All I can say is finally we have the thoughts from the supposed 'bad' people that allow the evil to grow to such strength. The only reason for 4/5 is that Glen reverses his views and makes the black compnay redeem itself by allying with the good people. what more fun would it have been to keep them on the bad side.

I had already begun Steven Erickson's Malazan Book of the Fallen series (which bears an obvious and admitted debt to Cook's works) prior to delving into this omnibus. I knew that the two series shared similarities, but knew precious little of the Black Company before I began.

Those similarities are pretty evident: both write in a rather clipped style and much attention is paid to military conflict. There are also some pretty big differences. Cook seems not at all interested in world building--city and town names are given with little detail given to where they are in relationship to each other and there is no map included with the book. In a lot of fantasy, a lot of the story is the journey; here, much of the journey is simply summarized. In the world of the Black Company, these details are not as important as the people who undertake them.

I also found the characters in Cook's world to be much more three-dimensional. This isn't a knock on Erickson, since he is juggling many more characters, but there are certain archetypes that show up in Malazan that serve the same function but in different portions/time periods of the world (comic relief, mysterious old god, etc.).

There was also a romantic thread that ran through all of these three books that started out as coloring and then blossomed into a major plot strand that I particularly liked, as it allowed the hard men and women who inhabit these books a chance to be more human.

I think both Erickson and Cook's works are worthy reads for anyone who enjoys fantasy: both write conflict-heavy page-turners that you'll being racing through to see what happens next. If you're looking for something epic and complicated, then Erickson is your man; if you're prefer something more straightforward and self-contained, then this omnibus is for you. Fans of one author who have never read the other are hereby encouraged to do so.

I'd seen The Black Company books on store shelves for years and never picked one up until I found this omnibus edition. This is down-to-earth swords and sorcery with a group of experienced mercenaries, not a shiny "prince saves the princess" style of storytelling.

If, by chance, you've enjoyed the Thieve's World books, you'll probably like these books as well. I found it quite hard to put the omnibus down, and I actually fell asleep reading while trying to force my way through chapters at 2 AM.

This collection is well worth your time, but be warned... you'll be impatient to dive into the rest of the series once you've finished this volume. It's addictive.

I absolutely loved these books. Lots of surprises and twists and turns. Lots of action with a wisecracking narrator. Plus no boring 5 page descriptions of people you will never hear from again (ala Robet Jordan).

An omnibus of the first three Black Company books.

The Black Company
Shadows Linger
The White Rose


The Black Company is a mercenary for hire unit with a lot history and traditions. One of these is recording its own exploits and personnel via the Annals - which also provides commanders a reference and advice for future situations.

What is different with the setup for this book is that the company in question have chosen to sign up with a woman that is actually an undead sorceress, and she has friends. As in, she is an evil overlord type, and so are the 9 others, but worse things exist. The Company is part of a fight to put down a rebellion.

The Company is famous for fulfililng its contracts, but when they find out the nasty situation they are in some hard choices and quick actions need to be taken.

Military adventure and dark fantasy you would call this, I suppose. Excellent and gripping, and the start of a long series.

4.5 out of 5



A bit of a change of pace, here. There is a major focus on a character in a town that it turns out is harboring Raven, who is doing some organlegging, and also Darling.

Plenty of the usual undead wizard nastiness, as well. There is basically part of the two camps of wizards storyline, as an attempt is made to bring back The Dominator (again). Yet another L v D epic.

Needless to say, there is a battle, and why a career in the Company is maybe not that great an idea.

3 out of 5



Rebellion brewing.
Having defected to the side of the rebels, the Black Company's remnants are in hiding to protect the woman who will have the important role of The White Rose.
The Third book finds them in a strange dirty place surround by warning guardian stone and flying sky whale type creatures as they plot and plan to come up with a way to stop all sorts of evil sorcerers via the White Rose's anti-magic ability.
While the Company and story's style is no longer new, this is still a fine installment.

4 out of 5