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carroq's review against another edition
5.0
I'm a huge fan of the Black Company series. Croaker is an awesome character, and this book is basically all about him, so I thought it was pretty fantastic. This takes place between a couple of the earlier books in the series. It touches on some events from the first book, but not enough that you'd have to read that book. This book can be confusing as hell despite that. I found that just sitting back, enjoying the story, and not worrying about where it was going helped a whole lot.
There are appearances by some favorite characters (mostly the Company wizards), some old enemies (the Taken), and some new faces. The mix of characters worked well for this story. The creepy necromancer's part of the tale works out great in the end. It seems out of place at the beginning, but the different perspective is nice. This is not a perfect book by any means, but I so enjoy Cook's writing style and, even though the Company takes a bit of a break in this book, it was great to get an opportunity to return to this setting and the characters. I'm ready for more stories about the Black Company.
There are appearances by some favorite characters (mostly the Company wizards), some old enemies (the Taken), and some new faces. The mix of characters worked well for this story. The creepy necromancer's part of the tale works out great in the end. It seems out of place at the beginning, but the different perspective is nice. This is not a perfect book by any means, but I so enjoy Cook's writing style and, even though the Company takes a bit of a break in this book, it was great to get an opportunity to return to this setting and the characters. I'm ready for more stories about the Black Company.
lanko's review against another edition
2.0
I was really up for this. It has been what? Almost 20 years since Soldiers Live? And to make thinks even better, this starts really well... but it became boring pretty quickly. Took me a month to read it. And a month was also the time to read the entire series last year.
It starts with the Company guys we all love and cherish, there is banter between One-Eye and Goblin, even the long sections of playing tonk that appeared in the other novels. The Captain, Lieutenant, Silent, Elmo, the guys are all there.
Heck, the guys even pull one on the Limper right at the beginning. Good times.
Then the plot "starts" and... it's a really non-sense one, not to mention not packed with much action, barely any military incursion and descriptions like in the previous books. Believe it or not, it's mostly focused on Croaker playing at "hard-boiled-and-violent-mercenary-but-cutesy-and-clumsy-family-man" with a fake wife and children.
Well, near the very end (at about 98%) comes the bomb and everything makes sense about this and it'll probably make you wonder a lot about some things... but still, it didn't make the story up until that point any more enjoyable to go through.
There's a backstory featuring characters back in the Domination, with the Dominator himself and some of the Senjak sisters at the front.
I think Cook totally nailed the personality of the crazy but genius mage, but I really wanted more story on the Domination, not the direction it took.
There's also some random stuff thrown in, like lots of Asian names (Kuroneko, Shironeko, Baku, etc) and clones of magical asian girls (yes, seriously) coming out of nowhere, even yukatas suddenly appear (and how does Croaker know what one is?) Or why people were using it at that place? Considering these clones are based on sisters of a certain someone, it made it even more confusing.
It all becomes focused on this, the Company itself and its other great members pretty much vanish into the background, along with the other Taken, the Domination or anything that could've been explorer.
Anyway, after almost 20 years, it was good to see some of the guys back, but at the same time wondered if they deserved a little better.
It starts with the Company guys we all love and cherish, there is banter between One-Eye and Goblin, even the long sections of playing tonk that appeared in the other novels. The Captain, Lieutenant, Silent, Elmo, the guys are all there.
Heck, the guys even pull one on the Limper right at the beginning. Good times.
Then the plot "starts" and... it's a really non-sense one, not to mention not packed with much action, barely any military incursion and descriptions like in the previous books. Believe it or not, it's mostly focused on Croaker playing at "hard-boiled-and-violent-mercenary-but-cutesy-and-clumsy-family-man" with a fake wife and children.
Well, near the very end (at about 98%) comes the bomb and everything makes sense about this and it'll probably make you wonder a lot about some things... but still, it didn't make the story up until that point any more enjoyable to go through.
There's a backstory featuring characters back in the Domination, with the Dominator himself and some of the Senjak sisters at the front.
I think Cook totally nailed the personality of the crazy but genius mage, but I really wanted more story on the Domination, not the direction it took.
There's also some random stuff thrown in, like lots of Asian names (Kuroneko, Shironeko, Baku, etc) and clones of magical asian girls (yes, seriously) coming out of nowhere, even yukatas suddenly appear (and how does Croaker know what one is?) Or why people were using it at that place? Considering these clones are based on sisters of a certain someone, it made it even more confusing.
It all becomes focused on this, the Company itself and its other great members pretty much vanish into the background, along with the other Taken, the Domination or anything that could've been explorer.
Anyway, after almost 20 years, it was good to see some of the guys back, but at the same time wondered if they deserved a little better.
voeggroll's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
It's an in-between-quel that takes place after the Battle of Charm, but before Juniper.
It's and interesting read, but ultimately shares the same fate as other stories set within stories...it doesn't change anything.
This was written some 30+ years after the original trilogy, and while it was a good read, it's hard, for me, to not feel like it was a waste of time because, again, nothing is added or taken away from what we know will come to pass.
It's and interesting read, but ultimately shares the same fate as other stories set within stories...it doesn't change anything.
This was written some 30+ years after the original trilogy, and while it was a good read, it's hard, for me, to not feel like it was a waste of time because, again, nothing is added or taken away from what we know will come to pass.
taichoup's review against another edition
3.0
Great style as always, but I found the ending disappointing .
kylelorey's review against another edition
4.25
this book, which takes place between the first and second books in the Black Company series, is super interesting, and really increases the complexity of the story that surrounds it by interrogating the annalist conceit and the concept of memory itself more explicitly than do many of the other books in the series.
i would definitely argue that it ought to be read last, though. i wouldn’t insert this book into the space between “The Black Company” and “Shadows Linger.” some spoilers of some consequence would occur, if you asked me. then again, maybe they wouldn’t matter. actually, it might be worth reading in the order suggested.
———————————————————————————
Guide to my Rating Scale, based on the Storygraph Rating:
* 5 Stars: This book was more or less flawless. One of the best things I’ve ever read.
* 4.75 through 4.25 Stars: This book had slight flaws, but I REALLY loved it. Marked as 4 stars on Goodreads.
* 4 Stars: This book had slight flaws, but I loved it.
* 3.75 through 3.25 Stars: This book had significant flaws, but I REALLY liked it. Marked as 3 stars on Goodreads.
* 3 Stars: This book had significant flaws, but I liked it just fine.
* 2.75 through 2.25 Stars: This book was extremely flawed, but I thought it had some merit. Marked as 2 stars on Goodreads.
* 2 Stars: This book was extremely flawed, but I didn’t actively dislike it. It was a waste of my time but not odious.
* 1.75 through 1.25 Stars: This book was irreparably flawed, and I actively disliked it. Marked as 1 star on Goodreads.
* 1 Star: This book was irreparably flawed. I actively hated this book and am worse off for having read it.
————————————————————————-
i would definitely argue that it ought to be read last, though. i wouldn’t insert this book into the space between “The Black Company” and “Shadows Linger.” some spoilers of some consequence would occur, if you asked me. then again, maybe they wouldn’t matter. actually, it might be worth reading in the order suggested.
———————————————————————————
Guide to my Rating Scale, based on the Storygraph Rating:
* 5 Stars: This book was more or less flawless. One of the best things I’ve ever read.
* 4.75 through 4.25 Stars: This book had slight flaws, but I REALLY loved it. Marked as 4 stars on Goodreads.
* 4 Stars: This book had slight flaws, but I loved it.
* 3.75 through 3.25 Stars: This book had significant flaws, but I REALLY liked it. Marked as 3 stars on Goodreads.
* 3 Stars: This book had significant flaws, but I liked it just fine.
* 2.75 through 2.25 Stars: This book was extremely flawed, but I thought it had some merit. Marked as 2 stars on Goodreads.
* 2 Stars: This book was extremely flawed, but I didn’t actively dislike it. It was a waste of my time but not odious.
* 1.75 through 1.25 Stars: This book was irreparably flawed, and I actively disliked it. Marked as 1 star on Goodreads.
* 1 Star: This book was irreparably flawed. I actively hated this book and am worse off for having read it.
————————————————————————-
recursivehaiku's review against another edition
1.0
DNF somewhere in the middle.
This book is bad.
I love the Black Company but this book...
This book is bad.
I love the Black Company but this book...
filipmagnus's review against another edition
4.0
To steal some of my favourite Glen Cook words from the first Black Company novel: Port of Shadows is misery curdled, but also new and interesting. The series of events in-between these covers are like a bottomless well filled with murky water. For a week now, I’ve amused myself plumbing this latest Glen Cook novel’s shadowy depths, trying to isolate fact from fiction, legend, and myth. No easy task, for the book’s damn author deals with the history of his fictional characters as a mad jester would, fully intent on confusing and providing no answers whatsoever on the one mystery I care about, above all others: just what is the deal with the Senjak sisters?
If you’ve read the original Black Company trilogy, Senjak will doubtlessly be familiar to you – it is the last name not only of the taken known as Soulcatcher but also of the Lady herself. The dynamics in the Senjak family have fascinated me for the whole duration of my two-year long romance with The Black Company series. Port of Shadows mercilessly strings the reader along in building a series of assumptions that will often go against the assumptions built in previous titles of the series. Alas, Glen Cook has never been one to say things outright, and I fear many of the questions we seekers of truth have, will remain unanswered.
But that’s enough bitching and moaning from me, at least on the topic of the Senjaks. Let’s talk about Port of Shadows in a wider context!
The first thing I should mention is, it’s been nearly a month since I flipped this novel closed, and I’m still unsure of what to make of it. There’s a really solid beginning there, which recaptures in full the magic of the first Black Company novel, courtesy of those familiar cast dynamics. Everyone’s back – the Captain, in his customary bad spirits, Croaker’s oldest pal Elmo, and everyone’s favourite trio of mildly competent wizards, One-Eye, Goblin and Silent. I can hardly believe how well Glen Cook has managed to recapture the voices of the Company core personnel, thirty-four years after the release of the original. That’s an achievement no one can take from Cook, and proof of his skill.
Some continuity sloppiness is to be expected with a book whose plot happens between the first and the second chronicles of the Black Company. That’s not too much of an issue for me – I’m familiar with the writer’s desire to add something that didn’t account in said writer’s original plans of the multi-faceted story they wanted told. If Cook had written this as the second instalment of his series all these years ago, I could see a lot of what happened in Port of Shadows being referenced to and feeling somewhat more meaningful than it does by the time I finished with it, knowing the events won’t ever be referenced again… unless the
A new Taken takes (no pun intended) the central stage here, and her name is Mischievous Rain. Or is it? Perhaps it’s Tides Elba, a young woman whose face is much too reminiscent to that of the Company’s employer, the Lady. If you’ve read previous Company novels, you’ll have guessed by now that Company Annalist Croaker will have some issues keeping it in his pants around this particular lady.
The prose? Tight and familiar, and very much what I’ve come to appreciate from Cook. “The air was still and nearly chill now that the rain had gone away. A hint of corrupting flesh tainted the air of imperial Dusk.”
What I have issue with is the ending. In its defence, it has to balance not completely decimating the continuity of the series while giving something akin to a resolution. I didn’t like the resolution too much, I’ll be honest. The other issue I have has to touch upon several sections of the book which are misogynistic beyond what even a squad of cut-throat mercenaries would tolerate – sections, which make even me, a guy who rarely shies away from violence and grim subject matters, cringe and look away, embarrassed. Yes, with the plot what it is, I can see what Cook was trying to accomplish but I cannot get on board with it, not on some of the creepiest aspects of the Port of Shadows. I won’t even get into the details, since it’s going to take a while; but hey, if you really want an in-depth investigation into this weird, uncomfortable subject matter which might involve the discussion of mass rape of magical clones, let me know in the comments below, and I might end up writing an academic paper on just how weird it is.
I enjoyed a lot of this book, but I can’t overlook the fact it made me uncomfortable at several different points, and it left me scratching my head at the end of the book, and not in exactly the same way as previous books in the series. Glen Cook experimented with a lot of interesting ideas, and while I enjoyed the inception of many of them, the eventual payback wasn’t all there. I feel genuinely uncertain on how to score this. Do I give it three stars (out of five)? Four? Screw it, I’ll give a score of 3.5/5. Port of Shadows…It’s good, it’s not, and it’s really bloody confusing!
Oh, and I really loved Croaker's demon kids. They're a big part of the reason I still had a lark during the latter third of this book!
Pre-Review Blah-Blah: Trying to make up my mind about this one. Not sure about the final score yet, but the review is forthcoming.
If you’ve read the original Black Company trilogy, Senjak will doubtlessly be familiar to you – it is the last name not only of the taken known as Soulcatcher but also of the Lady herself. The dynamics in the Senjak family have fascinated me for the whole duration of my two-year long romance with The Black Company series. Port of Shadows mercilessly strings the reader along in building a series of assumptions that will often go against the assumptions built in previous titles of the series. Alas, Glen Cook has never been one to say things outright, and I fear many of the questions we seekers of truth have, will remain unanswered.
But that’s enough bitching and moaning from me, at least on the topic of the Senjaks. Let’s talk about Port of Shadows in a wider context!
The first thing I should mention is, it’s been nearly a month since I flipped this novel closed, and I’m still unsure of what to make of it. There’s a really solid beginning there, which recaptures in full the magic of the first Black Company novel, courtesy of those familiar cast dynamics. Everyone’s back – the Captain, in his customary bad spirits, Croaker’s oldest pal Elmo, and everyone’s favourite trio of mildly competent wizards, One-Eye, Goblin and Silent. I can hardly believe how well Glen Cook has managed to recapture the voices of the Company core personnel, thirty-four years after the release of the original. That’s an achievement no one can take from Cook, and proof of his skill.
Some continuity sloppiness is to be expected with a book whose plot happens between the first and the second chronicles of the Black Company. That’s not too much of an issue for me – I’m familiar with the writer’s desire to add something that didn’t account in said writer’s original plans of the multi-faceted story they wanted told. If Cook had written this as the second instalment of his series all these years ago, I could see a lot of what happened in Port of Shadows being referenced to and feeling somewhat more meaningful than it does by the time I finished with it, knowing the events won’t ever be referenced again… unless the
A new Taken takes (no pun intended) the central stage here, and her name is Mischievous Rain. Or is it? Perhaps it’s Tides Elba, a young woman whose face is much too reminiscent to that of the Company’s employer, the Lady. If you’ve read previous Company novels, you’ll have guessed by now that Company Annalist Croaker will have some issues keeping it in his pants around this particular lady.
The prose? Tight and familiar, and very much what I’ve come to appreciate from Cook. “The air was still and nearly chill now that the rain had gone away. A hint of corrupting flesh tainted the air of imperial Dusk.”
What I have issue with is the ending. In its defence, it has to balance not completely decimating the continuity of the series while giving something akin to a resolution. I didn’t like the resolution too much, I’ll be honest. The other issue I have has to touch upon several sections of the book which are misogynistic beyond what even a squad of cut-throat mercenaries would tolerate – sections, which make even me, a guy who rarely shies away from violence and grim subject matters, cringe and look away, embarrassed. Yes, with the plot what it is, I can see what Cook was trying to accomplish but I cannot get on board with it, not on some of the creepiest aspects of the Port of Shadows. I won’t even get into the details, since it’s going to take a while; but hey, if you really want an in-depth investigation into this weird, uncomfortable subject matter which might involve the discussion of mass rape of magical clones, let me know in the comments below, and I might end up writing an academic paper on just how weird it is.
I enjoyed a lot of this book, but I can’t overlook the fact it made me uncomfortable at several different points, and it left me scratching my head at the end of the book, and not in exactly the same way as previous books in the series. Glen Cook experimented with a lot of interesting ideas, and while I enjoyed the inception of many of them, the eventual payback wasn’t all there. I feel genuinely uncertain on how to score this. Do I give it three stars (out of five)? Four? Screw it, I’ll give a score of 3.5/5. Port of Shadows…It’s good, it’s not, and it’s really bloody confusing!
Oh, and I really loved Croaker's demon kids. They're a big part of the reason I still had a lark during the latter third of this book!
Pre-Review Blah-Blah: Trying to make up my mind about this one. Not sure about the final score yet, but the review is forthcoming.
some_reads's review against another edition
2.0
Port of Shadows take place amidst the events of the first trilogy of the Black Company Novels - The Books of the North - with the original cast as we first knew it. On the surface, that's a joy because the make-up of the Black Company chops and changes quite a lot once they leave the North. Something here does not ring true though. The tone is different, the language. No-one is quite right and that's before these imposters become even less like their usual selves with the goings on of the novel.
As the events of Port of Shadows proceed, our protagaonists begin to lose their memories and their minds somewhat. They become very self-absorbed. Croaker, our favourite Annalist struggles to put words to paper and I struggled to read the words on the page and commit them to my own memory as the plot plumbed dull depths.
There were some morsels of revelation as we learned a little more about ancient events concerning the Domination and the Lady but the Black Company has gotten through similar scrapes that were much more interesting and much less problematic than what went on here.
As the events of Port of Shadows proceed, our protagaonists begin to lose their memories and their minds somewhat. They become very self-absorbed. Croaker, our favourite Annalist struggles to put words to paper and I struggled to read the words on the page and commit them to my own memory as the plot plumbed dull depths.
There were some morsels of revelation as we learned a little more about ancient events concerning the Domination and the Lady but the Black Company has gotten through similar scrapes that were much more interesting and much less problematic than what went on here.
wmhenrymorris's review against another edition
Very weird, probably misogynistic (but possibly in an interesting/clever/modernist/genre-breaking way). Only for Glen Cook completists.
murcatto's review against another edition
4.0
It's been a long long time since I read a Black Company book and at times I definitely felt lost within the expansive world that Glen Cook has built in this series. But it also felt familiar and it was great finding all my favourite characters here again.
It has re-awakened my appetite for the Black Company and I might even do a full re-read for the next book.
It has re-awakened my appetite for the Black Company and I might even do a full re-read for the next book.