Bleak Seasons: Book One of the Glittering Stone (Chronicles of The Black Company #7) Chapters 1-101

[Shelley]

Bleak Seasons marks the turning point in the Black Company's quest to return to Khatovar. A new narrator - Murgen - steps in to permanently take the place of Croaker, who has disappeared in battle and is presumed dead. Dejagore has fallen to the Company, but now is under siege by the Shadowmasters. Lady, who filled in for one volume is outside the city seeking a way to free it, but the real story is within, in the desperate struggle of the members of the Black Company and their cohorts to survive both the battles and the betrayals of their own kind. Murgen is a different type of narrator than either Croaker or Lady, and will take a bit of getting used to. As his character develops over this volume and the next the weakness plays an important role. But, at first, you may get the feeling that Glen Cook has slipped up a bit. Much of Murgen's weakness is the result of several disasters he is trying to deal with at the same time he is plagued by a continual series of fugue states that have the narrative darting over both time and place. But this installment does give us much useful information that helps to brigh the series forward.

[Gene]

I just want to mention that while people consider this book to be the weakest in the South Chronicles of the Company, it introduces a lot of important characters and gives an inside view for the events only briefly mentioned in the previous book.
So for those who find this book slow: the next one is better. The last two are impossible to put down.

[Shelley]

I have to agree with Evgeny that this installment was the hardest book for me to get into because I didn't understand what was going on with Murgen! What I did like is getting the whole back story on the siege of Dejagore and what happen with Mogaba.

[Gene]

If you survive this book, do not tell me I did not warn you about the lack of sleep because of the last three ones.

[Shelley]

Evgeny wrote: "If you survive this book, do not tell me I did not want you about the lack of sleep because of the last three ones."

Hey Evgeny! That bug has already struck home, I'm reading Soldiers Live as we speek, since Shadow Games I haven't done much of anything these last few weeks but read Glen Cook!! :)

[Shelley]

Alright gang, I've finished the series....WOW, WOW, WOW is all I can say!

I plan on doing a better job with the group discussions! To that end I've picked back up with Bleak Seasons today and will reread the last four books with everyone! I feel like the last four books are so amazing, it won't be a hardship to reread them! :)

[Shelley]

I'm almost done with my re-read and the beginning of this book makes wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy more since to me now! I think it's an interesting the way Cook is giving us the back story to what happened to the members of tBC during the seige!

There is so much going on in this book with Soulcatcher mucking up the game, LongShadow is almost paralized into inaction. And what about Blade going over to the darkside!!??

[Maggie, The Malazan Queen of Chaos]

In a small way this is almost like reading a Malazan---I dont know half of what Murgen is talking about right now! Im sticking it out though, as I am sure it will come together

[Shelley]

It is like that Maggie! But we do find out what was happening to Murgen in later intstallments. :)

I will admit that it was hard to follow what was happening to Murgen. But I do think it was clever of Cook to appoarch telling us what happened durning the seige of Duragore this way!