amazing story!!!!

my Husband and I absolutely love this series!!! It's one that keeps you on the edge of your seat!!!

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The Black Company delivers

this was and outstanding novel with an excellent narrator. I will absolutely be purchasing the remainder of the series.

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Flawed first entry into a fantastic series

Listening to this years later as I start the series again in audiobook. Forgot how much the story seems like a series of short stories stapled together with the Finale written for the novel. Still not sure why Raven got so much attention in the first few stories, his plot only really goes from typical 90s edgelord to key character at the very end.

While I might gripe with weird plot choices, it still feels like coming home with the banter of the company a joy to listen to. It's supporting characters, while deliberately tropey, are excellent fun. The sense of dread and, well, grimdark is still excellent with an interesting setting to add to great atmosphere. The classic fantasy Final Battle at the end is an awesome spectacle, great take on the trope, and quite a good climax that manages to do a surprisingly good job at tying the disparate short story chapters together.

The narration is phenomenal and absolutely carried the weak "first novel" feel of the plot. Soulcatcher's multiple voices was a particular highlight. There's good weight and impact behind the right lines and is a reason for a good chunk of the excitement of the story.

The Black Company, especially in light of grimdark fantasy's growth as a genre, might not hold up too well in the present. The excellent narration and supporting characters do an amazing job, however, of keeping it relevant and providing a gateway to an even better series.

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Love the series, great characters!

I come back often to this fantastic narration of a fantastic series. The half a year of listening time that I have includes a big chunk of the black company series.

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'Adequate' Dark Military Fantasy - With A Twist

The premise behind this early entry in the Grimdark Fantasy genre is clever - the Protagonists are 'ordinary' mercenary soldiers - an effective story-telling device - but they are under the employ of the BAD guys (a cabal of infighting wizards known as "The 10 Who Were Taken" - themselves servants of an evil duplicitous once-banished Sauron-like Sorceress.. "The Lady"). We get a first-person view of the invariably dubious frontline actions of these flawed "heroes" (treachery, torture, looting the dead, pillage). These characters are Chaotic Neutral -> Neutral Evil if you want to think of them in 'Alignment' terms. It's a surprisingly refreshing approach.
Unfortunately, the execution on an innovative idea from Glen Cook is lacking: there is very little real characterization (soldiers & allies drop like flies) and the plot structure is incoherent (essentially a series of poorly-connected encounters). The dialogue is gritty and interesting - but delivered without a goal (what, exactly, is the reader supposed to learn from those recurrent card games, Mr Cook?); and descriptions are mind's-eye vivid  - but the author exhibits a disappointing dearth of effort on describing setting. Cook doesn't play to his strengths in this book for some reason.

I must say the reading from Marc Vietor is excellent, however. His tone, timbre, and cadence are notable, and his pacing is exemplary. The strongest aspect, however, is Vietor's voice-acting.. characters are instantly recognizable and Croaker - the Company's Medic, Archivist, and the chief narrator - is performed with a genuine understanding of the character's subdued nihilism.

This book has enough "standalone" features to make it enjoyable on it's own, so you would be forgiven if you decided to try this book and subsequently elected to give up on the rest of the story arc. (I recommend reading a plot summary online, however - the storyline can be confusing).

There is enough promise in this 6/10 novel for me personally to continue listening to more from 'The Black Company' series. The narration is top-notch and this is an intriguing anti-hero approach to telling a story..

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Great story

Beautifully written and told. One of my favorite. As good as fantasy gets. Worth every penny

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Fast straightfoward action packed stories

If you loved Malazan book of the fallen you will love this book! Good narator!

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Starts slow but really builds well

The Black Company took a while to get going, but once it you got to know some of the key players in the company it was incredibly engaging. Normally audio books are saved for long walks or drives, but I kept looking for excuses to put it on while at home. This story was a great surprise.

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Excellent!

Now that is how you do dark fantasy! The Ten Who Were Taken are basically Jack the Ripper with magic powers.

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First rate story!

I had read The Black Company series in my teens and the audiobook is just as engaging! Excellent!

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