story that I wasn't privy to because of the writing.
  
  There were points in the story when it was really cool and I wanted to like the book, but my mind continued to wander while reading, and I often found myself re-reading paragraphs to figure out what was happening.
  
  All in all, this was just an okay book. If you like this type of writing style then I'm sure you'd like this book.
  Score: 3
• Posted on 2008-02-24
  Great Fantasy
  
  I really enjoyed this series. I picked it up because my favorite fantasy author, Steven Erikson, is in to Cook. I was not disappointed at all.
  
  It is a great, easy-to-follow story, with well-devoloped and likable characters.
  
  I'm pretty sure anyone into this genre will really enjoy the two wizards One-Eye and Goblin, who when necessary, can be stone-cold killers (in a military kind of way), but are also funny and mischievious pranksters.
  
  
  Score: 4