As someone who loved studying the French Foreign Legion, the Rhodesian Light Infantry and South African mercenaries in the Congo, would I like this series?
I know it's about mercenaries. But what I'm kind of looking for is the fantasy equivalent of Military Science Fiction. Currently on the first of the Hammer's Slammers series and loving it.
As someone who loved studying the French Foreign Legion, the Rhodesian Light Infantry and South African mercenaries in the Congo, would I like this series?
I know it's about mercenaries. But what I'm kind of looking for is the fantasy equivalent of Military Science Fiction. Currently on the first of the Hammer's Slammers series and loving it.
Probably. It's from the PoV of the Annalist, which gives it an interesting viewpoint with whole flawed narrator bit. Also, if you read other Fantasy stuff you'll see a lot of elements in this series that heavily influenced them. Wheel of Time and The Malazan for example. I personally consider it one of my favorite fantasy series.
Agreed. This is far and away my favorite series. Particularly the first 3.
To answer Campbell1oo4
's question, this is widely considered THE definition of Military Fantasy.
The other thing that I love is that Cook is often very sparse on descriptions. That can be off-putting to people that eat up paragraphs where every piece of china is described in precise detail, but personally I hate that. He doesn't even describe many characters very well, aside from a few general words that then allow you to build a version in your head. The Lady is honestly the most described character I think, and for several books that description is literally along the lines of "I can't begin to describe her". Yet you still get a picture in your head. And when the wizards do magic shit, again all you get is stuff like, "He looked into the bottom of his mug and did something wicked. Brown mist poured out of the mug, followed quickly by a horrific giant brown spider." Or, "the wizards did something to the horses and coach such that they appeared to be snorting fire and trailing burning hoofprints." That's it, that's as descriptive as you get. No explanation of how they burn metal in their stomach, or do complex geometry in their heads, etc. Those descriptions are awesome in the books they are relevant to, but they are unnecessary in The Black Company.
Ok, I'm gushing. And probably repeating shit I've said a dozen times before in this thread over the years.
TL;DR - If you're looking for gritty military fantasy, this is your first and best stop. Just wanted you to be prepared for his writing style, which can throw people that are used to the 1000 page epics nowadays that half the pages are descriptions. The (later in the series they get that big) 1000 pages of these are very different.
Are the later books any good? I remember reading the first trilogy many years ago and loved it, but struggled after the first 3. I'm planning to re-read them since it's been so long I barely remember the series and want to give it another go.
They do not compare to the first 3, and he reuses a particular plot device (basically being able to see remote events almost at will) that got old and annoying, but they are still what I would consider very good, 4/5. The ending is actually satisfying and legit too, unlike a lot of books that sort of just end but leave you unsatisfied. The last couple books get massively bigger though, if that's a problem for you.
I’ve read the first three multiple times, but when the viewpoint switched to the lady (no idea what book that was) I always fizzled out. I should finish it one day, it’s one of my favorite series, at first.
Got my hardback copy of Port of Shadows yesterday!
Haven't been able to read as much as I'd like yet, had to finish off the series I was on, but I did read 40 pages or so, and it is The Black Company I remember. Thankfully he hasn't allowed the absolute atrocity that infected his writing for Instrumentalities of the Night (at least the first book, I boycotted the remainder of the series after that) to seep into this one. I was so fucking worried about that. Nope, this is as short and succinct and lacking in extraneous details as the original series, which is exactly how I like my Black Company. I know it sounds bad when I describe it that way, but it isn't, and it is such a fucking welcome relief after reading so much of the latest style of fantasy. You don't really think about it, but reading this book puts it starkly into contrast. Not to mention, this is written pretty much exactly how you'd imagine an Annalist would write the accounts of what happened, which is vastly different than an omniscient narrator, etc.
Anyway, so far I'm fucking loving it, but I'm barely a tenth into it so far. I think I remember it being almost 400 pages. And for those wondering, it seems to take place between books 1 and 2, and is even called out as "1.5" in the book itself. Which is smack dab in the middle of the best part of the series.
Cook used to live in Rocklin, a suburb of Sacramento literally 10 minutes from the suburb I lived in, and I wish I had known it at the time. I would have tried to go to something he was at to get all my books signed and talk to him. Truly my favorite books of all time, so any reviews might be tainted by those glasses.
Got my hardback copy of Port of Shadows yesterday!
Haven't been able to read as much as I'd like yet, had to finish off the series I was on, but I did read 40 pages or so, and it is The Black Company I remember. Thankfully he hasn't allowed the absolute atrocity that infected his writing for Instrumentalities of the Night (at least the first book, I boycotted the remainder of the series after that) to seep into this one. I was so fucking worried about that. Nope, this is as short and succinct and lacking in extraneous details as the original series, which is exactly how I like my Black Company. I know it sounds bad when I describe it that way, but it isn't, and it is such a fucking welcome relief after reading so much of the latest style of fantasy. You don't really think about it, but reading this book puts it starkly into contrast. Not to mention, this is written pretty much exactly how you'd imagine an Annalist would write the accounts of what happened, which is vastly different than an omniscient narrator, etc.
Anyway, so far I'm fucking loving it, but I'm barely a tenth into it so far. I think I remember it being almost 400 pages. And for those wondering, it seems to take place between books 1 and 2, and is even called out as "1.5" in the book itself. Which is smack dab in the middle of the best part of the series.
Cook used to live in Rocklin, a suburb of Sacramento literally 10 minutes from the suburb I lived in, and I wish I had known it at the time. I would have tried to go to something he was at to get all my books signed and talk to him. Truly my favorite books of all time, so any reviews might be tainted by those glasses.
Forgot he was putting new BC stuff out. Gonna have to pick this up probably. To echo others, if you're thinking about picking up the series, the first three are phenomenal. And you could totally stop there, and I wouldn't judge. After that it's kind of a slog sometimes, but it does indeed have a fantastic final entry. Takes a goddamn while to get there though.
Finished Port of Shadows over the weekend. Solid Black Company book, not truly epic or anything, which is probably why I'm a little let down because I've been dying for more for a long, long time. I'm going to say a solid 4/5, if you're a normal person and not a fanatic like me.
He did solve the problem of writing a book in-between already established books and explaining why they never once got mentioned in the already existing ones, sort of like why R2D2 and C-3PO never mentioned knowing Annakin, Ben, etc. The solution was not the greatest, but given that most people wouldn't even try, it was about as good as I could think of myself, I suppose.
I tried to temper my expectations a bit, but it is difficult to not wish it were something truly grandiose, but then you'd have that whole problem of not mentioning it later again. I did like some of the history it gave, and I sincerely wish (and have wished for years) that he'd give us more of that. I'd buy 10 more books if they focused on the Domination era. We got a glimpse of some of the Senjak sisters and the Dominator, but I want entire books dedicated to that shit!
Spoiler discussion about the ending:
I prefer to believe it was the Lady, partially because I've always loved her and the fact that she falls for Croaker. It would also sort of explain how she treats him differently in subsequent books, "special" or whatever, and eventually puts her life in his hands. It would be a lot easier to do that if she'd already spent time with him in a similar capacity, even if there was hardly any "romance" between Mischievous Rain and Croaker. It also explains why all the other Taken do everything she says. Even if they don't know it is her, her natural power and leadership might shine through. I never like when they leave things open to interpretation, but I was kind of amused how he actually spent a couple pages at the end spelling out how it is open to interpretation! Oh well, dumb readers gonna dumb. Anyway, like I said, I choose to believe it was the Lady, but I'm a sucker for her anyway, so who knows. They obviously could have fucked around with all the names to hide her real name too, which is what I suppose is also the reason behind making everyone forget.
The reviews on Goodreads just made my head explode. Basically, this book is evil incarnate if you are an SJW, apparently. There is ENDLESS whining about muh misogyny, because of the way a solution is tossed out as a potential fix for the problem of a bunch of virgin girls (many underage) that might give birth to the Dominator reborn or some shit. Spoiler alert, this solution that is tossed out AND THEN DISCARDED AS TOO SHITTY EVEN FOR A BUNCH OF RUTHLESS MERCENARIES is rape. But apparently even just talking about it, and some characters seemingly more invested in it than others, makes this the worst book ever.
I hate so completely right now, I don't think it is good for me.
Finished Port of Shadows over the weekend. Solid Black Company book, not truly epic or anything, which is probably why I'm a little let down because I've been dying for more for a long, long time. I'm going to say a solid 4/5, if you're a normal person and not a fanatic like me.
He did solve the problem of writing a book in-between already established books and explaining why they never once got mentioned in the already existing ones, sort of like why R2D2 and C-3PO never mentioned knowing Annakin, Ben, etc. The solution was not the greatest, but given that most people wouldn't even try, it was about as good as I could think of myself, I suppose.
I tried to temper my expectations a bit, but it is difficult to not wish it were something truly grandiose, but then you'd have that whole problem of not mentioning it later again. I did like some of the history it gave, and I sincerely wish (and have wished for years) that he'd give us more of that. I'd buy 10 more books if they focused on the Domination era. We got a glimpse of some of the Senjak sisters and the Dominator, but I want entire books dedicated to that shit!
Spoiler discussion about the ending:
I prefer to believe it was the Lady, partially because I've always loved her and the fact that she falls for Croaker. It would also sort of explain how she treats him differently in subsequent books, "special" or whatever, and eventually puts her life in his hands. It would be a lot easier to do that if she'd already spent time with him in a similar capacity, even if there was hardly any "romance" between Mischievous Rain and Croaker. It also explains why all the other Taken do everything she says. Even if they don't know it is her, her natural power and leadership might shine through. I never like when they leave things open to interpretation, but I was kind of amused how he actually spent a couple pages at the end spelling out how it is open to interpretation! Oh well, dumb readers gonna dumb. Anyway, like I said, I choose to believe it was the Lady, but I'm a sucker for her anyway, so who knows. They obviously could have fucked around with all the names to hide her real name too, which is what I suppose is also the reason behind making everyone forget.
I finished Books 1-3 and was about to pick up 4 when I saw that this Novella called the Port of Shadows was set in between 2-3. I am now about 75% done with Port of Shadows and my first impression was to check the Author's name because I feel like it is a different writer. I feel like Croaker is a bit different person when compared to 1-3, it's just little things like phrases, humor and self reflection...they all seem a bit off. I have every intention of finishing this book, however a few times I have thought what is the point and then I remember...
That I am getting an origin story of the Lady. The best parts of this book are the Necromancer chapters. The whole Tides Elba/Mischievous Rain twins with Craoker is just nonsense, there is no way that he would have twins with a Taken and never mention it in Book 3, The whole scenario seems hamfisted.
Now with saying all that maybe I am in for a big surprise where everything will come together, make sense and be wrapped with a pretty bow. I am very hopeful that will be the case, but in the meantime it is frustrating to read the narrator (Croaker), a guy I feel like I know and yet he feels so foreign and has kids etc. Right now the best i can give this book is a 3/5 and that is being very generous and overly forgiving because of the Necro/Senjack stuff. I really really hope I come back here in a few days and say something like "oh I get it now"
Campbell1oo4
's question, this is widely considered THE definition of Military Fantasy.
