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Rating: 
Summary: Glen Goes For The Cliffhanger
Review: And what a cliffhanger! In past books, despite being part of a series, each has had a sense of resolution, a clear delineation between episodes. Not so here, with an ending so bald and precipitous one could almost imagine The Howler wailing in his grave. If you are following this series, be prepared to buy both "Shadow Games" and the following volume "Dreams of Steel" together, otherwise you will certainly discover yourself cursing the walls sometime in the middle of the night. As already hinted as well as revealed by an earlier reviewer, Cook again turns to blithely resurrecting previous characters. I say again, for unlike the previous reviewer's comments, as those of you who have been following the series from the beginning should recognize, raising the dead has become a common Cook convention, previously encountered in the multiple reappearances of the Limper, Raven and Bommanz. That this should occur again here with other thought to be deceased characters should by now come as no surprise. Cook has always displayed a predilection for playing fast and loose with his plots and storylines. Nor do I feel this work is a departure or decline from his earlier novels, only more of the same standard fast-paced, swiftly rendered fare we've come to expect of the author, work that can be enjoyable as long as not too closely scrutinized. Complaints here about a lack of character development seem inapt, as since when have the majority of Cook's characters been anything more than mere cartoonish cutouts? Despite the tone of criticism evidenced here, I continue to read and largely enjoy this series, turning to it when I am seeking light diversion. For such moments Cook's writing continues to be entirely successful, providing a cast of heroes and villains in adventures that while in many ways conventional and similar, make up in action and fast-paced fun for what they lack in imagination or depth of development. Like the characters and plots of many of the spaghetti westerns or samurai movies, they hold the same attraction when recycled as Star Wars: sheer escape and better rendered than most of the other conventional fare out there. But if you're looking for original ideas or development of story, imaginative world building or depth of characterization and description, you'd be advised to look elsewhere. Cook's outings to date have not compared with other authors such as Marcos, Martin, Stover, or Erikson with whom his work has been broadly linked. If you are a fan of traditional heroic fantasy, and looking for something to fill the void while awaiting new offerings from the authors mentioned above---looking for the American equivalent of, say, David Gemmell---this series, as long as you are not too demanding, will likely not disappoint. Uncomplicated, energetic and fun, written in a style never pretending to be what it is not.
Rating: 
Summary: Not as good...?
Review: I too am tempted to say "this isn't up to the standards of the first 3". But I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that, when I discovered Cook, this was his most recent book. So I had to wait for each installment afterwards. I wish I had followed the rule I instituted when it became clear Robert Jordan was NEVER going to finish his series. I should have waited until Cook was done, and then read them all. But it's a testament to my fanaticism that I just HAD to read each book as it appeared. I still give it 5 stars because I found the new storyline with the now-powerless Lady very intriguing. Cook also had my curiosity at max with "the crow" and the hints that old villains might return. Overall, the rest of the series was ultimately excellent so this book has to get 5 stars for starting it all.
Rating:
Summary: Not as good...?
Review: I too am tempted to say "this isn't up to the standards of the first 3". But I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that, when I discovered Cook, this was his most recent book. So I had to wait for each installment afterwards. I wish I had followed the rule I instituted when it became clear Robert Jordan was NEVER going to finish his series. I should have waited until Cook was done, and then read them all. But it's a testament to my fanaticism that I just HAD to read each book as it appeared. I still give it 5 stars because I found the new storyline with the now-powerless Lady very intriguing. Cook also had my curiosity at max with "the crow" and the hints that old villains might return. Overall, the rest of the series was ultimately excellent so this book has to get 5 stars for starting it all.
Rating:
Summary: Another great Black Company adventure
Review: If you enjoyed the first 3 Black Company books, there is no reason not to go ahead and read this one too. It features the same set of characters, the same down-to-earth style, and the same fast-paced adventure. As with the other Black Company books, this one is highly recommended to all fantasy fans!
Rating:
Summary: Another great Black Company adventure
Review: If you enjoyed the first 3 Black Company books, there is no reason not to go ahead and read this one too. It features the same set of characters, the same down-to-earth style, and the same fast-paced adventure. As with the other Black Company books, this one is highly recommended to all fantasy fans!
Rating:
Summary: Awesome!!
Review: The Black Company is not at all that popular (I do not know why. It is one of the best fantasy series out there.) The originallity of this series is outstanding. I do not know how people love wheel of time(which copies so many things from tolkien it is not even funny) and say it is so original and cringe when they here the words, "The Black Company". It is done in many different views. Some chapteres are told by Croaker while others may a 3rd person perspective.die? Shadow Games was a great book full of action. It was so good I read the entire book in a day! After you finished the White Rose definetly read this book!
Rating: 
Summary: Very, very good...If not quite up to standards of first 3
Review: The Black Company is one of the great creations of modern fantasy. In a genre in which most stories are starkly black and white--really great good guys and really bad villans--the Black Company (contra its name) lives in grey. Shadow Games is the fourth book in a series on the the Black Company, a mercenary band in a sword and sorcery world. The first three novels told the story of how the Company came into the service of Lady, a sorceress of great power who rules a purportedly evil empire in the northern part of the Company's world. Eventually the Company rebels against the Lady and joins the White Rose, a reincarnated hero who opposes the empire. At the end of book three, the Rose, the Lady, and the Company join forces to defeat an older evil. A related book, Silver Spike, follows the subsequent adventures of the Rose. In Shadow Games, Lady and the last members of the Company travel south to the legendary city of Khatover from which the Company originated many centuries before. I enjoyed Shadow Games and recommend it (although NOT as an initation to the series). But I didn't quite like it as much as the first three novels. There is less character development. Old villans get recycled for reasons that are not entirely clear. A cliffhanger ending forces you to buy the sequel. Shadow Games also marks the beginning of Cook's fascination with the quasi-Indian philosophy and mythology that, in my judgment, detract from the later books. If I had it to do over again, I probably would have stopped with the first three novels.
Rating:
Summary: Very, very good...If not quite up to standards of first 3
Review: The Black Company is one of the great creations of modern fantasy. In a genre in which most stories are starkly black and white--really great good guys and really bad villans--the Black Company (contra its name) lives in grey. Shadow Games is the fourth book in a series on the the Black Company, a mercenary band in a sword and sorcery world. The first three novels told the story of how the Company came into the service of Lady, a sorceress of great power who rules a purportedly evil empire in the northern part of the Company's world. Eventually the Company rebels against the Lady and joins the White Rose, a reincarnated hero who opposes the empire. At the end of book three, the Rose, the Lady, and the Company join forces to defeat an older evil. A related book, Silver Spike, follows the subsequent adventures of the Rose. In Shadow Games, Lady and the last members of the Company travel south to the legendary city of Khatover from which the Company originated many centuries before. I enjoyed Shadow Games and recommend it (although NOT as an initation to the series). But I didn't quite like it as much as the first three novels. There is less character development. Old villans get recycled for reasons that are not entirely clear. A cliffhanger ending forces you to buy the sequel. Shadow Games also marks the beginning of Cook's fascination with the quasi-Indian philosophy and mythology that, in my judgment, detract from the later books. If I had it to do over again, I probably would have stopped with the first three novels.
Rating:
Summary: And the plot thickens...
Review: This book picks up right after Raven, Darling and Silent have gone one way and Croaker and the 6 remaining Black Company members have gone another accompanied by the Lady. Croaker is leading the remnants of the Black Company, the last of the the Free Companies of Khatovar back in time to thier beginning. He is searching for their lost histories, for the Annals of the Black Company that were lost in the Southlands as the Company moved North. They find more mysteries in this book and lose a few things as well. They are given artifacts of the the company prior to their leaving the southland, they find descendants of their long lost brothers. Croaker begins to see things no one else does, has he lost his sanity? They find pirates, foes and Shadowmasters, long lost friends and some very old enemies. You will find lots of hints of things to come. Croaker has changed some in this book. He is more like the Old Man in the first books. Yes, Croaker's humanity,insecurity and romanticism are still there, but he has turned downright sneaky and nasty when it comes to dealing with opponents. Whether they be internal power struggles, a little disiplining of the troops (One-Eye and Goblin go at again) or all out battle - Croaker handles them like the Black Company vetern. This book is definitly worth reading, but it will hook you on the series all over again. I don't know about you but I HATE waiting for the next book in a series. So make sure you get the next one as well, so you don't have to wait for the solution to this cliff hanger. While you're at it , you might as well get the forst & second book of the Glittering Stone, too. It'll drive you crazy waiting to find out otherwise.
Rating:
Summary: And the plot thickens...
Review: This book picks up right after Raven, Darling and Silent have gone one way and Croaker and the 6 remaining Black Company members have gone another accompanied by the Lady. Croaker is leading the remnants of the Black Company, the last of the the Free Companies of Khatovar back in time to thier beginning. He is searching for their lost histories, for the Annals of the Black Company that were lost in the Southlands as the Company moved North. They find more mysteries in this book and lose a few things as well. They are given artifacts of the the company prior to their leaving the southland, they find descendants of their long lost brothers. Croaker begins to see things no one else does, has he lost his sanity? They find pirates, foes and Shadowmasters, long lost friends and some very old enemies. You will find lots of hints of things to come. Croaker has changed some in this book. He is more like the Old Man in the first books. Yes, Croaker's humanity,insecurity and romanticism are still there, but he has turned downright sneaky and nasty when it comes to dealing with opponents. Whether they be internal power struggles, a little disiplining of the troops (One-Eye and Goblin go at again) or all out battle - Croaker handles them like the Black Company vetern. This book is definitly worth reading, but it will hook you on the series all over again. I don't know about you but I HATE waiting for the next book in a series. So make sure you get the next one as well, so you don't have to wait for the solution to this cliff hanger. While you're at it , you might as well get the forst & second book of the Glittering Stone, too. It'll drive you crazy waiting to find out otherwise.
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