Like others have posted, I found the first book in the trilogy, 'A Shadow of All Night Falling' tough sledding. I was on the verge of putting it away to try later, but being a big fan of Cook and his 'Black Company' series, I decided to give the second book, 'October's Baby', a chance. I'm glad I did. The omnibus became a page-turner, and though I found book three, 'All Darkness Met', a touch slow getting started, it proved a satisfying conclusion.

One small nit was the lack of a map. There were so many kingdoms and place names that it would have been nice to have a reference. One the plus side I could see some ideas that would later make it into the 'Black Company' series. The bickering wizards Visigodred and Zindahjira reminded me of One-Eye and Goblin.

If you are a fan of the 'Black Company' you may be disappointed. If you haven't read 'The Black Company' because of this collection, you are missing out on one of the all time great, and under-rated fantasy series.