A review by gianlucafiore
The Black Company, by Glen Cook
5.0
I understand the criticism on the hard writing style but honestly took me a couple of chapters to get used to it and then it was as easy as any other book. I mean, it's not like the Divine Comedy or Chaucer.
With that said, this is the birth of grimdark and an amazing birth it is. The influence on Malazan is plain from the very first pages, with the Black Company being much smaller in scope and world building. We don't get much of the history of characters either, but I heard that improves in later books. The Black Company is tighter, shorter, much more action focused, albeit most of it is told of and not shown, yet with the same mysterious array of demigods that Erikson would later implement in his series.
It can be not everybody's cup of tea but saying it is a bad book is as far from reality than saying Chernobyl is a bad TV series because it's bleak.
With that said, this is the birth of grimdark and an amazing birth it is. The influence on Malazan is plain from the very first pages, with the Black Company being much smaller in scope and world building. We don't get much of the history of characters either, but I heard that improves in later books. The Black Company is tighter, shorter, much more action focused, albeit most of it is told of and not shown, yet with the same mysterious array of demigods that Erikson would later implement in his series.
It can be not everybody's cup of tea but saying it is a bad book is as far from reality than saying Chernobyl is a bad TV series because it's bleak.