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Soldiers Live – Fantasy Book Review
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 narrator. The Company is…
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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…
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Shadow Games – Fantasy Book Review
Alchemical Words reviews Shadow Games by author Glen Cook. Since I read all of The Black Company Books currently published in succession, I’m continuing with Shadow Games, the fifth book in the series following the out-rider novel, The Silver Spike. The story picks up with The Black Company following the The White Rose. Synopsis of Shadow Games After the devastating battle at the Tower of Charm, Croaker leads the greatly diminished Black Company south, in search of the lost Annals. The Annals will be returned to Khatovar, eight thousand miles away, a city that may exist only in legend…the origin of the first Free Companies. Every step of the way,…
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The Silver Spike – Fantasy Book Review
Alchemical Words reviews the epic fantasy novel The Silver Spike by author Glen Cook. The Silver Spike is the fourth book in The Black Company series by Glen Cook. Many consider this book to be an outrider story, a spin-off book rather than a continuation of the story line established in the first two books. It picks up the story of Raven and Darling after the events of Shadows Linger. Synopsis of The Silver Spike: …embedded in the trunk of the scion of the godtree, it contains the essence of the maddest of the Ten Who Were Taken…The Dominator. Defeated by the Lady and cast from this world, all that…
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The White Rose – Fantasy Book Review
Alchemical Words reviews The White Rose by author Glen Cook. “The White Rose” is the third book in The Black Company fantasy book series by Glen Cook. Following the debacle at Juniper, the Black Company has fled, hiding from The Lady in a place known as The Plain of Fear, a vast desert plain that is literally chock-full of magical, non-human creatures. We are introduced to creatures such as Old Father Tree, a god manifested as a tree planted in the exact center of the plain, Menhirs, monolithic stones that move and speak when they choose, gaseous windwhales, and enormous manta rays that fly and vast host of fascinating creatures…
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Shadows Linger – Fantasy Book Review
Alchemical Words reviews Shadows Linger by author Glen Cook In a previous post, I reviewed the first book of the series, The Black Company. Today, I’m tackling the second, Shadows Linger. This series is a unique challenge for me. It’s unlike other fantasy book series I have read and I’m still sorting out how I feel about it. I loved and hated the first installment but the story was intriguing enough that I decided to read the next book in the series. The Black Company series of fantasy novels currently includes 10 books. I borrowed a series synopsis from The Black Company page on Wikipedia: The series follows an elite…
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The Black Company – Fantasy Book Review
Alchemical Words reviews the epic military fantasy, The Black Company by Glen Cook I decided to expand my fantasy books reading list reading, including fantasy books that I might not normally choose. I’ve spent hours scouring the net for lists of Top 10 Fantasy Books, Top 25 Fantasy Books, Best Fantasy Books of All Time… You get the idea. I’m sure a lot of you have done similar searches in the past or, who knows, you may be searching for a new read right now. One series of books that seems to pop up on almost everyone’s list is the Black Company books by Glen Cook. I checked on BestFantasyBooks.com…
