Alchemical Words reviews Soldiers Live, the last published book in The Black Company series of epic military fantasy novels by author Glen Cook. There are rumors of two more volumes in the works but the estimated publication date is sometime in 2015 at the earliest so we’ve got a while to wait to see what else Glen cooks up…sorry, I couldn’t resist. It was just too easy (cheesy grin). Okay, then… Synopsis of Soldiers Live: When sorcerers and demigods go to war, those wars are fought by mercenaries, “dog soldiers, ” grunts in the trenches. And the stories of those soldiers are the stories of Glen Cook’s hugely popular Black…
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Water Sleeps – Fantasy Book Review
Alchemical Words reviews Water Sleeps; the ninth book in the epic military fantasy series, The Black Company, by author Glen Cook. I know a lot of reading orders for this fantasy book series do not count The Silver Spike as part of the reading order, listing Water Sleeps as eighth in the series, but I disagree. I think The Silver Spike ties up a lot of loose ends and serves a necessary purpose in the overall progression of the series. I’m going to try to do this synopsis with as few spoilers as possible. In Water Sleeps, we have a new narrator, Sleepy. I was surprised by her fast rise…
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She Is The Darkness – Fantasy Book Review
Alchemical Words reviews She Is The Darkness, the eighth book of the best selling epic fantasy book series, The Black Company by Glen Cook. This epic military fantasy series was started in 1984 and currently consists of 10 books published over a period of 16 years. There are continuing rumors of an additional two books and the current book gossip suggests that these will come out in late 2014 or 2015. This entry into the series continues in the mixed format of some chapters written through the POV of a first person narrator mixed with chapters with a third person POV. Cook also continues with Murgen as the first person…
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Bleak Seasons – Fantasy Book Review
Alchemical Words reviews Bleak Seasons, the seventh book of The Black Company epic military fantasy book series by Glen Cook. Bleak Seasons is set during the same time period as Dreams of Steel. While The Lady was the first person POV narrator for Dreams of Steel, while Bleak Seasons is divided between telling the story from the point of view of Murgen, who is trapped within the siege of Dejagore and the events in Taglios, including the problems of the Deceivers and those pesky, never really quite dead enough to be really dead, Taken. Synopsis of Bleak Seasons “Let me tell you who I am, on the chance that these…
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Dreams Of Steel – Fantasy Book Review
Alchemical Words reviews Dreams of Steel, the sixth book in the epic military fantasy series, The Black Company, by author Glen Cook. Synopsis of Dreams of Steel Croaker has fallen and, following the Company’s disastrous defeat at Dejagore, Lady is one of the few survivors—determined to avenge the Company and herself against the Shadowmasters, no matter what the cost. But in assembling a new fighting force from the dregs and rabble of Taglios, she finds herself offered help by a mysterious, ancient cult of murder—competent, reliable, and apparently committed to her goals. Meanwhile, far away, Shadowmasters conspire against one another and the world, weaving dark spells that reach into the…
