3.5 stars (based on my individual ratings for all three books)The heart is stilled but the corpse stumbles on. The Company is dead in fact but not in name.And we, O merciless gods, stand witness to the power of names.After decades of fighting in the dark empire of the north, the huge and devastating battle at the Tower of Charm, and the awakening of an ancient evil in the Barrowland, the Black Company turns south in a quest to find its mysterious origins and the long lost city of Khatovar.Shadow Games tells the story of the journey south from the Barrowland, through Charm and Opal, and eventually to the city of Taglios in the far south. Croaker and his companions come closer to their final destination than ever before, but in their path stands a new and dark empire formed by the mysterious Shadowmasters, great sorcerers of unknown origin. Left with no choice but to stay put, the Black Company takes on a contract for the rulers of Taglios, to defend the city against the evil sorcerers and their armies, and marches forth to a climactic battle outside the city of Dejagore.In Dreams of Steel, the great battle of Dejagore is over, with devastating consequences for the last of the Free Companies of Khatovar. The infamous black battle standard disappears in the following chaos and confusion, and several key members of the Company are lost. The battle delivers Taglios from the jaws of its enemies, but the Shadowmasters still pull the strings in secret. And all the while, greater evils arise from the darkness...These two books were thoroughly enjoyable to read, and I would have to say that they are my favourites in this series so far, even better than the first trilogy. Cook’s simple writing style is still as delightful as it was in the beginning of the series. Croaker is still an excellent protagonist and narrator, and also develops into a much stronger character in this second part than in the first. And the Lady takes the step up from being the most fascinating character in this series to becoming one of my favourite fantasy characters ever.The setting is another remarkable aspect of these two books, and a much more interesting one than the northern empire. With a landscape of everything from desert to jungles, years divided into rain and drought seasons, a polytheistic religion with hundreds of gods and a powerful priesthood, a society shaped by its caste system, and names like Dejagore, Prahbrindrah Drah and Narayan Singh, it is pretty obvious that this land is loosely based on India. I’ve been looking for an Indian fantasy setting for some time, and this one was particularly well developed.The Silver Spike, however, was unfortunately quite disappointing both compared to the other books and in itself. It is a spin-off novel about those of the Company who chose to stay behind in the northern empire. When a gang of petty criminals get their hands on the Silver Spike, holding the essence of the Dominator, all hell breaks loose as all the wizards in the north with the slightest desire for power attempts to get their hands on the spike and the dark magic within it.So far, The Silver Spike is definitely the weakest book in the Black Company series in my eyes, simply because there was nothing interesting about it. Neither story, characters, writing nor setting were comparable to the other books, and it just left me aching to get back to Croaker and the Lady and the main story.After reading the two first books, I was convinced that this omnibus would be better than the first. Unfortunately, reading the last book changed my mind about that. Still, there’s no denying that the Chronicles of the Black Company has turned into one of my favourite fantasy series, and I am definitely excited about continuing with the series.I'll end this review with my favourite quote from this series so far:"In the night the winds die and silence rules the place of glittering stone."
Well #%$@$. This compilation made me angry - and sad. Not because it was bad, necessarily, but because I'd gotten attached to our narrator. And then, after the first book, he was narrator no longer! But. I couldn't stop reading it. On the other hand, I don't think I'm ready to forgive the author for switching it up on us yet.I'm a self-stated lover of the first-person voice. I like getting close to my narrator and following him through his life. I can deal with the third-person interludes; those are okay and, in this series, necessary for the story. No problem. But when it comes down to it, I get attached. Apparently very attached.I loved the beginning of the first book. The ache for everything they'd lost was palpable in Croaker's writing. I also liked watching Croaker crankily adjust to his new role as Captain. Most importantly for me, it had all that tension of the non-battle variety that kept me going throughout the first omnibus. And then once our band headed south to Taglios, that was left mostly by the wayside. The intrigue can be interesting, but I can also only handle so much of it. (At least the tension of the non-battle variety did pick up again in the end.) Really, I'm in it for Croaker, his little snippets of sarcastic wit, and his longing. I'm rooting for him all the way.Don't get me wrong, I (rationally) appreciated the switch in narration during Dreams of Steel for the different perspective it gave. To remain vague, it was difficult (in a good way) to see a character I'd become quite sympathetic to doing what had to be done to keep the Black Company going (or at least one version of it), even though we knew it had all been done before. It makes you think. But it just wasn't the same type of story, from a limited point of view. That's what made me so angry. Well, that and the cliffhanger ending.I have yet to read the last book, The Silver Spike, which seems out of place, and may go back some day to it. For now, I'm all about The Return of the Black Company. And hopefully soon, less angry. Perhaps, on a re-read, my opinion will be a little less irrational because I won't be so blindsided by the switch (and for that matter, events at the end of the Shadow Games).One of the things I liked best about the first omnibus (other than the aforementioned tension) was the moral ambiguity of the Black Company's situations, the sense that maybe sometimes they were working for the wrong side, the double roles that Croaker had to play. That was not present in the same way in this set - now as Captain, he makes the decisions. Unfortunately, I don't think that sort of story could stand on its own for the three following omnibuses (omnibi?), and while the story's grown to something larger, it's not a direction which keeps all the points I liked about the Books of the North.As a closing note, near the end of Dreams of Steel we get to hear Croaker's voice shining strong through his spoken words (but not his annals), and many of his offhand comments made me long to read his writings instead. The sarcasm! The cynicism! But alas!Murgen, you've got big shoes to fill.
What do You think about The Books Of The South (2008)?
Another three books of The Black Company series, and I'm still loving it. At first, I was a bit slow getting into it, because there were new characters that didn't seem as interesting as some of the side characters introduced previously. Still, the main group is fun to read about, the battles are well done, and the Company has its normal trickery to keep me going. By the time I hit the second book, though, there was a clear over-arching story happening, and the side characters that I wasn't in love with before were beginning to fit themselves into it really well. I'm excited about the how well Cook shakes things up. He doesn't worry about splitting up his characters, leaving some for an extended period of time to get the POV of others, or putting a pin in a plot line to write about someone else and come back to it later. He does it really well, and it's been really fun to see this series expand and grow into a sprawling epic. It started from just the annals, written by Croaker, detailing the Company's employment by the Lady, and it's turned into a multi-author verbal history of some world-changing conflicts. I'm excited to see where the series goes from here.The first two books of the three in the omnibus are clearly connected and advance the main (or what I'm assuming is the main) storyline for the series. The third book, The Silver Spike, takes a bit of a detour and follows some of the characters that were split off from the main group. It doesn't involve my favorites (Croaker, Goblin, or One-Eye), but it still might be my favorite of the three. It's a really interesting story with old faces and new characters that REALLY hold their own - Smeds and Old Man Fish really steal the show. It's got a bit of a fatalistic feel, where I was cheering for characters that I was sure were going to have to fail. There was a lot of intrigue and trickery, but it was all in this new setting of being landlocked in one city, and it played out very differently than the regular Black Company mind games. I loved it.This series is just really really great.
—Peter
This was a book I picked up on a whim, not being familiar with the Black Company nor with Glen Cook. I perused some of the other reviews and have to agree that it is a book you will either really enjoy or dislike. When I started I have to admit for the first 20 pages or so the unfamiliar prose style (for fantasy) was disconcerting. But, as I grew used to the style, I truly began to enjoy the book and the story. It is a very interesting style for approaching the subject of a dark fantasy story. If you can get used to the prose style and the modern way of speaking for the characters, then it is fair to say you will enjoy this story. Not only would I recommend this to anyone interested in fantasy, but I will now go find the original trilogy and make myself familiar with more Tales of the Black Company.
—Sud666
This book matched the other Black Company books pretty closely in quality. I thought this was an easy read, but none of the books in particular stood out as being outstanding (or poor), although the Silver Spike seems to be the most memorable, in retrospect.I thought the order of the books was a bit odd, as the first two books follow the Company south and then the third jumps back to the North. Reading book 3, followed by book 1 and then 2 seems like it would have been more appropriate, as the travel towards the South is a more natural lead in to the Glittering Stone books that follow this one in the Chronicles.
—Spencer
