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Summary: the best fantsy series still going
Review: amid all of the lengthy "fantasy bricks" out there with rehashed plots and predictable charecters, the Black Company stands out as a breath of fresh air. Cook's genius is in letting you fill in how you think the scene should look, and not bogging down the story with needless verbose descriptions. i never have rouble picturing a charector or scene in cook's world. and the charecters? thank you, glen, for finally bringing realism to a cast of fantasy charectors. unlike other fantsy writing, you can actually relate to these guys, and could picture them in our world. other fantay worlds are strictly black and white. Glen Cook's the black company stands out as a world of greys. i wholeheartedly recommend this title, and all of the other books.
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Summary: Hard-edged well developed characters/enjoyable writing style
Review: I'm about to start the latest book "Water Sleeps" and am very much looking forward to it. I have loved the whole series and found each book hard to put down. These guys are a bunch of mercenaries which means they are a mean group that live a hard life. They aren't always nice to the people around them. I like them because the good guys aren't all unbelievably good and the bad guys aren't all unbelieveably bad, much like real people. Far above the average fantasy available out there. (Not recommended for Anne McCaffrey fans.)
Rating: 
Summary: Needed respone to "Rocky Mtns" review
Review: Obviously, this previous reviewer doesn't know what to make to the economic mastery Cook has for prose. Unlike Robert Jordan (who I also like a lot), Cook's beauty is taking the reader from an absolute "tableu rasa" (which I'm sure I misspelled) and allowing the reader to take himself along the path. The other books in the series bear this out. The characters are NOT sketchy, Cook just doesn't waste words (unlike myself in this review). This is one of the very best fantasy series going. Give it a try, you won't be disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: A thin, underwritten disappointment.
Review: I went into this book with high expectations, seeing as how there are so many people who enjoyed it. It read more like a plot outline than an actual novel, with thin characters, sketchy descriptions, little sense of mood or atmosphere, and a plot one finds it hard to care two cents about. Too bad, as I really wanted to like it. The point of view of Croaker is mildly interesting, but never really developed into a character driven piece that engages the reader. And all that silliness between One-Eye and Goblin... puh-lease. I guess if you've read every other fantasy "formula" out there, you might find this one diverting. As for me, I'm still finding much more interesting fare to read...
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Summary: When you are "Bored of the Rings" then get this trilogy.
Review: The Black Company, Shadows Linger, The White RoseI ordered "The Annals of the Black Company" from the sci-fi book club just because I needed to fill in my membership card. Now, I'm buying the paperbacks so I don't ruin my book club 3-in-1 collector's item. When I re-read Tolkien I skip to the good parts. When I re-read the Black Company Series I never skip a page. That should say it all. I would suggest the Garrett Files series (by Glen Cook) if you enjoy the Black Company series. Ullinger, if you read this I want my 3-in-1 special edition of The Garrett Files back!
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Summary: Glen Cook is the perfect cure for fantasy boredom
Review: If you've had your fill of fantasy, you must read The Black Company - it will renew your love for the genre. Cook's style is pithy - he doesn't bother describing the world itself or all of the Company's adventures, saving his narration for the truly interesting and epic encounters. He handles both magic and military very well in the book, blending them into a sort of fantasy war that culminates in one of the largest battles I've ever seen described - and it's all perfectly vivid. A must-read.
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Summary: I have read this series over and over
Review: In fact, I'm trying to find it in hardback, as my paperback editions are falling apart from use. The characters are the best part of this book, the way that they are portrayed and interact makes them real.
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Summary: Glad to see so many people agree.
Review: As someone who lost his taste for fantasy, I have to say that Glen Cook is the only one who drew me back to it. I had not read a fantasy novel in years when the fourth in this series came out - I wasn't interested in fantasy anyone, having ignored the fact that people had continued to give me Eddings/Feist/Whoever books long after I stopped reading them. But Cook is good enough that I went back and read all the old ones again. What a pleasure! What a delight to be drawn into a world of real people not far removed from the characters in contemporary fiction rather than the silly doodles that inhabit most other fantasy books. Cook is the master of the average man fantasy and I just wish he would write more Black Company books. Enjoy them for what they are: the finest modern fantasy books available.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable to read, thought-provoking
Review: Definately an upper-rung fantasy book, full of the typical warriors, wizards, monsters, that sort of thing. I've read the first three BC novels and found them all enjoyable, but this one has better quality by far. It goes to the front line viewpoint of the soldiers more than any of the other BC novels, and it is interesting to see the world of the work from the sarcastic, cynical mind of the protagonist/narrator, Croaker. A bond develops between the reader and even the direst of the Taken despite their cruelty. Cook depicted the Taken well, contrasting their cold image with their human insides (Soulcatcher, Shapeshifter, and the Limper are very multi-dimensional characters). Overall, an awesome book worthy of the great reviews it has generated.
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Summary: These Books Rock!!!!!!!!!
Review: The first time I read _The Black Company_, I couldn't put it down. It and its sequels are some the best fantasy books I have ever read in my life.
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