The Black Company

This has got to have one of the worst beginnings of any book I have actually finished. I was so close to putting this down and it took me forever to finish. I get that this is narrated by someone who is the historian of his group, but there is very little context to what is going on. If he could have adding thing like, we sailed to this place and have been working for The Lady for this amount of time. Something to tell me what is going on. I kept rereading sections to see what I was missing, but it wasn't me, it was the information that was missing. Also, I thought these were Croaker's Annuls, but at the end there are things he is not going to put in the Annuls, so are these his writings or are we just in his head?

It does get better half way through, but there is a lot of casual rape going on. The main character even congratulates one of his buddies on the woman he is abusing. I get that rape and pillaging is pretty common for soldier type conquests, but still.

I did end up liking the last part of the book, and it has intrigued me enough to consider continuing on. I got the 3 book omnibus, so I already own the next 2. I will see if I feel like picking them up. Definitely taking a break from the world.

This book was very quirky and very hard to read at first. The goofy, militaristic names and the almost comical approach to magic almost had me putting the book down before it began.

However, i'm really glad i stuck it out. After the first few chapters you really start to care for and appreciate the characters. After that, you're hooked! I read all 10 books, 4 omnibuses, in about a month. I couldn't put them down.

The magic is both interesting and subdued. Magic is an ever-looming threat and also a very rare thing at the same time. You almost always have a sense that something could go very wrong and sometimes things do. The character arcs are VERY amazing, the main antagonist is amazing, the subsequent threats in each book never feel forced, and the books are just overall a good solid read. If you're looking for an interesting, unique world builder with great characters, interesting duels, death, strategy and tactics, a little military life, and one of the most interesting assassin concepts i've ever read in my life... then this is the book for you.

There's no book quite like this one and I'm honestly fine with that. Over 200 pages of no worldbuilding, very little character development and absolutely no knowledge of wtf is going on. Really unfortunate for me because I loved the cover of this edition and was really wanting it on my shelf but I can't stand to look at it. I gave it 2 stars instead of 1 because there was battle scene with a
Were-Panther that I thought was pretty cool.

Let me start by saying I'm very fond of Glen Cook as an author. The Swordbearer was one of the first fantasy books I read, and one scene in particular has stuck out for decades. I've gone back to reread that one, and several of the Dread Empire novels.

This was my first foray into the Black Company books.

Wow, the parallels with The Malazan Book of the Fallen are profound. I felt like I was reading a prequel, knowing this came out much earlier and played a big role as an influence.

I can't really say I related well to any of the characters. Raven was interesting and enigmatic. Silent was fun when he was front and center towards the end. Croaker, though, the POV character, was sort of just there.

There were elements of the story that I really enjoyed, like the forvalaka (I LOVED the forvalaka), and the milieu at large, with the Taken characters and the Circle of Eighteen, but though there were political machinations it felt a bit muddled. Sometimes all the character development a character received was their name. Maybe I was just slow to understand what was happening, but I felt confused at the wheels within wheels approach.

I did give it four stars. Three because of the story, one because of the seminal role it has played in influencing “dark, gritty fantasy.” I'm not compelled to continue the series, but I'm sure I'll keep pecking away at it.

Did I just damn this book with faint praise?