fallaciouscake's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Glen Cook walked so that Abercrombie and Erikson and others could run. I enjoyed the Bridgeburners, so I came here to see where they came from. While it pales slightly in comparison to more contemporary work, in my opinion, I was not disappointed.
abigcoffeedragon's review against another edition
2.0
So many reviewers love this book and - it just did not do 'it' for me. There is not really any character development and there is a slew of characters to not give a damn about. The number of characters that I can name for you is close to 20 and the number of characters that I care about or can describe beyond the POV is no more than zero. Should you read this? Maybe. I am not everybody and I do not follow the strongest tides of the river, and this book just shows how off the mark it was for me and my Fantasy reads for this year.
arbitrary_abode's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
sevencrane's review against another edition
5.0
I had to have a lot of patience to get through the first half of the first book, but they really come into their own after that. It starts out in a very basic, matter-of-fact way. I didn't realize until the second book started (in a third-person perspective, following another character) that the banal, spare prose was just how Croaker was writing his Chronicles. Fortunately Cook realized writing that would make a terrible book, so he loosened up a bit after a while. But man, it was hard.
Also, the first book is edgy to the point of being a little juvenile. Sure, of course, there's a guy named Raven who wears all black, rarely speaks, and likes to idly sharpen his knives. Not to be confused with the other guy in all black named Silent. It was a nice change of pace initially though, because everyone central to the plot starts (and sometimes ends the trilogy) as just Some Guy. They're just mercs working for the Evil Empire. They see large-scale wizard battles overhead as something foreign to most of them, just something that happens. A lot of it is just matter-of-fact.
The plot eventually overdelivers on what was promised at the start of the first book, both in terms of spectacle/scale and character development. We see the central characters as older, more mature, having to grapple with the personal and emotional choices they made at the start of the trilogy. I'm pretty interested to read the rest of the series now.
Also, the first book is edgy to the point of being a little juvenile. Sure, of course, there's a guy named Raven who wears all black, rarely speaks, and likes to idly sharpen his knives. Not to be confused with the other guy in all black named Silent. It was a nice change of pace initially though, because everyone central to the plot starts (and sometimes ends the trilogy) as just Some Guy. They're just mercs working for the Evil Empire. They see large-scale wizard battles overhead as something foreign to most of them, just something that happens. A lot of it is just matter-of-fact.
The plot eventually overdelivers on what was promised at the start of the first book, both in terms of spectacle/scale and character development. We see the central characters as older, more mature, having to grapple with the personal and emotional choices they made at the start of the trilogy. I'm pretty interested to read the rest of the series now.
silentmoon's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
kami5's review against another edition
3.0
Meandering tales of mercenaries who aren't Good or Bad but rather that muddled shade of grey where most everyone falls within. Finished out of a too much time invested fallacy but not an bad yarn really.
mercog's review against another edition
4.0
Very different style. I can see why so many of my favorite author cite this as an influence. I really liked these first three books, but I'm hesitant to continue reading after finishing the 4th in the series. Mr Cook suffers from a pretty bad case of the "just kidding's".
Also, loses a little respect just because he doesn't even bother to try to explain how his magic system works. Call me spoiled by Jordan and Sanderson, but it just seems lazy not to work out some sort of a framework.
Also, loses a little respect just because he doesn't even bother to try to explain how his magic system works. Call me spoiled by Jordan and Sanderson, but it just seems lazy not to work out some sort of a framework.
matt4hire's review against another edition
4.0
A fun book. The style's lacking, but the plotting's actually excellent. Character names tend to be insipid, but it's okay, because they're still fun characters.
mgaggs's review against another edition
adventurous
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
It’s hard to review books like this in hindsight. Feels like every review or suggestion I could find talks about how amazing and groundbreaking this series is, but actually reading it feels a bit weak. The story and characters are pretty good and get more interesting as the books go on, but the writing style is a bit weak and sometimes feels like it skips over something interesting to let Croaker ask questions? About situations? Going on? And it feels a bit like a crutch of the author.
Still very good and enjoyable, but extremely overhyped in my opinion.
Still very good and enjoyable, but extremely overhyped in my opinion.
thisotherbookaccount's review against another edition
After 142 pages, I am ready to give up on this series -- disappointing, since I had high hopes of delving into yet another epic dark fantasy. Alas, it is not to be.
I've been warned about Glen Cook's "sparse and economic" style of writing, in which I was prepared for. In fact, I was fully on board with the idea of combining a sparing writing style with that of a military fantasy series. However, no one told me that the narrative is going be VOID of characterisation and world-building altogether.
Croaker is the name of the narrator (first-person), and I know nothing about him. I don't know where he came from, how he joined the Black Company, why he joined it or when. I don't know anything about the Black Company, how many people there are, how they are hired, what kind of weapons do they have, what kind of magic they posses -- nothing. And there isn't a map to go along with the series either. Now, a map is not a pre-requisite for a good fantasy story for sure, but when locales such as Charm, Lords, Salient, Roses and the 15 other cities lack any form of description from our first-person narrator, it is hard to feel connected with the world at all. Plus, it's difficult to get a sense of how these cities are related to one another, or where they belong to in the greater scheme of things. Are these cities ruled by rebels? When were they built? When did they fall to the rebels? Cook tells you none of that from his characters' perspective. You are told the general direction of a city, and a very brief description of, say, the city gate. Then everything else is back to the story on hand with little else for readers to hold on to.
Speaking of which, the story is somewhat repetitive, at least in the first book. The Company moves from one location to the other, beating enemies and plundering along the way -- repeat ad infinitum. If you thought that Tolkien tends to skim over the action, Cook is much worse. Because we are locked to Croaker's point of view, actions are oftentimes reduced to "something happened", then BAM! The scene is over in one line. That's not good writing as far as I am concerned.
And because the characters are so numbed by the war, the plundering, the killing and the raping, most of them talk about it as if it's a walk in the park. You don't feel a sense of gravity, and even the narrator, who's perhaps the least demented of the lot, prefers to skim over the details.
It's too bad, considering that the story and the characters have so much potential.
I've been warned about Glen Cook's "sparse and economic" style of writing, in which I was prepared for. In fact, I was fully on board with the idea of combining a sparing writing style with that of a military fantasy series. However, no one told me that the narrative is going be VOID of characterisation and world-building altogether.
Croaker is the name of the narrator (first-person), and I know nothing about him. I don't know where he came from, how he joined the Black Company, why he joined it or when. I don't know anything about the Black Company, how many people there are, how they are hired, what kind of weapons do they have, what kind of magic they posses -- nothing. And there isn't a map to go along with the series either. Now, a map is not a pre-requisite for a good fantasy story for sure, but when locales such as Charm, Lords, Salient, Roses and the 15 other cities lack any form of description from our first-person narrator, it is hard to feel connected with the world at all. Plus, it's difficult to get a sense of how these cities are related to one another, or where they belong to in the greater scheme of things. Are these cities ruled by rebels? When were they built? When did they fall to the rebels? Cook tells you none of that from his characters' perspective. You are told the general direction of a city, and a very brief description of, say, the city gate. Then everything else is back to the story on hand with little else for readers to hold on to.
Speaking of which, the story is somewhat repetitive, at least in the first book. The Company moves from one location to the other, beating enemies and plundering along the way -- repeat ad infinitum. If you thought that Tolkien tends to skim over the action, Cook is much worse. Because we are locked to Croaker's point of view, actions are oftentimes reduced to "something happened", then BAM! The scene is over in one line. That's not good writing as far as I am concerned.
And because the characters are so numbed by the war, the plundering, the killing and the raping, most of them talk about it as if it's a walk in the park. You don't feel a sense of gravity, and even the narrator, who's perhaps the least demented of the lot, prefers to skim over the details.
It's too bad, considering that the story and the characters have so much potential.