What do You think about The Return Of The Black Company (2009)?
The continuation of the quest of the Black Company to find their origins as "the last of the Free Companies of Khatovar." Unfortunately, both the Company, and us readers, are stalled within sight of this goal as they must deal with a new war, the politics of both their new employers and their new/old enemies, and other complications.The conflicts presented in these stories are interesting, but maddening because it's already past time for the "Khatovar" quest to end. If these stories had been presented differently I probably would have liked them better, but I'm ready to get to the end of the "meta-plot" established for these books since the end of the original trilogy. In fact, the time shifting narrative of Murgen that comprises half of the omnibus is actually quite an interesting technique, but I would have appreciated it more had it been a stand-alone story rather than an extension of this whole Khatovar quest arc.I admit to my personal preferences shading this opinion. I can't stand overarching plots that never get resolved. A trilogy is long enough to tell a story. If you've gone into a fourth book and haven't yet resolved important issues established in the first one, then you've gone too long.Maybe you'll enjoy this more knowing that you won't get resolution, but I can't recommend it.
—John
After I had read the "Chronicles of the Black Company" I was quite sure that I'd march through all other "Black Company" books. I must say that I need a break from the Black Company for now - not a bad thing though, I'm just saving the last two novels for a special occassion. At the beginning of "Bleak Season", Cook confused me a little with going back and forth in time and place which does make sense of course if you want to communicate a story that took place in a time that is already past but nevertheless important for the overall story.I quite like Murgen's ability to drift through time and space but I have to admit that I enjoyed the previous books more than those two. Is it Murgen? His change of style in keeping the annals? Maybe. I also think that I've enjoyed the constant run the Company has been in in the first two volumes.Anyway. The story takes interesting turns and yet we have another bad ending. I'm curious how the story will continue but at the same time I know that I'll miss all the characters that have grown dear to me while I read the past eight novels. Some argue that the old characters, Croaker and Lady, are "finally" dead but if you followed the series closely you'll know that dead doesn't always mean dead for good. I wouldn't mind a reunion with Croaker or Lady. I'm definitely looking forward to what Soulcatcher is up to next. Kudos to Cook for keeping up with genuinely creative settings in a universe that keeps me amazed.
—Yvonne Jae
Quite possibly the most disappointing of the series so far. It isn't that they're bad, just that they're not nearly as compelling as the previous outings have been.That said, we do get a peek into the background of what happened at the siege of Dejagore and the Nyeung Bao are an interesting mismash of a couple recognizable cultures and are fleshed out some here. Plots come to a head and the end comes again, not quite where it would be in most stories.There are generally two types of Black Company novels. They aren't clear-cut divisions, but they are how I view the installments. First are the epic-in-scope war stories. Sure they are often fitted with a grounding in characters with myopically personal drives and views but they go batshit crazy, bringing in the fantasy equivalents of gunships and aircraft carriers, missile batteries and double-agents. The second are those that focus on the small people in small ways, and how they and their stories fit into the larger, more epic narrative.By-and-large, that second sort are the better novels. I love the titanic battles at the climaxes, the way he makes them both personally compelling for those involved as well as expansive and epic in the way they resolve things. But the truth is that the characters and situations are more immediately engaging in the second sort.That's what really makes this volume so disappointing. Bleak Seasons falls into that second category and by rights should have been the more compelling volume, but the oddity of the time travel and ghost-walking and what it did to both the pacing and accessibility of the narrative. I understand why it was done and it makes sense, but it didn't work for me.Both included books, though, have moments of almost casually impressive insight, things that take other authors pages to set up and still come off manufactured. Cook also manages to pull off some really entertaining and at times surprising plot twists.This collection ends on a big cliff-hanger, even if it's one that you may see coming. So yeah, even though this was the most disappointing run of the bunch, I'll be back.
—Marc Jentzsch
