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A review by sofijakryz
The Books of the South by Glen Cook
3.0
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!