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A review by sofijakryz
The Many Deaths of the Black Company by Glen Cook
4.0
The last omnibus on the Black Company was tense. Nevertheless, overall impression was… OK. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed the books. Yet, there were a couple of things that irked me a tiny bit. We’ll get there yet.
Let’s begin with a quick overview.
We left the series with the Old Crew cruelly tricked by their oldest and the most resilient enemy frozen underneath the Glittering Plain. Time flows and 14 years pass since the unfortunate day. Water sleeps. But the Company doesn’t.
Survivors of the Black Company continue their guerrilla war against their ancient enemy, self-proclaimed Protector of all the Taglias. Blended in among the Taglians, the Company members apply creative commando tricks to pester the Protector and the Great General. And in the meantime, they gather strength to revive the lost members of the Company.
Now. Nothing is more permanent than changes. And it is probably the Company that knows it best. In this book, we meet a few old-new characters and meet a new not-so-expected Annalist. A lovely, warm and enjoyable character (except for when she(!) does something like: “The character looked X. ‘You look X,’ I said”. I caught that a couple of times :/). She’s a bit low on confidence, but much on loyalty to the old friends. And on courage. I love that.
What I really like about this part of the Company Annals, we get to see quite a few strong women. Yes. We’ve seen the Lady, Soulcatcher, Darling, the Radisha, I know. But this time, instead of being some OP dark sorceresses or balls-positive monarchs shaped by palace intrigues, neither of the two plot drivers are (that) special. A middle-aged, wilting woman, hoping to bring her husband back from the dead. And a loyal Annalist, hoping to retrieve her old friends. I don’t know whether Cook included them because of the compulsory equalitarian sex quota, but I quite enjoyed the Company being steered by creative, sneaky women-soldiers.
We also notice how badly the Company ages. And that’s a bit painful to read. I so got used to Goblin’s and One-Eye’s jackassing that it’s difficult to see them way less potent than they used to be. Nevertheless, they do play an important role. Wait and see.
Good to see some old souls being exploited again (Hi Murgen!). Unfortunately, Cook chose him to be way less interactive. Not just because of third-person view, probably because of his enforced hibernation and a couple of other things. Nevertheless, a reader, spoilt by his previous omnipresent knowledge of the events, may feel the story going slower than before.
There are almost no psychedelic intercepts about what’s going on the Glittering Plain. I’m ok with it, found them a bit boring in the past. We do get some Kina, but I kind of got used to her as a necessary annoyance. Plus, she’s actually doing something interesting here. You’ll see.
We still get glimpses of Narayan Singh and the Daughter of Night. I would find them a bit annoying in earlier books (just could not take in Croaker and Lady’s kid as a vegetable, without consciousness or self-awareness). Interestingly, we start seeing some glimpses of humanity(!) and self(!) in the Daughter of Night. Well done!
OK. Now. Despite of what I said about the Glittering Plain intercepts – the Glittering Plain and the Nameless Fortress story here is my favourite in this omnibus. I found this part vivid, engaging, tricky, and pleasant to read. Including the fortunes and misfortunes. There are going to be some HUGE surprises and revelations here and onwards. So keep on reading!
P.S. One thing – tonk. Is. Back. However, not so fun, interactive or vivid as it was when reading the very first book. So that was a bit of a disappointment for me.
All together – 4 stars. Would have rated a bit less, but the Fortress in the Glittering Plain and story onwards made my nights sleepless with curiosity.
Now. Soldiers live.
Bittersweet - some excitements, some disappointments.
(Most of) the Old Crew is back and fine. Except for being changed and old. We get Croaker back as the Annalist. And he’s indeed gotten old, repeating the same things over. Which kind of reminds of the old Black Company atmosphere, but not so potently, especially, since we heard it before. Maybe just a reflection of Cook getting tired with writing about the Black Company. Nevertheless, he does write well.
Not to spoil too much – now that we learnt some mindblasting facts about the reality of Black Company’s world, we see them recovering and gathering their strength to revenge the Protector and return the empire to its rightful rulers.
That kind of goes slow at first, essentially, because the Old Crew are… old, retired and are not let onto some very crucial information on some plot developments. So the reader is semi-blind too. We lose Murgen’s omnipresent knowledge. It is compensated by… something else, but not so well. So we are dependent on some, surprisingly, very potent characters that are not that reliable themselves. Maybe even disappointing. Yes, I mean you, Tobo.
We’ve learnt some interesting details about what shadows the past of Nyueng Bao and can follow Cook exploiting it to grant the Company the strength it will need to return to Taglios.
And return to Taglios it does. Through immeasurable pains. The omnibus is not called “The many deaths of the Black Company” for nothing. The book begins with deaths and carries on that way. It’s not unexpected. All what we’ve known about the Company since its service for the Red Syndic of Beryl has been bloodshed. Beryl. Battle of Charm. Juniper. Dejagore. Yet, we feel the end will come soon. It’s not as cruel in terms of losing our pet characters, compared to what Andrzej Sapkowski did with the battle at Stiga castle. Nevertheless, the reader will feel plenty of pain. Especially because of cruelty and meaningless of some of those deaths.
We should have expected that. Such is war. I do not feel better, though.
I think what sums up “Soldiers live” is this quote:
“The exhausted armies disentangled as the day waned. The soldiers on both sides had endured so much horror that, gradually, they just stopped trying to interfere with an enemy who seemed willing to go away without causing trouble.
But who won?
On that day arguments could have been made both ways. Final determination would be in the hands of those historians who examined the effect of the battle had on Taglian society and culture. It could be a watershed or it could be nothing important, depending on what followed and how population responded.”
I told you Croaker repeats himself. Which kind of diminishes the effect of his words. Yet I grew up with his school of thought since I was 13 and that is exactly the reason I won’t ever be able to trust historians.
Speaking of which. We do learn about the history of the Company and even follow a detour towards Khatovar. Nevertheless, we never get more than scraps.
This is exactly what made me bitter, despite healthy tension and action throughout the book.
The unfinished ends. I don’t know whether that’s meant to replicate real life, but it made me roll from side to side for quite a few nights.
What did One-Eye know about Goblin? How? Was he a greater wizard than one could actually think of? What’s the story of Khatovar? What happened there? Where did Shadowmasters come from? The Voroshk? Why do the Unknown Shadows stick to Tobo? What’s this about the glittering stones and their messages? What happened to Sahra, actually? What’s the thing about Hong Tray? What did the Nef ever want from the Company? What happens to the imp?
That’s just the tip of the iceberg of looming questions.
The end of the book felt dragged out. Some aspects were predictable, too. All gets sorted in the end. But while some key questions stay unanswered, others get more attention than wanted. Overall, in the whole series we get disproportionately much of Taglios. I would have liked to learn more about Khatovar, Gea-Xle or other old Annals of the Company.
Was not happy with how the Daughter of Night thing got sorted. That was only partially believable. We saw even more humanity in her in this book, which did not get fully exploited. She did not feel like Croaker and Lady’s child (perhaps that’s how it was expected to be) – not enough self or shrewdness.
I could ramble on about my mixed feelings more. The first omnibus will stay my favourite (if the story had ended there, no harm would have been done to it, so atmospheric and live in terms of characters it was), especially the Juniper arc (nothing creepy like it). Yet this was not bad either (especially the Nameless Fortress bit in “Water Sleeps”).
3-3.5 stars for “Soldiers Live”.
So 3.5–3.75 stars for this omnibus.
Let’s begin with a quick overview.
We left the series with the Old Crew cruelly tricked by their oldest and the most resilient enemy frozen underneath the Glittering Plain. Time flows and 14 years pass since the unfortunate day. Water sleeps. But the Company doesn’t.
Survivors of the Black Company continue their guerrilla war against their ancient enemy, self-proclaimed Protector of all the Taglias. Blended in among the Taglians, the Company members apply creative commando tricks to pester the Protector and the Great General. And in the meantime, they gather strength to revive the lost members of the Company.
Now. Nothing is more permanent than changes. And it is probably the Company that knows it best. In this book, we meet a few old-new characters and meet a new not-so-expected Annalist. A lovely, warm and enjoyable character (except for when she(!) does something like: “The character looked X. ‘You look X,’ I said”. I caught that a couple of times :/). She’s a bit low on confidence, but much on loyalty to the old friends. And on courage. I love that.
What I really like about this part of the Company Annals, we get to see quite a few strong women. Yes. We’ve seen the Lady, Soulcatcher, Darling, the Radisha, I know. But this time, instead of being some OP dark sorceresses or balls-positive monarchs shaped by palace intrigues, neither of the two plot drivers are (that) special. A middle-aged, wilting woman, hoping to bring her husband back from the dead. And a loyal Annalist, hoping to retrieve her old friends. I don’t know whether Cook included them because of the compulsory equalitarian sex quota, but I quite enjoyed the Company being steered by creative, sneaky women-soldiers.
We also notice how badly the Company ages. And that’s a bit painful to read. I so got used to Goblin’s and One-Eye’s jackassing that it’s difficult to see them way less potent than they used to be. Nevertheless, they do play an important role. Wait and see.
Good to see some old souls being exploited again (Hi Murgen!). Unfortunately, Cook chose him to be way less interactive. Not just because of third-person view, probably because of his enforced hibernation and a couple of other things. Nevertheless, a reader, spoilt by his previous omnipresent knowledge of the events, may feel the story going slower than before.
There are almost no psychedelic intercepts about what’s going on the Glittering Plain. I’m ok with it, found them a bit boring in the past. We do get some Kina, but I kind of got used to her as a necessary annoyance. Plus, she’s actually doing something interesting here. You’ll see.
We still get glimpses of Narayan Singh and the Daughter of Night. I would find them a bit annoying in earlier books (just could not take in Croaker and Lady’s kid as a vegetable, without consciousness or self-awareness). Interestingly, we start seeing some glimpses of humanity(!) and self(!) in the Daughter of Night. Well done!
OK. Now. Despite of what I said about the Glittering Plain intercepts – the Glittering Plain and the Nameless Fortress story here is my favourite in this omnibus. I found this part vivid, engaging, tricky, and pleasant to read. Including the fortunes and misfortunes. There are going to be some HUGE surprises and revelations here and onwards. So keep on reading!
P.S. One thing – tonk. Is. Back. However, not so fun, interactive or vivid as it was when reading the very first book. So that was a bit of a disappointment for me.
All together – 4 stars. Would have rated a bit less, but the Fortress in the Glittering Plain and story onwards made my nights sleepless with curiosity.
Now. Soldiers live.
Bittersweet - some excitements, some disappointments.
(Most of) the Old Crew is back and fine. Except for being changed and old. We get Croaker back as the Annalist. And he’s indeed gotten old, repeating the same things over. Which kind of reminds of the old Black Company atmosphere, but not so potently, especially, since we heard it before. Maybe just a reflection of Cook getting tired with writing about the Black Company. Nevertheless, he does write well.
Not to spoil too much – now that we learnt some mindblasting facts about the reality of Black Company’s world, we see them recovering and gathering their strength to revenge the Protector and return the empire to its rightful rulers.
That kind of goes slow at first, essentially, because the Old Crew are… old, retired and are not let onto some very crucial information on some plot developments. So the reader is semi-blind too. We lose Murgen’s omnipresent knowledge. It is compensated by… something else, but not so well. So we are dependent on some, surprisingly, very potent characters that are not that reliable themselves. Maybe even disappointing. Yes, I mean you, Tobo.
We’ve learnt some interesting details about what shadows the past of Nyueng Bao and can follow Cook exploiting it to grant the Company the strength it will need to return to Taglios.
And return to Taglios it does. Through immeasurable pains. The omnibus is not called “The many deaths of the Black Company” for nothing. The book begins with deaths and carries on that way. It’s not unexpected. All what we’ve known about the Company since its service for the Red Syndic of Beryl has been bloodshed. Beryl. Battle of Charm. Juniper. Dejagore. Yet, we feel the end will come soon. It’s not as cruel in terms of losing our pet characters, compared to what Andrzej Sapkowski did with the battle at Stiga castle. Nevertheless, the reader will feel plenty of pain. Especially because of cruelty and meaningless of some of those deaths.
We should have expected that. Such is war. I do not feel better, though.
I think what sums up “Soldiers live” is this quote:
“The exhausted armies disentangled as the day waned. The soldiers on both sides had endured so much horror that, gradually, they just stopped trying to interfere with an enemy who seemed willing to go away without causing trouble.
But who won?
On that day arguments could have been made both ways. Final determination would be in the hands of those historians who examined the effect of the battle had on Taglian society and culture. It could be a watershed or it could be nothing important, depending on what followed and how population responded.”
I told you Croaker repeats himself. Which kind of diminishes the effect of his words. Yet I grew up with his school of thought since I was 13 and that is exactly the reason I won’t ever be able to trust historians.
Speaking of which. We do learn about the history of the Company and even follow a detour towards Khatovar. Nevertheless, we never get more than scraps.
This is exactly what made me bitter, despite healthy tension and action throughout the book.
The unfinished ends. I don’t know whether that’s meant to replicate real life, but it made me roll from side to side for quite a few nights.
What did One-Eye know about Goblin? How? Was he a greater wizard than one could actually think of? What’s the story of Khatovar? What happened there? Where did Shadowmasters come from? The Voroshk? Why do the Unknown Shadows stick to Tobo? What’s this about the glittering stones and their messages? What happened to Sahra, actually? What’s the thing about Hong Tray? What did the Nef ever want from the Company? What happens to the imp?
That’s just the tip of the iceberg of looming questions.
The end of the book felt dragged out. Some aspects were predictable, too. All gets sorted in the end. But while some key questions stay unanswered, others get more attention than wanted. Overall, in the whole series we get disproportionately much of Taglios. I would have liked to learn more about Khatovar, Gea-Xle or other old Annals of the Company.
Was not happy with how the Daughter of Night thing got sorted. That was only partially believable. We saw even more humanity in her in this book, which did not get fully exploited. She did not feel like Croaker and Lady’s child (perhaps that’s how it was expected to be) – not enough self or shrewdness.
I could ramble on about my mixed feelings more. The first omnibus will stay my favourite (if the story had ended there, no harm would have been done to it, so atmospheric and live in terms of characters it was), especially the Juniper arc (nothing creepy like it). Yet this was not bad either (especially the Nameless Fortress bit in “Water Sleeps”).
3-3.5 stars for “Soldiers Live”.
So 3.5–3.75 stars for this omnibus.