Rating: 
Summary: Cook does it again !!
Review: Mr. Cook is amazing. All of his writing abilities are obvious in this work. He sets a great story and finishes it off with this volume. And yet new elements leave the option for him to come back and do more, albeit without our favorite narrarator. In classic Cook style Death swings his scythe and those who have been long favorites are taken from the picture. I don't want to give anything away to those who haven't read this, so I am ending it here. Just buy it. Read all of Glens stuff.
Rating:
Summary: The Best fantasy book I have read
Review: Now I could start off talking about how i've been a Black Company Fan for years.....well I really can't as I just read the entire series over the past 3 weeks. I guess its obvious that I obsessed over the series, it's that good. But the last couple of books in the "Glittering Stone" series really did not seem up to par with the earlier books. Maybe its because i prefer Croaker's Bitter-Old-Man version of the Annals, but I just didn't enjoy Murgen's or Sleepy's volumes as much.(I still thought they were better reads then almost any other fantasy novel) But with "Soldier Live", the series comes full circle for me. Everything in the book works perfectly for me. Croaker is back as narrator, The Company is once again an indestructable force, more of the plot is revealed, the two worst wizards in the universe pull off what could only be seen as a cosmic practical joke, and the book just flows. I started reading this book at 10 PM one night, and knew there was something wrong when I finished with the sun rising. I litteraly couldn't put it down. The book is long(500+ pages), but I never noticed the length. Quite simply this book is my favorite of the series, and a perfect send-off(probably) for The Company.(though I would not mind prequels)
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Summary: Soldiers Live. And Wonder Why. - I love that phrase.
Review: The last few books haven't really been up to scratch. but this one is probably my favourite in the whole Black Company Saga. YESSSS Croaker is the Narrator, which may say why this is one of the best. The action was fast paced, some Favourite characters were back (Croaker, Lady, And a few others). Its quite a sad type of ending and for most characters. The only bad side to this book was, that is was a bit confusing of which characters died when they did, rather than finding out later. But highly recommended....
Rating:
Summary: What the heck?
Review: I'm still a little disoriented, as I only finished the book about 10 minutes ago. My title sums up my entire mental process right now, though not my emotional one.This is an excellent addition to the Black Company series. As another reviewer pointed out, it wraps up Glittering Stone without really ending the story of the Black Company. Not only is there the brand-new Company with its several Annalists, there's some serious room for flashbacks. I expect further installments, though I'm not on the edge of my seat just yet. "Soldiers Live" opens the way we expect Black Company novels to open. We have our familiar characters all in place (a surprise to me, since One-Eye died at the end of "Water Sleeps") and it quickly becomes apparent that just about every loose thread is going to be tied up. Having read many reviews (quite a few were inaccurate, by the way... Croaker does NOT begin "Soldiers Live" as the military dictator of Taglios!), I was prepared for surprises. But they just kept coming. This is a novel of attrition; in a story so long, many of our favorites are sure to pass away. And even so, the surprises just kept coming. Quite a few anticlimactic moments added to the surprises Cook offers his readers. But gut-wrenching unpredictability is a hallmark of the series. It's been so long since I've read a real page-turner (let's face it, the last few Black Company novels weren't) that I forgot what it's like to want to stay up all night reading. If you're a fan of the Black Company, you'll miss out on some sleep finishing this one. And if you're like me, you'll read the last chapter a few times and marvel at how the story all gets wrapped up in a package labled "Start Here."
Rating: 
Summary: Good book
Review: This was a much better book than the last few. I guess the reason is simply because Croaker is back as the annalist. Sorry, but I didn't enjoy flying around with Murgen and Sleepy wasn't very fun. Also, in this book, things finally happen and conflicts are resolved. Although to be honest, a few of them were a bit of an anticlimax - major events either happened too easily or were described too briefly - and after all that building up in the previous books. Another negative was that there was not much of an underlying storyline in the book - the Company's motives seemed to be based solely on revenge when it came to making war. The underlying storyline was not augmented in this book. Just the same old thing from the other books: daughter of night wandering around, Mogaba and Soulcatcher still around not doing much. The book was more about day to day events the main characters went through as opposed to anything new in the story popping up. I mean, the company had 10 thousand men in this book plus sorcerers. Why not march back to the old Empire and take over. Or have some surprise waiting there for them. I think that would have been far more interesting than hanging around Taglios. Why not slip some assasins or Tobo himself into the palace to deal with Mogaba instead of starting a war? The book also had a sad feel. It was kind of depressing in a lot of ways. Mostly because all the old characters are dead, and Croaker and Lady are old. I didn't care much about any other main characters that were killed off in this book, expect for One-Eye. I was sick of the Nyeung Bao or whatever as well. But overall, it was a good book, worthy of the first 3-4 books of the series. Again, I guess this is because Croaker is back for the book. Without old Croaker, I'd lose interest in the series, like I was beginning to with Murgen and Sleepy. It had a fitting end too. I hope Cook writes another book but gets back to the Empire sort of theme from the first few books with ideas like the Ten Who Were Taken, and with Croaker as the writer. The atmosphere of the Iron Spike. Those older Company books gave me goosebumps with their coolness.
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Summary: Quit yer Whinin'
Review: First: Those of you who have read all the stuff about Glen Cook being the most underrated fantasy author in America. It's all true. Every word of it. Others have said a number of times everything you need to know to be enticed to pick up the Black Company Series. Second: All the critics who say that this particular book was a letdown may have missed something here. Yes, Cook does let many of our long time charactors from the series go. The deaths are in the dozens. Anybosy remember the conclusion of the White Rose Saga from the same series? Remember how your heart was broken when Elmo died, the leiutenant? Multiply that broken heart a hundredfold. There is some serious housecleaning here. Cook sheds charactors, that he's resisted killing for years. These are people that he and we have come to love as members of the Company. Some of them get their just deserts, some deserve better, but that's the way of the world and nobody makes that real like Cook does. Third: Will there be another Black company novel? Who knows? I was reluctant when the White ROse story ended, to even believe that Cook was going to be able to continue with the Black Company. Yet, here we are several books later( All good.) My point being that we can't expect charactors who were old twenty years ago in the story line to live forever. We like them and will miss them, but Cook has the uncanny ability to bring in new story lines and charactors and maintain the story in such a way that soon, the new guys are an integral part of the story and a part of the family. WE are lucky that after contract disputes and years between novels in some cases, that the charactors we have come to love have an end to their story. WE will be lucky if those who go on get to shae theirs through the annals of the black company. Fourth: Croaqker is back. He is the annallist for this last part of the Glittering Stone saga. I think it is fitting and poetic, that Croaker gets to tell the last part of his story I also think the end is one befitting a charactor we all have come to know, like he was a real person we were intimately aquainted with. You can see in the last page of the book, the love and care Cook has for and has given every single member of the cast of this story.Five: Cook gives as good as any in this final novel of Glittering stone. Does it feel a little rushed? Or can you just not put it down. Does he write fast, or do we devour this story as hungrily as we did the first one where the plot moved fast and furious and we didn't know for sure what was going to happen until the last page. Get the book. It's great. I [promise.
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Summary: Hopefully the last novel in a great series!
Review: Glen Cook is one of the most underrated fantasy authors of all time. His newest novel, Soldiers Live, brings his Black Company series to a halt, a series which began in 1984! Many may wonder why I hope this is the last installment in a series that I have loved for so long. I'll answer that as a I go. This book is a great read, written in the typical Cook style of hard-edged, realistic military fiction. No one in this novel is an angel in disguise; all have done things that they have regretted. Soldiers Live tells the story of the Black Company leaving the Glittering Plain and returning to their own world to seek revenge on the evil Soulcatcher and the Great General Mogaba. The book takes many twists and turns and new members are added to the company as old favorites are killed. My reason for the above comment, that I hope this is the last book in the series, is because at times it seemed that Cook was laboring in this book to tie up loose ends and "be done with it". The death of characters that have been around since the beginning novels are treated lightly. My sense was that Cook was tired of this series and wanted to move on to other projects. Having said that, Cook still delivers in this novel: political intrigue, treachery, and all that good stuff. Fans of the series definitely should not miss the final (?) book in the series. Maybe now Cook can go on to other projects with new characters who we can love just as much as the characters in the Black Company series.
Rating: 
Summary: Terrible
Review: Whomever said that this could have been written by One-eye was right. It's formulaic, and poorly written. These oh-so-clever Mercenaries who have outsmarted gods and demigods alike, now find themselves unable to defeat untrained raw recruits, and instead decimate themselves as a plot device to end the saga. I can't believe that the other reviewers are giving this book and the author such an easy ride. The other books in the series (notably the first trilogy) are far better than this. As the Black Company headed south, so did the quality of writing in this series. Reading this book reminds me of what a wonderful author Iain M. Banks is. If you want some quality storytelling, try out his stuff. I have purchased every Black Company book since I saw the first one in 1984. After reading this book, I will not touch another novel by this author.
Rating:
Summary: Soldiers Live
Review: Fantastic Journey! I started reading the series one year ago when I was stationed in Korea. I still love book one the best of all the books but I also enjoyed the journey across Glenn Cook's world. Having served as a light and mechanized infantrymen, my feet and posterior hurt all the way through as I read about the company's journeys. The author did an outstanding job of describing the day to day misery of living in the field as a soldier and the bonds of loyalty that develop between men from this shared experience. I was sorry to see all the old and new faces get killed off, but such is the life of a mercenary. I strongly urge Mr. Cook to continue his good work. Once a brother, always a brother. Thanks for an incredible ride. Ground Pounder
Rating:
Summary: A Fitting End to Glittering Stone
Review: What a book! This book is everything that Glen Cook fans have come to expect from the Black Company series. It nicely closes the Glittering Stone Series, and one thing for sure, if there is another book after this it won't be the same Black Company we remember from the first three books. But hey, that's half the fun, right? Definitely the best of the series...
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