hbomb's Full Review: Glen Cook - The Black Company
The Black Company for some reason unknown to me has never reached the level of popularity it probably deserves. The original 3 books of the trilogy is probably one of the top 3 fantasy series I've ever read, right up there with the Lord of the Rings and maybe even ahead of the Wheel of Time. What really distinguishes the Black Company from most other fantasy is that the heros are actually pretty evil themselves. Cook does a terrific job avoiding the rut that most fantasy books seem to land in where evil and good are very much separate entities. In this series the only thing that separates the villians from the good guys are degrees of evil. The Black Company is a crew of elite mercenaries that will do pretty much anything for the right price. The series is the tale of their most dangerous mission told from the perspective of Croaker, the companies doctor as well as default historian. Croaker is probably the most moral of the crew in that he doesn't usually perform the tasks they are hired to and when does usually restrains himself from anything unnecessary. However, through his story telling it is obvious he is not too bothered by it either. The Black Company is the first of the trilogy and starts with the company being hired by an immortal demon to act as its mortal muscle in a war that is ready to rage. The immortal is one of 9 immortals who are vying for power awaiting the day when their master awakes. Part of the appeal of this series is the layers of complexity that Cook delivers. The infighting and alliances and backstabs of the immortals leaves the reader unsure as to who they should truly be rooting for. The Company finds themselves just being pulled along in a war they can't begin to understand yet and also maybe for the first time a bit fearful of their own employer. Another strength of this book is the characters that Cook develops. Both the company and the immortals are developed wonderfully, leaving you really attached to many of them. Cook is so consistent with his characters for the entire series. This is an amazing fantasy book, and the series only gets stronger from here. The conclusion in the third book the White Rose is absolutely worth reading all three. Any fantasy fan needs to pick this one up to get a fresh perspective on how fantasy should be written.
Muze: Copyright 1995 - 2008 Muze Inc. For personal non-commercial use only. All rights reserved.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2008 Shopping.com, Inc.