Soldiers Live

Soldiers Live
1st Edition Cover
Publication description
Author	Glen Cook
Illustrator	Nicholas Jainschigg
Pub. date	August 2000
Publisher	Tor Books
Narrator	Croaker Shukrat & Arkana (ch. 148)
ISBN13	9780312890575 (hardcover) 9780812566550 (MMP)
In-universe chronology
Previous	Water Sleeps
Next	none
Publication timeline
Previous	Water Sleeps (Mar. 1999)
Next	"Tides Elba" (Jun. 2010)

Soldiers Live by Glen Cook is the tenth book of the Black Company series and the fourth novel in the Books of Glittering Stone tetralogy.

From the back cover

“

No Black Company member has died in battle for four years. Croaker figures it can't last. He's right. For, of course, many of the Company's old adversaries are still around. Narayan Singh and his adopted daughter—actually the offspring of Croaker and Lady—hope to bring about the apocalyptic Year of the Skulls. Other old enemies like Longshadow and Howler are also ready to do the Company harm. And much of the Company is still recovering from the fifteen years many of them spent in a stasis field. Then a report arrives of an old enemy newly active again. It attacks them at a shadowgate—setting off a chain of events that will bring the Company to the edge of apocalypse and, as usual, several steps beyond.

”

Summary

Four years have passed since the Captured were freed from the cave of the ancients. Sleepy has taken over the role of Captain of the Black Company who now reside in Hsien, or the Land of Unknown Shadows, another world linked to the glittering plain. Here they have built up a town called Abode of Ravens where the Company bides its time amassing new recruits from the new world and recovering the riches buried under Shivetya's fortress with no name. This is all in order to eventually re-enter the homeworld and overthrow Soulcatcher's Protectorate.

However, the Company is in far from a perfect situation, as the ruling faction of Hsien, the File of Nine would prefer they leave, and demand the Company hand over their main bargaining chip Longshadow, who brutally ruled over Hsien decades before. Many of the Old Crew have since died, including the resilient Otto and Hagop, which leaves Croaker isolated in a Company he now barely recognises. In addition, Croaker and his wife Lady are deeply concerned about Tobo, now a formidable wizard, who has almost magnetically attracted supernatural creatures called Unknown Shadows.

Events quickly escalate after an old enemy, Lisa Daele Bowalk, returns to exact her revenge. Entering the Abode of Ravens at night she attacks finally killing her main prey, the venerable One-Eye before being repelled by Lady. Soon after the File and the leaders of the Company meet at the mountainside libraries at Khang Phi, to continue negotiations. However, they come to no resolution. Sleepy reveals it was partially a ruse in order to steal knowledge from the libraries to reopen the Shadowgate. Infuriated, the File amass their military to fight the Black Company. This forces Sleepy to accelerate their plans to pass through the Shadowgate, preferring to preserve their numbers for the fight against Soulcatcher.

List of editions

Soldiers Live was published as a standalone novel in the following editions, translations, and formats. They are listed in order of publication, earliest first; reappearances of the same translation are grouped together. See also Books of Glittering Stone for the list of omnibuses in which Soldiers Live appeared.

Polish

• Title: Żołnierze żyją
• Page shown: Front cover
• Author: Glen Cook
• Language: Polish
• Translator: Jan Karłowski
• Publisher: Rebis
• Pub date: 2001
• Cover art by: Keith Parkinson
• ISBN: 9788373010963 / 8373010963 (paperback)

French

The French translation, first published by L'Atalante, was divided into two parts and features original artwork by Didier Graffet throughout.

• Title: Soldats de pierre, I
• Page shown: Front & back covers
• Author: Glen Cook
• Language: French
• Translator: Frank Reichert
• Publisher: L'Atalante
• Pub date: January 2006
• Cover art by: Didier Graffet
• ISBN: 9782841723232 (paperback [broché])

• Title: Soldats de pierre, II
• Page shown: Front & back covers
• Author: Glen Cook
• Language: French
• Translator: Frank Reichert
• Publisher: L'Atalante
• Pub date: January 2006
• Cover art by: Didier Graffet
• ISBN: 9782841723249 (paperback [broché])

The same French translation was republished by J'ai lu in smaller paperback format [poche] with cover art by Johan Camou.

• Title: Les Annales de la Compagnie Noire 12: Soldats de pierre, Première partie
• Page shown: Front cover
• Author: Glen Cook
• Language: French
• Translator: Frank Reichert
• Publisher: J'ai lu
• Pub date: 13 April 2011
• Cover art by: Johan Camou
• ISBN: 9782290032107 (small paperback [poche])

• Title: Les Annales de la Compagnie Noire 13: Soldats de pierre, Deuxième partie
• Page shown: Front cover
• Author: Glen Cook
• Language: French
• Translator: Frank Reichert
• Publisher: J'ai lu
• Pub date: 12 October 2011
• Cover art by: Johan Camou
• ISBN: 9782290032770 (small paperback [poche])

Spanish

• Title: El retorno de los soldados. La décima crónica de La Compañía Negra. Libro cuarto de La Piedra reluciente
• Page shown: Front cover
• Author: Glen Cook
• Language: Spanish
• Translator: David Cruz Acevedo
• Publisher: La Factoría de Ideas
• Pub date: 10 April 2011 (paperback); December 2014 (e-book)
• Cover art by: Nicholas Jainschigg
• ISBN: 9788498006872 (paperback); 9788490185148 (e-book)

Bulgarian

• Title: Войниците са живи: Четвърта книга за Блестящия камък (Хрониките на Черния отряд X)
• Page shown: Front cover
• Author: Глен Кук (Glen Cook)
• Language: Bulgarian
• Translator: Пепа Соколова (Pepa Sokolova)
• Publisher: Лира Принт (Lira Print)
• Pub date: 2014
• Cover art by: Raymond Swanland
• ISBN: 9789548610988 (paperback)