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Summary: The best fantasy book I've ever read - hands down...
Review: Well, I just read what I thought was the impossible - a negative review of Black Company. Go figure?!? Moving on, this is clearly and undoubtedly the BEST fantasy book I have ever read. By the way, I've surely read it at least 10 times. My copy of Black Company dates back to high school and the mid-80s. It is like an old friend. Whenever a new book to this amazing series comes out, I generally start from scratch and read all the previous books to fully enjoy it. Glen Cook has written a story which should be around for decades to come. Not wordy, or lofty, or ovetly dramatic -- rather the opposite. His books are dark, realistically ambiguous in portraying the characters, and completely riveting. The reader immediately begins associating with the main characters and becomes engrossed in their adventures and interactions, and the setting. To conclude, if you like fantasy novels, try the real thing. One last thing - no elves!!!
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Summary: Cook doesn't create characters, he creates Legends.
Review: I have read more authors than I can remember, from Asimov to Zindell. Sci-fi to historical. Fantasy to horror. Of all the authors I have read, Glen Cook makes the most realistic characters. Then he turns these realistic characters into legends. He then makes them do instead of that which is so common in books, the impossible because it's the right thing to do, they do the impossible because it's all they can do. In the process of performing the impossible, they don't get away unscathed, they die. A lot. Glen cook makes every character a real person who lives in a real world that is harsh and ungiving. Every character does what they think is all they can do to survive. They are people like everyone else that simply live life, working, having fun, and dying. The thing that makes them legends is that when they have to do something, they are under the highest pressure and instead of breaking, they do what all of us wish we could do in the same situation. Glen Cook looks into all of us and instead of taking out all that is noble, he takes all of us and puts us into the most volatile situations. This is when he finds that which is best in us. The ability to excel beyond the sum of our experiences. This is how he makes legends. He makes legends out of each of us.
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Summary: Why is this book rated so high?
Review: I've seen this book almost always listed near the top of many book review lists, and I have *no* idea why it deserves so much praise. I wanted so much to like this book when I started reading it, but there was no way that I could convince myself it was as great as everyone makes it out to be. Then I thought it was just me who didn't care for it, until I found another die-hard book reader who considered it one of the worst books he's ever read. It's not MY worst book I've ever read, but I fail to find any merit in The Black Company worthy of the clout it has generated. It definitely had its moments, but so do most other books. This is one of those classic times that one needs to simply read the first chapter to realize if this book is for them.
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Summary: Outstanding
Review: What else can you say when you come to the end of a series of events that seem top change the momentum of your very existence, other than goodbye. I have grown with these characters, I have seen my self in some and in others on different occasions. I will not spoil any of this story by simply mentioning one or more characters or event. Although I can say this much, to deny oneself to read this series would be like not wanting to have ever been born at all.
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Summary: The lesser of evils.
Review: I've read all of the BC novels twice. This is a great series. It is about Evil and EVIL. Which is the lesser of the two and which Evil will pay the Black Company. The Dark and Evil world is controled by powerful Evil beings and the Black Company is a pawn. As you read it, ask yourself "which evil would I choose?" and "what are the real plans of each Taken?" Kick back and enjoy the antics of One Eye and Goblin, the mages that can't turn food into... but they'll entertain you and their comrades. If you are not hooked after reading the first 2 chapters, take the book back and choose a new hobby.
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Summary: One of the best-ever pieces of dark fantasy and black humor
Review: I've been reading fantasy and science fiction for about 35 of my 45 years, and this series is one of the best. Terrific characters, both male and female, and lots of surprises. Glen Cook's writing style is clipped, realistic, and full of dry wit. Once you read the original Black Company, you'll wish you had already bought the rest of the series because you'll want to go straight to the next one. Trust me. You'll love it. Croaker rules.
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Summary: This series is about charactor, not setting.
Review: Looking over the other reviews, I have seen the words war and hero too often. This series consistantly is about the charactors. Glen Cook has created a company of charactors [the black company] who are complex, interesting, and individuals. This is their story. It is not about the great conflict between good and evil, it is about the men and women [men mostly] who are stuck in this particular corner of the conflict. The world this series is set in is rich and imaginative, yet the world is just a setting for the charactors. Dont look for Galahad or Arthur, Frodo or Galadrial, Corwyn or Covenant. You wont find them. Croaker, [actually the sarcastic nick name of a competant medic] Goblin, One Eye, Raven and the rest are a lot like people most readers can relate to. They have been placed in extraordinary circumstances and this is the story of how they react, and relate to one another in those circumstances.
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Summary: The literary springboard to a long, incredible Fantasy epic
Review: Like most SF/Fantasy readers I've visited Tolkien's works a number of times, along with the best (IMHO) heroic fantasy that Stephen R. Donaldson, and Roger Zelazny have had to offer. I've also read Robert Jordan, Raymond Feist, Terry Brooks, a little Micheal Moorcock, Dave Duncan, John Moressey, and a host of other author's works in this genre, but NOBODY's heroic fantasy, at least IMO, can touch Glen Cook in terms of sheer addictive power to his war-torn world and colorful, loveable and/or hateable cast of characters. The synopsis or other reviews of this book can outline the basic story. I'll tell you what makes this series different. Cook is no Tolkien or any of these other writers, as Cook himself would be the first to admit. He could never write "The Lord of the Rings," or "The Chronicles of Amber" or "The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant." I doubt he'd even want to try. I wouldn't want him to; those books are practically sacred to me, and their authors have poured their lifeblood into making each of them his very own. For his part, Cook doesn't put on airs in his novels or try to dazzle you with his writing style; he doesn't paint landscapes like Middle-Earth or Amber or The Land. His characters don't spout forth into poetry or song fit for a Shakespearean tragedy, or launch into lengthy intellectual discourse. His story endings (or even his characters' sometimes violent "endings") simply aren't fairy tale material, and often are not very pretty. What Glen Cook does, instead, is draw you in to his characters' dark, rich world and their adventuresome lives as if you were right there with them. Here there are no ultra-lofty goals or ideals, no pure black and white characters, no "ultimate" good or evil, no giant heroes or quick-fix artifacts to save the day. What this does is removes so much of the intense suspension of disbelief requirement inherent to enjoying fantasy. The reader still has to suspend disbelief in order to enjoy the stories, of! course, but Cook's stories are much more realistic. That so much tonk (a card game) is played during the narrative of the first few books is all the evidence you need to prove that this book belongs to everyman; it is written in a common man's style, and can be enjoyed on that level alone. The characters that populate such a real-seeming world are so very believable, so like many of the people we, the readers, know and associate with, that we can't help but be drawn in. In particular, the characterizations of Croaker, One-Eye, Goblin, Raven and finally, The Lady (in later works) are simply superb. Another strength of Cook's writing is in his fascinating storylines. Admittedly, the ideas for the Dominator, and possibly The Lady, the war between the Rebel and the Empire, the medieval arms and warfare and magic users, the monstrous creatures and the overt bloodshed aren't very original, at least in terms of this well-trodden genre. Another previously used device is reflected by the fact that we never really get to see The Dominator (the boss antagonist waiting in the wings) at his height of power; it is this unknown quantity that makes him all the more horrifying--which is exactly the tack many horror writers have taken countless times before. Bram Stoker, for example, did this when he kept his Count Dracula almost completely offstage for a good third of his novel; for the reader this provided for a scare even worse than seeing the Count. The Ten Who Were Taken (underlings of the Dominator and The Lady), however, is an idea of sheer genius and is quite original, as is the idea that our protagonists be a band of mercs who aren't very "good" people, with a clever physician/historian as the novel's narrator and first-person protagonist (at least in the first few books). The rich and involving history of the Company, the Domination, the earlier war won by the White Rose that created the tombs at The Barrowland, the Plain of Fear, the freeing of The Lady and The Ten by Bomanz, etc., is woven ! in to add even more depth and originality to the stories. But there is so much more! Cook also throws political intrigue, backstabbing, plots and counterplots, story twists and re-twists and in-your-face surprises into the mix at every turn. The resultant brew, a most satisfying set of stories if there ever was one, should forever be known as classic in the fantasy genre. It is our duty, as Cook's legion of fans, to promote the truth that Cook is a master, and that The Black Company series is undoubtedly his masterpiece. Ultimately, there is no other place to begin this wonderful saga than with the first novel, The Black Company. Pick it up as soon as you can, and join the rest of us in our ongoing struggle as one of the Company brethren. You won't regret it.
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Summary: Hard-boiled fantasy.Chandler fans - beware :)
Review: One of the most intriguing fantasy books I've read ever. Characters are fully complex, not only 'positive' or 'negative'. Infact, there's no positive or negative characters here at all. This book starts the series no one true fantasy fan can live without!!!
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Summary: A favorite series that I return to time and again.
Review: I first read The Black Company back in 1989. I was impressed by the darkness within the tale. The "Taken" are completely evil and highly powerful. Their constant plots against one another adds to this bleak atmosphere. Even the good guys, the Black Company, teeter on the edge of dark and light. The characters are facinating. Soulcatcher, a particulary nasty member of the Taken, proves highly interesting. Goblin and One Eye, with their constant bickering, add a bit of humor to this dark tale. I have read this series numerous times and have enjoyed it thoroughly. Glen Cook has created a fantasy setting completely opposite what is commonly found. There are no Elves or romanticised heroes in this series. Instead, it is dark, gritty, and captures the attention.
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