A review by alwroteabook
The Black Company by Glen Cook
4.0
Let's start with the disclaimers:
1. This was written 25 years ago, and I believe fantasy, and grimdark, has evolved since then
2. I started this right after Ed McDonald's Blackwing, which is a hard act for many to follow.
So, I was buzzing after Blackwing, but I was excited to read a book that has a ton of fans. It started slowly, like treacle slow. The first two chapters were unimpressive, and when your book is just seven chapters, that's not a good thing. The characters weren't overly interesting, and the banter was trite. But I stuck with it, and I'm glad I did.
The final five chapters were far more interesting. Instead of introducing the main players of the titular Black Company, the author finally got around to the meat and potatoes of the plot, and there is a pretty good one. The main character, Croaker, the Company's medical officer and annalist, is also the narrator of the story, and grows along with the plot. Strangely, at times, it feels like Cook is developing as a writer as he goes. Perhaps he is.
There is a ton of these books, and due to the saving graces of the plot development (insertion?) later in the book, I'll probably have a look at a couple more.
Read it, stick with it through the slow beginning, and enjoy the payoff at the end.
1. This was written 25 years ago, and I believe fantasy, and grimdark, has evolved since then
2. I started this right after Ed McDonald's Blackwing, which is a hard act for many to follow.
So, I was buzzing after Blackwing, but I was excited to read a book that has a ton of fans. It started slowly, like treacle slow. The first two chapters were unimpressive, and when your book is just seven chapters, that's not a good thing. The characters weren't overly interesting, and the banter was trite. But I stuck with it, and I'm glad I did.
The final five chapters were far more interesting. Instead of introducing the main players of the titular Black Company, the author finally got around to the meat and potatoes of the plot, and there is a pretty good one. The main character, Croaker, the Company's medical officer and annalist, is also the narrator of the story, and grows along with the plot. Strangely, at times, it feels like Cook is developing as a writer as he goes. Perhaps he is.
There is a ton of these books, and due to the saving graces of the plot development (insertion?) later in the book, I'll probably have a look at a couple more.
Read it, stick with it through the slow beginning, and enjoy the payoff at the end.