It is pretty clear all this time spent together means they are great friends, but they live to torment each other using various tricks of sorcery. Both over a hundred years old, they are long-time members of the company. It includes a couple of small-time wizards named One-Eye and Goblin. There’s the new recruit Raven whose skills in a fight make him a valuable commodity to the group, but whose mysterious past means he is a bit of a wildcard. There is the no-nonsense head of the unit simply known as the Captain. Those factors definitely begin with a rich, diverse cast of characters.

They aren’t exactly working for the good guy, but a bunch of other factors make them an easy gang to get behind regardless of what their latest employer has them doing. The first novel really takes off once they go to work for the Lady, the most powerful sorcerer in the world and the ruler of a vast empire. It follows the exploits of a mercenary group, the titular Black Company, as they take different contracts doing whatever they must to keep their little group of misfits going. The Black Company series is a dark military fantasy story told over course of ten books (with a couple more to come possibly). Now a year later, I have finished all ten novels in the series and not only experienced another amazing tale, but fallen further in love with the genre. After browsing the web looking for another series to dig into I discovered Glen Cook’s Black Company books. When I finished up A Dance with Dragons, I was looking to branch out further into the genre and see what else was on offer. When I got hooked on Game of Thrones and subsequently read the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, I got my first big introduction to fantasy literature and I loved it. They are kind of vague, but if you haven’t read the series they might be worth skipping.) I did however mention some spoilers when talking about my favorites in the bullet points. (This review of Glen Cook’s Black Company series is spoiler-free so I could share why I enjoy it so much with my friends and readers and not spoil anything on the off-chance it motivates any of them to give it a try. By Matthew Thompson (This post features cover art for the series by Raymond Swanland.

The black company cook