Black Company Is A Lot

My thoughts on Black Company by Glen Cook. Get the book here: bookshop.org/a/89948/97808125...
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[@DanielGreeneReviews]

Be sure to check out my Kickstarter for my new deluxe edition of the lawful Times Series! tinyurl.com/TLTDef

[@lady_draguliana784]

don't worry, give it a few years and the depths of New England Winter will be about as frigid as the day you filmed this 🤣 😭

[@joshuatempleton9556]

watch rutger haurs movie flesh+blood. very close to what you describe.

[@ApathyParabellum]

I love this series, and I don't disagree. The first book gives you nothing, but as the series progresses, it does develop into something more akin to first law than continue on the path of ultra violent nihilism.

[@ApathyParabellum]

One of the themes is definitely that soldiers are only as good as the cause they fight for. Maybe we should fight for something better.

[@HeavyTopspin]

I do hope that Daniel decides to read more. There's a major shift that occurs at the midway point, but "the horrors of war" is always present, although the graphic intensity of it does change, much due to Cook's writing improving over time.

[@marioho]

Yeah, it felt iffy saying there's just evil in there while other series like Berserk or First Law had more of an arc. This is a long series, and it's not like the other grimdark ones had a full arc on book #1

[@zendarva]

I was going to say much the same thing, but you've save me the effort.

[@hrvojegrgic-akovic5552]

Really well put, i read it ages ago and regret nothing. It really gets better and better as they go on...

[@tripleripple89]

The reason it has big Tiger Force energy is Cook was a navy forward observer with a Marine Force Recon unit till shortly before going to Vietnam. The book series gets more hopeful/redemptive, at least through the Books of the North. It's also been popular in active duty military circles both because it highlights the "no good guys" concept so well and the nihlism of modern warfare that must often feel like wizards are present.

[@BushWookieActual]

“The nihilism of modern warfare that must often feel like wizards are present” Fantastically described, training near-peer the distinction between technology and wizardry might as well not exist. The powerlessness of the situation lends itself to the existential nihilism so often presented in Black Company.

[@tripleripple89]

@chrisbeall2768 Yeah, thinking of Cook as a Forward Observer who could call in Artillery, Naval Gunfire, or Aviation assets and could literally delete a hill with but a spoken word. Plus, the knowledge that your opponent could do the same, not to mention electronic warfare/IEDs/Cyberwar etc. etc.

[@Cahirable]

I thought Cook was only trained as a Navy corpsman and never went to Vietnam?

[@tripleripple89]

@Cahirable I should have been more clear in the OP, but it was early in the morning. He was an FO until the unit was deployed. I thought he was a corpsman myself (which explains croaker), but what I could find online called him a naval fires observer or forward observer but never a corpsman. I wanted to be sure, but I couldn't find him being called a corpsman this morning. If you have a link, I would love to know.

[@BushWookieActual]

Knowing he was a forward observer makes a lot of sense as well. I was a cav scout so having a very similar roll as far as calling artillery and such. Makes me want to read the novels again with that in mind.

[@HeavyTopspin]

You can see the HUGE inspiration in how Steven Erickson names things here. Simple city names like Charm and Beryl, soldier names like Croaker and Goblin... then utterly epic monikers like "The Ten Who Were Taken".

[@donaldpratt2296]

Yeah Black Company and Dread Empire are absolutely everywhere in Malazan.

[@trashak3]

The series is actually about the path to redemption of a mercenary company, against its own legacy, each time being pulled into servitude upon darker and darker forces existing and them trying to survive it and don't make too bad mistakes on their path. Like history about survival and remaining at least some bits of white on their souls

[@eduardoserpa1682]

I really appreciate that you managed to sell me on the concept while recognizing it's not for you at all.

[@slidenaway]

Yeah Daniel's good at that!! I will say too, personally I recommend Black Company to anyone that likes grimdark. It might not be for you but it's worth reading, and I love it -- I never felt as fully miserable as Daniel clearly did reading it. So that's definitely not a universal experience by any means

[@sjbayer3]

You mentioned the character from the cover art doesn't show up in the book, but I'm very confident that the cover art is Soulcatcher, and appears in the book

[@alexandruteodor3585]

After reading Soulcatcher's description in the book, I looked at the cover and it matched perfectly 😀.

[@darthhatall6961]

Tbf I think that was just a joke

[@curtisbridges]

Later in the series, they explain the reason for the mask. You aren't supposed to know Soulcatcher's real identity until much later in the Books of the North.

[@lurchEbean]

@@curtisbridges I’m pretty sure you find out at the end of the first book.

[@curtisbridges]

​@@lurchEbean Totally. Bad phrasing on my part but I also didn't want to point exact plot devices and timing. 😄

[@indianajim]

Black Company is one of my favorite things ever. I love Glen Cook!

[@CBCB8282]

I also loved this series. I started watching this channel for book recommendations and Daniel has never steered me wrong. But I have disagreed with him on 3 series. Black company, Name of the Wind, and WoT. Black Company I unapologetically love. NotW I love the prose and I think the emotional highs and lows are great, it has flaws but I disagree with Kvothe being a Mary Sue his flaws are really obvious and shoot himself in the foot all the time. Kvothe is very practically intelligent and not very emotionally intelligent he struggles with his own personal relationships, anger management, dealing with his own trauma, trusting others, ego, etc. WoT I loved but I'm not with Daniel in saying it is THE great American fantasy series. I think Jordan is not great at prose and I think a good editor would have improved the series.

[@supremeleadersmeagol6345]

If any DND fans like the Black Company, check out MCDM’s the Chain of Acheron live play series. It’s heavily heavily based on the mercenary company of the novels.

[@cameronwallace8265]

Also, if you want something by Glen Cook that's NOT grimdark, I HIGHLY, HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend Tower of Fear. It's incredibly underappreciated, but one of my favorite fantasy books ever.

[@ladyethyme]

Not grimdark? I'd love to try Cook but I can't take Grimdark.......

[@cameronwallace8265]

@ladyethyme No, it's not anything like grimdark. I mean, there is some death, but that's par for the course. Tower of Fear takes place AFTER the giant battle for the fate of the world, and is focused on a "bad guy" (read as: normal people that were allied with the evil Necromancer) city that is now being occupied by a foreign military. It's all about normal people trying to make it through a world with those kinds of tensions.

[@ladyethyme]

@@cameronwallace8265 Like I don't mind violence/death etc etc- just not....for the entire book lol.

[@Autarify]

I second Tower of Fear, it's fantastic. I'll also add The Dragon Never Sleeps (space opera) as another stand alone book by Cook that you can start with without going into a 10-book series.

[@riakm921]

I’ll second Tower of Fear, it is a go to recommendation of mine when people want a good standalone fantasy novel to read!

[@riakm921]

The Black Company is one of the best series I have ever read and to this day, the final book “Soldiers Live” has probably my favorite ending to a fantasy book. The series definitely gets darker than the first book, but it also gets a lot more morally complex as the series goes on. The second book, Shadows Linger is one of the best portrayals of someone slowly driven to abhorrent acts… the decent is gripping! If you want truly bleak, then that would be R Scott Bakker’s Prince of Nothing series

[@Lurklen]

Woof, yeah Prince of Nothing is intense. Had to put the third book down three times before I could finish it.

[@darkpixel1128]

The last lines of soldiers live got me good. Such a fantastic series.

[@thestatusjoe9949]

Prince of Nothing is insanely good but lord is it tough to get throug

[@Lurklen]

@@thestatusjoe9949 For multiple reasons, the darkness is hard but there are time when the concepts and the prose itself are nearly impenetrable (by the author's own admission, he can get carried away with the esoteric descriptions and the underlying philosophical concepts are kinda niche).

[@thestatusjoe9949]

@@Lurklen That’s probably why I love it, most fantasy that tackles philosophy stays in a pretty pedestrian lane but Prince of Nothing really gets into some unique and interesting ideas

[@bendevin3012]

I really didn’t like the First Black Company, but kept through the next two in the omnibus because my friends insisted. WOW! Somehow it became not only one of my favourite grimdark series but also strangely one of the most touching romances I’ve read in fantasy. I’d recommend pushing forward until the Company and Croaker find their own “purpose”, as you say!

[@trashak3]

Then in later books they will give you another push when they found out their true legacy purpose, yet them choosing their own path

[@Dugrath]

Book 1 is so different compared to the rest of the books IMO. I struggled with book 1...but the rest was smooth sailing. I'm so glad I read it.

[@trashak3]

@@Dugrath for me some of the latest books like the 9th and last were hard to went through.

[@donaldpratt2296]

@@Dugrathit was kind of cobbled together. The most obvious example is their hunt for Raker, which had been published before as a short story.

[@Dugrath]

@@donaldpratt2296 Really? I didn't know that actually and that makes a ton of sense!

[@bbarnhouse9022]

What I loved most about the book was how Cook had the courage to limit the full extent of the story. He deliberately kept the focus on the central characters. Common soldiers who are often kept at the periphery of the deeper and darker battles of godlike villains. We the readers only get a glimpse into the machinations shaping the Company's lives. This is what prevented me from being drawn into the Malazan. I felt Erikson was just writing his own version of what Cook left untold.

[@BushWookieActual]

Glenn Cook does very much develop both the characters and the world as whole. I highly recommend the series to all grim-dark, military fantasy enjoyers out there.

[@FictionRaider007]

Main charcter's company name is Croaker, because he's a physician and people around him "croak" aka die.

[@MyMysticMenace]

Am I the only one who thinks his company name started out as a roast from his brothers? Most likely One-Eye. Lol

[@Bloble13]

I'm pretty sure it's because he snores like a frog. All the nicknames are embarassing like that.

[@theoneandonlymichaelmccormick]

Sounds like a bad physician.

[@Sovahni]

Got to agree with a lot of others in the comments that the first book is a bit much in some regards but the original trilogy as a whole is a great example of Fantasy Military Fiction a slice of the Fantasy genre that we really don't see that often, if at all as I did not know of its existence until reading Black Company. As other's have said, his usage of magic as, essentially, a replacement for modern artillery and high end weaponry, is a very interesting world building choice that I really came to enjoy the more it was explained and introduced through the books.

[@TimeMcTraveller]

The name Croaker is kinda perfect for the Company's medic, the one who is there when many members of the Company croak.

[@CheyenneSedai]

Drew's going to be happy you finally read this one. The series only gets better as it goes on. Shadows Linger (book 2) is 3rd in my favorites ranking, only behind the last two books. Cook's mastery of voice is just exquisite, I hope you continue, can't wait till you get to the Books of Glittering Stone. Ok, being able to watch the full thing now, yeah Cook was a Vietnam vet, but approached dealing with that through fantasy on the opposite way that RJ did. Funny considering Harriet was also his editor. And I will say, while there are characters that continue with what you're saying, the wider series feels less absolute grimdark. It definitely does have a purpose as it goes on, and the conflict gets a lot more nuanced. This first one was actually written starting with some short stories. It gets to more lore and there's so many surprising elements I would have never imagined in a series like this. Being vague, one of the most well done romance plot lines I've seen in fantasy. There's a lot of dark things and war crimes later on, I won't deny that, but I think that a bit of the alteration in style gives us some more reprieve from that constantly dark tone. It's hard to describe, but seriously if you are curious, talk to Drew McCaffrey about it, and listen to the IOL episodes on this series.

[@Papatoole]

Been watching you for years. But I have not watched a video of yours in the last eight months. I watched this one in its entirety. I was so happy to see someone giving a solid review on this book. Outstanding points outstanding perspective. I’m going to start rereading it today, I’m glad to be back

[@woahitscorrina]

Loving the new content. Been a while since I was clicking on videos as soon as they came up, and happy to be back to it ❤️

[@SheWasOnlyEvie]

Glen Cook's writing and the Black Company series became a part of my personality when I started reading it last year. The Black Company is less a product of its time and more a product of the military background and influence, which Glen Cook captured incredibly accurately considering his time in the Navy. Never before had I read any fiction that captures the boots-on-the-ground perspective of military life. Taking away from the The Black Company that there is no point is, honestly, pretty accurate. The Company is told where to go, what to do, and complete the mission: no matter their complaints (if any), they are contracted to do a job and they do it. It really reinforces the militaristic mindset to take away the individual and make them part of the whole and "don't question authority and just do as you're told". Regarding the rest of the series, it does get more nuance and complex, but it's still pretty dark. I don't recall if it's in the first book as well but Croaker alludes to things he leaves out of the Annals of the Black Company because he doesn't want to make his brothers look worse than they already are.

[@HellBoy-id6ss]

"any of the things...all of them here"...😂

[@elstriker2020]

I really hope you continuing the series, because book 2 is where he really picked up the pace. And not to mention-if you continuing through, that is-The Book of The South is really where the series really shines. I guess it's only natural, because The Book of The South has more screen time than The Book of The North.

[@beabea3770]

Really love the editing and vibe of this video, it feels intimate yet a lot more flashier. I adore this

[@jarltrippin]

I'm so glad you're reviewing books again.

[@orcishdad8075]

You said you are willing to continue. I strongly recommend that you do. Book 2 is my absolute favorite in the series. So good!

[@donaldpratt2296]

Shadows Linger would be my submission to a “best books in all of fantasy” competition. One of the tightest ever written.

[@Pixiel711]

The reason for the tone and the other unpleasant stuff, is that Cook is a combat veteran (pretty sure it was Vietnam) and wanted an accurate portrayal of the sorts of horrible things real soldiers do in war, in a fantasy setting, and that’s why it reminded you of that memoir. It’s the most accurate thing you’re going to find in that area, see also the movies Platoon and Full Metal Jacket. It’s not a product of the 80s, it’s a product of the Vietnam War. IMHO the third book is the best one, at least go that far before giving up on it. This is just the first book, and sets up what follows. The third one is great, after that it kind of goes off the rails into unrelated weirdness but it’s entertaining. First three books for sure though.

[@billc.8569]

The Black Company and the Dresden Files are my top two series. As with the Black Company, I thought each book just kept getting better and better. There are definitely some dark moments, but you will care about what happens to them as time passes on. I liked the books more when they move to the lands in the south.

[@bigmeandaddy]

If you like Dresden Files, check out Garrett P.I. by Cook 👍🏻

[@josipanicic3139]

I think the best approach to these is to go via the omnibus editions. That way the first book is more of an introductory chapter to the second and third which do adress a lot of what you mentioned as being problematic. And it only gets weirder and better from there. Plus the covers for the omnibus editions are way cooler imo

[@UnreasonableOpinions]

I did not care for the books when I started reading the first omnibus thing, but kept at it because it was an airport book for a very long flight. Somewhere near the end of the first and halfway through the second, something about it started to work and i ended up reading all four in the book before we landed. It does have a bit of the Malazan issue as it goes along, both in occasional prolonged stretches and oddly rushed moments as well as the wasted story hooks, but to a lesser extent for a generally better experience. Its most interesting feature is the way the characters start at a late point in their narrative progression, after they have become fully formed and after they have all suffered a major failure that has left them at a loose end. Over time you don't so much watch them find themselves as remember themselves, and give themselves new purpose on the way. I can't speak for anyone else, but the deliberate insensitivity of the characters felt true to them, a particular strain of performative insensitivity to others that helps when doing a very violent job I saw something of in my own military experience. Especially in the way some characters can't keep it up, and others really are just bastards who use the performative meanness of others as cover for their own real nastiness.

[@masonlabanna6615]

I read this as The Chronicles of the Black Company, which is the first three entries as one volume, and I am very glad I experienced it that way. There absolutely is more to the story and a return to morality for the Black Company as time continues in the rest of the series. Highly recommend anyone uncertain about this one continue and read up until the end of The White Rose at least

[@eddieford9373]

First day over 75? In Arizona, we've been over 95 for two weeks already.

[@robertblume2951]

I'm in Alaska. It was still snowing on Monday.

[@encyclopediaofelizabeth]

I'm just glad you mentioned this series. Thank you for giving it a chance!

[@sonfoku73]

Just want to say this format of saying it outside I think is one of my favorite deliveries you've had for a review. It feels really direct & sincere like you're talking to a friend about a book & talking to them about it not like it's just a review. I think for this coming summer this is a great way to do future videos as well.

[@Roondawg_Valhalla]

Glen Cook is such a prolific writer . He has an excellent sci-fi standalone. A P.I. series in a fantasy world. Plus several other classic series. I want to make my way thru his entire catalog.

[@donaldpratt2296]

You really should. Sci Fi very much included.

[@michaelmenard8614]

I dig that you are giving light to books that aren't hot off the presses a spotlight, more please. great as always.

[@hyenascar]

Does it get better as far as being redemptive? Yes? It is nowhere near as up front about the ugliness as first book, still plenty ugly. Best way to describe this series is a group of highly victimized highly trained people trying to find a purpose in a world that does not forgive, and does not hand out anything for free. Glen started experimenting with several first person accounts even with the original "main character" still being around. Very curious how you would see his writing experimentation with, I believe, the 4th book of the series. Well he experiments with a couple of the books including one that is considered a spin off.

[@hyenascar]

Forgot to add, through his experimentative attempts you will see where many future writers got their ideas.

[@hopperwolf2]

Glen Cook's sci-fi is just amazing as well. Oh, and the Dred Empire series... (chef's kiss) The first book of his I read was "The Swordbearer (1982)." A haunting standalone that never left me.

[@donaldpratt2296]

I’m rereading Starfishers right now, but The Dragon Never Sleeps is one of my favorite sci-fi novels ever.

[@potentialPizza8]

I've only read the first three, but I adored the series. I think that a lot of dark fiction tries to tell you what you should think about the dark things that are occurring - understandable, given the importance of understanding the sheer horror of war. But I think The Black Company succeeds in a greater way by simply showing things as they are, and inviting you to think for yourself about them. There are themes of stories and how they are told; the book knows it is biasing you in certain ways by telling the story from the perspective of someone with a conscience, who is ashamed of how he describes some things in detail and yet struggles to acknowledge others. It invites you at certain moments to look past the perspective Croaker narrates from and think about what he's not saying, and to think about whether you yourself are too-easily forgiving the crimes of the Black Company because you see them as your protagonists. There are points in the book where Croaker does not fully acknowledge their crimes, and glosses over them, and points in the book where he lets it slip that things did occur, and then rambles about the morality of it in a guilty and defensive way. He censors their own history for the sake of telling a more palatable story, in a way that invites you as a reader to wonder if you are complicit in their crimes through your own appreciation of the story.

[@Tonoborus]

Being a fan of the whole main series (I bounced off of silver spike and haven't bothered with the "prequel-esque" one), I have found there is an interesting meta-narrative that i see almost no one discussing - the question of how a culture (and the company is its own little mobile culture after all) maintains its history and identity while also undergoing absolutely massive change (one of the answers is how they have sacralized their chronicles of course, and having their names and deaths recorded in it).

[@Luciferwinchester]

As someone who loves the Black Company and ALSO The Broken Empire this is accurate and great review there is actually a lot of good dark humor in the books, it really hits for me. The MC writing self insert RPF fanfics about himself and the main antagonist is peak comedy and is underappreciated and was ahead of it's time(still is in a way) the later books absolutely start picking apart the darker elements and finding those moments of hope and they do have the "are we the baddies?" moment which is great a lot changes and it's done really well that expands the lore etc

[@justinwatson16]

We had to read Tiger Force at West Point, along with studying My Lai, of course. Atrocities are alway a failure of leadership, in this case leadership failed at every level from the NCOs and junior officers on the battlefield up to the generals and civilian leadership of the country who embroiled us in the war in the first place. Tiger Force wasn’t actually a Special Forces (aka Green Beret) unit, though. It was a recon element of the 101st. I know that seems like a minor detail to people outside the Army, but painting a unit with an atrocity it didn’t commit is akin to accusing an individual of a crime they didn’t commit.

[@troyphoto7]

READ THE NEXT TWO BOOKS to get purpose from the series.

[@samschlosser2082]

I’ve never been able to decide if I love black company or just like it, but I know it’s one of the series that has me continuing to come back to think about it the most

[@jal1656]

I love this series, even though they kind of jump the shard in the end. I could be wrong but I feel like one of the themes of the series as a whole though is redemption. As bad as the company is in the first book the company goes through many transformations through the series and aren't the same characters in the end.

[@joebomberger]

When they leave the north behind it becomes a very different story, more redemptive and hopeful in some ways while retaining the grimdark aesthetic. Also, the masked person is the taken that’s their sponsor in the north (Dancer? I forget, it’s been awhile).

[@ummon]

Yea that's a pretty spot on review, the series is very much a product of its time. I'm surprised you didn't mention the humor in the book though, the camaraderie and (mostly dark but definitely not always) comedy in the stories is a real thing. There also is definite lore, although a big theme in the book and in the story of the Black Company is that there is a lot of history but most of it has been lost or is only carried on via oral tradition. Arguably the most important role that Croaker has. More of that certainly comes out as the series progresses though. Anyway, I definitely don't recommend those books to anyone these days, but I'm really glad I read them.

[@bryangustafson2748]

Croaker & The Red Menace. One of my friends did a spoiler-free review of this book and I thought it would be a funny in-joke/pun to make Kermit and Elmo secret members of the black company. I mean those hoods are pretty big after all... 😂

[@RLC.]

Glen Cook is one of the only authors I decided to collect all the works of

[@jacobedelman-dolan4528]

As a series the first three novels are incredible. The spinoff The Silver Spike is also a lot of fun. The middke two novels are not good. Then the quality picks up again in full firce for the last four novels. They are outstanding. Really phenomenal conclusion too. We don't talk about the interquel Port of Shadows. It doesn't exist.

[@applegeepedigree]

I loved the "cat and mouse" plotline of Silver Spike.

[@steveconsultant4523]

The later books get better. It is a very complex very grimdark redemption story.

[@arthurweise2573]

Probably got better because he grossed himself out with the first book.

[@jonvalett6708]

Thanks for the great review - I'm glad I read the Black Company series, but it is super dark. Your review is spot on in a lot of ways, I do think you should try the second book to see how it evolves.

[@jameskyle7943]

It took me two attempts to read this, the first time the writing style was so clipped and jarring I couldn't get into it. Not your typical flowery fantasy. Luckily I tried again and was glad I did. The first three books should be read together and there is definitely a character arc.

[@christophertheofilos1063]

Wow, I respect your opinion, but I feel so confused by it. First Law and Berserk are both way, way darker than anything you get in The Black Company. Shit, Glokta in the first chapter he's in of The Blade Itself goes darker than the entire first book of Cook's. Not that there isn't darkness behind the scenes, but it is strangely sanitized by Croaker's analytical nature and shying away from portraying the true natures of his brothers. The scene where Lady takes Whisper is a good example, where George R.R. Martin or Joe Abercrombie would have given all of the details, instead of glossing over it. It has been a minute since my tenth re-read, so I am a little rusty, but I don't remember a bunch of casual anti-homosexuality, although a google search shows at least one example. Butt boy, used in the context in the book though, means toady or sycophant, not anything to do with what urban dictionary lists as the meaning

[@johnbd9765]

I'm really glad to have had my intuition confirmed, I never read butt-boy that way before and this video had me second-guessing myself

[@trollishmc2920]

Great review... I am tempted to go back and reread the series. It's been many, many years.

[@NelsonStJames]

THIS is the series that should have been picked up as a live action adaptation rather than Game of Thrones. I’ve always said that and I stand by it. All the elements that people praised about A Song of Ice and Fire are in the Black Company AND the story was complete. Even if it hadn’t been, I have no doubt Glen Cook would have gotten it done, the guy is a professional and serious about his craft. The first time I met Glen Cook was at a local Scifi con, and I ran into him by chance in the hucksters room. A new Black Company novel had just come out and I saw it on this guy’s table, and after talking a bit discovered that he was the author! The man wasn’t even listed as a guest at the damn con! Needless to say I spent more time in the hucksters room at that con than I did at the actual event.

[@foodmagicwow7725]

As probably a few hundred other people have said, thanks for reviewing this one critically despite the style really not being your cup of tea. It was a totally fair review of something with very difficult and polarizing content. Two minor quibbles just in case you glance at this: one is that First Law's "grimdarkness" differs mostly in tone and character focus, as opposed to content actually happening in the world. Glokta's arc through the FL books is actually very similar thematically to Croaker's in the Black Company books, as is the banality with which they both initially approach their horrible lives and jobs. Abercrombie uses a mocking ironic tone in Glokta's case (and later Monza Murcatto's) to give distance to the horrors that those characters are seeing and complicit in, he doesn't describe things like Ferro's backstory in the empire in such extreme detail as Cook would, and he also uses characters like Logan who are lying to themselves about how bad the world (and they) are to break up the tone, but the actual events happening in the wider world are very similar. After reading BC and then re-examining FL, I almost feel like Abercrombie is somehow less honest in his portrayals of his world than Cook by NOT giving us a ground-level view of what's happening in his crapsack world. Because he can't, because it would make people reading his work feel like Black Company makes you feel. On a similar note, I disagree whole-heartedly with basically everyone in this comments' section (even the people who like it) that the first Black Company book is pure nihilism. There is a very clear allegory with the (spoiler) at the end that is literally broken people trying to keep the concept of hope itself alive by shielding it with their own seemingly-damned selves. History is awash with times so terrible that the best the people living in it could do, or thought they could do, was try to make space for the next generation to do better. There are real people for whom that is the reality right now in the worst parts of the world. That's not nothing. If it seems like nothing, that's due at least in part to our privilege in living in a better kind of world for the moment. And yeah it gets better in the later books.

[@lrae9519]

I always love your dramatic reading voice

[@raddadchris]

I love this series! Wasn't my normal brand of fantasy at the time, but it hooked me. Have the omnibus editions sitting on my shelf right now.

[@SwayinZombie]

When finishing the first book, you are standing at the entrance to the proverbial rabbit hole. Keep reading. It doesn't get gentler, but the story just keeps evolving.

[@LordNotlek]

I was about to start this journey in this series!! Thanks for the video

[@samuelleask1132]

Dude I really enjoyed this review, great work!

[@amyshaw6825]

Thank you for this review. It was very useful. I now know it's absolutly not my sort of thing. Glad it exists, respect it as much as you do, but definatly sounds something I'd regret picking up. Sometimes knowing that is as useful as knowing what TO pick up.

[@sicdav1d0ff]

I like how Daniel inserts a little "couch" scene 4:25, like in the old days when he would forget to mention something and just edit it in later from a couch🤣

[@wasdrankings1518]

You gotta read Shadows Linger, how Glen Cook flipped this story into a horror/murder mystery is amazing

[@SuperMegaCoffeeGuru]

I love TBC as a series, you can see it's DNA throughout the grim-dark and military fantasy that has come since it's publication; but you can also see the post WW2 pre-Vietnam but still Cold War era that Cook was living through. The first book does little in the way of talking about the illustrious heritage of The Company and there are only some hints of the stories of old when they were more noble and had their cause. But as the series progresses Croaker, almost as a stand-in for the audience, really digs into just how far they have fallen and his desire to return something like glory for the now just a band of mercenaries. Things get better, but I will flat out say the series is not for everyone. As a piece of fiction history it needs to be remembered and preserved because, again, you can see things it did that are now part of the broader fantasy genre.

[@ianscheid5032]

I loooved these books! thanks for reminding me of them

[@Amouren139]

Welcome to new england....where our springs are sometimes winter 1.5. I had heard mixed things about this book my biggest experience with grim dark would be berserk. not sure if this book would be for me but im glad I watched this review

[@collinmcclutchy]

I'm sure many comentors have already said it, but book 1 is (to me), really only a "part 1", with books 2 and 3 really rounding out that arc of the story. I wouldn't say that Black Comapny is my favorite series, but I did enjoy reading the first three books earlier this year, BUT I would say that had I only read book 1 I probably would have stopped. Book 2, imho, is really where the story starts to get good, and i started to see what Cook was actually trying to do with the series over all. Great review, as always, Daniel!

[@reak73]

I really really hope that you continue this series because this is one of the best reviews I've seen for it. I actually disagree with you on some major points you made here but my disagreement comes from having read pretty much the whole series over a few weeks so I would be hardpressed to comment specifically only on one alone.

[@chriscarmona7725]

I've tried reading these books at like age 14, but didn't have the comprehension to stick to it. It's been a series I've thought about annually since, contemplating a revisit. But it wouldn't be enjoyable to me. Thank you for the honest review. I'm about to have my first kid this month, don't need Black Company-type content right now lol. Please keep it up! Wife and I love you, Daniel!

[@Randlelikesdogs]

The grim dark stuff you mentioned just sound like pre modern warfare

[@brianpclare]

I read black company years ago, pretty sure I just picked it up randomly at goodwill. Read it, liked it, got rid of the book during a bookshelf purge (gotta do that when you move apartments in boston every 1-2 years unfortunately), never got to anything else in the series. I definitely remember the book though, and this is inspiring me to think of a revisit.

[@stonewit]

I really like this form of video. I like seeing a new backdrop for the vidoe.

[@obaphone]

great review cool seeing the shadow being used as a sun dial

[@OnlyTheBestFantasyNovels]

Seems kind of like most of what you didn't like about the book is the stuff the fans love when we read further and saw how it plays out. Glen Cook never gives you the full story in a single book. Dread Empire's just the same in that respect. But I also get that it's not a series for everyone, at least you gave it a shot!

[@sawyersearcey7852]

The way the magic is described is vivid and epic. People and places dont fall into the typical fantasy tropes. Everything about the world just fits.

[@davidnilsson7733]

Finally a BC video!! Haven't watched it yet but will say this: the series gets better and better as it goes along. At the start, it's basically pulp fantasy, but as it moves along and the author commits to it, it gets more and more fleshed out and alive. The books of glittering stone are amazing imo.

[@cameronwallace8265]

I hope you continue. I really don't think the series is as one-note bleak as it seems like your impression of the the first book was. True, the characters will still continue to be mostly terrible people, but the series goes in some pretty wild directions. Especially in this first trilogy, there will be some glimmers of hope. And in the later books, the series becomes much more... pensive? "Soldiers Live, and Wonder Why."

[@mikesionu]

I am glad you did this, I will pass on it. Thanks for taking one for the Team!

[@jwstorytelling]

It's good to see you out of your cave everyone once and a while lol. Not my type of book but you gave a great review

[@samrester6254]

Dread Empire and Black Company were such a welcome change, when they released. EVERYTHING was elves, dwarves, defeating the dark lord, etc., Light vs dark and all that. Was definitely an experience when released and I'm sad, in the modern landscape of current works, others won't be able to experience it the way I did. I think that is why it resonates so much, with so many. Such a great experience.

[@AverageYoutubeEnjoyer924]

Truly warms my heart anytime Daniel slips in a Berk reference in a video, really awesome to hear after following the whole berk journey from the beginning

[@KeacePeeper]

Here to request Daniel to give the Elric Saga from Author Michael Moorecock. It's some of the earlier dark fantasy and for me let's my imagiantion fire like few other series ever did.

[@mikepors4124]

One thing I have done is mine this series for excellent schemes to have my D&D villains use on my players.

[@bobbdude12]

I just recently got through this book a few weeks ago! Thought it was a wild book for sure. Parts of it I loved, parts were hard to get through. Cooks prose is not for me all the time but I do want to continue to the next book

[@DP-ok9lp]

Love the outside filming, sold me on the book. Good job Daniel

[@BWinced]

I remember a certain someone who didn't care for Berserk until the Golden Age arc. Read on, read on.

[@berserker8884]

Seconded. Glenn Cook took us on an incredible journey with this series. Even book 2 is an immediate left turn, but book four onwards it gets wild and different. The Black Company also has one of my favorite female characters in fantasy. Period.

[@DaisyXMachina]

I read Black Company trilogy in the 80's and LOVED it. You don't know how many D&D gamemasters were inspired in their campaigns at the time! I think the books keep getting better and my memory says there's a lot of lore and redemption arcs by the end. Regarding homophobia, I remember also loving Repo Man (the movie) in the 80's and when I rewatched it decades later, I was kind of surprised how much homophobia was in it that I must have blocked out.

[@hippie_4762]

Love this book. It's basically an excellent military book, that happens to be fantasy aswell.

[@jebgordon6608]

Croaker is an English term slang for doctor, based on croak being a slang for death that nobody uses anymore. It was popular among WWII Vets. So, when it came out if you were a teenager your grandparents would have most likely called a doctor's appointment seeing the croaker. Glen Cook is a US vet that served in Vietnam and based the interactions of the members of the company on the interactions of soldiers during his era in the Forces. Also, some of what you are asking for happens later in the series.

[@fitz394]

First book was really rough compared to the rest

[@mdwesquire]

I actually picked this up because it was recommended for people who love Malazan. I really didn’t care for it though. I might try a subsequent book but I can’t give this a reread to see if I missed something due to the backlog i’m building.

[@Traianus76]

You did a very good job of encapsulating my own personal views on the Black Company, respect for it's place in influencing grim dark books like Malazan and the First Law but... recognizing that it's tone and some problematic situations/descriptions that are indicative of their time and place can be a lot to stomach for a contemporary reader.

[@Lord_Alimdor]

Hey! I just picked this up :)

[@insilencea4599]

As a teenager I read a couple later books in the series because that's what I had, and enjoyed it just enough to want to keep going, but couldn't get into it as much as I'd have liked. I had never heard of grimdark as a thing, I just accepted that Cook was writing a grittier series than I usually saw. The tight focus on the Company kept me in a perpetual state of wondering what was really going on and how this world even works, to the same degree as the POV soldiers. Immersive, but, between the two, I enjoy Erikson's Bridgeburners more.

[@Belemrys]

I have DNFd Malazan and First Law but loved all of The Black Company (which I admit took 3 attempts to get thru the first book). The series has huge lore and the redemption arcs begin as soon as book 2. I would definitely recommend reading the Chronicles and the Books of the South at least!

[@stevenbennett5004]

Been waiting for someone I trust to talk about this series. Confidently never reading it lol. Thanks for the review!

[@bwanamatata]

Great Video. Though, Black Company was not to your taste, you still answered the burning question I had ever since I read the book: What am I reading? I loved the book, but it did not feel like "fantasy" to me. It felt real, which is why I loved it. You stated that it reminds you of a non-fiction work about Viet Nam. I could not agree more. I loved the book because it was about the grim grind of endless violence. I don't remember battles, but rather the banter, while playing either dice or cards, about who is gone and did they leave anything cool in their ruck? As well as the major theme of the novel; "When you're boots on the ground, does it really matter if you are fighting for the wrong side? The other dude is still heading your way."

[@celticwelsh]

It's been nearly 20 years since I finished the series, but I'm pretty sure it does have that redemptive edge you're looking for in the later books.