Took me longer than I expected, but I finished
Soldiers Live (aka Black Company 9) yesterday. Since this also means that I am now done with the "main storyline" of the Black Company Series, I guess it makes sense to talk about both the final entry and the series on the whole.
Soldiers Live is pretty great for the most part. While it feels odd to see Cook suddenly abandon his insistence on PoV-annalist storytelling, I think this vastly improved the pacing of the book. Croaker's return as annalist feels like a long-awaited reunion, with his melancholic narration adding flavor to even the more mundane scenes. Additions to the cast like Shukrat and Arkana are likable enough, even Mogaba acts in a way that makes him sort of sympathetic/tragic. Though the novel did little to endear me Narayan or "Booboo", it was actually kind of heartbreaking to see Croaker and Lady's breakdown in their moments with the latter. Guess that's great writing for you, if you feel sympathetic to characters even if don't exactly share the emotions they are experiencing. As for the novel's plot, I like how straightforward it is. The fact that the Company has a clear goal in the form of ending the Protectorate structures the story well-enough while allowing for unexpected things to occur along the sidelines all the time.
Now, something I am not quite sure how to feel about, is the way so many characters kick the bucket in this book. To some extent I can see that that's always been kind of the point: Some soldiers die, others "live and wonder why". But this novel gets to a point where presumably thousands of Company brothers survive while
every single member who was introduced before Water Sleeps dies in the course of this book. The exceptions being Iqbal, a minor side-character, Lady, and Croaker. There's a point where it doesn't feel like a consequence of the ongoing war effort but like the writer's insistence on tying up potential loose ends. I've always taken issue with the occasions where things that Cook does for "meta-reasons" become too apparent, and this feels like one these occasions. That said, some deaths are really impactful, especially in the minor and major ways they resonate with other characters (looking at you, Willow). Then again, there are also stupid totally unwarranted deaths that make me question why this or that character would ever put themselves in such danger to begin with.
Ah, and one more thing: I actually really like the subliminal theme of the novel which is the Company's leadership getting into trouble because they overlook stuff due to being hopelessly over-worked. It's kind of an odd, rare topic in fantasy novels but comes off as a really natural, humane thing considering the way the Company is run.
So...Final words about the series. It sounds really harsh when I think about it, but the Black Company series wasn't all that great. It's special, dare I say, unique even. Definitely left its mark on many later novels by other authors, and in a good way at that. But throughout the series, there are just too many sub-par moments, clunkily handled exposition, meandering, pacing issues, try-hard pseudo-philosophy and other bad quirks of the series. This really cast a shadow over my enjoyment even though the series has its great standout moments (or novels). As it stands, Black Company is probably a piece of modern dark fantasy history, which I appreciate more for its impact on other works than on its own merit. Accordingly, I'd recommend the series to people who are "hardcore" fans of dark, mature, fantasy. For casual audiences or people who are just looking for a great series, though, I'd be hesitant to suggest checking this one out.
On a sidenote, I now feel even more spoiled by SE because most of what I enjoyed about Black Company is done equally as good or better in MBotF.
Since it's 2019 and this is the internet, I guess I might try to rank the 9 Black Company novels from best to worst, too. Here goes:
Shadows Linger -> The White Rose -> Soldiers Live -> Dreams of Steel -> Water Sleeps -> The Black Company -> Shadow Games -> Bleak Seasons -> She is the Darkness
or: 2 -> 3 -> 9 -> 5 -> 8 -> 1 -> 4 -> 6 -> 7
I'd also like to point out that until/including Water Sleeps, I'd call these book 'good', whereas the remaining ones are standard to slightly bad.
Now, though I hear good things about "The Silver Spike", I'll first move on to Kellanved's Reach, and then probably check out something different like Harry August or Library at Mount Char.
This post has been edited by Zetubal: 04 April 2019 - 10:28 AM
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Morgoth, on 03 April 2019 - 12:24 PM, said:
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