The Black Company

The Black Company is a series of fantasy novels by author Glen Cook. The series combines elements of epic fantasy and dark fantasy as it follows an elite mercenary unit, The Black Company, through roughly forty years of its approximately four hundred year history.

Contents

Novels

Main chronology

The Books of the North

  1. The Black Company—May 1984
  2. Shadows Linger—October 1984
  3. The White Rose—April 1985

The Books of the South

  1. Shadow Games—June 1989
  2. Dreams of Steel—April 1990

The Books of the Glittering Stone

  1. Bleak Seasons—April 1996
  2. She Is the Darkness—September 1997
  3. Water Sleeps—March 1999
  4. Soldiers Live—July 2000

Omnibus Editions

  1. Annals of the Black Company (collects The Black Company, Shadows Linger, and The White Rose)
  2. The Black Company Goes South (collects The Silver Spike, Shadow Games, and Dreams of Steel)
  3. The Black Company: Glittering Stone I (collects Bleak Seasons and She Is the Darkness)
  4. The Black Company: Glittering Stone II (collects Water Sleeps and Soldiers Live)
  1. The Chronicles of The Black Company (collects The Black Company, Shadows Linger, and The White Rose) (November 2007)
  2. The Books of the South (collects Shadow Games, Dreams of Steel, and The Silver Spike) (June 2008)
  3. The Return of The Black Company (collects Bleak Seasons, and She Is The Darkness) (September 2009)
  4. The Many Deaths of The Black Company (collects Water Sleeps, and Soldiers Live) (January 2010)

Spin-offs

  1. The Silver Spike—September 1989

Short stories

  1. Raker - appeared in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (August 1982). This was a pre-publication excerpt of chapter three from The Black Company, with slight editing differences to make it stand alone as a short story.
  2. Tides Elba - appeared in the Swords & Dark Magic compilation (published June 2010)
  3. Smelling Darkness - scheduled to appear in the forthcoming Subterranean Press anthology, Tales of Dark Fantasy 2.

To be released

  1. A Pitiless Rain—TBA (main annalist: TBA) [1]
  2. Port of Shadows—TBA (main annalist: TBA) [1]

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 spin-off 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 first three books, the "Books of the North," recount the Company’s dealings with the Empire of Lady. The Books of the South follows the Company’s journey south on its journey back to its beginnings in Khatovar. Glittering Stone sees the Company achieve victory over its employer's enemies, and move on to its destiny.

There are four omnibus editions of the Black Company books. The first omnibus, "Chronicles of the Black Company" includes The Black Company, Shadows Linger, and The White Rose. The second omnibus, "The Books of the South" includes, Shadow Games, Dreams of Steel and The Silver Spike. The third omnibus, "The Return of the Black Compay" includes, Bleak Seasons and She Is the Darkness. The fourth omnibus, "The Many Deaths of the Black Company" includes, Water Sleeps and Soldiers Live.

Additionally, the short story, Tides Elba, takes place during the Northern Campaign in between the first two books. Two proposed novels, A Pitiless Rain and Port of Shadows, have not yet been published

The Domination

The world of the Black Company is shaped by events that occurred long before the time of the first novel. A powerful wizard called the Dominator had created a brutal empire, assisted by his sorceress wife, known as the Lady, and ten enslaved magical rivals, the Ten Who Were Taken (or just "Taken"). Eventually the Domination was overthrown by a rebellion led by the White Rose. Not powerful enough to kill any of them, she had all 12 buried alive and partially asleep in the remote Barrowland, with magical enchantments to keep them bound.

Much later, a wizard named Bomanz awoke the Lady in an attempt to learn from her, but was tricked into releasing her from her imprisonment. She freed the Taken and bound them to her will, but kept her insane husband in his tomb. The Lady rebuilt the empire, but her rule is less heavy-handed than that of her spouse.

The Ten Who Were Taken; The New Taken

Many generations before the first novel, these Ten powerful wizards were magically bound to the will of the Dominator:

Then, between the first and the third novels, the Lady replaced those of the Ten who were slain with the following:

The Free Companies

The Black Company knows little of its own origin. The last survivor of the Free Companies of Khatovar, its records go back centuries, though the first century of their history has been lost. People come and go, but the Company remains. At the beginning of the series, it has evolved into a ruthlessly effective 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. Morality often conflicts with the "honor" system of the mercenaries to hold true to their employer.

Members of The Black Company

From the Northern Campaigns

From the Books of the South

From the Books of Glittering Stone

Non-sworn brothers but affiliated persons

Nyueng Bao

A race descended from a separate Free Company of Khatovar, aligned with the Black Company after the siege of Dejagore.

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b "Strange Horizons Interview". http://www.strangehorizons.com/2005/20050117/cook-int-a.shtml. Retrieved June 20, 2006. 

External links

The Black Company by Glen Cook