Customer Reviews

Soldiers Live (Black Company)

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

In my estimation, the Black Company books, collectively, represent the best of the genre. Nothing else even comes close.

Although some aspects of the book may be troubling to devoted fans (the attrition of characters near and dear from previous books, in particular), its more troubling aspects are its greatest strengths. This book may be one of the blackest, bleakest, and most blighted of any in a series that has distinguished and distanced itself from the "young woman struggles to unlock the frightening but wondrous powers buried within her" trash that has come to typify contemporary fantasy. It has the moral ambiguity appropriate to the conclusion of an anti-epic like Glittering Stone, and the gnawing sense of futility that infects Croaker's narration makes the sacrifices of an aging mercenary seem more, rather than less, redemptive.

All the things diehard fans demand from a Black Company novel are there, but as Croaker (to my mind, the heart and soul of the Company) sees himself as increasingly remote from the latest incarnation of the Compnay, his feelings on his fallen comrades mirror our own feelings on our favorite vanished characters (Goblin, Silent, Elmo, even the Limper). The ending (if it is truly an END to the Black Company) was, as another reviewer put it, "very disturbing." I agree, but would argue that the ending was perfect, even necessary, for the series, and that it exemplified what it is that makes the Black Company so different from everything else out there, and so worthy of the outlandish affection its fans feel for it.

About 12 years and countless engaging hours since I first picked up the original Black Company novel, it seems this great series has come to a close (of sorts). Though Cook may write other books about one or more of the (incredibly few) remaining characters, the Black Company as we know it has made its last march. This installment of the series was largely a very satisfying, albeit bittersweet read. Unlike many other authors in this genre, Mr Cook has never been afraid to kill off his characters in sudden and unexpected ways. "Soldier's Live" is no exception. As the Company makes its way back to Taglios to thwart the plans of the Death Goddess(and not to mention rid themselves of a few extremely pesky recurring adversaries), Cook pares his cast down almost obsessively. The end result is that no one is safe. The danger the Company faces in every circumstance is real and immediate, regardless of which characters are involved. This approach would be lethal to a less imaginative author, but Cook's strength is a seemingly endless supply of colorful, entertaining, and well-developed characters. As this is the last book in the series (or at least in this incarnation of the series), Cook does more paring than planting. Loose ends stretching back almost to the beginning of the original series are tied off with mostly satisfying results. Like a previous reviewer speculated, Cook has left the door open for possibly one or more prequels (oh please oh please) involving the Company in the early years...until then, Soldiers Live is a fitting epilogue to a superb series.

I'm still a little disoriented, as I only finished the book about 10 minutes ago. My title sums up my entire mental process right now, though not my emotional one.

This is an excellent addition to the Black Company series. As another reviewer pointed out, it wraps up Glittering Stone without really ending the story of the Black Company. Not only is there the brand-new Company with its several Annalists, there's some serious room for flashbacks. I expect further installments, though I'm not on the edge of my seat just yet.

"Soldiers Live" opens the way we expect Black Company novels to open. We have our familiar characters all in place (a surprise to me, since One-Eye died at the end of "Water Sleeps") and it quickly becomes apparent that just about every loose thread is going to be tied up.

Having read many reviews (quite a few were inaccurate, by the way... Croaker does NOT begin "Soldiers Live" as the military dictator of Taglios!), I was prepared for surprises. But they just kept coming. This is a novel of attrition; in a story so long, many of our favorites are sure to pass away. And even so, the surprises just kept coming. Quite a few anticlimactic moments added to the surprises Cook offers his readers. But gut-wrenching unpredictability is a hallmark of the series.

It's been so long since I've read a real page-turner (let's face it, the last few Black Company novels weren't) that I forgot what it's like to want to stay up all night reading. If you're a fan of the Black Company, you'll miss out on some sleep finishing this one. And if you're like me, you'll read the last chapter a few times and marvel at how the story all gets wrapped up in a package labled "Start Here."

This book totally knocked me flat. But then again, all the books in this series have, over and over again. I don't believe that I've ever been so engrossed in a fantasy or sci-fi book as I have been in any of this series. They're totally amazing to me. The battle-field perspectives that they're told from and and all the characters I've grown to care about always have me eagerly awaiting the next book in the Black Company series.

I stumbled across the Black Company books a few years ago, and since then I have devoured every book in the series along with all of Mr. Cook's Garrett series as well. Mr. Cook, you totally blow me away with these books and the incredible characters you've created. Thank you so very much. Please keep cranking them out and I'm sure all of us will keep snapping them up.

Now, what I don't understand is why Mr. Cook dosen't have more promotion and why isn't this series more well-known? It a shame that so many people simply are missing out on this series of books (and the Garrett books are just as good). I "accidentally" discovered the Black Company, and boy am I oh so glad I did! :P

Wow! What else can really be said, it is about durned time that Croaker wrote the book again. This book is most probably the last of the Black Company series I would suppose. It ties up all those loose ends you have been worrying about, though the end is very very very disturbing. Insanity rules the day, as it usually does. This book also contained the sarcasm and wit that endeared the original to most of us, and it is supported by strong characters and heavy duty sorcery. I am still amazed by this book. It took me two days to read it, and that being only at night, engrossing is the word.

In typical fashion, Glen Cook takes his readers on a thrill-packed excursion of plot twists which leaves them never able to guess what will happen next. Cook masterfully wraps up a fabulous fantasy series with an ending that is so perfectly fitting, and yet so completely unexpected until the hints begin to drop in the closing pages.

It is a hard thing for me, like many other readers of the "Black Company" series, to walk away from the characters we've grown to know and love over the years. Admittedly, not many of them are left alive by the time Cook wraps up this book (but I won't say who). The author ties off pretty much all of the loose ends, but nevertheless leaves just enough room to permit a great follow-up series if the mood ever takes him.

I cannot find enough superlatives to express how much I have enjoyed this series, and "Soldiers Live" in particular. The series combines the best in high fantasy, with plenty of powerful wizardry, with the gritty, mundane perspective of the "grunt" soldier on the ground. If you've never tried any these books, I recommend you begin all the way at the beginning with "The Black Company." You'll soon be addicted and reading "Soldiers Live" before you realize how quickly you've devoured all the intervening books. Mr. Cook, please give us more!

The Black Company was staggering and decimated when it fought its way into another world. Now, after a five-year absence, the Company returns, with new faces, new tactics, new wizards with new powers, and a new lease on life. Elmo wouldn't recognize them these days. Even Croaker takes a back seat to Sleepy's deadly tactics and Tobo's deadly friends as they thunder back into Taglios to ruin Soulcatcher's day. Soldiers live, heroes die, and this is a costly episode in terms of brothers of the Company. Croaker drives his failing body harder and harder as he tries to settle things for his aging wife and the Daughter of Darkness they never held and still call 'Booboo' to themselves, and finally pulls out his most devious, inscrutable, and underhanded strategy of all. It's a bloodbath, just like every other novel of the Black Company, and people die in those. But others come to the fore, and there's plenty left for more Black Company novels in the future, especially when you consider the destiny of the one known as Thi Kim: like White Rose, a child born in war and raised by the Company. A book closes, another opens. There will be more Annals of the Black Company...

In my estimation, the Black Company books, collectively, represent the best of the genre. Nothing else even comes close.

Although some aspects of the book may be troubling to devoted fans (the attrition of characters near and dear from previous books, in particular), its more troubling aspects are its greatest strengths. This book may be one of the blackest, bleakest, and most blighted of any in a series that has distinguished and distanced itself from the "young woman struggles to unlock the frightening but wondrous powers buried within her" trash that has come to typify contemporary fantasy. It has the moral ambiguity appropriate to the conclusion of an anti-epic like Glittering Stone, and the gnawing sense of futility that infects Croaker's narration makes the sacrifices of an aging mercenary seem more, rather than less, redemptive.

All the things diehard fans demand from a Black Company novel are there, but as Croaker (to my mind, the heart and soul of the Company) sees himself as increasingly remote from the latest incarnation of the Compnay, his feelings on his fallen comrades mirror our own feelings on our favorite vanished characters (Goblin, Silent, Elmo, even the Limper). The ending (if it is truly an END to the Black Company) was, as another reviewer put it, "very disturbing." I agree, but would argue that the ending was perfect, even necessary, for the series, and that it exemplified what it is that makes the Black Company so different from everything else out there, and so worthy of the outlandish affection its fans feel for it.

I read the Black Company Series pretty much as fast as the books came out and I could find them. Sense this predated Amazon and my living overseas this wasn't always easy. Before starting on the Black Company Series I never read much fantasy and I still don't, but The Black Company was so different from the few fantasy books that I had read from authors like Piers Anthony. I just had to know what was happening to the Company! I would start searching for the next book in the series till the next book was published and I got it. Now, I wish I kept those hardbacks but being in the military and moving around I ended up selling them or giving them away. After reading most of the reviews I find myself moved emotionally and really wanting to reread the series.

This year I received a Kindle from my wife for Christmas. I had high hopes of rereading The Black Company Series only to find it isn't really available as a series yet with the Kindle. So PLEASE FORGIVE this indulgence when I ask everyone who reads this review to let Amazon know you want the books of the series to be formatted to the Kindle. It is easy and only takes a second.

Is this a good review? I don't know. The Black Company Series is not your typical Fantasy, so much so a person who does not normally care that much for the Fantasy genre fell in love with it years ago and wants to reread it all over again.

A book of sadness and joy. The ending of the glittering stone saga and perhaps the beginning of a new black company. Glen Cook is at his best between twisting plots and dramatic characters. You hope and wish for the best, but delivered reality as it exists the worlds of the black company. The story is penned by Croaker as he assumes the role of annalist again. Soldiers Live, but what of gods? My only question is, does Tobo become the new Dominator?