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Glen Cooks The Black Company series


dylan

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Wow, you almost had a rational and polite response til that last sentence there. Way to go.

Going to rush production on your death star because people don't think TBC was gritty - now that was a rational response. I give people the amount of politeness they deserve.

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Anyway, I finished the first book and my original opinion still holds. It has been a very interesting experience (experiment too) seeing what the board thinks are the best ever fantasy books. If you don't like my opinion on The Black Company though, you're not alone in your opinion of my tastes, since of the first 25, there have been few where I've felt like - wow that was one of the best books I've ever read, and at least two that I thought were entirely awful.

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...It has been a very interesting experience (experiment too) seeing what the board thinks are the best ever fantasy books. If you don't like my opinion on...

Who said that TBC are the best ever fantasy books? They are definitely better than a lot of other fantasy books but far from the best.

The person who has to like your opinion is yourself.

:cheers: Do you see those two smilies? How they hold only hatred and contempt for each other? You can see the loathing and the venom in their eyes. They probably want nothing more than to crash the faces of the other with the beer glasses and wipe those false smiles from existence...but STILL. They tolerate each others opinions and for a peacful society and for the good of the land they act like they are innocent friends who only like to share a beer with each other. Can't we all be more like those lovely smilies?

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Who said that TBC are the best ever fantasy books? They are definitely better than a lot of other fantasy books but far from the best.

There is a Westeros Fantasy and Science Fiction Book List pinned at the top of this forum - the books on it were decided upon by board member submissions. I am reading it. I'm currently 25% finished, although actually a little more than that, since I am not rereading books that I've already read. Even though it's subjective, apparently the board considers TBC to be in the top 100.

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There is a Westeros Fantasy and Science Fiction Book List pinned at the top of this forum - the books on it were decided upon by board member submissions. I am reading it. I'm currently 25% finished, although actually a little more than that, since I am not rereading books that I've already read. Even though it's subjective, apparently the board considers TBC to be in the top 100.

I would possibly put it there myself but I also know a few people who hate the books ( my brother for one, and we generally agree on books ). If you are still interested in Cook after TBC, I would suggest some of his standalones like Passage at Arms or The Dragon Never Sleeps. Solid books that don't get mentioned much.

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Going to rush production on your death star because people don't think TBC was gritty - now that was a rational response. I give people the amount of politeness they deserve.

Never claimed my response was rational. I also didn't write 2 paragraphs of apparently logical argument before hand. But hey, keep on trolling.

Also, I believe I was rushing production on the Death Star because people thought they were cliche. Either way THE DEATH STAR IS PREPARED TO FIRE. SUCK IT EARTH

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Just finished the first book... I have to say I did like it quite a bit. I was a little sad to see how the White Rose thing turned out... as it was fairly predictable. Even when the author brought it up and dismissed it.

One thing I wonder though.. SPOILERS for the first book below.

It is about the were-leopard. One kills Tom Tom in Beryl at the start of the book. When they leave the city though Croaker seems to think the were-leopard in the cage wasn't the same one, as it doesn't have any of the wounds they inflicted on it. He keeps it to himself and he says he never did tell One Eye.

Then during the big battle, Croaker's line of thinking seems to hint that the thing going into the rebel camp sounds more like Shapeshifters modus operandi, rather than the were-leopards... He then starts to think back to Beryl and how Soulcatcher and Shapeshifter would have been close back then...

Does he think that Shapershifter took the form of the were-leopard in Beryl and killed everyone including Tom-Tom?

What do you guys think?

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Just finished the first book... I have to say I did like it quite a bit. I was a little sad to see how the White Rose thing turned out... as it was fairly predictable. Even when the author brought it up and dismissed it.

One thing I wonder though.. SPOILERS for the first book below.

It is about the were-leopard. One kills Tom Tom in Beryl at the start of the book. When they leave the city though Croaker seems to think the were-leopard in the cage wasn't the same one, as it doesn't have any of the wounds they inflicted on it. He keeps it to himself and he says he never did tell One Eye.

Then during the big battle, Croaker's line of thinking seems to hint that the thing going into the rebel camp sounds more like Shapeshifters modus operandi, rather than the were-leopards... He then starts to think back to Beryl and how Soulcatcher and Shapeshifter would have been close back then...

Does he think that Shapershifter took the form of the were-leopard in Beryl and killed everyone including Tom-Tom?

What do you guys think?

cleared up in the next 2 books

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Yeah, that's how I read it.

Cool. While Glen Cook is a good writer, Croaker doesn't always spell things out. Given what we know about the Taken's mode of transportation, they can cover a lot of ground in no time if they are called upon for assistance.

Croaker took a few chapters to give us all the info we needed to figure out what happened during Raven's introduction. And we still don't know that much about him or why the Captain took a shining to him.

cleared up in the next 2 books

Good to know, thanks :)

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  • 4 weeks later...

Quick Question-Spoilers (Have not mastered hiding the text yet)

I'm reading Water Sleeps right now and one thing is bothering me. Why doesn't the company name Soulcather's true name? They have a fifty-fifty chance because, if memory serves, there were three sisters (In Lady's family) and they know all their names plus the lady's true name. The names are written in the annals so Goblin or One Eye could of ended it quickly by naming her. Thanks

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  • 1 month later...

Well I am done with the first trilogy, having just finished "The White Rose". It has been pretty good. I really liked the setting of the second book, and appreciated how they put in a new POV style character besides Croaker. The Third book kept that going by adding a few more and even took place during different time periods.

I was disappointed in not seeing the whole Tom-Tom and Wereleapord thing getting cleared up, but I bet that will be done in the next ones.

I bought the next Omnibus "Tales of the South" and will be reading "The Silver Spike" side novel first, as most people indicate this really should be the fourth book in the series.

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It always amused me about the black company series, how when military fantasy fanboys read beyond the rest expecting more of the same (actually, the first book is never particularly convincing about it's military atmosphere anyway) and get the weirdo 'The company evolves' theme, where it can no longer look like a military, but more and more like a tribe by the end (literally, a 'return to the roots') + the weird overtone over the whole thing on the later books, what with senile wizards suicidal about being senile, omniscient death goddesses, vague ghost narrators, 'accidental deaths' and weird stuff.

Howler is cool though, slickest rat on fantasy.

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I am really looking forward to the later books. I have heard good things and am very interested in seeing them in a different part of the world. Hell, I love the North to pieces, but some change is always good.

Since One Eye and Tom-Tom are black, I imagine the southern continent is more of a jungle setting. I am also interested in seeing if more of the Black Company's history is revealed.

I am a few chapters in to "The Silver Spike". Damn these cousins are kind of funny. I would almost like the one guy if it wasn't for what he was doing during his first appearance.

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I read the Books of the South a little while ago, almost a year after I read the first trilogy. And it really felt like meeting old friends again when I started reading, a feeling I've never gotten from any other book.

That said Dreams of Steel dragged the book down quite a bit, but The Silver Spike is probably my favorite part of the series so far. I will be getting the last two omnibuses as soon as I get the chance.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Damn these books just keep getting better and better. I finished the first trilogy, The Books of the North and went right into the Silver Spike. This is the way to go regardless of how they are collected. I just started Shadow Games and its so damn good. I would say to read the books in this order.

The Books of the North

1. The Black Company

2. Shadows Linger

3. The White Rose

4. The Silver Spike (takes place at the same time as Shadow Games, but all in the North. Read this first)

The Books of the South

5. Shadow Games

6. Dreams of Steel

Have not got to the Glittering Stone stuff yet, but can't wait.

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  • 2 months later...

Well, I finished the entire series. The TOR EBOOK Omnibus editions are a great way to read these. Nice and economical.

Damn, i really hate that a new book continuing their adventures isn't out there.

All in all this is a pretty good series. I took a look at Cook's wikipedia page and I see he has two other dark fantasy series: Dread Empire and Instrumentalities of the Night. As well as the Garrett PI series... I will have to give those a read at some point.

The series had some nice twists and turns, I especially liked how it ended. I wasn't looking forward to the tales after they left the North, but I'll be damned if I didn't eat crow (pardon the pun).

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I liked the first two in The Books of the North but for some reason have not read The White Rose even though it is the same omnibus. I will probably get to it at some point. I did think it was interesting comparing Malazan to Cook, since I had read Malazan long before Cook.

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All in all this is a pretty good series. I took a look at Cook's wikipedia page and I see he has two other dark fantasy series: Dread Empire and Instrumentalities of the Night. As well as the Garrett PI series... I will have to give those a read at some point.

The series had some nice twists and turns, I especially liked how it ended. I wasn't looking forward to the tales after they left the North, but I'll be damned if I didn't eat crow (pardon the pun).

I like the older Dread Empire series more than Instrumentalities, which almost seems like Cook's attempt to complicate things ala Bakker/Erikson. He's always got that war-weary, generally good guy but with human failings leader at the core of his stories -- Bragi Ragnarson from Dread Empire and Piper Hecht from Instrumentalities are both a similar riff on Croaker. Dread Empire is a lot of fun, though I thought the recently-published conclusion to the entire series was weak. You can stop before then and not miss much. And instrumentalities is still good and worth a read.

I'm really partial to the end of Soldiers Live too. Can't recall a fantasy series that had such an appropriate ending other than the "well, I'm back" at the end of Lord of the Rings. I thought some of the Books of the South dragged a bit -- Murgen as narrator lacks Croaker's personality.

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