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The Books of the South #0.5-2
The Books of the South
Marching south after the ghastly battle at the Tower of Charm, the Black Company is hounded by shadowy figures every inch of the way. The game is on: the Company versus the Shadowmasters, deadly creatures that deal in darkness and sorrow. When hope dies, there's still survival. And there's still the Black Company.
The Book of the South is the second omnibus of novels from one of the greatest fantasy epics of our age, Glen Cook’s Black Company series—collecting Shadow Games, Dreams of Steel, and The Silver Spike.
The Book of the South is the second omnibus of novels from one of the greatest fantasy epics of our age, Glen Cook’s Black Company series—collecting Shadow Games, Dreams of Steel, and The Silver Spike.
671 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
About the author
Glen Cook
137 books3,481 followersGlen Cook was born in New York City, lived in southern Indiana as a small child, then grew up in Northern California. After high school he served in the U.S. Navy and attended the University of Missouri. He worked for General Motors for 33 years, retiring some years ago. He started writing short stories in 7th grade, had several published in a high school literary magazine. He began writing with malicious intent to publish in 1968, eventually producing 51 books and a number of short fiction pieces.
He met his wife of 43 years while attending the Clarion Writer's Workshop in 1970. He has three sons (army officer, architect, orchestral musician) and numerous grandchildren, all of whom but one are female. He is best known for his Black Company series, which has appeared in 20+ languages worldwide. His other series include Dread Empire and and the Garrett, P.I. series. His latest work is Working God’s Mischief, fourth in the Instrumentalities of the Night series.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/glencook
He met his wife of 43 years while attending the Clarion Writer's Workshop in 1970. He has three sons (army officer, architect, orchestral musician) and numerous grandchildren, all of whom but one are female. He is best known for his Black Company series, which has appeared in 20+ languages worldwide. His other series include Dread Empire and and the Garrett, P.I. series. His latest work is Working God’s Mischief, fourth in the Instrumentalities of the Night series.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/glencook
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 222 reviews
December 4, 2019
Great stories and character development for The Lady, but I still have mixed feelings towards Cook’s prose.
The Books of the South consists of Shadow Games, Dreams of Steel, and a spin-off called The Silver Spike. Same as the previous omnibus, I’ll be doing a short spoiler-free review for each book.
Shadow Games: 3.5/5 stars
The Books of the South begins with Shadow Games, which is the fourth installment in The Chronicles of the Black Company. The story continues with the member of the Black Company marching south to Khatovar, the place of the Company’s origin. During their mission, they’re chased and hounded by a new group of enemies called the Shadowmasters. Croaker is back once again as the main narrator, and honestly, although I’ve gotten used to reading his first-person narration, I also have to admit that I get tired from reading his POV quickly. His cynicism and sarcasm are fun in small doses but not for long. Just to give a bit of data, Shadow Games is 220 pages long in this omnibus, and it took me three days to read it; I usually read around 200 or 300 pages a day. I think what made this book a bit boring was the travelogues. Almost the entirety of the novel is The Black Company marching. That being said, I enjoyed reading the characters development in this book, especially for Croaker and The Lady. The last section of this book was filled with battle and eventually ends with a cliffhanger.
Dreams of Steel: 3.5/5 stars
Dreams of Steel is the fifth book within the series; it marks the halfway point of the series. The story picks up immediately from where the cliffhanger left off in Shadow Games. I personally found this book (together with Shadows Linger) to be the best books within the series so far. A huge part of why I enjoyed this one more was the change in the main POV’s perspective. Dreams of Steel is told in multi-perspective but the first-person narration is done by The Lady, hence why it’s also called Book of The Lady. I honestly didn’t expect The Lady to become such an awesome and complex character with a gradual and believable development. I was getting tired of reading Croaker’s first-person perspective for four books now and it felt refreshing to read The Lady’s first-person narration. I’ve also come to realize that I find Cook’s writing to be the most engaging when he’s not writing from Croaker’s first-person perspective.
The Silver Spike: 2/5 stars
After finding the series’ improvement in Dreams of Steel, it was quite disappointing to read The Silver Spike, a spin-off that takes place around the same time of Shadow Games. The plot in this one focuses on the group that didn’t march south with Croaker’s group. Unfortunately, this ended up being the lowest point of the series for me despite being back with some characters we’ve met before that were missing from book 4 and 5. I’m not sure whether reading this before I binged-read Shadow Games and Dreams of Steel would help or not, but reading it right after Dreams of Steel was meh. Considering that the publication dated before the fifth book, I think this was meant to be read before it for a better experience.
The Books of the South served well as an omnibus with a good grimdark story of more or less the same quality as the previous three books. Despite enjoying the main stories, I still have mixed feelings towards Cook’s prose. It’s a huge dilemma for me because I do want to know the continuation to The Lady’s story immediately but I’m going to take a month break before I dive back into this series. Two more omnibuses await, and I plan to finish them before the end of the year.
You can order the book from: Book Depository (Free shipping)
You can find this and the rest of my reviews at Novel Notions
The Books of the South consists of Shadow Games, Dreams of Steel, and a spin-off called The Silver Spike. Same as the previous omnibus, I’ll be doing a short spoiler-free review for each book.
Shadow Games: 3.5/5 stars
The Books of the South begins with Shadow Games, which is the fourth installment in The Chronicles of the Black Company. The story continues with the member of the Black Company marching south to Khatovar, the place of the Company’s origin. During their mission, they’re chased and hounded by a new group of enemies called the Shadowmasters. Croaker is back once again as the main narrator, and honestly, although I’ve gotten used to reading his first-person narration, I also have to admit that I get tired from reading his POV quickly. His cynicism and sarcasm are fun in small doses but not for long. Just to give a bit of data, Shadow Games is 220 pages long in this omnibus, and it took me three days to read it; I usually read around 200 or 300 pages a day. I think what made this book a bit boring was the travelogues. Almost the entirety of the novel is The Black Company marching. That being said, I enjoyed reading the characters development in this book, especially for Croaker and The Lady. The last section of this book was filled with battle and eventually ends with a cliffhanger.
“Every ounce of my cynicism is supported by historical precedent.”
Dreams of Steel: 3.5/5 stars
Dreams of Steel is the fifth book within the series; it marks the halfway point of the series. The story picks up immediately from where the cliffhanger left off in Shadow Games. I personally found this book (together with Shadows Linger) to be the best books within the series so far. A huge part of why I enjoyed this one more was the change in the main POV’s perspective. Dreams of Steel is told in multi-perspective but the first-person narration is done by The Lady, hence why it’s also called Book of The Lady. I honestly didn’t expect The Lady to become such an awesome and complex character with a gradual and believable development. I was getting tired of reading Croaker’s first-person perspective for four books now and it felt refreshing to read The Lady’s first-person narration. I’ve also come to realize that I find Cook’s writing to be the most engaging when he’s not writing from Croaker’s first-person perspective.
“More evil gets done in the name of righteousness than any other way.”
The Silver Spike: 2/5 stars
After finding the series’ improvement in Dreams of Steel, it was quite disappointing to read The Silver Spike, a spin-off that takes place around the same time of Shadow Games. The plot in this one focuses on the group that didn’t march south with Croaker’s group. Unfortunately, this ended up being the lowest point of the series for me despite being back with some characters we’ve met before that were missing from book 4 and 5. I’m not sure whether reading this before I binged-read Shadow Games and Dreams of Steel would help or not, but reading it right after Dreams of Steel was meh. Considering that the publication dated before the fifth book, I think this was meant to be read before it for a better experience.
The Books of the South served well as an omnibus with a good grimdark story of more or less the same quality as the previous three books. Despite enjoying the main stories, I still have mixed feelings towards Cook’s prose. It’s a huge dilemma for me because I do want to know the continuation to The Lady’s story immediately but I’m going to take a month break before I dive back into this series. Two more omnibuses await, and I plan to finish them before the end of the year.
“I guess each of us, at some time, finds one person with whom we are compelled toward absolute honesty, one person whose good opinion of us becomes a substitute for the broader opinion of the world. And that opinion becomes more important than all our sneaky, sleazy schemes of greed, lust, self-aggrandizement, whatever we are up to while lying the world into believing we are just plain nice folks. I was her truth object, and she was mine.”
You can order the book from: Book Depository (Free shipping)
You can find this and the rest of my reviews at Novel Notions
November 20, 2015
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."
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."
April 17, 2024
I read 3 short stories and 9 books of the Black Company Series and maybe with some easygoing on The Silver Spike, this series is one of my top ten favorites.
The Black Company (The Book of the North #1) ⭐9.25/10
Shadows Linger (The Book of the North #2) ⭐9.5/10
The White Rose (The Book of the North #3) ⭐9/10
The Silver Spike 3.5 (The Book of the South #0.5) ⭐6.5/10
Shadow Games 4 (The Book of the South #1) ⭐9.25/10
Dreams of Steel 5 (The Book of the South #2) ⭐9/10
Bleak Seasons 6 (The Book of the Glittering Stone #1) ⭐9/10
She is the Darkness 7 (The Book of the Glittering Stone #2) ⭐8.5/10
Water Sleeps 8 (The Book of the Glittering Stone #3) ⭐8/10
Short Stories:
0.4 Raker
0.5 Smelling Danger
1.2 Tides Elba
1.3 Bone Candy ⭐8/10
2.2 Shaggy Dog Bridge ⭐9/10
2.3 Bone Eaters ⭐8/10
to read list:
BOOK 1.5 Port of Shadows
BOOK 9 Soldiers Live
The Black Company (The Book of the North #1) ⭐9.25/10
Shadows Linger (The Book of the North #2) ⭐9.5/10
The White Rose (The Book of the North #3) ⭐9/10
The Silver Spike 3.5 (The Book of the South #0.5) ⭐6.5/10
Shadow Games 4 (The Book of the South #1) ⭐9.25/10
Dreams of Steel 5 (The Book of the South #2) ⭐9/10
Bleak Seasons 6 (The Book of the Glittering Stone #1) ⭐9/10
She is the Darkness 7 (The Book of the Glittering Stone #2) ⭐8.5/10
Water Sleeps 8 (The Book of the Glittering Stone #3) ⭐8/10
Short Stories:
0.4 Raker
0.5 Smelling Danger
1.2 Tides Elba
1.3 Bone Candy ⭐8/10
2.2 Shaggy Dog Bridge ⭐9/10
2.3 Bone Eaters ⭐8/10
to read list:
BOOK 1.5 Port of Shadows
BOOK 9 Soldiers Live
May 2, 2018
Book 4: Shadow Games
3.5 Stars
Well well well. Who would have thought my feelings towards the black company would be overwhelmingly positive. Not me that's for sure. Books 1-3 left me kind of having a love hate relationship with the series, mainly because i felt the characters were less than developed, Croaker was very sparse with information and the timeline was all wonky.
Black Company series kinda has a bad rep with most of my friends' on GR but i'm here to tell you if you can make it out of the mess that was book 1, it actually is quite good. Notice i didn't say Epic (I still don't know why it's referred to as an Epic fantasy literature but i digress)
Shadow Games opens up after the fallout of the battle at Barrowland, the company is broken and they've decided to retrace their roots and find out their history.
What was overwhelmingly positive for me in book 4 was that the plot was easier to follow, Croaker really stepped up his PoV game and while it wasn't perfect it was infinitely better than previous ones. There's more background on the characters, it's not just names for the most part.
That been said Croaker still sucks at getting your heart rate pumping during battle scenes and i couldn't help but compare him to Duiker (if you know, you know) at such times.
All in all even with some confusing parts in the plot, i still enjoyed this a lot and let me tell you Book 5 is shaping up even better.
BOOK 5 REVIEW:
Gather round fellow fantasy readers and let me tell you how an author finally wrote about a bad ass female protagonist, that was smart because she was smart.. and guess what? could also fall in love and still be smart. By god!!!
This book is basically about one person: LADY and how bad ass she is. Seriously though if the Black Company was left in Lady's hands she would rule the freaking planet. Totally not to be effed with. Gosh i love that woman. Wait where was i? oh yes.. You know what, all i can say is i'm totally a fan of black company right now.
con: i still can't totally picture the whole battle thing. Cook really uses military speak when describing battles so it's more of an analytical thing than feelings. Don't think i'll ever get used to that.
4stars
March 4, 2021
Perhaps the best of the entire Black Company series.
It's with these novels that Croaker, Lady and Murgen venture into the Southlands and Dejagore, and where the reader can experience some of the most memorable scenes in the series.
It's with these novels that Croaker, Lady and Murgen venture into the Southlands and Dejagore, and where the reader can experience some of the most memorable scenes in the series.
August 10, 2015
"We’re going to have such fun. The whole world thinks we’re dead. You can get away with anything when you’re dead.”
July 2, 2017
We returned to the river and sailed down to the Second Cataract. Faster traffic had carried the word that the boys were back. Idon, a bizarre strip of a town, was a ghost city. We saw not a dozen souls there. Once again we had come to a place where the Black company was remembered. That made me uncomfortable.
What had our forebrethren done down here? The Annals went on about the Pastel Wars but did not recall the sort of excesses that would terrify the descendants of the survivors forever.
Below Idon, while we waited to find a bargemaster with guts enough to take us south, I had Murgen plant the standard. Mogaba, as serious as ever, got a ditch dug and our encampment lightly fortified. I swiped a boat and crossed the river and climbed the hills to the ruins of Cho'n Delor. I spent a day roaming that haunted memorial to a dead god, alone except for crows, always wondering about the sort of men who had gone before me.
I suspected and feared that they had been men very much like me. Men caught in the rhythm and motion and pace, unable to wriggle free.
The Annalist who recorded the epic struggle that took place while the Company was in service to the Paingod had written a lot of words, sometimes going into too great a detail about the daily minutiae, but he had had very little to say about the men with whom he had served. Most had left their mark only when he recorded their passing.
I have been accused of the same. It has been said that too often when I bother to mention someone in particular it is only as a name of the slain. And maybe there's truth in that. Or maybe that's getting it backward. There is always pain in writing about those who have perished before me. Even when I mention them only in passing. These are my brethren, my family. Now, almost, my children. These Annals are their memorial. And my catharsis. But even as a child I was a master at damping and concealing my emotions.
Shadow Games: 4 stars
Dreams of Steel: 4 1/4 stars
The Silver Spike: 4 1/2 stars
4 1/2 stars
What had our forebrethren done down here? The Annals went on about the Pastel Wars but did not recall the sort of excesses that would terrify the descendants of the survivors forever.
Below Idon, while we waited to find a bargemaster with guts enough to take us south, I had Murgen plant the standard. Mogaba, as serious as ever, got a ditch dug and our encampment lightly fortified. I swiped a boat and crossed the river and climbed the hills to the ruins of Cho'n Delor. I spent a day roaming that haunted memorial to a dead god, alone except for crows, always wondering about the sort of men who had gone before me.
I suspected and feared that they had been men very much like me. Men caught in the rhythm and motion and pace, unable to wriggle free.
The Annalist who recorded the epic struggle that took place while the Company was in service to the Paingod had written a lot of words, sometimes going into too great a detail about the daily minutiae, but he had had very little to say about the men with whom he had served. Most had left their mark only when he recorded their passing.
I have been accused of the same. It has been said that too often when I bother to mention someone in particular it is only as a name of the slain. And maybe there's truth in that. Or maybe that's getting it backward. There is always pain in writing about those who have perished before me. Even when I mention them only in passing. These are my brethren, my family. Now, almost, my children. These Annals are their memorial. And my catharsis. But even as a child I was a master at damping and concealing my emotions.
Shadow Games: 4 stars
Dreams of Steel: 4 1/4 stars
The Silver Spike: 4 1/2 stars
4 1/2 stars
December 10, 2010
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.
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.
May 25, 2011
The second omnibus both wraps up some loose ends from the end of Book 3 and sets the stage for the Black Company's next adventure.
The Silver Spike which follows Raven, Silent, and Darling is probaby the weakest book in the series to me. I think this is because as minor characters or seen in brief glimpses during the first 3 books, they work well. But on center stage, they have a tendency to falter and can become boring at times. Nonetheless, the story itself is pretty good and gives closure to those characters.
The other two books are great additions to the series, adding new layers to characters, their relationships, and to the mysterious history of the Black Company. We also see several new characters that will be around for awhile and add much more depth to the overall story. Another plus (or negative depending on your opinion) is that we see other POVs besides Croaker for the first time. This is something that will continue in subsequent books.
I'd give the second omnibus 4.5 stars simply because the drop off in quality regarding The Silver Spike.
The Silver Spike which follows Raven, Silent, and Darling is probaby the weakest book in the series to me. I think this is because as minor characters or seen in brief glimpses during the first 3 books, they work well. But on center stage, they have a tendency to falter and can become boring at times. Nonetheless, the story itself is pretty good and gives closure to those characters.
The other two books are great additions to the series, adding new layers to characters, their relationships, and to the mysterious history of the Black Company. We also see several new characters that will be around for awhile and add much more depth to the overall story. Another plus (or negative depending on your opinion) is that we see other POVs besides Croaker for the first time. This is something that will continue in subsequent books.
I'd give the second omnibus 4.5 stars simply because the drop off in quality regarding The Silver Spike.
July 1, 2017
Silver spike 3 stars, so in total 3.67 stars 😀
February 6, 2017
From the first page of The Black Company to the last page of the Silver Spike this series has been a rollercoaster. I struggled to get into the first book, but then was dragged along, a willing partner in a gang of mercenaries' escapades.
Sometimes it's hard to watch characters change and evolve when we like them from the beginning - and it was. But, none changed in a way that was out of place or made me feel like they were being driven by the outside force of a writer not totally set on who his characters are. The plane was never broken.
Like the Chronicles of the Black Company, The Books of the South is three books wrapped into an omnibus edition. They were all filled with unexpected twists and left me longing to warn the characters I've grown attached to. The Silver Spike, in the last ten pages or so, fell a little short. What happened needed to happen, but how it happened felt a little strained. The story though is solid.
Separately, I may have shorted the Silver Spike a half a star, but together this series is still holding my interest so tightly I giggled like a child when I went to my shelves and found two more books instead of just one. I'm looking forward to another evening with the Black Company tonight over a cup of coffee.
Sometimes it's hard to watch characters change and evolve when we like them from the beginning - and it was. But, none changed in a way that was out of place or made me feel like they were being driven by the outside force of a writer not totally set on who his characters are. The plane was never broken.
Like the Chronicles of the Black Company, The Books of the South is three books wrapped into an omnibus edition. They were all filled with unexpected twists and left me longing to warn the characters I've grown attached to. The Silver Spike, in the last ten pages or so, fell a little short. What happened needed to happen, but how it happened felt a little strained. The story though is solid.
Separately, I may have shorted the Silver Spike a half a star, but together this series is still holding my interest so tightly I giggled like a child when I went to my shelves and found two more books instead of just one. I'm looking forward to another evening with the Black Company tonight over a cup of coffee.
October 11, 2021
I've read quite a few reviews while reading this chronicle and noticed that everyone rated the Silver Spike poorly. I actually enjoyed it. It was different from the others. For starters, for once the majority of the story was actually based in one location. There wasn't any back and forth as is customary for the previous titles. I felt as one with the characters, especially the newer ones. Secondly it gave the reader a chance know the city where the plot took place.
I will admit that the fight scenes were a bit rushed especially leading up to the end, but I've now grown accustomed to Cook's writing style.
All books were a great read. I give them a 4 out of 5 across the board. I'm loving the story so far.
I will admit that the fight scenes were a bit rushed especially leading up to the end, but I've now grown accustomed to Cook's writing style.
All books were a great read. I give them a 4 out of 5 across the board. I'm loving the story so far.
February 16, 2010
Thus begins the overlong tale of the Black Company's search for their origins as the "last of the Free Companies of Khatovar."
This collection follows up where the first trilogy (collected in Chronicles of the Black Company) leaves off. Twice actually, as the first two books cover the Black Company itself, while the third deals with what happened back North after they left.
As I write this I realize that I actually enjoyed the books in this collection nearly as much as the original, it's just that they lead to a conclusion that never actually seems to happen.
They also set up some new themes for the series which later proved to be annoying: namely the constant return of the same threats, over and over, no matter how well they seem to have been dealt with in their previous appearance. I suppose there's something here to be said about the difficulty of eradicating evil, but it just didn't work for me.
Also, the thing that most attracted me to the series, the point of view of minions working for an evil overlord, is missing since the end of the original trilogy.
If the follow up to these books had been as good, then I would recommend them, unfortunately I have to say that stopping with the original trilogy is probably the better bet.
This collection follows up where the first trilogy (collected in Chronicles of the Black Company) leaves off. Twice actually, as the first two books cover the Black Company itself, while the third deals with what happened back North after they left.
As I write this I realize that I actually enjoyed the books in this collection nearly as much as the original, it's just that they lead to a conclusion that never actually seems to happen.
They also set up some new themes for the series which later proved to be annoying: namely the constant return of the same threats, over and over, no matter how well they seem to have been dealt with in their previous appearance. I suppose there's something here to be said about the difficulty of eradicating evil, but it just didn't work for me.
Also, the thing that most attracted me to the series, the point of view of minions working for an evil overlord, is missing since the end of the original trilogy.
If the follow up to these books had been as good, then I would recommend them, unfortunately I have to say that stopping with the original trilogy is probably the better bet.
May 3, 2011
Like many others I liked the first two books in this volume, and since they carried on the storyline from the previous volume I did not find it too incongruous when Lady became the narrator. In fact since Croaker had regularly pointed out that he was getting old and had exceeded the life expectancy of one in his line of work I had always assumed that at some point a change in narrators would be necessary.
Also like others I found the third book in this volume more jarring though. It ties in to the world certainly, and I definitely enjoyed reading about what had happened in the north, but the narration is different and seems a bit out of place. That the next volume switches back to the south again... makes this third book seem almost like a behind the scenes/ cutting room floor mini-sode. Overall I enjoyed the volume though and it left me looking forward to the next which I started the following day.
Also like others I found the third book in this volume more jarring though. It ties in to the world certainly, and I definitely enjoyed reading about what had happened in the north, but the narration is different and seems a bit out of place. That the next volume switches back to the south again... makes this third book seem almost like a behind the scenes/ cutting room floor mini-sode. Overall I enjoyed the volume though and it left me looking forward to the next which I started the following day.
October 8, 2008
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.
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.
April 26, 2021
I close the Book of Lady :'(
Hice súper bien en leer The Silver Spike primero. Ahora que leeré el siguiente libro tengo fresco el plot de los otros dos.
Hice súper bien en leer The Silver Spike primero. Ahora que leeré el siguiente libro tengo fresco el plot de los otros dos.
December 27, 2020
The Silver Spike:
6.3/10
This book was the first one out of the series that felt a little ehh. I know that this was not an actual main title in this series but rather a spin-off, but it still felt almost unnecessary. All this book did was find a way to fully tie up and end off the white rose and black company men that decided to stay north. In classic Cook style this was done by ending the story with almost no one left standing. While the necessity of the story is questionable, it still was very interesting and kept me engaged. My main complaint though was the length of the book itself. It felt like Cook wanted to close this chapter of the series, but he didn’t need a whole book to do it. Multiple times throughout the book I felt like it could have ended but instead, through some pretty obvious oversight by some characters, it continued on. While I still enjoyed the book itself and love more opportunity to spend time in this world, it felt a little empty compared to previous entries.
Shadow Games:
7.7/10
After the excellent ending of The White Rose and the lackluster follow-up that was The Silver Spike, I wasn’t sure how this continuation of the other half of the black company would unfold. With only about half of the few black company members left in existence deciding to go with Croaker to the south this felt like the beginning of a new story. This book only starting off following 7 named characters was quite different than the first 4 books, but it worked well I think. We got a lot more character development with these 7 (I assume to now be main) characters which I think helped now that the cast is so shrunk down. Plot wise, this was a little bit of a slow book up until the last ¼ of it with the majority of the book being just traveling thousands of miles to the south. While it was not as action packed as the other 4 books, the world building was amazing as we got to see entirely new sections of the world and got a feel of how vast this world really is. Not sure how I feel with the ending of the book though. It was definitely an unexpected change up to have the black company get obliterated for once but I’m a little worried about how a certain thing will affect the narration of the proceeding books.
Dreams of Steel:
8.2/10
Out of the three Books of the South, this was by far my favorite. While the cast of known characters was once again greatly cut down to pretty much Croaker and Lady as well as some side characters, it did introduce a good number of new ones. I very much enjoyed how the majority of the book written from Lady’s perspective. While Croaker was a great narrator, it was interesting to dig deeper into how the Lady thinks and operates since, as Cook has explained many times before, Croaker can be a very biased and unreliable narrator. Plot wise this book continues on where Shadow Games ended off and ties most of the plot points up. Similar to The Black Company and The White Rose this book is very militaristic and focused around the continuation of the war with the Shadowmasters. It seems like the next four books will have to do with the Glittering Stone and the real history of the Free Companies of Khatovar and I am quite excited to see how Cook ends this series.
The Books of the South Score:
7.4/10
6.3/10
This book was the first one out of the series that felt a little ehh. I know that this was not an actual main title in this series but rather a spin-off, but it still felt almost unnecessary. All this book did was find a way to fully tie up and end off the white rose and black company men that decided to stay north. In classic Cook style this was done by ending the story with almost no one left standing. While the necessity of the story is questionable, it still was very interesting and kept me engaged. My main complaint though was the length of the book itself. It felt like Cook wanted to close this chapter of the series, but he didn’t need a whole book to do it. Multiple times throughout the book I felt like it could have ended but instead, through some pretty obvious oversight by some characters, it continued on. While I still enjoyed the book itself and love more opportunity to spend time in this world, it felt a little empty compared to previous entries.
Shadow Games:
7.7/10
After the excellent ending of The White Rose and the lackluster follow-up that was The Silver Spike, I wasn’t sure how this continuation of the other half of the black company would unfold. With only about half of the few black company members left in existence deciding to go with Croaker to the south this felt like the beginning of a new story. This book only starting off following 7 named characters was quite different than the first 4 books, but it worked well I think. We got a lot more character development with these 7 (I assume to now be main) characters which I think helped now that the cast is so shrunk down. Plot wise, this was a little bit of a slow book up until the last ¼ of it with the majority of the book being just traveling thousands of miles to the south. While it was not as action packed as the other 4 books, the world building was amazing as we got to see entirely new sections of the world and got a feel of how vast this world really is. Not sure how I feel with the ending of the book though. It was definitely an unexpected change up to have the black company get obliterated for once but I’m a little worried about how a certain thing will affect the narration of the proceeding books.
Dreams of Steel:
8.2/10
Out of the three Books of the South, this was by far my favorite. While the cast of known characters was once again greatly cut down to pretty much Croaker and Lady as well as some side characters, it did introduce a good number of new ones. I very much enjoyed how the majority of the book written from Lady’s perspective. While Croaker was a great narrator, it was interesting to dig deeper into how the Lady thinks and operates since, as Cook has explained many times before, Croaker can be a very biased and unreliable narrator. Plot wise this book continues on where Shadow Games ended off and ties most of the plot points up. Similar to The Black Company and The White Rose this book is very militaristic and focused around the continuation of the war with the Shadowmasters. It seems like the next four books will have to do with the Glittering Stone and the real history of the Free Companies of Khatovar and I am quite excited to see how Cook ends this series.
The Books of the South Score:
7.4/10
January 4, 2022
Book 4: Shadow Games finished Nov 14 2021
This second three-book story arc is quite the departure. When it kicks off, the Company is an unemployed remnant of its former glory, with single-digit membership and led not by a field officer but by its medic/historian. They set out south to return the Annals to the mythical city of Khatovar.
Plot points:
---------------------------------------
Book 5: Dreams of Steel finished December 20 2021
The first Book of Lady. Lady takes over as annalist and begins to build a powerbase from scratch (and it's a very competent blueprint of how a benevolent despot might accrue power). Her sister schemes vengeance in the background, and the two remaining Shadowmasters jockey for power against Taglios as well as each other.
This volume checks in on the slow side as battles take a backseat to positioning and intrigue. Goblin and One-Eye don't even appear except in news accounts. But it leaves anticipation high for the trilogy's conclusion.
Plot points:
---------------------------------------
Book 6: The Silver Spike finished January 3 2022
Not so much a Book of the South, as it follows the characters left behind in the north--Raven, Bomanz, Darling et al--while Croaker and Lady are off battling Shadowmancers. [Update: Turns out there are only two books in the Books of the South trilogy. The Silver Spike was smushed in here to fatten up this compendium.]
The Limper springs back to life AGAIN and rains indiscriminate hell on the North, forcing the White Rose and her allies out of retirement. We walk with several favorite old characters and some great new ones, and we get a glimpse at how the Empire manages in the Lady's absence. (Spoiler: It does remarkably well.)
An interesting minor element: Cook, in the form of Raven's young soldier buddy Case, makes a lengthy, reasoned...um, case...for Empire over Rebellion. The previous system was feudal and most of the population were slaves in function if not name. The backbone of the Rebellion was comprised of lords who wanted a return to the status quo ante. Under the Empire, the serfs were free enough to work their own land, feed their families, and have a bit left over even in lean years. Freedommmm! makes a great rally cry but the devil is in the details.
Plot points:
This second three-book story arc is quite the departure. When it kicks off, the Company is an unemployed remnant of its former glory, with single-digit membership and led not by a field officer but by its medic/historian. They set out south to return the Annals to the mythical city of Khatovar.
Plot points:
---------------------------------------
Book 5: Dreams of Steel finished December 20 2021
The first Book of Lady. Lady takes over as annalist and begins to build a powerbase from scratch (and it's a very competent blueprint of how a benevolent despot might accrue power). Her sister schemes vengeance in the background, and the two remaining Shadowmasters jockey for power against Taglios as well as each other.
This volume checks in on the slow side as battles take a backseat to positioning and intrigue. Goblin and One-Eye don't even appear except in news accounts. But it leaves anticipation high for the trilogy's conclusion.
Plot points:
---------------------------------------
Book 6: The Silver Spike finished January 3 2022
Not so much a Book of the South, as it follows the characters left behind in the north--Raven, Bomanz, Darling et al--while Croaker and Lady are off battling Shadowmancers. [Update: Turns out there are only two books in the Books of the South trilogy. The Silver Spike was smushed in here to fatten up this compendium.]
The Limper springs back to life AGAIN and rains indiscriminate hell on the North, forcing the White Rose and her allies out of retirement. We walk with several favorite old characters and some great new ones, and we get a glimpse at how the Empire manages in the Lady's absence. (Spoiler: It does remarkably well.)
An interesting minor element: Cook, in the form of Raven's young soldier buddy Case, makes a lengthy, reasoned...um, case...for Empire over Rebellion. The previous system was feudal and most of the population were slaves in function if not name. The backbone of the Rebellion was comprised of lords who wanted a return to the status quo ante. Under the Empire, the serfs were free enough to work their own land, feed their families, and have a bit left over even in lean years. Freedommmm! makes a great rally cry but the devil is in the details.
Plot points:
April 8, 2010
The Books of the South: Tales of the Black Company
Glen Cook
Publisher: Tor Books; 1st edition (June 10, 2008)
The Books of the South is an omnibus that collects three books in the Glen Cook's Black Company Series. The first two books, Shadow Games and Dreams of Steel, deal with the company's journey south after the events of the White Rose . The last book, the Silver Spike, deals with the titular object, and events surrounding it's fate.
Shadow Games picks up shortly after the end of the White Rose, with Croaker now in charge of the remnants of the Black Company. He's decided to march them south to the city of Khatovar, which is where the Company supposedly originated. Of course, the book would be pretty boring if they just got home fine, so there's a lot of complications, mostly courtesy of the Shadowmasters, a new group of antagonists who have a problem with the Black Company...
Like previous books in the series, the narration jumps around in perspective and person; Croaker narrates the portions he participates in directly, while other chapters switch to the third-person narrative. It's a little jarring at first, but Cook's writing is engaging and consistent enough in tone that it's easy to get absorbed in pretty quickly. Despite not having revisited the Black Company series in a few years, I was able to get caught back up pretty quickly, which was nice.
Nothing is worse than jumping into a new book and realizing you need to re-read three other ones just to know what's going on (GRRM, I'm looking at you).
While Shadow Games is fun and engaging, the plot of it is glacially slow. Really. The whole book is set up for Dreams of Steel, which isn't much of a problem when you've got a collection, but I can't imagine how frustrating this would have been to read by itself. I found myself constantly checking the page count, wondering how much I had left, and when something was actuallygoing to happen. Fortunately, I was able to just jump right into Dreams of Steel .
While the plot of Shadow Games is almost all set up, Dreams of Steel is a plot in motion. The first-person narration duties get shifted to another character (for reasons I won't get into), and the plots that were set up in Shadow Games start crashing forward at a rapid pace. There's a lot more twists, turns, and double crosses, but it's all very, very engaging.
It also does not resolve itself at ALL.
Which leads me to my big complaint about this collection.
Many, many years ago, I attended a writing lecture by Michael Stackpole (an author I still have yet to read, oddly). In it, Stackpole said that his worst nightmare was to be stuck in an airport where the airport bookstore was stocked only with the second book in a trilogy. His reasoning was that most authors tend to write the middle book of a trilogy as a cliffhanger, which makes it totally unreadable on it's own.
This is precisely the problem with the Books of the South. Or rather, it's the problem with two-thirds of the Books of the South; they set up a very interesting story and scenario, but don't end it. Frankly, it doesn't even give you an acceptable stopping point. Now, my beloved JRR Tolkien does the same thing in the Two Towers, but that doesn't make it right.
The third book, the Silver Spike, is actually a self-contained story, but has very little to do with the previous two books. It moves back up north to revisit Darling, Raven, and a few other characters who were left out of the Books of the South. It's a well-written novel, and I enjoyed it, but I also found myself wondering why I cared about this story when stuff down south hadn't resolved. I thought maybe things would all tie together at the end, but no such luck. If there is a tie-in, it happens in a later book.
So is this collection worth it? If you read the first Black Company Series. , and want more military fantasy action, yes. If you DIDN'T read the first trilogy, start with that before moving on to this one. Reading this the collection alone will just give you a headache.
(Like this review? Visit my Amazon store and pick up a copy, or any number of other titles I've reviewed and recommended.)
Glen Cook
Publisher: Tor Books; 1st edition (June 10, 2008)
The Books of the South is an omnibus that collects three books in the Glen Cook's Black Company Series. The first two books, Shadow Games and Dreams of Steel, deal with the company's journey south after the events of the White Rose . The last book, the Silver Spike, deals with the titular object, and events surrounding it's fate.
Shadow Games picks up shortly after the end of the White Rose, with Croaker now in charge of the remnants of the Black Company. He's decided to march them south to the city of Khatovar, which is where the Company supposedly originated. Of course, the book would be pretty boring if they just got home fine, so there's a lot of complications, mostly courtesy of the Shadowmasters, a new group of antagonists who have a problem with the Black Company...
Like previous books in the series, the narration jumps around in perspective and person; Croaker narrates the portions he participates in directly, while other chapters switch to the third-person narrative. It's a little jarring at first, but Cook's writing is engaging and consistent enough in tone that it's easy to get absorbed in pretty quickly. Despite not having revisited the Black Company series in a few years, I was able to get caught back up pretty quickly, which was nice.
Nothing is worse than jumping into a new book and realizing you need to re-read three other ones just to know what's going on (GRRM, I'm looking at you).
While Shadow Games is fun and engaging, the plot of it is glacially slow. Really. The whole book is set up for Dreams of Steel, which isn't much of a problem when you've got a collection, but I can't imagine how frustrating this would have been to read by itself. I found myself constantly checking the page count, wondering how much I had left, and when something was actuallygoing to happen. Fortunately, I was able to just jump right into Dreams of Steel .
While the plot of Shadow Games is almost all set up, Dreams of Steel is a plot in motion. The first-person narration duties get shifted to another character (for reasons I won't get into), and the plots that were set up in Shadow Games start crashing forward at a rapid pace. There's a lot more twists, turns, and double crosses, but it's all very, very engaging.
It also does not resolve itself at ALL.
Which leads me to my big complaint about this collection.
Many, many years ago, I attended a writing lecture by Michael Stackpole (an author I still have yet to read, oddly). In it, Stackpole said that his worst nightmare was to be stuck in an airport where the airport bookstore was stocked only with the second book in a trilogy. His reasoning was that most authors tend to write the middle book of a trilogy as a cliffhanger, which makes it totally unreadable on it's own.
This is precisely the problem with the Books of the South. Or rather, it's the problem with two-thirds of the Books of the South; they set up a very interesting story and scenario, but don't end it. Frankly, it doesn't even give you an acceptable stopping point. Now, my beloved JRR Tolkien does the same thing in the Two Towers, but that doesn't make it right.
The third book, the Silver Spike, is actually a self-contained story, but has very little to do with the previous two books. It moves back up north to revisit Darling, Raven, and a few other characters who were left out of the Books of the South. It's a well-written novel, and I enjoyed it, but I also found myself wondering why I cared about this story when stuff down south hadn't resolved. I thought maybe things would all tie together at the end, but no such luck. If there is a tie-in, it happens in a later book.
So is this collection worth it? If you read the first Black Company Series. , and want more military fantasy action, yes. If you DIDN'T read the first trilogy, start with that before moving on to this one. Reading this the collection alone will just give you a headache.
(Like this review? Visit my Amazon store and pick up a copy, or any number of other titles I've reviewed and recommended.)
August 16, 2021
Shadow Games is very good and plays intrigue super well.
Dreams of Steel might have been my favorite yet. Both of the first two books in this collection continue the series' longstanding tradition of being foul and containing violence, rape, and racism. I am finding it more and more difficult to decide whether it's the setting's or Cook's.
The Silver Spike was riveting but boy did it set the dragging after a fashion, and it really does away with the series' third most important character and silences them for most of it. Not so bad the series is ruined for me, but not grand enough I'll be imagining it for the rest of my life. Also another devoted pedophile is a protagonist for the third book here so there's that.
Dreams of Steel might have been my favorite yet. Both of the first two books in this collection continue the series' longstanding tradition of being foul and containing violence, rape, and racism. I am finding it more and more difficult to decide whether it's the setting's or Cook's.
The Silver Spike was riveting but boy did it set the dragging after a fashion, and it really does away with the series' third most important character and silences them for most of it. Not so bad the series is ruined for me, but not grand enough I'll be imagining it for the rest of my life. Also another devoted pedophile is a protagonist for the third book here so there's that.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 9, 2021
Not quite as good as the first (three) book(s), but nevertheless really exciting to read. As a non-native speaker I love that so many parts of the book are written in slang, from the perspective of simple soldiers or people. Challenging, but a lot of fun. And I still love that fact that Cook's writing is so different from most other fantasy books, giving it a more "in-your-face guerilla style", always with a wink. The best about the books!
November 26, 2021
Two-part series of the Black Company's adventures in the South as they trace their history, and a spin-off that gives a closure to Raven and Darling (though kinda unnecessary in my opinion). Not as good as the Books of the North but still enjoyable for the most part.
October 20, 2018
I really enjoyed the first two parts of this book but I struggled with the silver spike until the last part of it. Onto the next book now.
July 7, 2020
Another great (3) book(s) about the Black Company and worldevents!
Definitly a must read if you have read the first book(s) in The Chronicles of the Black Company.
The first 2 books describe the adventures of the Black Company going South (it's so hard to not spoil anything).
The last book, does not tell directly about the Black Company, still great, but it's better to keep this in mind. It describes events that happen after they leave. Introducing new and old characters.
Only downside: still counts as 1 book for your reading challenge.
Definitly a must read if you have read the first book(s) in The Chronicles of the Black Company.
The first 2 books describe the adventures of the Black Company going South (it's so hard to not spoil anything).
The last book, does not tell directly about the Black Company, still great, but it's better to keep this in mind. It describes events that happen after they leave. Introducing new and old characters.
Only downside: still counts as 1 book for your reading challenge.
October 1, 2021
*Read in 2016, but my review has disappeared for some reason. So I’m reposting it (2021)*
I enjoyed this omnibus much better than the first one for some reason. Plenty of action sequences, paired with magic slinging sorcerers, malignant creatures, and rounded out with a bit of dark humour.
I enjoyed this omnibus much better than the first one for some reason. Plenty of action sequences, paired with magic slinging sorcerers, malignant creatures, and rounded out with a bit of dark humour.
April 12, 2021
Glen Cook is a special storyteller. A witty and flippant journey told by three acompletely different characters, nearly in parallel, as well as intertwined narrative and it never gets boring. Not to mention, I just love the idea of The Black Company.
July 5, 2019
I began reading this omnibus with expectations set high by the adventures of the last of the Free Companies of Khatovar, the badass Black Company. Yet, I ended up with somewhat mixed feelings, resulting in 3-3.5 stars.
Let’s not jump in front of the cart and let’s check what happens to the Company first.
***Shadow Games***
The Company, reduced to seven during the battle in Barrowland, follows the newly elected Captain’s – Croaker’s – command on the quest to discover the origin of the Company. Retracing their steps of the Forsberger campaigns, the Company marches south together with the Lady, down to the Jewel cities and beyond, chasing its own past. Following the Company through tens of ancient cities and civilizations in the Southern continent all the way down to the faraway city of Taglios, the reader uncovers bits and scraps of the legacy of the Black Company, which may be darker than one thinks…
Along with dark premonition of the ancient, ghosts from the recent past trail the heels of the Company, new powers standing their way, surrounding them with enemies and shadows for reasons not yet known. New players, new alliances, conflicting interests, mysteries, manipulations and deceit – hail the Company going home! To fulfil the quest of finding the mythical origins of the Company, Croaker recruits some highly unexpected forces and strikes a shaky deal with the Taglians, involving himself and the Company in a web of intrigues and the war against the mysterious Shadowmasters.
***Dreams of Steel***
War against the Shadowmasters is costly. The battle of Dejagore over, the standard and the Captain of the Black Company, Croaker, seemingly vanish without a trace, only to be captured by a mischievous ghost from the past. His surviving brothers in arms suffer a heavy siege in Dejagore by the Shadowmasters. Dire come the times!
The only hope remains – Lady. Awoken in a battlefield under a pile of corpses, she rises and swears revenge upon the Shadowmasters. While seeking for a way to survive, she comes across survivors of the battle of Dejagore. Having set religious and caste divisions aside, they join forces with Lady, helping her army grow. Yet something troubling hangs in the air – are their purposes the same as those of Lady and Taglios?
Chased by nightmares sent by powers that rather be not mentioned, Lady becomes entangled with an ancient murderous cult. And yet the shadows and ghosts from the past still watch her every single step…
***Silver Spike***
A side story following up the adventures of the former members of the Black Company and the rebels of the White Rose after the battle in Barrowland. The evils of the Domination era destroyed, all should be quiet on the Northern Front. Now how’s that for wishful thinking?
Some evil always remains, keen to propagate evil and take it out on those that wronged it before. Remember some loose ends of the battle in Barrowland? The Toadkiller Dog is back and ready to look for back up. And back up will he get. Since Lady’s gone and only the Spike of evil left of the Dominator, is there anyone to stop their vendetta against humanity?
As if that does not suffice, the Silver Spike gets stolen. The future of the North again goes to the hands of the White Rose and her companions…
***
So far, so good. What was that about the mixed feelings, then?
ALERT: this section may contain some spoilers. Apart from that, whatever’s written below, is only a subjective opinion of mine and it’s up to you whether to argue or to agree. I respect both positions.
Getting back to the Books of the South.
What I liked about the first three books, was the characters, camaraderie within the Company, its being completely badass, the suspense and the adrenaline rush I get just by turning pages. And… Did I mention the characters?
The battle against the Dominator absolutely changes the characters and their power balance. I can understand both, but… boy, did that make me uncomfortable. Sadly, a minus for me.
Because in Shadow Games Croaker is the Captain (and the legate of the Lady’s Empire) now, he’s got so much less time for being the physician and the Annalist of the Company. And that does reflect on the Annals. We get less philosophy on the good and the evil, and the moral grey. Which I miss… Plus, he’s so into playing Captain now, he even bosses Lady from time to time.
In parallel, because the Lady has lost her powers, she’s just… Lady. Withdrawn into herself, having lost the power to scare Croaker to death and captivate him at the same time (captivation remains, but without her power to creep it’s only… sweet). Without her aura of terror and scheming bitchy plotting (except for the Shifter thingy), (the) Lady felt out of her character. Definitely “Under My Thumb” kind of shift. Logical, but awkward. Glad to see her recovering some traits of her old self in Dreams of Steel, but that will take a long way. If.
Despite this, a pleasant surprise scene was Lady discovering traces of Croaker’s presence in the Temple of Kina. Left even a stronger impression on the romantic nature of Croaker. <3
We see way less of Goblin and One-Eye clowning. Especially Goblin. Their fight scenes a bit overdone in the earlier books, but I was expecting more - they reduced the tension amazingly. Soldier humour, ha.
Similarly, with the deaths of so many men of the Company, camaraderie went to hell, too. No tonk (I enjoyed humorous, emotional descriptions of the game). Just a matter-of-fact relationship with the new members (except for Lady). Which is probably normal – the curse of being the Commander, plus it takes time to build new relationships, especially in a group of people battered so bad. But the Company was so much about them against the world. Where did that go?
Tension. When reading the chapters on the Company in service of the Syndic of Beryl or on Raker and the descriptions of Juniper and the black castle, I had goosebumps all over. They’re gone now. Shadow Games felt so much like a travel guide. Charm, Opal, Beryl, Padora, D’loc Aloc, Gea-Xle, Taglios and tens of towns in between. Tension gone for the most part, me just sitting and waiting for action to happen. Until the battle of Dejagore. There were some atmospheric, scary scenes, but was hoping for more. The Deceiver plot in Dreams of Steel was a bit slow too.
New characters. We get some characters that, sadly, do not contribute to the plot much (yes, I mean you guys, Willow and Cordy). Others set expectations which they don’t meet. Had some expectations for Smoke in the beginning, but found him and his fearful whining about the Company annoying. Don’t whine and cower, do something about it! Even when he tries to do something for Taglios, he ends up benefitting the enemy. Clap, clap, clap. Also, the fact that he hoards and hides the most exciting information about the Company’s past from them and the readers, drives me mad.
As for other characters, I still have some credit in the Radisha, though, hope that she contributes to the plot more later in the story. Same for the Nar, by the way. Quite enjoyed the imp and would be happy to see more of him in later books.
As for Taglios, that was a bit too close to stereotypes on ancient India for my liking, but seems to serve the plot OK.
To sum up, despite the moaning above, I liked the Books of the South, albeit less than the first three books on the Black Company. Depending on how the series goes, may or may not want to re-read them. 3.5 stars?
***
Now. Silver Spike.
Would have been quite unhappy with how this story turned out, but realised that the author published these three books in quite a short period of time (~1989-90?). It’s difficult to write well quickly.
Again. Changes in characters. The bits told from the point of view of Philodendron Case essentially refer to what happens to Raven. He was one of my favourite characters in the Books of the North. I found him complex – mysterious desperado with a well expressed dark side, chasing and being chased by devils, and with a potentially hidden poor, anguished boy inside that needs a hug. He is but a shadow of what he used to be in Silver Spike and strangely naïve in that he hopes to redeem himself in the eyes of Darling. I would have expected him to be a bitter, hardened-hearted man. Pretty much what he was in Juniper. By the way, Case seems more mature and cynic here than he was depicted in the White Rose.
Maybe these transformations are OK considering their experiences, but not 100% persuaded.
Same thing with the resurrected character (you know who ;)) from the past. Before him becoming the wicker/clay man, I’ve seen this character as the victim of circumstances. He is now but a zombie! Which is too diminishing considering what he used to be.
The plot is a bit too mish-mashed for my liking. You get the wicker/clay man and Toadkiller Dog follow Raven and Case following the Black Company half a world down, then suddenly, abracadabra, everyone goes back North to retrieve the Silver Spike from the thieves in Oar! Hallelujah, the most useless U-turn since the Company’s march East only to be told to march to Juniper (even surpassing that, actually)!
I found the finale disappointing, too. A premature battle with some weakly presented useless magicians, lured by the power of the Spike. And the treatment of the main characters… Would like to unread it, if I could. They do deserve a better delivery if not fate…
Would rate the Silver Spike with 2 stars out of 5.
Collectively, 3 stars out of 5 for the whole omnibus, although I’d like to rate it higher.
Fingers crossed for the further story!
Let’s not jump in front of the cart and let’s check what happens to the Company first.
***Shadow Games***
The Company, reduced to seven during the battle in Barrowland, follows the newly elected Captain’s – Croaker’s – command on the quest to discover the origin of the Company. Retracing their steps of the Forsberger campaigns, the Company marches south together with the Lady, down to the Jewel cities and beyond, chasing its own past. Following the Company through tens of ancient cities and civilizations in the Southern continent all the way down to the faraway city of Taglios, the reader uncovers bits and scraps of the legacy of the Black Company, which may be darker than one thinks…
Along with dark premonition of the ancient, ghosts from the recent past trail the heels of the Company, new powers standing their way, surrounding them with enemies and shadows for reasons not yet known. New players, new alliances, conflicting interests, mysteries, manipulations and deceit – hail the Company going home! To fulfil the quest of finding the mythical origins of the Company, Croaker recruits some highly unexpected forces and strikes a shaky deal with the Taglians, involving himself and the Company in a web of intrigues and the war against the mysterious Shadowmasters.
***Dreams of Steel***
War against the Shadowmasters is costly. The battle of Dejagore over, the standard and the Captain of the Black Company, Croaker, seemingly vanish without a trace, only to be captured by a mischievous ghost from the past. His surviving brothers in arms suffer a heavy siege in Dejagore by the Shadowmasters. Dire come the times!
The only hope remains – Lady. Awoken in a battlefield under a pile of corpses, she rises and swears revenge upon the Shadowmasters. While seeking for a way to survive, she comes across survivors of the battle of Dejagore. Having set religious and caste divisions aside, they join forces with Lady, helping her army grow. Yet something troubling hangs in the air – are their purposes the same as those of Lady and Taglios?
Chased by nightmares sent by powers that rather be not mentioned, Lady becomes entangled with an ancient murderous cult. And yet the shadows and ghosts from the past still watch her every single step…
***Silver Spike***
A side story following up the adventures of the former members of the Black Company and the rebels of the White Rose after the battle in Barrowland. The evils of the Domination era destroyed, all should be quiet on the Northern Front. Now how’s that for wishful thinking?
Some evil always remains, keen to propagate evil and take it out on those that wronged it before. Remember some loose ends of the battle in Barrowland? The Toadkiller Dog is back and ready to look for back up. And back up will he get. Since Lady’s gone and only the Spike of evil left of the Dominator, is there anyone to stop their vendetta against humanity?
As if that does not suffice, the Silver Spike gets stolen. The future of the North again goes to the hands of the White Rose and her companions…
***
So far, so good. What was that about the mixed feelings, then?
ALERT: this section may contain some spoilers. Apart from that, whatever’s written below, is only a subjective opinion of mine and it’s up to you whether to argue or to agree. I respect both positions.
Getting back to the Books of the South.
What I liked about the first three books, was the characters, camaraderie within the Company, its being completely badass, the suspense and the adrenaline rush I get just by turning pages. And… Did I mention the characters?
The battle against the Dominator absolutely changes the characters and their power balance. I can understand both, but… boy, did that make me uncomfortable. Sadly, a minus for me.
Because in Shadow Games Croaker is the Captain (and the legate of the Lady’s Empire) now, he’s got so much less time for being the physician and the Annalist of the Company. And that does reflect on the Annals. We get less philosophy on the good and the evil, and the moral grey. Which I miss… Plus, he’s so into playing Captain now, he even bosses Lady from time to time.
In parallel, because the Lady has lost her powers, she’s just… Lady. Withdrawn into herself, having lost the power to scare Croaker to death and captivate him at the same time (captivation remains, but without her power to creep it’s only… sweet). Without her aura of terror and scheming bitchy plotting (except for the Shifter thingy), (the) Lady felt out of her character. Definitely “Under My Thumb” kind of shift. Logical, but awkward. Glad to see her recovering some traits of her old self in Dreams of Steel, but that will take a long way. If.
Despite this, a pleasant surprise scene was Lady discovering traces of Croaker’s presence in the Temple of Kina. Left even a stronger impression on the romantic nature of Croaker. <3
We see way less of Goblin and One-Eye clowning. Especially Goblin. Their fight scenes a bit overdone in the earlier books, but I was expecting more - they reduced the tension amazingly. Soldier humour, ha.
Similarly, with the deaths of so many men of the Company, camaraderie went to hell, too. No tonk (I enjoyed humorous, emotional descriptions of the game). Just a matter-of-fact relationship with the new members (except for Lady). Which is probably normal – the curse of being the Commander, plus it takes time to build new relationships, especially in a group of people battered so bad. But the Company was so much about them against the world. Where did that go?
Tension. When reading the chapters on the Company in service of the Syndic of Beryl or on Raker and the descriptions of Juniper and the black castle, I had goosebumps all over. They’re gone now. Shadow Games felt so much like a travel guide. Charm, Opal, Beryl, Padora, D’loc Aloc, Gea-Xle, Taglios and tens of towns in between. Tension gone for the most part, me just sitting and waiting for action to happen. Until the battle of Dejagore. There were some atmospheric, scary scenes, but was hoping for more. The Deceiver plot in Dreams of Steel was a bit slow too.
New characters. We get some characters that, sadly, do not contribute to the plot much (yes, I mean you guys, Willow and Cordy). Others set expectations which they don’t meet. Had some expectations for Smoke in the beginning, but found him and his fearful whining about the Company annoying. Don’t whine and cower, do something about it! Even when he tries to do something for Taglios, he ends up benefitting the enemy. Clap, clap, clap. Also, the fact that he hoards and hides the most exciting information about the Company’s past from them and the readers, drives me mad.
As for other characters, I still have some credit in the Radisha, though, hope that she contributes to the plot more later in the story. Same for the Nar, by the way. Quite enjoyed the imp and would be happy to see more of him in later books.
As for Taglios, that was a bit too close to stereotypes on ancient India for my liking, but seems to serve the plot OK.
To sum up, despite the moaning above, I liked the Books of the South, albeit less than the first three books on the Black Company. Depending on how the series goes, may or may not want to re-read them. 3.5 stars?
***
Now. Silver Spike.
Would have been quite unhappy with how this story turned out, but realised that the author published these three books in quite a short period of time (~1989-90?). It’s difficult to write well quickly.
Again. Changes in characters. The bits told from the point of view of Philodendron Case essentially refer to what happens to Raven. He was one of my favourite characters in the Books of the North. I found him complex – mysterious desperado with a well expressed dark side, chasing and being chased by devils, and with a potentially hidden poor, anguished boy inside that needs a hug. He is but a shadow of what he used to be in Silver Spike and strangely naïve in that he hopes to redeem himself in the eyes of Darling. I would have expected him to be a bitter, hardened-hearted man. Pretty much what he was in Juniper. By the way, Case seems more mature and cynic here than he was depicted in the White Rose.
Maybe these transformations are OK considering their experiences, but not 100% persuaded.
Same thing with the resurrected character (you know who ;)) from the past. Before him becoming the wicker/clay man, I’ve seen this character as the victim of circumstances. He is now but a zombie! Which is too diminishing considering what he used to be.
The plot is a bit too mish-mashed for my liking. You get the wicker/clay man and Toadkiller Dog follow Raven and Case following the Black Company half a world down, then suddenly, abracadabra, everyone goes back North to retrieve the Silver Spike from the thieves in Oar! Hallelujah, the most useless U-turn since the Company’s march East only to be told to march to Juniper (even surpassing that, actually)!
I found the finale disappointing, too. A premature battle with some weakly presented useless magicians, lured by the power of the Spike. And the treatment of the main characters… Would like to unread it, if I could. They do deserve a better delivery if not fate…
Would rate the Silver Spike with 2 stars out of 5.
Collectively, 3 stars out of 5 for the whole omnibus, although I’d like to rate it higher.
Fingers crossed for the further story!
January 19, 2021
[Spoilers for the books of the north below, if you haven't read the first omnibus dont read my review at all]
4 stars only because the triplet of books here is a bit disjointed(like my review lol). The first two books, Shadow Games & Dreams of Steel, follow the black company south on the mission to fulfill the annalists oath to return the annals to khotovar. The third book, The Silver Spike, follows the other groups that departed the Barrowland with the remnants of the company. I say the pairing of the two different stories within is disjointed because we are reading about the Black Company but the third book has little to do with the Black Company except that a few of the characters have a history with them.
Personally I think the silver spike should be put in front of the other two books but I have not read past the books of the north and this collection so maybe the reason for this order hasn't revealed itself to me yet. Honestly I was more interested in the future of the Black Company than the future of the White Rose and the Silver Spike follows the White Rose and I think I would have rather gotten that tale out of the way first because by the time I got to it I had forgotten all about them and didn't care anymore about what happened. I did read the book and it got interesting quickly. It captured and held my attention to the end.
Overall the three books are good reads that are less enthralling than the first trilogy but still exciting page turners in their own right. The story of the black company lulls a little bit and some of the foreshadowing could give away many of the twists if you are clever enough, for me they came just beat later than my realization of what was going on. So the "Oh shit!" Moments hit me just before it hit our characters and for me it worked perfectly except when I think back to the clues and think "of course thats what was going on" much like how the bipedal and four legged creatures escaping the barrowland were tracker and toadkiller dog but the excitement of the mounting conflicts distracted you from the fact until you took a moment to think about it in the first trilogy. I do think that our characters should have caught on sooner but the distractions surrounding them are almost just enough that its passable they didn't. Overall these are good reads and keep the themes and style of the first trilogy as the Company moves south. Below this is a very quick and vague synopsis I jotted down just after finishing this omnibus, followed by my gripes with the story so far.
[Warning, SPOILERS for this omnibus below. I try to keep it vague enough that reading the books is still worth it but it also leaves my synopsis vague and disjointed like my feelings about the order the books are presented in the omnibus]
The first two books continue following the remnants of the black company on the journey southward propelled by croakers oath, the oath all anallists make to return the annals to khotovar. Problem is its so far south beyond the edge of any maps he has ever seen so they just start marching south. Stumbling through bits of the company's history as they trek further south off the edge of the map they eventually get bamboozled and coaxed into joining the Taglians fight against the Shadow masters because they need to pass the lands they rule and the shadow masters dont seem like they would allow that to happen without conflict. Reasons why are illuded too but not completely revealed in the first two books; shadow games & dreams of steel.
Throught we learn of the lost history of the black company, some that is discovered along the way and even more sinister bits that are kept hidden by the Taglians and Shadowmasters. Eventually the history is brought to the surface but as the reader we only get the main beats of what the company was up to in the south so long ago and how much truth there is to what we learn is left up to wonder. The second book ends on a "twist" that was well foreshadowed and I think I caught on about halfway between the beginning of the foreshadowing and the reveal. Unfortunately you get ripped away from the black company and that story arc in the third book; The Silver Spike.
The Third book in this collection turns back the clock and returns you to the departure from the Barrowland just after the Dominator is dispatched and his essence is trapped in the silver spike and nailed into the sapling of the tree God. This tale follows the white rose, her followers, and would be jealous lovers. Its a good story thats interesting and exciting. A few opportunistic fellas plot to steal the spike and sell it to the highest bidder and that goes south quickly. They cover their trail poorly and the many powers interested in the spike lock down the city they bring it into. Meanwhile the limper, still kicking, gets "resurrected" and marches south following raven & the black company with the white rose in pursuit. Darling decides she has done enough to dispatch him and the group with raven and case in tow head to the city of oar to deal with the silver spike issue. Limper, still not dead gives chase followed by Toadkiller Dog who is now his enemy. The story of the crooks in oar is interesting and exciting. The Limpers pursuit seems to be guided by the empire and our old friend catcher and much like the Limper his whole arc here is fueled by little more than rage, insanity, and a lust for absolute power. Aided by the creatures of the plain the white rose comes out on top but not without suffering an overdue loss. All to eventually learn that two of the 3 major powers in play had the same idea anyways and it would've benefitted them to make those plans known to each other sooner and we could've skipped alot of the struggle and death.. The epilogue leaves much to the imagination but serves the purpose of letting us know these characters have nothing left to give to the story and their tale ends here.
So my gripes are:
The Lady and Croaker already knew the relation between catcher and crows AND that taken dont die so easily so why didn't they catch on to Soulcatcher sooner? They were clever enough to root out so many others in the past.
Shifters companion Lisa was released in such a powerful form, and will obviously be back for vengeance. It's unlike the company to spare a would be enemy, in the same way the slaughtered the non threatening rabble of the rebel that fled to juniper I think they should've killed her. Considering all the trouble any other forvalaka has caused them they should know better and forsee that she would return with vengeance.
Everyone really left the sapling God tree unguarded? Without so much as watching it for a little while to notice its not at full strength enough to even be vigilant in the day time? They left it to the guard that has now failed multiple times to protect the Barrowland? To me this is the biggest plot failure in the whole series, it makes no sense to me except to create more conflict and keep the story going. Ita a major lapse in judgment. Furthermore, the empire didn't seek to reinforce it at all? It baffles me that not a single soul thought to put more effort into protecting the Barrowland after all this.
Adding to the last one LIMPER WTF? The guy obviously dosnt take to dying very well, in fact he is better at not dying than the Dominator himself! Noone thought to dig him up and spike him into the god tree or atleast burn him and spread his ashes across the plain of fear or something?
The way they throughly dispatched all the minions of the barrowland but then forgot to properly dispatch toadkiller dog & limper and forgot to ensure the sapling tree god could do the job dosnt follow for our characters. I enjoyed the stories and can ignore it all enough and say the other things going on merit the lapse of judgment but at some point I feel like some of these things should've crossed somebody's mind before any of it caused the bugger problems that it did.
Anyways thats my peice, I'm sure my review is flawed and I probably missed some things and haven't put it all together the right way to see through my complaints. 4 stars because it isn't quite as good as the first trilogy but I still enjoyed the read and it will definitely be a series I return to in the future.
4 stars only because the triplet of books here is a bit disjointed(like my review lol). The first two books, Shadow Games & Dreams of Steel, follow the black company south on the mission to fulfill the annalists oath to return the annals to khotovar. The third book, The Silver Spike, follows the other groups that departed the Barrowland with the remnants of the company. I say the pairing of the two different stories within is disjointed because we are reading about the Black Company but the third book has little to do with the Black Company except that a few of the characters have a history with them.
Personally I think the silver spike should be put in front of the other two books but I have not read past the books of the north and this collection so maybe the reason for this order hasn't revealed itself to me yet. Honestly I was more interested in the future of the Black Company than the future of the White Rose and the Silver Spike follows the White Rose and I think I would have rather gotten that tale out of the way first because by the time I got to it I had forgotten all about them and didn't care anymore about what happened. I did read the book and it got interesting quickly. It captured and held my attention to the end.
Overall the three books are good reads that are less enthralling than the first trilogy but still exciting page turners in their own right. The story of the black company lulls a little bit and some of the foreshadowing could give away many of the twists if you are clever enough, for me they came just beat later than my realization of what was going on. So the "Oh shit!" Moments hit me just before it hit our characters and for me it worked perfectly except when I think back to the clues and think "of course thats what was going on" much like how the bipedal and four legged creatures escaping the barrowland were tracker and toadkiller dog but the excitement of the mounting conflicts distracted you from the fact until you took a moment to think about it in the first trilogy. I do think that our characters should have caught on sooner but the distractions surrounding them are almost just enough that its passable they didn't. Overall these are good reads and keep the themes and style of the first trilogy as the Company moves south. Below this is a very quick and vague synopsis I jotted down just after finishing this omnibus, followed by my gripes with the story so far.
[Warning, SPOILERS for this omnibus below. I try to keep it vague enough that reading the books is still worth it but it also leaves my synopsis vague and disjointed like my feelings about the order the books are presented in the omnibus]
The first two books continue following the remnants of the black company on the journey southward propelled by croakers oath, the oath all anallists make to return the annals to khotovar. Problem is its so far south beyond the edge of any maps he has ever seen so they just start marching south. Stumbling through bits of the company's history as they trek further south off the edge of the map they eventually get bamboozled and coaxed into joining the Taglians fight against the Shadow masters because they need to pass the lands they rule and the shadow masters dont seem like they would allow that to happen without conflict. Reasons why are illuded too but not completely revealed in the first two books; shadow games & dreams of steel.
Throught we learn of the lost history of the black company, some that is discovered along the way and even more sinister bits that are kept hidden by the Taglians and Shadowmasters. Eventually the history is brought to the surface but as the reader we only get the main beats of what the company was up to in the south so long ago and how much truth there is to what we learn is left up to wonder. The second book ends on a "twist" that was well foreshadowed and I think I caught on about halfway between the beginning of the foreshadowing and the reveal. Unfortunately you get ripped away from the black company and that story arc in the third book; The Silver Spike.
The Third book in this collection turns back the clock and returns you to the departure from the Barrowland just after the Dominator is dispatched and his essence is trapped in the silver spike and nailed into the sapling of the tree God. This tale follows the white rose, her followers, and would be jealous lovers. Its a good story thats interesting and exciting. A few opportunistic fellas plot to steal the spike and sell it to the highest bidder and that goes south quickly. They cover their trail poorly and the many powers interested in the spike lock down the city they bring it into. Meanwhile the limper, still kicking, gets "resurrected" and marches south following raven & the black company with the white rose in pursuit. Darling decides she has done enough to dispatch him and the group with raven and case in tow head to the city of oar to deal with the silver spike issue. Limper, still not dead gives chase followed by Toadkiller Dog who is now his enemy. The story of the crooks in oar is interesting and exciting. The Limpers pursuit seems to be guided by the empire and our old friend catcher and much like the Limper his whole arc here is fueled by little more than rage, insanity, and a lust for absolute power. Aided by the creatures of the plain the white rose comes out on top but not without suffering an overdue loss. All to eventually learn that two of the 3 major powers in play had the same idea anyways and it would've benefitted them to make those plans known to each other sooner and we could've skipped alot of the struggle and death.. The epilogue leaves much to the imagination but serves the purpose of letting us know these characters have nothing left to give to the story and their tale ends here.
So my gripes are:
The Lady and Croaker already knew the relation between catcher and crows AND that taken dont die so easily so why didn't they catch on to Soulcatcher sooner? They were clever enough to root out so many others in the past.
Shifters companion Lisa was released in such a powerful form, and will obviously be back for vengeance. It's unlike the company to spare a would be enemy, in the same way the slaughtered the non threatening rabble of the rebel that fled to juniper I think they should've killed her. Considering all the trouble any other forvalaka has caused them they should know better and forsee that she would return with vengeance.
Everyone really left the sapling God tree unguarded? Without so much as watching it for a little while to notice its not at full strength enough to even be vigilant in the day time? They left it to the guard that has now failed multiple times to protect the Barrowland? To me this is the biggest plot failure in the whole series, it makes no sense to me except to create more conflict and keep the story going. Ita a major lapse in judgment. Furthermore, the empire didn't seek to reinforce it at all? It baffles me that not a single soul thought to put more effort into protecting the Barrowland after all this.
Adding to the last one LIMPER WTF? The guy obviously dosnt take to dying very well, in fact he is better at not dying than the Dominator himself! Noone thought to dig him up and spike him into the god tree or atleast burn him and spread his ashes across the plain of fear or something?
The way they throughly dispatched all the minions of the barrowland but then forgot to properly dispatch toadkiller dog & limper and forgot to ensure the sapling tree god could do the job dosnt follow for our characters. I enjoyed the stories and can ignore it all enough and say the other things going on merit the lapse of judgment but at some point I feel like some of these things should've crossed somebody's mind before any of it caused the bugger problems that it did.
Anyways thats my peice, I'm sure my review is flawed and I probably missed some things and haven't put it all together the right way to see through my complaints. 4 stars because it isn't quite as good as the first trilogy but I still enjoyed the read and it will definitely be a series I return to in the future.
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