Rating: 
Summary: A Masterpiece...
Review: I've read this book twice now but it's difficult not to judge in the context of the entire series. The first 3 books of the Black Company series is some of the BEST fantasy I've ever read. And I've read A LOT. The main character, Croaker, is the Black Company's historian/physician/moral-compass and I found myself instantly empathizing with him. Cook creates a slew of unforgettable characters from the Compnay's wizard duo, Goblin and One-Eye, to the super-villain, The Lady. I was mesmerized by the whole concept of The Taken, The Lady's dark minions who she ruthlessly "took" into enslavement by her awesome magical powers. It is, to me, perhaps the best villanous cast in any book I've ever read. This book has it all: a cast of villains dripping with menace, the humor and comradery of the company and its ruthless but loyal members, intrigue and action, etc etc. And Cook's ultimate twist...Croaker's irrational attraction to the Queen of Darkness herself...This is one of those books I wish could be wiped from my memory, so I could have the pleasure of discovering it all over again...
Rating:
Summary: Reading the series for the 3rd time now...
Review: I am a member of the Sci-fi book club, which released the last four volumes of this series in two hardcover books. As a present for my birthday, my father sent me those books because he thought I might like them. I only read two of the four, and then I got distracted. A year later I picked up this book.Well, at first I kept asking myself "What the...?" when reading about the characters, because the opening is like coming into a story when it's halfway through. That's the point though, the feel for this book is supposed to be 'this is the beginning of the series but not the beginning of The Black Company.' Cook pulls that feeling off really well, and I understood that was his intention about half way through the book when I was reflecting on the beginning. Also, some people have complained about the multitude of dropped names that have no significance. Here is a chance to explain that a little, the company is large in this book, I forgot the exact number, but a couple of hundred people. In my life, I know the names of a couple of hundred people, and you probably do as well, and you probably know some of the most important things to them in their life. (I.e. the sport they play, the car they drive, the basics of their personality) and that is exactly how Croaker, our guide for this book, describes many of them. An example would be if you were at a party with a friend who knew no one you might say "That's Sarah, she's sweet but a little thick." Cook does something similar but with a character named Kingpin on page 275, "Kingpin is a lazy bastard, but swings a mean blade." and he is mentioned maybe three more times in the book. Finally, the atrocities of war have bothered people. Not that they are graphic, but that they are understated. This is a writing technique employed to show how honestly horrible war is. If a person is so immune to rape as to only be mildly disgusted with it as it goes on around him, then that shows you just how awful war can be, how it can jade a person. At any rate, this book is incredible, read it. I recommend it to just about everyone with a little time on their hands. Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: Very Interesting
Review: When I began reading this book, most of my comments had to do with the fact that I really had no idea what was happening, who these people where, or what in the world they were trying to do. However, when asked why I didn't stop reading it, I replied "No, this is great, I just have no idea what's going on." That lost feeling eventually faded as I continued the book and so I can honestly say to anyone who asks: this, and the majority of the series, is worth spending your time with. Obviouslt many people have had complaints about depth of character and stupid names. Depth of character is very hard to do from the first person and I feel that Cook did a truely wonderful job. Also, since it is from the point of view of the annualist and character developement really has to be second to the story or the first person format would no longer make sense. The names (like Soulcatcher, Lady, Croaker, and Goblin) are just something you get used to and I actually think are very helpful since there are so many names to remember over the length of the series. Tom-Tom would not be a very memorable person without the name, and how many characters in Disney's "Snow White" could most people name if they all had names like Hindel Smith and Theodan the Second of Westchester? Point made. Anyways, the book is great. Go read it. Stick to it. Enjoy.
Rating: 
Summary: A Black Company in a Dark World
Review: In The Black Company, Glen Cook has created a world of war, soldiers, treachery, and friendship. It is all so believable. Even the names of the characters, which relate to some physical or psychological attribute, hiding their real names, reminiscent of the French Foreign Legion. As a mercenary group, they are for hire to whomever offers the best deal. Although they will take on almost anyone's cause, their own is to survive with as much honor intact as they possibly can. However, when they agree to fight for the Lady, might they have taken on more than they bargained for? When they move north, they may find more magic than they are capable of fighting, and they take along a new member, whose ways are not those of the Company. His name is Raven, and he has battles of his own. This book is a fast and enjoyable read. Cook's characters are well defined and, in spite of the objectivity with which they sometimes view death, are quite likable. Except, of course, for the enemies, who are treacherous in the extreme. But then, there are those whose alliances are somewhat fluid. The men of The Company must be careful who they have at their backs. Cook has written several of these books as well as other subjects and worlds. Readers who enjoy these might also enjoy Jessica Amanda Salmonson's Tomoe Gozen series; although they have become more difficult to find, they are worth the effort.
Rating:
Summary: The tip of the iceberg in the saga of the Company.
Review: My first experience with Cook's writing occurred several years ago, the summer 2000 to be exact, when one of my fantasy-reading friends handed me a book called Chernaya Gvardiya (Russian translation of the title The Black Company). I read this book, I loved this book, I stayed awake at night thinking about this book. Now, three years later, I rediscovered The Black Company. This time in English. What can I say? Cook is a genius after his own fashion. His characters are unbelievably believable. Flawed and at times immoral, they still project an air of humanity and virtue. Each member of the Company has several distinguishing features, a quirk in his personality perhaps, or a physical defect, or something akin to that. You may find that you can relate to Croaker, or Elmo, or Goblin.
The plot is intriguing, interesting, engaging and enveloping. It follows the travels of a mercenary group called The Black Company, which consists of many, many dubious characters. At times the intrigue of the villains lies like a heavy curtain over reality, at other times you find yourself exposing lies and unveiling the truth, all through the eyes (this book is written in first person) of the physician Croaker. The style of writing itself is a unique characteristic of the book. Like i mentioned before, it is written from the first person perspective of a member of the Company by the name of Croaker. The language is at times brief, sometimes witty, and sometimes descriptive. Glen Cook understands when to use what words and how. Apologies in advance for that horribly awkward sentence I just wrote. The author's use of humor and wit are exemplary.
Beware all those that dare to tackle this book, you may feel yourselves drawn into the lives of the Black Company and into the series itself.
You may think then that this book has a cliffhanger ending? Not so. Not exactly. The book does have a sense of conclusion about it at the end, a sense of finality. Cook could easily have never continued this series, but he did, and i thank him for that.
If you enjoy the fantasy genre, then you will love this book. A great read.
Rating:
Summary: "Epic" Fantasy without epic trees killed to print it...
Review: Re: the header. Cook doesn't write a scene unless it's relevant to the plot. A nice change to those epics where you skim through hundreds of pages wondering if something important is ever going to happen. I suppose when you're the hundredth person to do a review, it's inevitable that you respond to some other people's comments. So I did. We all get our shot at throwing up our opinions. These are just mine... This is one of those books that people either love or hate. I'm of the former group, though I probably wouldn't give this one five stars if I hadn't read the next two books (consider my five stars for the trilogy, not just this book). Black Company feels like a handful of short stories rather than a novel (I'd hazard a guess to say that's how the author originally wrote it). Some characters are introduced more than once, and there's a different villain for each "story" without much in the way a segue between each section. This smoothes out with the subsequent books. The first book is a little rough around the edges, but all in all, I love this trilogy. It's a complete epic fantasy adventure without all the filler. The whole trilogy comes in around one thousand pages. I've read it quite a few times, and I can't say that for many books. I love that Cook doesn't go into graphic detail about "the soldier's life" ... marching, weapons drilling, digging defenses. Been there, done that. For those who haven't, all you need to know is it's freaking boring. Any author who portrays it otherwise hasn't done it before. I also love that Cook doesn't glorify war which is done so often in this genre. Again, by people who don't have a clue about the reality. No, you don't have to be a military veteran to write about soldiers, but sometimes there's so much fantasy in fantasy that it just becomes one more medium deadening people to how awful war is. I found the characters to be very realistic, maybe because I've done the military thing. A couple reviewers called them one-dimensional or simplistic. Eh, that's how infantry soldiers are, at least on the outside. You're not out there talking about your feelings while you march and dig fox holes. Sorry, guys don't do that and this is very much a "guy" book. When you've got energy to talk at all you use it to complain about superior officers and ponder the next time you'll get a chance to get laid. For most, goals and motivations don't extend much beyond making rank and eventually retiring. Long way of saying, no, the characters in this aren't extraordinarily complex, but it would be weird if they were, especially since it's written in first person where we can only know what the narrator knows about his companions. As far as depth to the writing, I didn't find it all that shallow. For a soldier, Croaker (the narrator) ponders some weighty issues. Certainly a lot deeper than the usual good shall triumph over evil bull that so many fantasy authors fall back on as a theme. Talk about a no-brainer theme. Duh. At the risk of turning this into a rant (more so than it is), I'll end with saying I recommend the book and the two that follow (the rest if you become a die-hard fan).
Rating:
Summary: Best book ever!
Review: Cook has impressed me like no other author with the way he weaves the story and builds on his characters. By the end of the book it felt like I knew every character good and evil, and loved them all for each of their quirks. If you love any level of fantasy I highly recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Fantasy anti-heroes that break from the normal mold
Review: One of my favorite series as a teenager was Stephen R. Donaldson's Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever. What struck me about those books, as I was just relating to Jill the other day, was how they took the conventions of the fantasy genre and switched them around: the character was not someone you would want to emulate (he rapes a woman in the second chapter of the first book), the plot revolved around his refusal to act against evil (i.e., be a hero), and the characters sometimes did things that weren't quite what you expected (the situation referred to above, among others). Yes, I know that Donaldson did not invent the concept of the anti-hero, but it was the first time that I ran across the idea, and I liked it. Looking back, I think that there's more to those books than just the anti-hero device--Donaldson's world-building in that first trilogy was thorough, not quite derivative of Tolkien and Lewis (unlike Terry Brooks' abysmal The Sword of Shannara), yet owing much to them. Glen Cook's The Black Company reminds me of those books, but also does something unique with the concept. While it has a narrator who figures prominently in the plot, the true "heroes" of The Black Company is the group of warriors after which the book is named. True mercenaries, they battle for hire, sometimes taking the side of "evil" in their long history. I put "evil" in quotes because in Cook's world, like ours, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish good from evil. Croaker, the narrator, is the physician and annalist for the mercenary band, which has seen better days before the time at which the novel opens. Trapped in a city with a client who is obviously on the losing side, the company try to hold the town while looking for a way to survive with their honor intact. Their solution leads them into the service of a wizard named Soulcatcher, one of the Ten Who Were Taken, now in the service of the Lady of the north who has just been released from her years of captivity. The Lady and her ten wizards have retaken much of the north, but they are steadily losing ground to the Rebel forces who have a prophecy that the Lady will be defeated when they find the child known as the White Rose. As in the Covenant books, people die, are transfigured, and betray their comrades with a style not often found in fantasy. Nowadays, this would be marketed as Dark Fantasy--that weird genre or subgenre reserved for books that have wizards and magic yet retain a little more grit in them rather than be filled with sugar and spice. The Black Company was recommended to me as an Excellent book by the Alexandria Digital Library--while I Enjoyed the book, I doubt I'll ever re-read it, so instead I found it merely Really Good.
Rating:
Summary: Hook Line and I was Sold:
Review: I had actually been lucky enough to pick this novel up, and quite randomly, at a second hand store the first time. I had very low expecations after reading many reviews, and was most happily proven wrong! Few series novels hold my attention but Glen Cook's "The Black Company" left absolutely nothing wanting in it's delivery! With solid characters, and enough mystery magic and fun. Glen Cook weaves a world one can almost imagine being in. With good attention to detail (without drawing it out in a most boring way) and intrigue aplenty. This novel is an excellent and wonderful start to the rest of The Chronicles of The Black Company.
Rating: 
Summary: Not sure what the attraction is...
Review: I tried picking up this first Book of the "Black Company" series a couple years back as I had seen it at the top of several "Best of" Sci-Fi and Fantasy lists. Having been a big fantasy fan in the past, I was definitely looking forward to finding and enjoying a new fantasy series. However, I ended up putting the book down after a couple hundred pages, and am having difficulties thinking of any redeeming qualities. My question is - are the ones putting the book at the top of the lists relatives of the author?? The storyline seemed juvenile and unispired, the writing style was un-engaging, the characters were one-dimensional, and I eventually put the book down as I wasn't sure what was supposed be happening or why I should care. Maybe I'm missing major something since so many others seemed to enjoy it, or making a mistake to group this book in the genre of the "Lord of the Rings" and wizards and warriors type fantasy. Part of the book's appeal seems to be the depature from other fantasy in that it is told from the perspective of relatively darker, rogue type characters, and is more realistic than other average "cookie cutter" type fantasy scenarios. I can understand these sentiments after so much other "black and white," run-of-the-mill fantasy out there, and that readers might be looking for a break from this. However, though these may be redeeming qualities and earn the book some credit for originality, these concepts alone cannot make it either a great or a classic book. If you're really looking for a series with darker, gritty, rogue type characters, I'd even recommend the "Thieves World" Series" (by Abbey & Asperin) over these, which I enjoyed in high school. If you're looking for a good fantasy series, I'd recommend you keep looking. I might recommend the "Riftwar" Saga and other books by Feist, the "Song of Albione" by Lawhead, or books by Elizabeth Boyer - a somewhat underrated fantasy writer. I mean no disrespect to the countless numbers who have enjoyed this series - I am sure they have their reasons. It may be unfair for me to judge the book so harshly as I didn't even finish it (although, I doubt I'm the only one). Maybe someday I'll give the series another try - but I rather doubt it. Hopefully, Amazon will post this review as it's the only one-star rating; I'm merely trying to inform fellow readers of the world that I believe there is better out there. I guess when my review doesn't show up, I'll have to add a 2nd star and try posting it again.
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