The Black Company Archives - Gary David Gillen

Port of Shadows by Glen Cook

Port of Shadows by Glen Cook, Book #1.5 of the Black Company series

Introduction

Port of Shadows by Glen Cook occurs between the events of The Black Company (Book #1) and Shadows Linger (Book #2). The Black Company is a mercenary group hired by the Empress, the Lady. Croaker is the Black Company physician and Annalist. The Black Company searches for rebels but finds dozens of girls between age 3 and 20 who look identical. Can Croaker unravel the mystery before the rebels open the Port of Shadows and free a powerful sorcerer?

Summary

The chapters in Port of Shadows follow a pattern in groups of three. First, a chapter labeled Once Upon a Time occurs in the past from the viewpoint of an unnamed necromancer. Second, a chapter labeled Long Ago and Far Away occurs in that same past and is from a different viewpoint. Third, a chapter labeled In Modern Times occurs in the present from Croaker’s viewpoint as the Annalist of the Black Company. The author repeats the pattern.

The story from the past shows how a necromancer brings a dead girl back to life. He calls her Laissa and tells her she is his daughter. She doesn’t remember her past. Her sister who calls herself Bathdek searches for her.

In Modern Times, The Black Company is on garrison duty for the Lady’s Empire in the conquered city of Aloe. The Lady orders them to defeat the Rebel leader Tides Elba. Tides Elba might open the Port of Shadows and free the Lady’s husband, the Dominator, from his prison. If the rebels free the Dominator, then he will take the Empire from the Lady and she doesn’t want him to. In the main Aloe temple, they find a young woman who looks like the Lady in her youth and sends her to the Lady’s tower. She comes back as the Taken named Mischievous Rain. The Taken are sorcerers the Lady converted into her minions and are her highest leaders. Croaker becomes involved with her and her boy and girl.

The events of the past connect to the current story. Croaker must solve the mystery before he loses his memory.

Recommendation

I thought Port of Shadows was a great book. It was fun revisiting my favorite Black Company characters. Using the pattern in the chapters was smart. Chapters 3, 6, and 9 occur In Modern Times and published before as short stories. The author wove the short stories together with the story from the past and continued the novel to its ending. There was a reason Croaker did not mention the events of this novel in the other series’ novels and this novel shows that reason. A Pitiless Rain is the next book in the series and will be book 10 in the chronology. They have not published it yet. I believe that the author will feature the events of Port of Shadows in A Pitiless Rain and look forward to reading it.

Links

This is the link to the Goodreads page of Port of Shadows by Glen Cook.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37534877-port-of-shadows

I have reviewed six Black Company novels. Links follow the book title.

Chronicles of the Black Company by Glen Cook

Omnibus edition including Book #1 The Black Company, #2 Shadows Linger, and #3 The White Rose of the Tales of the Black Company Series

Chronicles of the Black Company by Glen Cook

The Books of the South by Glen Cook

Omnibus edition including Book #4 Shadow Games, #5 Dreams of Steel, and #3.5 The Silver Spike of the Tales of the Black Company Series

The Books of the South by Glen Cook

I have not read the last four novels (#6, #7, #8, and #9) grouped under the title Books of the Glittering Stone. I plan to read them soon.

A Pitiless Rain will be Book #10 of the series. It does not have a scheduled release date.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10793800-a-pitiless-rain

The Books of the South by Glen Cook

The Books of the South by Glen Cook, Tales of the Black Company.

Omnibus edition including Book #4 Shadow Games, #5 Dreams of Steel, and #3.5 The Silver Spike of the Tales of the Black Company Series.

Introduction

After the White Rose, book three of the Tales of the Black Company, the Black Company has been reduced to a handful of members. They decide to break into three groups. Darling and Silent head east, Raven and Case stay in the town of Oar in the Barrowlands, and the rest of the Company heads south. Lady has lost her sorcerous powers and joins the Black Company with Croaker as the leader. This collection has two novels and one shorter work.

Each story is narrated by a different person. Shadow Games is narrated by Croaker and tells of the events of the Black Company as it heads south. Lady is the narrator of Dreams of Steel, which follows the events after Shadow Games and sets up the story for the rest of the novels. The Silver Spike is narrated by Case and tells what happens in the Barrowlands after the Black Company heads south.

Summary

The Black Company has been called the last of the free companies of Khatovar, so Croaker heads toward the legendary city of Khatovar and wants to discover the roots of the Black Company. The Annals of the Black Company state that the Black Company came from the south, but the earliest volumes which detail the Black Company’s origins have been lost. Croaker’s group travel south of Beryl and they arrive at Gle-Xle where they meet allies. They head down the river from Gea-Xle and end up in the large city of Taglios. Taglios is at war with the Shadowmasters, who rule the area south of Taglios.

Croaker can only get to Khatovar by going through the Shadowmaster’s lands, so he signs a contract with the rulers of Taglios to gather an army and defeat the Shadowmasters. The Shadowmasters have powers that are like Lady’s former group of sorcerers called The Ones Who Were Taken. This is a formidable task. Meanwhile, Case and Raven have learned of magic brewing in the Barrowlands and decide to catch up to the Black Company and ask for help.

Recommendation

The three books in this collection all have a different feel. Shadow Games follows Croaker and is similar in tone to the first three books. It comes to a reasonable thematic ending. Dreams of Steel is also called the Book of Lady. It is interesting to see her side of the story. The problem with the book is that it doesn’t reach a conclusion. Several story threads are started but are left loose for the next volumes of the series. The Silver Spike feels unnecessary. The events do not impact the main story. It comes to an ending and it seems like that is all there is for that story. I wonder what the point of this story is.

The writing is excellent, especially the parts that the narrators told in the first person. The third person stories were not as successful. The Shadowmasters and the group from Taglios did not interest me. I did not care if they succeeded or failed. I wanted to get back to the chapters with Croaker and Lady. There was enough here for me to recommend this collection and to look forward to reading the next four novels which are grouped as the Books of the Glittering Stone.

Links

This is the link to the Goodreads page of The Books of the South by Glen Cook.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2365730.The_Books_of_the_South

This is the link to my review of Chronicles of the Black Company by Glen Cook, an omnibus of Books 1, 2, and 3 of The Black Company Series.

Chronicles of the Black Company by Glen Cook

Chronicles of the Black Company by Glen Cook

Chronicles of the Black Company by Glen Cook, Tales of the Black Company.

This is an omnibus edition including Book #1 The Black Company, #2 Shadows Linger, and #3 The White Rose of the Tales of the Black Company Series.

Introduction

These three novels tell a complete story arc about the adventures of the Black Company. The Black Company is a mercenary group in a medieval-type fantasy world. The narrator is Croaker; he is a chronicler and a physician for the Black Company. Most of the story is portrayed as if the reader is reading the journal of Croaker as he describes how the Black Company becomes involved in the affairs of the Queen of the Northern Empire, who is called the Lady. Their interaction will control the fate of the empire.

Chronicles of the Black Company by Glen Cook

Summary

These novels describe in detail how a mercenary company in a magical land would function. It is a military procedural detailing a close-knit group of men trying to survive in a deadly war. The characters are great. One-Eye, Goblin, and Silent are the magicians. The Captain and the Lieutenant rule the company. Raven is a mysterious man of the company who keeps his secrets to himself. Raven’s ward, Darling, becomes an important character. But here’s the secret, in my opinion, what these three novels are really about is the love story between Croaker and the Lady.

That surprised me, but that extra level of complication pushed this series to one of the best that I have ever read. The Lady is a powerful sorceress, who has been released from her magical bonds after a long period of time. She has two concerns. She had ruled the land for many years with her husband, the Dominator, who remains magically bonded. The Dominator wishes to be released, but the Lady does not want him to be released since then he would take over her empire. They were both originally magically bonded by a group led by the White Rose. The Lady’s information is that the White Rose has been resurrected and so she is concerned that the White Rose will wish to re-bind her. She hires the Black Company to help her achieve her goals, but the Black Company never plays by any one’s rules for long.

Recommendation

Croaker writes the chronicles of the Black Company and he is at times an unreliable narrator especially where the Lady is concerned. I missed reading this series as it was published. Glen Cook was the writer guest of honor at Cleveland Concoction 2017, so I decided to read this collection and I am glad that I did. It is one of the best series that I have read recently. I cannot recommend it enough and I plan to read the other novels in the series very soon. I am glad that the author plans to write two more novels set in this world. Reading them as they come out would be ideal.

Links

This is the link to the Goodreads page of Chronicles of the Black Company by Glen Cook.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/400924.Chronicles_of_the_Black_Company

My review of The Books of the South by Glen Cook. The Black Company is reduced to a handful of members, so Croaker takes them south to earn back their fortune.

The Books of the South by Glen Cook