Customer Reviews

The Company

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The enigmatic K.J. Parker has done it again with The Company - a one-off, strangely-philosophical fantasy.

Parker has already proven his/her ability to write deeply-troubling low fantasy (including occasional dives into the outright macabre), but in The Company, Parker consciously sets out to explore the more depressing aspects of the human spirit.

The Company is composed of a half-dozen ex-soldiers. As 'linebreakers', they were in some of the wildest and most dangerous battles of the war - constantly at the front line, only surviving through luck, skill and a bit of barbarism. Now that the war is over, the soldiers have drifted back to their civilian lives - only to find that they're no longer comfortable away from the battlefield.

Lead by Kunessin (the only one to stay in the army after the conclusion of the war), the group re-assemble and set off to forge their own, special peace. By settling an island out in the middle of nowhere, they hope to create their own private sanctuary - someplace they can be on their own.

From the start, their plans are ruined by the harsh necessities of the real world - they need servants, they need wives, the weather is terrible, the transport is unreliable... Under the strain, Kunessin and the Company soon realize that the connections between them might not be as strong as they once believed.

The Company is fantasy only in that it isn't set in the 'real world'. Parker invents battles and geography as he/she sees fit, in order to make the story as compelling as possible. Still, The Company could work in a modern, futuristic, historical... any sort of setting. The characters, their conflict and the ultimate resolution - it is about the people, and not where they are.

As a result, the best comparison would be to the existential science fiction of a writer like JG Ballard, who used science fiction or fantasy settings/analogues to explore the darker aspects of human nature. Parker isn't perfect, but The Company is an ambitious, aggressive book, and the author deserves a lot of credit for making it an absorbing read, as well as an overtly meaningful one.

This is a Fantasy novel in very little but name. Yes it is not set in out `world' but this is about a group of individuals and is more about hidden secrets and relationships.

A group of retired elite soldiers decide to move to an Island (with new wives and some `workers') to set up a new life and society. What initially seems a good idea starts to come unstuck as gold is discovered on the island and past secrets start to catch up with them.

In essence the author takes the scenario of a group who were tight knit during a war, but then puts them in a different situation. Suddenly people on whom your life used to depend are seen in a different light...

I was looking forward to this, the premise and characters looked interesting, but in the end I found it a struggle, often picking up something else instead. I feel bad about that because this is a worthy and well written book but it just didn't grab me and the motivations of some of the characters were not overly clear and it became hard to engage with them. So, three stars. Just.

The Company was the first book I picked up by K.J. Parker, browsing along until the cover art cot my eye on a shelf in a bookstore. It was an impulse buy and it was worth the price paid. I found this one of the better books I have read recently, Parker keeps a solid tempo throughout the whole thing, does a great job at explaining the past of the characters and the characters (though their names get confusing here and there) are a nice mix of high-and-mighty and I'm-here-to-be-here. The main character is likeable, and his intentions are for the best. The plot is pretty straight forward and Parker does a decent job at moving along. The whole thing boils down to the last few chapters that really made me scratch my head. It was as if the whole book had been written in a nice orderly fashion, nicely laid out...then the deadline hit and Parker had to throw together an ending. I finished the last few chapters in one night and was eagerly anticipating an epic ending, but sadly there was only an ending...no epic-ness about it.

All in all, a great read (and a good size novel at that, nothing too gargantuan, yet something that will take a few nights to read). I look forward to diving into more of K.J. Parker's works soon enough.

While it is labeled as fantasy, the world has no magic. It could very well be Earth at some distant future date, or some other planet so similar to Earth as to not matter. It's an unusual but welcome change from the genre.

Parker does a masterful job of weaving in flashback throughout the story. It fleshes out the characters and adds shades of meaning to the interactions between them. At certain points I wanted to reread from the beginning to see how the new information would change my understanding of earlier scenes (I restrained myself).

The action is understated. I was expecting Fighting! and Bloodshed! I kept waiting for the soldiers to start hacking and slashing on the island, but it never happened. I was slightly disappointed because it wasn't what I was expecting, but what I got instead was equally riveting (I read The Company in two days). Most of the war-action is done in flashback and reads like an intricate ballet dance, not at all like a D&D campaign (this is a good thing). The action in the present is either political machinations or emotional, and very well done. The characters transform as information each scene complicates your understanding of them, and by the end I wasn't sure whether to cheer or jeer for them (this is a good thing).

Within the first few chapters, I knew I was in for an excellently written novel. Parker definitely subscribes to the "show don't tell" mantra. I knew the town where the retired soldiers lived was poverty-stricken, but I know that through the specific details Parker chooses to show, not because she says "the town was poor and dirty."

This was a good read with a meld of some classic genres. I would love to have given it more but it is intermixed with flashbacks from a past war to the A company on the island. I would have liked it more with a few less of the flashbacks. It did not add to the story for me but made me want to rush through that part. Overall I would recommend it but you are not likely to have your hair blown back.

The five men, veterans of a war where they served as "line breakers' are embarking on a plan to create a colony. Financial shenanigans when they were in the service have given them money. They have an urge to follow their leader, Teuche, and their post-war lives have been very unsatisfying.

So, procure some wives, some supplies, and off to the island.

Where they discover that one wife is a serial killer; where they strike gold; where they discover that the military never forgets; where their service together unravels in the discovery that one of them has a secret.

This book is written in a compelling manner, and is hard to put down. The secrets unfold, sometimes well plotted and other times coming in from left field. The book is alternatively thrilling and irritating. This is certainly unlike most fantasy novels, and is very well written.

Parker is very inventive in creating a world outside of our own, and this story develops well. Very interesting in the flashbacks to the character development. Mostly credible plot but it all unravels at the end in an unsatisfying and seemingly pointless if believeble way. Left me feeling betrayed in that I read a cleverly crafted plot full of action and drama, only to find out that what happens at the end really wasn't very interesting or dramatic. Kind of a let down. If anything this ending illustrates the weakness in humanity, so it makes a point, but I prefer more idealism in my entertainment. Not sure if I will bother with any more books from this author. (I also read the first of the engineer set, but it seems to beg only buying the additional books and had no particular satisfactory ending either.)

Read this one after having just finished the Engineer Trilogy. The entire Engineer trilogy probably came to 1700 pages or so, and I think I finished reading the entire thing in less time than it took me to get through The Company which is only 400 pages. I think that probably says something about which book(s) were the more compelling.

I'll give KJ Parker credit for coming up with an interesting premise. (I was certainly looking forward to reading this after skimming the jacket.) Good characters, intriguing subplots and mysteries. Unfortunately the actual book in its entirety just wasn't that great. I'm by no means disappointed that I spent time reading it. It simply didn't live up to my expectations for Parker.

I think this actually would have been a better book if it had been spread out over a longer trilogy. The story of the soldiers at military academy, in war, on the island, etc; All of these stories held alot of promise, and I was very interested in them. Sadly, those potentially epic stories are crammed into 400 pages and the result is just sketchy. It ends up reading like a very long novella.

I picked up this book because I am a big fan of fantasy. I especially like how newer authors are taking the genre in different directions. In fact, I thought this book would be a bit like Joe Abercrombie - which it was to an extent. What got me about this story was the concept. I thought it was so much better than the typical wizard blows up stuff. In fact, as other reviewers have divulged, there is no magic system at all in this book. It is more alternate universe than fantasy.

The story revolves around the 4 main characters who you get to know more and more about as the story goes. However, the more the story goes, the less I like these characters. In fact, I found this to be a tough read because there is nobody in the story that I can even remotely relate to. I felt by the end I was a somewhat disconnected observer more than an engrossed reader.

If you are looking for a good read about redemption, love, or good winning over evil - stay away. This is a tale of gluttony, greed, and all vile human traits spread out in story form. I slogged my way to the end of this book hoping for some redeeming quality and did not find it. If you are wanting to delve into the basest of human weakness, this is for you.

Pros:

o Different type of fantasy novel than normal

o Interesting new world

Cons:

o tough, tough read...

o explores the negative side of humans with no redemption

Overall - I cannot recommend this book. For me, it just didn't tick the boxes I look for in a Fantasy novel.

A painful read.

Dull, heavily agenda driven and ham handed dogma in the form of literary dung.

I plowed on diligently hoping for some redeeming end but found none