“ | With the Black Company series, Glen Cook single-handedly changed the face of fantasy - something a lot of people didn't notice and maybe still don't. He brought the story down to a human level, dispensing with the cliche archetypes of princes, kings and evil sorcerers. Reading his stuff is like reading Vietnam War fiction on peyote. | ” |
–Steven Erikson, author of Gardens of the Moon |
The Black Company series is a dark fantasy series written by Glen Cook. It chronicles key events of the most recent ~40 years of the long history of a brotherhood of mercenaries called the Black Company, the last of the legendary Free Companies of Khatovar.
The series consists of 11 novels, 6 stand-alone short stories (the On The Long Run story arc), and 4 pre-publication short stories that were later incorporated as chapters in subsequent novels. The first 10 novels are organized by three story arcs: the 3 Books of the North; the 3 Books of the South; and the 4 Books of Glittering Stone. While the most recent novel, the interquel Port of Shadows, does take place chronologically during the Books of the North, it is omitted from that arc both because it was published about 33 years later and because it is a "lost history"-style narrative.
Novels from this series have been translated from the original English into at least 17 languages: see the Black Company series/Cover gallery for a showcase of the Black Company's international publication history.
Protagonist and narrators[]
Glen Cook explicitly states that the protagonist of the series is the Black Company brotherhood itself:
“ | The hero, or the protagonist, whatever, of the Black Company series is the Company. It's not the people who are in it. There are people who go on, last through a number of books, sometimes they die, and sometimes they come back to life... Croaker is a central character throughout the series; always was, always will be. He will appear in the books yet to come. But he is not the protagonist, per se. The whole thing is about the Company and the idea of the Company: the thing that is bigger than the sum of its parts. | ” |
Six of the 11 novels and 8 of the 9 short stories are narrated by a prominent central character, a physician and historian called Croaker. The other narrators are: an outsider named Case in The Silver Spike; Croaker's wife Lady in Dreams of Steel; Croaker's male protégé Murgen in Bleak Seasons and She Is the Darkness; and, a brilliant female newcomer nicknamed Sleepy in Water Sleeps. All of those narrators are Black Company Annalists except for Case. The short story "Chasing Midnight" features a third-person narrator.
Novels in reading order[]
The original ten novels are grouped by the publisher into three story arcs published between 1984 and 2000. The story arcs are indicated in the subtitles of the books. Glen Cook stated in an interview that he did not create the subtitles, confirming that the story arcs were inventions by the publisher.
The Silver Spike was initially described as a spin-off novel because it lacked a subtitle, was not narrated by a Company Annalist, and was therefore technically not a "chronicle of the Black Company". But, it still takes place in the same universe, and, all omnibuses classify it among the Books of the South. It is referred to by fans with the unofficial designation "book 3.5" and is best read immediately following the third novel, The White Rose.
In September 2018, eighteen years after Soldiers Live, Glen Cook published Port of Shadows. Although Port is an interquel which takes place between the first and second novels, first-time readers of the series should not read Port after The Black Company. Instead, for contextual reasons Port should be read in publication order, namely after Soldiers Live.
All the Black Company novels are arranged in reading order in this table (with their original publication dates for reference):
Title | Subtitle(s) | Pub Date |
---|---|---|
1) The Black Company | "The First Chronicle of the Black Company" (first of the Books of the North) |
May 1984 |
2) Shadows Linger | "The Second Chronicle of the Black Company" (second of the Books of the North) |
Oct. 1984 |
3) The White Rose | "The Third Chronicle of the Black Company" (third of the Books of the North) |
Apr. 1985 |
The Silver Spike | - | Sep. 1989 |
4) Shadow Games | "The Fourth Chronicle of the Black Company" "First Book of the South" |
Jun. 1989 |
5) Dreams of Steel | "The Fifth Chronicle of the Black Company" "Second Book of the South" |
Apr. 1990 |
6) Bleak Seasons | "The Sixth Chronicle of the Black Company" "Book One of Glittering Stone" |
Apr. 1996 |
7) She Is the Darkness | "The Seventh Chronicle of the Black Company" "Book Two of Glittering Stone" |
Sep. 1997 |
8) Water Sleeps | "The Eighth Chronicle of the Black Company" "Book Three of Glittering Stone" |
Mar. 1999 |
9) Soldiers Live | "The Ninth Chronicle of the Black Company" "Book Four of Glittering Stone" |
Aug. 2000 |
10) Port of Shadows | "A Chronicle of the Black Company" | Sep. 2018 |
The short stories of the On The Long Run arc are best read after Port of Shadows.
Expected forthcoming stories[]
A further novel entitled A Pitiless Rain has been mentioned by Glen Cook in interviews, but as yet has no confirmed release date.
Short stories[]
The first short story was the novelette called "Raker", printed in 1982. Glen Cook's original plan was for the Black Company tale to be printed as a series of novelettes like this. But after his agent made an arrangement with Tor, his new editor persuaded him to transform the format into a trilogy of novels. An adapted version of "Raker" would become the third chapter of the first novel, The Black Company. Then, almost 3 decades later (beginning in 2010), additional short stories began to appear in various anthologies. Three of those would reappear as chapters in the novel Port of Shadows which was released in September 2018.
The remaining short stories are "stand-alone" narratives in that they were not incorporated into any novel. These 6 all take place during the first 4 years of the 6-year-total gap between Shadows Linger and The White Rose. They are described as the On The Long Run story arc by Glen Cook himself in one of his introductions in the Best of Glen Cook anthology.
All the Black Company short stories are arranged here in order of publication:
- The "Raker" novelette (August 1982)
- was later published as chapter 3 of The Black Company
- "Tides Elba" (June 2010)
- was later published as chapter 3 of Port of Shadows
- "Smelling Danger" (March 2011)
- was later published as chapter 6 of Port of Shadows
- "Shaggy Dog Bridge" (May 2013)
- the 4th of the 6 On The Long Run short stories
- takes place between "Wet Dream Fish Story" and "Bone Eaters"
- "Bone Candy" (November 2014)
- was later published as chapter 9 of Port of Shadows
- "Bone Eaters" (March 2015)
- the 5th of the 6 On The Long Run short stories
- takes place between "Shaggy Dog Bridge" and "Chasing Midnight"
- "Chasing Midnight" (November 2019)
- the 6th of the 6 On The Long Run short stories
- takes place between "Bone Eaters" and The White Rose
- "Cranky Bitch" (March 2021)
- the 1st of the 6 On The Long Run short stories
- takes place immediately where Shadows Linger leaves off
- "Leta of the Thousand Sorrows" (February 2022)
- the 2nd of the 6 On The Long Run short stories
- takes place between "Cranky Bitch" and "Wet Dream Fish Story"
- "Wet Dream Fish Story" (February 2023)
- the 3rd of the 6 On The Long Run short stories
- takes place between "Leta of the Thousand Sorrows" and "Shaggy Dog Bridge"
Timeline order (in-universe chronological)[]
For reference purposes, all the novels and short stories are arranged below in "timeline order", also called "in-universe chronological order". This disregards their publication dates, and as noted in the novels section above, this is not a recommended reading order. Port of Shadows should be read by first-time readers last.
Title | Type | Narrator |
---|---|---|
1) The Black Company *Chapter 3 is short story: "Raker" |
novel | Croaker |
2) Port of Shadows *Chapter 3 is short story: "Tides Elba" *Chapter 6 is short story: "Smelling Danger" *Chapter 9 is short story: "Bone Candy" |
novel | Croaker |
3) Shadows Linger | novel | Croaker |
4) "Cranky Bitch" | short story | Croaker |
5) "Leta of the Thousand Sorrows" | short story | Croaker |
6) "Wet Dream Fish Story" | short story | Croaker |
7) "Shaggy Dog Bridge" | short story | Croaker |
8) "Bone Eaters" | short story | Croaker |
9) "Chasing Midnight" | short story | (3rd-person narration) |
10) The White Rose | novel | Croaker |
11) The Silver Spike | novel | Case & 3rd-person narration |
12) Shadow Games | novel | Croaker |
13) Dreams of Steel | novel | Lady |
14) Bleak Seasons | novel | Murgen |
15) She Is the Darkness | novel | Murgen |
16) Water Sleeps | novel | Sleepy |
17) Soldiers Live | novel | Croaker |
Translations[]
See the Black Company series/Cover gallery for a showcase of the Black Company series' international publication history. Here is a brief breakdown of translations:
- The first 10 books + Port of Shadows, and all short stories:
- English
- The first 10 books + Port of Shadows + "Tides Elba" short story:
- Polish, Russian
- The first 10 books:
- French, Spanish, Bulgarian
- The first 9 books (up to Water Sleeps):
- Persian
- The first 8 books (up to She Is the Darkness):
- Lithuanian
- The first 6 books:
- Hungarian
- The first trilogy + Shadow Games, Dreams of Steel, Bleak Seasons:
- Chinese
- The first trilogy + Shadow Games & Dreams of Steel:
- German
- The first trilogy + Shadow Games:
- Czech
- (short story"Tides Elba" was also translated into Czech)
- The first trilogy (the Books of the North):
- Serbian, Brazilian Portuguese, Finnish, European Portuguese, Italian
- The first 2 books:
- Romanian
Omnibuses[]
While the novels were first published individually, many new English, French, Polish, Russian, and Italian readers are exposed to the series in omnibus print/e-book formats. These omnibuses are typically divided by the series' three story arcs: the 3 Books of the North; the 3 Books of the South; and, the 4 Books of Glittering Stone (which are presented in 2 pairs). A selection of those omnibuses which are still in print are shown below.
English[]
The English paperback/e-book omnibuses published by Tor Fantasy:
French[]
The French paperback/e-book omnibuses published by J'ai lu:
Polish[]
The Polish paperback/e-book omnibuses published by Rebis:
Russian[]
The Russian hardcover/e-book omnibuses published by Азбука:
Italian[]
The Italian paperback/e-book omnibus published by Mondadori: