Rating: 
Summary: Enough
Review: I am tired of The Black Company and their constant fight for "right". I never really liked the lady. She is just another bad woman turned good and Croaker is another quiet guy turned bad. The rest of the characters are boring or you dont know anything about them. We all know that the survivors of the black company will ride into the sunset with "the golden child" and Soulcatcher will be defeated. All books end that way. Why can't true evil win sometimes? Shadowmasters= Taken. Not much of a shock. Althought it would be nice to see The Black Company defeated by someone different. I love Soulcatcher. Finally someone who is evil. Unfortunately we all know what happens to evil people; they make stupid decisions and are defeated by the person with the least amount of power. The killing of the evil person is such a let down after the build up to the end. I expected more.
Rating: 
Summary: Different Can Be Good...
Review: I must say I enjoyed this installment of the series a bit more than some of the other reviewers here. When I finished the very first Black Company book, I would never have imagined that there would come an installment featuring the Book of Lady. Cook blurs the lines between good and evil so well, and this book illustrates that as well as any of his others. Yes, this book does focus more on religon and gods shaping events, but that's not a bad thing. One of the themes running through the series has been that of triumphing over an opponent by understanding them; by knowing how they will react to a situation. Croaker has always been good at second-guessing his enemies. as has the Lady. And now they find themselves immersed in a culture so unlike their own, that this is not always possible. How does a religious fanatic react when you claim to be sent by their god? I found it to be a refreshing challenge for them, and an interesting one to read about. I also liked how Cook took the real-world cult of the Deceivers, and introduced a version of them into the book. Part of the attraction of this fantasy series for me has always been that there are equal parts fantasy and reality, and by including the Deceivers (you can watch the dreadful Pierce Brosnan movie if you dare) Cook again gives us a connection with our own world. I will say that yes, some of the 'surprises' aren't exactly surprises (the Lady's illness is a good example), but overall the book really works. It's more of a chess game than the military seige that some of the other books have been, but it works just as well.
Rating: 
Summary: What a book, just ace.
Review: I really enjoyed every bit of Shadow Games and Dreams of Steel. And my four Favourite Characters, Croaker, Lady, One-eye and Goblin. I was very happy Cook decided to write things from Lady's point of view. I gotta agree with an earlier review, if Cook continued writing operation's like in the first few books, they would start to get boring, but what Cook has done has taken you to a different culture, which you must work you way's around. Cook has set up obstacle's which the company has never had to deal with before. Cook has set up for something very big. And I can't wait to read the next books.
Rating: 
Summary: This book is not up to Cook's normal standard of work...
Review: It's just not that good. Mr. Cook takes us away from the traditional focus of the Black Company books. It's no longer Croaker, Goblin, One-Eye, and the rest. Instead we're provided a view from the point of "The Lady," some guy named Smoke, and other characters that we don't give a hoot about. The story has also completely diverged from the other novels, no more company business, it's about the Lady's goals and desires for power and conquest. I don't want to give much else away about the book, but most of the plot is quite obvious and not surprising.
There are some other aspects of the story that bother me as well, such as the sudden introduction of gods and religion. I personally thought he was doing quite well without them. It's as if Cook wants to change his world in the middle of the story...
Rating:
Summary: Classic Black Company
Review: I`ve read some reviews that were less than glowing about this title. But in a series that runs through ten volumes some effort has to be expended to hold all the plot lines together. The first few times I read Tolkien's Two Towers, it was my least favorite volume of the Lord of the Rings. Because it mostly just maintianed a multitude of plot lines. Over the years, Two Towers has become my favorite. Dreams of Steel has a similar function in the Black Company series. It tells a necessary part of the story. It also demonstrates Cook's ability to develop a character. Lady may not have been the ideal analyst, but then, neither would One Eye. So Dreams of Steel is presented as the work of a less than perfect chronicler. Dreams of Steel is a great read and an important part of a great epic tale. I recommend it for any Glen Cook / Black Company fan.
Rating:
Summary: Dreams of Steel (spoiler)
Review: Lady, now in command of the Black Company, gets drawn into a Thuggee-like cult. Meanwhile, Croaker ends up in the company of Soulcatcher... Like the books before it, this has a refreshingly straightforward tone and plenty happens. I was frustrated by the lack of increased depth in some of the secondary characters, especially the Swan-Mather-Blade group. And I never felt I had a grasp on what was going on in Longshadow's head. Lady's POV generally works pretty well, though she's awfully slow to realize she's pregnant; the reader is hundreds of pages ahead.
Rating:
Summary: Different Voices
Review: One of the recurrent themes in the Black Company series is the importance of recorded history through the eyes of the Company Annalist and throughout Croaker's books we have gotten used to his voice and his style. Lady's voice is very different, and so is her emphasis on events. The change is dramatic, sometimes romantic, occasionally bitter, and often curt. It is a mistake to compare the work to Croaker. Stylistically, Cook has captured a completely different voice and a completely different viewpoint. I think this book is well worth the read.
Rating:
Summary: Not bad, just different
Review: Take the other reviews of this book with a grain of salt. Yes, it's a bit slower and yes, the narrative is split between more characters, but it's written that way for a reason. 'Shadow Games' and 'Dreams of Steel' taken together are meant to be a transition between the old Company of the "Books of the North" trilogy and the new Company of the "Glittering Stone" trilogy. The Company is scattered and nearly ruined after their defeat at Dejagore, so DUH! of course it's going to take them time to get their act together. (Be glad that they pull it off in just one book.) Everyone is still alive and kicking -- Croaker, Lady, One-Eye, Goblin, Murgen, Mogaba, even a few of the Taken -- but they're all changed for the experience. And that's the whole point: things change -- including the Black Company. If you're expecting the same old same old missions and schemes from the first book, you'll be disappointed. We already know who they are and how they operate, so it's time for them to take on something new.
Rating:
Summary: The Saga of the Black Company Continues...
Review: The Black Company saga continues as Lady, assuming that Croaker has died, becomes Captain of the Black Company. She assembles legions of cast-offs and wannabes and molds them into a fierce fighting force. Unfortunately, she unintentionally adds members of a mysterious murder cult to her ranks. Ultimately, they will betray her and rob her of a most precious gift. Good story and it is fun to finally have a Black Company novel told from someone else's point of view besides Croaker (the Silver Spike did this but is it really a Black Company novel?). Lady tells the story and author Glen Cook does an excellent job of distinguishing her from Croaker. Be warned: The murder cult portrayed in this novel will give you nightmares. It did me. Tired of Tolkien-esque epic fantasy? Does it all read the same after awhile? Try Glen Cook and the Black Comapny novels. Good stuff. Dark fantasy told from the soldiers' point of view. The first one in the series is titled the Black Company. Shadows Linger is second followed by the White Rose, the Silver Spike (even though this one doesn't deal with the Black Company directly), Shadow Games and then Dream of Steel. Bleak Seasons, She is the Darkness, Water Sleeps and Soldiers Live finish off the series--so far.
Rating:
Summary: Standard Cook Outing Marred By Sloppy Ending
Review: The last "Book of the South" is really not a conclusion at all, but a segue into the four books comprising to date "The Glittering Stone." Despite arguments between earlier reviewers as to whether this book represents a departure from his earlier novels, I found this to be fairly typical Black Company fare, regardless of the introduction of Indian religion or who was keeping the Annals. Cook has previously written from multiple perspectives, and the increase here only offers the potential for a richer character development and perspective, complaints of not caring for characters other than Croaker, One-Eye and Goblin speaking more to the limitations of interest in individual readers than a desire on the part of the writer to enliven or enrich his narrative. The same might be said of the recent inclusion of Southeastern Asian mythology and religion, were Cook not so bald in his borrowings. I can think of other authors who have recently drawn from this source---Steven Erikson or more pointedly Martha Wells in "Wheel of the Infinite---who have done a far better job recontextualizing their sources. But if concerns over derivatives primarily influenced our thinking, it is doubtful any of us would be reading The Black Company. There are other reasons one turns to this series---the delightful if by now typecast crew of scoundrels, the fast-paced and action-driven narrative and Cook's not to be undervalued ability at rapidly stringing us along through a sequence of events direct if relatively uncomplicated in their presentation. True, the author does mix it up with intrigue, but all the various plots stay relatively at the surface, what mystery that is present most often due to a lack of information than a true building of suspense. But for those moments when one wishes sheer, unadulterated avenues of escape guised as heroic fantasy, more often than not Cook delivers. However, in this entry Cook fails to resolve his narrative even as a credible cliffhanger. Instead he summarily and loosely ties up the various threads, even while rushing leaving most of them still dangling, and, without giving too much away, introduces certain new dramatic developments from a distance, announcing them and then simply discarding them in a couple of pages. There is a sense here that the author suddenly wished to wrap up this chapter of the saga and move on to other narrative pastures, even while leaving as well as adding things hanging. The fact that a six-year hiatus followed before the author again picked up the story reinforces this conclusion. However, this is sheer speculation. All I can say is that the end of this novel is abrupt and very dissatisfying, as much so if for different reasons as the extreme cliffhanger that concluded "Shadow Games." I have come to accept that Cook plays fast and loose with his plots and characters, often resurrecting them, remining earlier storylines or conventions, or introducing elements without clear explanation or motive. Nonetheless, in the past these failings have largely been able to be submerged by the author's relative strengths in story telling and non-stop management of action. This however left me cold and questioning the author's investment in his story and audience, unavoidably raising questions as to my own continued participation. But for the conclusion, this is typical Cook fare, with all the usual rewards and weaknesses. For that reason I have given it the same marks I've given to his previous novels, in the main not seeing a substantial shift, either for better or worse, in what is being offered. However, were I to weight the ending, this book would not be the equal, nor would "Shadow Games," of what has preceded. While I am not abandoning the series, the next book will need to prove to me that the author is once again committed to the Company.
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