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20th out of 126 books
—
152 voters
The White Rose (The Chronicles of the Black Company #3)
by
Glen Cook
She is the last hope of good in the war against the evil sorceress known as the Lady. From a secret base on the Plains of Fear, where even the Lady hesitates to go, the Black Company, once in service to the Lady, now fights to bring victory to the White Rose. But now an even greater evil threatens the world. All the great battles that have gone before will seem a skirmishe
...more
Paperback, 317 pages
Published
April 15th 1985
by Tor Fantasy
(first published April 1985)
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This was an audible book listen for me and I didn't realize when I bought it that it was part of series. I need to backtrack and read the first two books. It is a well written story with interesting characters and an interesting fantasy world build full of sorcery and sentient world beings. The timeline jumps back in a couple of places to the actions of a sorcerer named Bromans (not sure of the spelling). I didn't catch on immediately that the two story lines weren't running in the same time fra...more
Oct 13, 2012
Joel Puga
added it
Este é o terceiro livro da série da companhia negra e o último dos Livros do Norte. Aqui, tramas que se haviam antes tocado cruzam-se por fim, amigos reencontram-se, a história do que se passou para dar origem aos acontecimentos do primeiro livro é explicada e a "vilã" mostra que não é bem aquilo por que se tentar fazer passar.
Neste livro, mantêm-se os elementos característicos da série, sendo o mais notável o estilo narrativo e de escrita que se assemelha mais ao de um romance militar (não con...more
Neste livro, mantêm-se os elementos característicos da série, sendo o mais notável o estilo narrativo e de escrita que se assemelha mais ao de um romance militar (não con...more
I will probably be roundly booed for saying this, but I liken this series to the Gaunt's Ghosts series by Dan Abnett. In both you follow a unique and roundly abused group of soldiers within a larger unit. in both, they are the last of their kind, and though they might disagree with each other, their bonds and loyalty are without measure. Also, it took me to the end of this third book in the series to finally give over to being "into it", and that is exactly what happened in the Gaunt's series. I...more
Fanatastic end to the first trilogy of the Black Company. After the struggles in the first book of sorting the story into order each book got progressively more entertaining to read.
The two most interesting aspects of this book were the realtionship between Croaker and the Lady and the unfolding drama between the Lady and the White Rose. The relationship between Croaker and the Lady was fascinating because of the power differential between the two coupled with Croaker's perception of the capaci...more
The two most interesting aspects of this book were the realtionship between Croaker and the Lady and the unfolding drama between the Lady and the White Rose. The relationship between Croaker and the Lady was fascinating because of the power differential between the two coupled with Croaker's perception of the capaci...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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I could have loved this one but the writting is so choppy at times it takes me out of the story to scratch my head. Regardless of the continuing execution problems with Mr. Cook's writing, this is a decent wrap for the first trilogy of this very long series. For me it's done. I can see that the choppy writing is being used as technique instead of poor editing. It feels like the writer just skips key aspects of the story by going with the 'it's first person so we don't learn what they don't see'....more
Glen Cook is an author without peer. He writes experiences as much as books. His narration perspective from inside the head of a historian recording the events of his protagonists allows for much more surprise and twists that more traditional narration.
The White Rose is the pinnacle of the books of the North. It captures the bleakness and grit that would come to be in even more vivid ways in his books of the South. The books before this one, while outstanding works, were in a way, finding their...more
The White Rose is the pinnacle of the books of the North. It captures the bleakness and grit that would come to be in even more vivid ways in his books of the South. The books before this one, while outstanding works, were in a way, finding their...more
Band 3 um die Black Company ist ein überaus spannender und ideenreicher Abschluß der Trilogie "Books of the North". Nachdem die Black Company mittlerweile auf Seiten der Weißen Rose kämpft, steht der Konflikt mit der Lady und ihren Unterworfenen im Mittelpunkt.
Neben dem Ich-Erzähler Croaker wechseln wir ähnlich wie in Band 2 auch in zwei weitere Perspektiven: Zum einen ist dies Bomanz, ein Zauberer, der vor ca. einer Generation für die Befreiung der Lady verantwortlich war. Das ist wie immer bei...more
Neben dem Ich-Erzähler Croaker wechseln wir ähnlich wie in Band 2 auch in zwei weitere Perspektiven: Zum einen ist dies Bomanz, ein Zauberer, der vor ca. einer Generation für die Befreiung der Lady verantwortlich war. Das ist wie immer bei...more
It's odd that a book about mercenaries who ride flying whales sometimes and struggle to contain an ancient wicked wizard called the dominator actually has some of the most human and engaging characters I can remember reading. Behind every character's mystical facade there is a real human who gets lonely, tired, and scared and wants a hug. I'm still at a loss to adequately express the experience reading these books has been. The characters, in their bizarre settings having bizarre experiences, ar...more
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
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
GREAT!!!!!
Best so far! All of my favorite things in one fun book - snark, action, magic, creatures and cool places.
This is just so cool. Mysteries to be solved, suspense ending, changing alliances - all good.
Final battle is epic not in size of the army, but in what's at stake. It's a matter of scale.
Cool places - the Plain of Fear, the Barrowland (big necropolis)
Action - PLENTY
Magic - the wizards get alot more to do, and then the entire Plain of Fear, change storms, breaking or enhancing ancient...more
Best so far! All of my favorite things in one fun book - snark, action, magic, creatures and cool places.
This is just so cool. Mysteries to be solved, suspense ending, changing alliances - all good.
Final battle is epic not in size of the army, but in what's at stake. It's a matter of scale.
Cool places - the Plain of Fear, the Barrowland (big necropolis)
Action - PLENTY
Magic - the wizards get alot more to do, and then the entire Plain of Fear, change storms, breaking or enhancing ancient...more
It's hard to review The White Rose without giving any spoilers, and that being said, I thank Glen Cook for wrapping up the Chronicles of the Black Company so efficiently.
I have never read a fantasy series more human. Many people attribute George Martin as the master of the "human" fantasy, but they only do so because they haven't read Glen Cook. Martin does great at reminding us how filthy and barbaric humans can be, while Cook articulates the human experience through the lens of combat medic/hi...more
I have never read a fantasy series more human. Many people attribute George Martin as the master of the "human" fantasy, but they only do so because they haven't read Glen Cook. Martin does great at reminding us how filthy and barbaric humans can be, while Cook articulates the human experience through the lens of combat medic/hi...more
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
Rating raised to 5 stars. Glen Cook is a genius. The White Rose is the final book the trilogy involving the Dominator, the Lady and the reincarnation of the White Rose. The Chronicles of the Black Company reads like a personal historical narrative rather than a fantasy novel. The experiences of Croaker, the physician of the Black Company (the last of the free Companies of Khatovar) is related through his eyes and through his position as the company's annalist.
Croaker is working together with the...more
Croaker is working together with the...more
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
Ce 3e tome de la série qui se passe dans le Nord achève la trilogie dans un feu d'artifice. Un beau résumé de cet univers unique. Moins sombre et glauque que le tome 2, les personnages n'en sont pas moins fidèle au style de l'auteur ; héros hauts en couleur, destin sombre ou tragique et créatures étranges. Le récit nous apporte bon nombre de réponse et l'intrigue s'articule autour de moments intimes et d'évènements plus spectaculaires que jamais. Tout finit par se jouer, tout est dit en quelques...more
Los protagonistas, aunque simples bocetos, se definen por sus acciones y especialmente por los sobrenombres o apodos por los que son conocidos dentro de la Compañía. Y eso es que una vez que alguien ingresa en ella todo su pasado es olvidado, incluso su nombre, y nadie preguntara por el jamás (aunque a alguno no le falten ganas). También me ha gustado que aunque la magia esta muy presente en el mundo la Compañía solo cuenta con dos “hechiceros” de medio pelo : Goblin y Un Ojo. Útiles pero no de...more
This was a surprisingly good conclusion to the trilogy formed by The Black Company, Shadows Linger, and this novel. While Cook doesn't exactly shatter genre conventions he does have a unique and entertaining tone and his imagination really takes off at certain points. I guess it's that combination that gives this series that particular flavor that I think people enjoy.
This one felt a bit different from the other two and it really led me to see the overall characters of the books; The Black Compa...more
This one felt a bit different from the other two and it really led me to see the overall characters of the books; The Black Compa...more
The third book of the trilogy and it brings the storyline that started in The Black Company to a close. I enjoyed this book the most of the three, by far. The characters are much more complex and developed, and the way there's no real "good" or "evil", just lots of shades of grey, makes the story all the more interesting. Plus, the details of the ending actually surprised me a bit, which is all too rare.
The trilogy is a little too gritty and war-oriented for my normal taste, but I wasn't disappo...more
The trilogy is a little too gritty and war-oriented for my normal taste, but I wasn't disappo...more
Once again, I was struck by how different this series is. There are no real heroes. Sure, there is bravery, loyalty, self-sacrifice, brotherhood and humor, but no one character stands out. They all do what they have to do, often reluctantly, depending on the situation. There is one faceless evil, the Dominator, but the rest are in the gray range. Good people do bad things, bad people do good things, but they all think that what they are doing is right. You cannot get any closer to reality then t...more
This is where this series really came through for me. The other books were very much building up to this, and they suffered for it, while this one -- for me at least -- was my favourite. I love the ending especially -- shades of grey all the way, and people actually dying, both things this trilogy is good at.
Not really tempted to read more by Glen Cook though, somehow. This trilogy was intriguing and sometimes exciting (though sometimes there were a few too many card games), but it didn't quite...more
Not really tempted to read more by Glen Cook though, somehow. This trilogy was intriguing and sometimes exciting (though sometimes there were a few too many card games), but it didn't quite...more
Mar 18, 2013
Bernie Charbonneau
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Sci Fi Readers
The third book in the Black Company saga takes us to the Barrowlands area. This series has been very entertaining. I can very well see how Mr. Cook has influenced today’s fantasy writers. The world in which this series takes place has expanded with new characters introduced that leave me wanting more at the conclusion of this novel. As noted in the previous reviews, the writing seems to get better or maybe as the understanding of this series evolves, it has become easier to follow and comprehend...more
The white rose is my favourite so far of the Black Company books. The alternate story in this one really grabbed my attention from the begining. The letters that Croaker got about the old wizard reviving the Lady and starting the dominion. In this book Lady starts to become human, as she shows herself to be more than the huge evil of the first two books. The setting is strange and the most fantastic of the books but it's a very spooky and disturbing kind of fantasy. The world is still very grim...more
In which the Black Company, now sadly depleted and getting on in years, have to decide whether they can support the lesser of two evils. Cook writes in a very spare style which allows (indeed demands) the reader fill in many of the gaps himself. But it's all very dark and morally ambiguous, with some complicated characters simply drawn and a climax which will appeal to those who have read a few old-school chronicles and histories (no 200 page blow-by-blow description here!). I do like these book...more
Da:
http://www.webalice.it/michele.castel...
Ho già parlato del primo di questi romanzi, The Black Company, che è anche il titolo dell'intera serie, e non potrò fare a meno di ripetere buona parte di quello che avevo detto allora, anche se ora la prospettiva si è allargata molto, perchè questi tre volumi rappresentano l'intera storia della Compagnia nelle Terre del Nord. Diciamo che si chiude un capitolo, ed il seguito è abbastanza indipendente. Questi tre romanzi permettono quindi di dare un giud...more
http://www.webalice.it/michele.castel...
Ho già parlato del primo di questi romanzi, The Black Company, che è anche il titolo dell'intera serie, e non potrò fare a meno di ripetere buona parte di quello che avevo detto allora, anche se ora la prospettiva si è allargata molto, perchè questi tre volumi rappresentano l'intera storia della Compagnia nelle Terre del Nord. Diciamo che si chiude un capitolo, ed il seguito è abbastanza indipendente. Questi tre romanzi permettono quindi di dare un giud...more
This was a very nice conclusion to the trilogy that make up what has been known as The Chronicles of the Black Company: The Books of the North. All is wrapped up nicely, logically, and with satisfaction.
So, at the end of the last book, what remains of the Black Company has just placed itself voluntarily under the command of the White Rose, a deaf, mute girl who happens to be a great military strategist and the source of a magic nullifying field. They fight against the Lady and her evil empire in...more
So, at the end of the last book, what remains of the Black Company has just placed itself voluntarily under the command of the White Rose, a deaf, mute girl who happens to be a great military strategist and the source of a magic nullifying field. They fight against the Lady and her evil empire in...more
Třetí díl o Černé legii bylo fakt těžké získat. Trvalo to roky a náhle tato cesta, ten boj, skončila. Černá legie patří k mým srdečním záležitostem. Není tak optimistická jako Eragon ani tak epická jako Pán prstenů. Když bych měla použít jedno slovo, popsala bych ji jako syrovou (možná i surovou, některé scény jsou krvavé) ale Černá legie se oproti jiným fantasy knihám liší svým prostým podáním života obyčejných žoldáků chycených uprostřed boje 'dobra' se zlem a ještě větším zlem.
Knihy jsou vyp...more
Knihy jsou vyp...more
While reading this book, I kept going back and forth between loving it and hating it. My rating could have fallen anywhere between 1 star and 5. Fortunately, the ending was probably the best part, so when I finally put the book down, it was with a good feeling.
We'll start with the good parts. Like the first two books, the writing is superb. The sentense flow extremely well, the world is rich and complex, and the characters are deep and complicated. The feelings you have for each character is exa...more
We'll start with the good parts. Like the first two books, the writing is superb. The sentense flow extremely well, the world is rich and complex, and the characters are deep and complicated. The feelings you have for each character is exa...more
After three books, I have decided that there's only one character I actually like. And that is, of course, the Lady. The evil conqueror in whose name countless atrocities have been performed, who murdered her own sisters and tortures people without batting an eyelash. But girl has her eye on the ball, and it finally becomes clear what her motivations are - and frankly, they're much more interesting and sympathetic than anyone's in the Company. "Well, we signed the contract" doesn't really do muc...more
I've struggled to formulate a review for these books (The Black Company, Shadows Linger, The White Rose).
They fall in a nebulous grey area where I worry about speaking too highly of them in my review and painting them as perfect (which they aren't), without wanting to put undue emphasis on any flaws (none of which were enough to detract from my enjoyment of the books).
In short: I liked them, a lot. I'll definitely be seeking out more Glen Cook when I get home.
Some specifics:
I like the writing...more
They fall in a nebulous grey area where I worry about speaking too highly of them in my review and painting them as perfect (which they aren't), without wanting to put undue emphasis on any flaws (none of which were enough to detract from my enjoyment of the books).
In short: I liked them, a lot. I'll definitely be seeking out more Glen Cook when I get home.
Some specifics:
I like the writing...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
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http://us.macmillan.com/author/glencook
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“No religion I ever encountered made any sense. None are consistent. Most gods are megalomaniacs and paranoid psychotics by their worshippers' description. I don't see how they could survive their own insanity. But it's not impossible that human beings are incapable of interpreting a power so much greater than themselves. Maybe religions are twisted and perverted shadows of truth. Maybe there are forces which shape the world. I myself have never understood why, in a universe so vast, a god would care about something so trivial as worship or human destiny.”
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10 people liked it
“I do not want to die, Croaker. All that I am shrieks against the unrighteousness of death. All that I am, was, and probably will be, is shaped by my passion to evade the end of me.”
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1 person liked it
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