The Black Company (The Chronicles of the Black Company, #1) in Sword & Sorcery: "An earthier sort of fantasy"

May 29, 2016 Daniel Millard rated it liked it · review of another edition

To be fair, this should probably be 3.5 / 5 stars.

Even after being told/warned about this series, I wasn't quite prepared for just how DIFFERENT this book was from standard fantasy fare. I don't know anything about this "grimdark" fantasy subgenre (which sounds stupid, if you ask me), but The Black Company is definitely one of the earliest and best examples (chronologically) of gritty, war-focused fantasy that I've read. Seeing the inspiration for Steven Erikson's Malazan series is easy, but The To be fair, this should probably be 3.5 / 5 stars.

Even after being told/warned about this series, I wasn't quite prepared for just how DIFFERENT this book was from standard fantasy fare. I don't know anything about this "grimdark" fantasy subgenre (which sounds stupid, if you ask me), but The Black Company is definitely one of the earliest and best examples (chronologically) of gritty, war-focused fantasy that I've read. Seeing the inspiration for Steven Erikson's Malazan series is easy, but The Black Company is simultaneously easier and yet more difficult to digest.

Cook's narration style is bizarre, but I have decidedly firmly that I like it. True, you've got to be paying attention constantly, because skipping or mis-reading even a sentence or two might completely disorient you as a reader, but given the setting and theme (the main character committing the annals of a mercenary company to record), the short, stilted-seeming sentences make perfect sense to me. I find this writing style refreshingly different, and the book won novelty points with me here.

About halfway through the book, the babble and tumble of characters and places began to right itself and make sense. Any confusion is simply due to the large number of characters (mostly members of the company) at the outset, but unlike many authors, Cook doesn't keep piling detail after detail on. There's no problem with the scope of the world blowing out of control, and instead, the various members of the Black Company quickly become readily identifiable individuals with well-defined quirks and personalities. A very interesting and rewarding aspect of Cook's writing is his lack of physical detail attributed to most characters, and a focus instead upon colorful illustrations of how they react and speak.

And what characters they are. My favorite is almost certainly Goblin, and his maniacal spats with One-Eye remind me of ridiculous exchanges with my own brother. These were easily the most entertaining parts of the book for me, and I take extreme pleasure in the author's ability to make me laugh out loud while still delivering good drama and the grim nature of the battlefield - very rare in war-focused fantasy.

An interesting start to a series, and I am given to understand that the later books are very gripping. This first installment got its hooks in me pretty good. ...more

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