The Black Company

Chronicles of The Black Company, Book 1

De: Glen Cook

Narrado por: Marc Vietor

Some feel the Lady, newly risen from centuries in thrall, stands between humankind and evil. Some feel she is evil itself. The hardbitten men of the Black Company take their pay and do what they must, burying their doubts with their dead - until the prophesy: The White Rose has been reborn, somewhere, to embody good once more.

There must be a way for the Black Company to find her....

©1984 Glen Cook (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

The origin of dark, gritty, epic fantasy

Would you listen to The Black Company again? Why?

Yes, it is a fantastic book with characters that are easy to love. Though the narration takes maybe a chapter to get used it really starts to work after that point

Who was your favorite character and why?

One-Eye and Goblin, they squabble like children are just very entertaining to read about

What about Marc Vietor’s performance did you like?

Marc Vietor perfectly embodied Croaker, the main character. His performance and delivery did justice to the dry wit and cynicism contained within the story. Most importantly he did not distract the listener from the story

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Not sure it could be made into a film. Audiences would probably not appreciate main characters who are mercenaries...the whole raping and pillaging thing probably wouldn't go over well

Any additional comments?

A common complaint about this book is that it is not descriptive enough. This may be true, but it is actually a strength. Rather than inserting a few hundred pages to add descriptions of every tree the company walk by the story focuses on characters and event. This book is only 350 pages, a mere short story in today's world of tomes. It includes whats necessary and not superfluous words added simply for the sake of being there.Also, in today's world of epic fantasy this book is good, but not quite as dark as the First Law Trilogy or aSoIaF. What makes it stand out is that it predates those series by decades. This was possibly the first book in the genre that did not have the ultra good vs the ultra bad, and in that way it was revolutionary. For this reason alone, let alone the great story and wonderful characters, this book is an important read/listen to any true fan of the genre

Still Good, Fun Fantasy

Would you consider the audio edition of The Black Company to be better than the print version?

I don't know if "better" is the right word. But it certainly brought a certain attitude to the writing and the main character that fit oh so well.

What other book might you compare The Black Company to and why?

There is no book that compares directly to The Black Company. It is just that unique in the way it is told.

Which scene was your favorite?

There are just too many good scenes to pick only one. Sorry, but that's just the truth. Instead of scenes, I'll just give some of my favorite lines:

“A chimp-sized, four-armed bundle of ugly exploded from beneath our table.”

“Fate is a fickle ***** who dotes on irony.”

“He had stumbled over a rainbow pot of power.”

“I had a mental picture of a dark-haired, ageless beauty with a sexual presence that hit mere mortals with the impact of a mace.”

“But, honestly, he was not nice people that day.”

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

A little long for that unless you have a whole day to kill. No, not really, even as good as this book is, the over the topness of it requires downtime to digest what has been said.

Any additional comments?

Still a classic. It's in my top 20 Fiction books of all time.

One of the Best Fantasies of All

What did you love best about The Black Company?

This is true military fiction that is hybridized with a very original fantasy setting. The characters feel like real soldiers, forced by honor, duty, and loyalty to one another into fighting on despite a nightmare situation. The style is simple and declarative; you won't have any trouble following The Black Company. But the characters and story are rich, despite the fairly bare bones nature of the text itself.

The skeleton of the story is this: The Black Company, a mercenary company over five hundred years old, is taken into the service of the archvillain, a sorceress referred to only as the Lady, a title spoken as if she were a god. But there is no black and white in the world of the Black Company. The characters are tough, hard-boiled soldiers, most of them with nothing else to live for beyond the curious brotherhood the Company offers. They are relentlessly competent, devious, and unburdened by the kind of pride that so-often causes terrible downfalls.

Some people will be turned off by the style. As I said, it is a bare bones sort of narrative, that skips long stretches of time (the narrative device is that these are the Annals of the deeds of the Black Company, recorded by the Annalist, Croaker. He only records things that he thinks are worth the telling) and often lands us in media res. There is no flowery Wheel of Time or Song of Ice and Fire scripting here, and no grand world building. We learn the setting, as much as the characters, places, and events, as we go. Still, this work is satisfying, and that's a fine thing.

What about Marc Vietor’s performance did you like?

Having read all of the Black Company series years ago, and wanting to enjoy them as a time-passer while commuting and working, I have to say... Marc Vietor did a commendable job to me of capturing the voice of the central character, Croaker. He's spared a multitude of female voices to deal with in this particular text, but does a good job of differentiating the other characters from one another, and does an exceptional job capturing the unsettling and varying voice of Soulcatcher.

Better than just Good

I’ve heard nothing negative about this book or it’s series. I’ve heard lots of compliments/praise. But I took forever to get around to it because I never wanted the particular emotional/moral beat everyone implied it would hit.
But it was so much better than I expected. This isn’t bad guys reveling in being bad. This is a story of a group of admittedly morally-tainted mercenaries told from the perspective of a (relatively) good man who sees the good in them. If someone had told me it was like this, I would’ve read it years ago.

starts slow

I probably struggled to get invested for the first 1/2 to 2/3 of the book. however the last 1/3 was very good. I'm curious where it goes next. well it pick up where this one ended? will it split pov from here? definitely leaves you wanting more.