The Black Company
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The Black Company is a series of dark fantasy novels by author Glen Cook.
Contents |
[edit] Novels
- The Black Company (May 1984)
- Shadows Linger (October 1984)
- The White Rose (April 1985)
- Shadow Games (June 1989)
- Dreams of Steel (April 1990)
- Bleak Seasons (April 1996)
- She Is The Darkness (September 1997)
- Water Sleeps (March 1999)
- Soldiers Live (July 2000)
[edit] Spin-offs
- The Silver Spike (September 1989)
[edit] Unreleased
[edit] Plot summary
The series follows an elite mercenary unit, The Black Company, last of the Free Companies of Khatovar, through roughly forty years of its approximately four hundred year history. In the series, Cook mixes fantasy with military fiction in gritty, down-to-earth portrayals of the Company‘s chief personalities and its struggles. The series can be subdivided into three sections plus a novel, The Silver Spike, that follows events concerning former members of the Company and one of its adversaries. The three sections are the Books of the North, the Books of the South, and Glittering Stone.
The Books of the North, collected in the Annals of the Black Company, recount the Company’s dealings with the Empire of the North. The Books of the South follows the Company’s journey south and near destruction on its journey back to its beginnings in Khatovar. Glittering Stone sees the Company achieve victory over its employers’ enemies, wreak vengeance on the selfsame employers, and move on to its destiny.
The "Books of the North" include: The Black Company, Shadows Linger, and The White Rose. The "Books of the South" include: Shadow Games and Dreams of Steel. "Glittering Stone" includes: Bleak Seasons, She Is The Darkness, Water Sleeps, and Soldiers Live. The stand alone novel The Silver Spike takes place roughly at the same time as the first Book of the South. Two proposed novels, A Pitiless Rain and Port of Shadows, have not yet been published.
[edit] The Domination
Events in the world of the Black Company are predicated upon the history of that world before the time of the first novel's setting. In the time of the Domination, a single powerful wizard created a brutal centralized empire. His sorceress wife and 10 subservient wizards were either slaves or co-conspirators to his will. Eventually the Domination was overthrown by revolution and all 12 of those principles were buried alive in the Barrowland. Magical enchantments bound them to their tombs for centuries. Shortly before the events of The Black Company, the wife, known as the Lady of Charm, is accidentally released from her imprisonment, and quickly binds those same 10 wizards to her will, united in their struggle to keep her insane husband in his tomb. The Lady rebuilds an empire in the mold of her husband, but the apparent quest for power masks her true goal, which is to prevent her husband's agents from restoring the full Domination of the past.
[edit] Ten Who Were Taken
During the course of the novels, the lead villain has 10 powerful wizards under her command. These were taken against their will and magically bound to the will of their master.
- Soulcatcher
- Stormbringer
- Moonbiter
- The Hanged Man
- Bonegnasher
- Shapeshifter
- The Howler
- Nightcrawler
- The Limper
- The Faceless Man
At various times due to apparent death, the original ten were replaced with some of the following:
- Whisper
- Feather
- Journey
- Benifice
- Blister
- The Creeper
- Learned
- Scorn
[edit] The Free Companies
The Black Company knows little of its own origin. Its records go back centuries, but that is not long enough. People come and go, but the Company remains. It remains a ruthless mercenary unit willing to work for the highest bidder. But individually the members can recognize true evil when they see it, and often they try to manipulate the situation to mitigate the worst outcomes.
What they do not know is that the first goal of the Free Companies of Khatovar was to invade a foreign land and create havok to bring about the Year of the Skulls for a demonic entity known as Kina. Many would consider that to be the end of the world, while other consider it a new beginning. But centuries later the new recruits do not realize their true purpose will destroy their birthworld for the glory of a monster from another plane.
In the later novels, the then members come to understand their conflicted purpose. Being no stranger to working for the mostly wrong side in conflicts which sets the evil versus the wicked, The Black Company must use their accumulated experience to set the titanic forces surrounding them against each other, and hope for an outcome that can preserve something of their world.
[edit] Members of The Black Company
[edit] From the Northern Campaigns
- The Captain - leader of the Black Company.
- The Lieutenant - his second in command.
- Croaker - Company's doctor and historian. (He is the narrator)
- Silent - moderately talented wizard.
- Goblin - moderately talented wizard.
- Tom-Tom - moderately talented wizard.
- One-Eye - moderately talented wizard.
- Elmo - the Sergeant.
- Otto - veteran mercenary.
- Hagop - veteran mercenary.
- Raven - Northern recruit. Cold, and deadly with a knife.
[edit] From the Books of the South
- Murgen - Standard Bearer and later annalist
- Lady - Former foe, later Lieutenant and second in command
- Big Bucket - Also known as Cato Dahlia
- Cletus
- Mogaba
- Sindawe
- Sleepy
- Wheezer
[edit] Non sworn brothers but affiliated persons
- Cordy Mather
- Blade
- Willow Swan
[edit] Nyueng Bao
A race descended from a separate Free Company of Khatovar, aligned with the Black Company after the catastrophic siege of Dejagore.
- Uncle Doj-- last informed priest of the Nyueng Bao
- Mother Gota-- Mother of Thai Dei and Sahra
- Thai Dei-- Murgen's brother-in-law and body guard
- Sarha (Sari)-- Murgen's wife. Mother of Tobo
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ a b Strange Horizons Interview. Retrieved on June 20, 2006.
| The Black Company by Glen Cook |
| The Black Company | Shadows Linger | The White Rose | Shadow Games | Dreams of Steel | Bleak Seasons | She Is The Darkness | Water Sleeps | Soldiers Live Related novels: The Silver Spike |
