Shadows Linger (The Chronicle of the Black Company, #2)

Shadows Linger (The Chronicles of the Black Company #2)

4.15 of 5 stars 4.15  ·  rating details  ·  4,015 ratings  ·  111 reviews
Mercenary soldiers in the service of the Lady, the Black Company stands against the rebels of the White Rose. They are tough men, proud of honoring their contracts. The Lady is evil, but so, too, are those who falsely profess to follow the White Rose, reincarnation of a centuries-dead heroine. Yet now some of the Company have discovered that the mute girl they rescued and...more
Paperback, 320 pages
Published April 15th 1990 by Tor Books (first published 1984)
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Gardens of the Moon by Steven EriksonThe Blade Itself by Joe AbercrombieThe Black Company by Glen CookA Game of Thrones by George R.R. MartinMemories of Ice by Steven Erikson
Military Fantasy
19th out of 126 books — 152 voters
The Blade Itself by Joe AbercrombieBefore They Are Hanged by Joe AbercrombieLast Argument of Kings by Joe AbercrombieThe Black Company by Glen CookGardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson
Listone Fantasy/Sci-Fi
10th out of 91 books — 6 voters


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Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)
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Carol
Something about Cook--he just has a way of weaving a story that keeps me interested, even when I'm not altogether enjoying it. It can be difficult to read about desperate innkeepers, snitches needing to make a buck and a mercenary company, because none of the protagonists truly seem likeable. Cook builds both action and suspense, however, and I can't help but keep going to see how it turns out. Easier to follow than it's predecessor, it does still have parts that are hard to follow, especially w...more
Jake
I first heard about the Black Company novels in a thread on www.rpg.net. The premise sounded interesting, and when I saw that it was at least in part used as source material for Exalted, I figured I’d check it out.

The Chronicles of the Black Company (of which Shadows Linger is the second novel) is a series of fantasy novels that follows the activities of a mercenary group called…the Black Company. I guess that was obvious, huh? What’s not so obvious is how the story line goes.

Imagine reading the...more
Alexandre
Dans ce second tome c'est encore Toubib qui nous relate les aventures de la compagnie noire. Ce deuxième opus est encore plus sombre et plus captivant que le premier. L’ambiance est glauque à souhait mais jamais gratuitement, la trame de l’histoire en soit ainsi que l’univers et les personnages y sont parfaitement conséquent.

L'histoire est solide, les personnages les «gentils» pas très gentils et des «méchants» parfois attachant, les décors lugubres, froids et angoissants: tout ce qu'on attend d...more
Jessica Clare
The second installment of the Black Company series sees its namesake military troop camped out in one city for the span of the story, which is departure from the first, which sees them galavanting all around the world. (And by galavanting, I mean making long, grueling marches.) Since they're hunkered down in one spot for a while, we get a chance to see more of the way people live their lives in Cook's world, and get to know side characters a little more. While the last novel was told entirely fr...more
Joel Puga
Este é o segundo livro sobre a Companhia Negra de Glen Cook e, atrevo-me a dizer, o meu favorito até ao momento. Aqui encontramos todos os elementos que fizeram com que o primeiro livro se destacasse da restante oferta do género (uma moralidade bastante cinzenta, e uma prosa e forma de contar a história que se assemelha mais aos romances passados na guerra do Vietnam do que a um de fantasia), mas achei a história ainda mais apelativa que a do primeiro. Depois da vitória da Lady no primeiro livro...more
Jason
May 31, 2011 Jason rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Fantasy fans, military fans, players of Myth
Recommended to Jason by: Bungie?
I learned about The Black Company from the Myth video games (that borrow heavily from the books), and picked up the initial trilogy (The Black Company, Shadows Linger, and The White Rose) in a single volume a few years ago. I liked The Black Company, but it had some flaws (my rating was 2.3). I thought it was time to get back into the story for a while.

Summary
Eight years after the Black Company’s campaigns from the first book, the mercenaries are still employed by the Lady, an evil dictator se...more
Eric Moreno
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Daniel Andres
I was very much gripped by the account that unfolded in The Black Company, a brutal war campaign, waged by an ancient evil against a determined rebel force. The unsettlingly dark world and its fascinating denizens inspired my imagination. Shadows Linger takes a dramatically different turn, the black company is no longer on the war path, the rebel army remains on the run following there defeat. The Company finds themselves investigating an odd city on the empires frozen northern reaches. It is a...more
Sargeatm
Der zweite Band über die Black Company spielt einige Jahre später. Die Erzählweise spaltet sich auf in unseren gewohnten Ich-Erzähler Croaker und die Perspektive der dritten Person. Mit letzterer wird ein grosser Teil der Handlung erzählt, die im weit nördlich gelegenen Ort Juniper spielt. Der Fokus liegt hierbei auf dem verschlagenen Gastwirt Marron Shed und seinen Gästen: Raven und Darling. Was sich hier entfaltet, hat mich wieder total begeistert. Da ist einerseits die Entwicklung Sheds zu se...more
Greg
Forget the book for a minute and look at this cover!!


I think I have a rough idea what is going on in this picture, but it nothing like the book. I don't know if I would ever read a book with this cover, fortunately the book is in a collection (or omnibus (what a dumb word)) with two other novels. And the collection cover is pretty bad ass, or at least what I would picture members of the black company to look like (I'm not so sure about the chick, she sort of looks like descriptions of The Lady,...more
Nate
This was a nice surprise. When I started this one, I expected more military/fantasy-type stuff along the lines of the first novel, but instead it was more of a crime/urban thriller, but set in a fantasy world. The action is centered more around the cat-and-mouse game the protagonists are playing with the forces that are seeking to ruin them, and less around scenes of open combat and strategic movement. Cook does this particularly well; I never knew what lay around the next corner, and he moves a...more
Angirasa Acharya
This is the second novel in the series. Barely had I put the first one down than I picked this one up. This one picks up where the first book in the series left off. Just as the first book, Shadows Linger hooks you before the first chapter takes off (and the first chapter is only half a page long!) :)

Took a day and a half to ruffle the pages through to the last and I'm going to dig into the third book as soon as I'm done with this little review thingy.

The style this novel is written in is very d...more
Troy G
Shadows Linger is slightly more sure-footed than the first novel in the series. In Shadows Linger, the company finally settles down in one place for a while. Some of their martial mastery, specifically besieging a fortress is demonstrated. So to is their command of exerting power over a fairly lawless city.

Several new characters are added to the cast. I enjoyed the additions for the most part. It was nice to get a handle on occupants of the world that aren't directly related to the company.

The...more
Zachary
Aug 30, 2009 Zachary rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Military-Fantasy Fans, Seekers of grittier/darker fantasy
This book was definitely better than The Black Company. I felt that Glen Cook really knew what he wanted to do with this book while the previous installment seemed a little unsure and underdeveloped. I was very pleased with the increased character development and I felt like I have gained a stronger grasp of the world as opposed to when I read The Black Company.

I have become strongly attached to the books narrator, Croaker. He has grown dramatically since his endeavors in The Black Company and...more
jD
I enjoyed this one much better than the first one because it combined multiple perspectives. I am also used to the audio book narrator's delivery style. Like I said of the previous book, the magic of the Black Company is the characters. The cast is large but Mr. Cook manages to give each character enough range that they feel real. I thought the prose was better in this installment, much more snap. I also appreciated that Mr. Cook bothered to explain more of the background of The Fallen and the m...more
Robin Wiley
Book 2 was even better!

I'm sorry I'm decades late in finding this series. But it definately goes up there with Martin, Lynch, Abercrombie and Keyes. All of my favorite things - action, sarcasm, creatures, magic and cool places. It's my own personal reading list of Yay!

This has a creepy black castle with creatures who pay good money for dead bodies (and better money for live ones - Yikes!)

If The Lady is like Sauroman, her husband, the Dominator is like Sauron. He's REALLY pissed she woke up and l...more
Sarah
I enjoyed this book more than I did the first.

In my previous review I explained the first person perspective and how I am not a huge fan. This book still allows Croaker to observe, but it also zooms in on other people and does this in the 3rd person perspective, which I enjoyed.

There is also more of a sense of urgency in the second book. In the first book, I never felt truly excited, or on the edge of my seat. This book didn't have this down completely either, but it got closer. The sens of so...more
Brian
Series: 11/27/2005 5/10

The Black Company series' premise was very interesting - a gritty dark take on the ins and outs of a military company in a fantasy world. It didn't really live up to expectations though. I would've preferred to see more of the company rather than the focus on one individual. The series definitely has it's ups and downs. Some books are decent and others are pretty bad - it seemed to get worse as it went on. The plotting was pretty poor and the characters were one-dimensiona...more
Tim Lepczyk
Glen Cook's Chronicles of the Black Company , the three novel tome which contains The Black Company, Shadows Linger, and the White Rosewere not created following the classic fantasy formula. Instead, Cook has taken the perspective of a troop of mercenaries known as the Black Company and ostensibly recognized by readers as "the bad guys" and proceeds to dismantle the common theme of a prophetic orphaned child embraced by a rebellion who overthrows an evil empire. While not as morally complex as G...more
Nathan
Mercenary company in the service of the Dark Lady (TM) start to get a little concerned about who and what they're fighting for. I liked this one quite a bit more than I did the first in the series. The huge canvas from the previous novel is shrunk considerably here, enabling a bit more atmosphere to come through. And it's a good atmosphere - quite dark and foreboding, almost more like a horror novel than a fantasy for most of its length. And Cook is not afraid to bump characters off - a good sig...more
Mel
At first I enjoyed the second black company book a little less. There was much less about the Lady, less with the taken. Instead there was a very spooky castle being fed with corpses. There was a very complex coward who started off annoying but really grew on you after awhile. He took up almost half the narrative and went through a whole lot of character growth and development, not all of which was pleasant. Compared with the first book the company did very little fighting for most of the book,...more
Nikki
More gritty fantasy, like the first book. It's interesting to note that Steven Erikson has praised these books, because it does remind me of Erikson's work -- except, I don't know I like Erikson's more, from what I've read so far.

With the world established, the action has more time to roll, and plenty happens in this book. It's easier to follow now you know the names and concepts, and you know what to expect. Maybe I've read a few too many books published since this one was, because other people...more
robyn
I read this because a friend lent me the first book in this series, The Black Company, and I kinda liked it. Nowhere near as much as I like Cook's Garrett Files, but enough to read on. This one is even more fragmented in style, and less easy for me to get into, because the narrative was split in two, devoted to two converging sets of characters/plots. And I didn't much care about half of it.

I suppose it's because this is a war-story, really, and judging by war-movies I've seen you have to expect...more
Art
Second installment of the Black Company series, and interestingly enough, NOT your typical Glen Cook fare. There's slightly less monumental bloodshed, slightly more actual human beings with believable lives, and a most macabre (and awesome) central theme that had me all excited and a little weirded out. Cook also manages to make the final twist both unexpected and logical, in that you get a very clear premonition of what's going to happen, but then forget about it when other events get in the wa...more
Tim
The Black Company is a fine fantasy novel, dealing with a mercenary company, their ruthless efficiency, and the ambiguity of evil. Cook has created a world where the line between good and evil runs through every human heart and the action of the first novel was grand in scope. The characters are likable, the world intense, and the action ongoing. The second novel places the same characters in an urban fantasy setting with a more limited scope and a less whole feel. The White Rose, the third nov...more
Jacob
Shadows Linger has 2 main perspectives that alternate chapters. One of them is Croaker who is the main character from the first book and the other is a new guy, Shed. Shed is mostly a pointless character. He owns a bar in the slums of a town and he's never likable and you never really care about him. I'm not sure why Cook introduced this guy rather than just making it from Raven's perspective (whom you only interact with in Shed chapters) which would have been a much more interesting point of vi...more
Shari  Mulluane
Croaker continues to add to the Annals of the Black Company in this second book of the first trilogy. My hunch was right. The Black company will be forced to decide if keeping its oaths to the Lady is a good idea; it was what forces them to choose that I was surprised by. (No, I am not telling!) As I think back on what I read in those few 300+ pages, I stand amazed. So much happens, so many things change, the action is so relentless, only I never noticed! It all flowed along that perfectly.

Full...more
Bobbi Jo
The story progresses. I enjoyed this one quite a bit and it might be able to stand alone but I think the reader's enjoyment would suffer for it. The case is the same with any of these books but I consider them more like chapters so it's ok. It's a grand and epic tale broken down into more manageable pieces.
Events occur quickly and overall the book is fast paced. Also, the writing is Cook at his best with many things inferred but not handed to the reader.
In Raven's solution for his money troubles...more
Court Ellyn
I liked Shadows Linger even better than the first book in the Chronicles of the Black Company. I may have said that Book 1 lost my interest a bit near the middle, but Book 2 did not. Perhaps I was into the swing of things by this point; perhaps I had really learned to appreciate the characters, the situation, Cook's writing style. Whatever the reason, Shadows Linger grabbed onto me more tightly, onto both my imagination and my heartstrings.

My only complaint is a bit of a spoiler. Here goes ...

My...more
K.V. Johansen
My sister bought me this book before I went to Germany as part of an exchange program. I think it was the only English book I had with me; mostly I was reading Asimov, Gift vom Mars und Auf dem Monden des Jupiters, and of course Der Kleine Hobbit. Shadows Linger was book two of The Black Company, so when I got back I had to get one and three right away. (And eventually, all the rest.) I like his recent Instrumentalities of the Night series even better, but The Black Company books were the first...more
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Glen Cook aka Greg Stevens is a contemporary American science fiction and fantasy author, best known for his fantasy series, The Black Company. Cook currently resides in St. Louis, Missouri.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/glencook
More about Glen Cook...
The Black Company (The Chronicle of the Black Company, #1) Chronicles of the Black Company (The Chronicles of the Black Company, #1-3) The White Rose (The Chronicle of the Black Company, #3) The Books of the South: Tales of the Black Company (The Chronicles of the Black Company, #4-6) Shadow Games (The Chronicle of the Black Company, #5)

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“I believe in our side and theirs, with the good and evil decided after the fact, by those who survive. Among men you seldom find the good with one standard and the shadow with another.” 18 people liked it
“Oh, 'twould be marvelous if the world and its moral questions were like some game board, with plain black players and white, and fixed rules, and nary a shade of grey.” 16 people liked it
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