The Black Company
Some feel the Lady, newly risen from centuries in thrall, stands between humankind and evil. Some feel she is evil itself. The hard-bitten men of the Black Company take their pay and do what they must, burying their doubts with their dead. Until the prophesy: The White Rose has been reborn, somewhere, to embody good once more. There must be a way for the Black Company to find her... So begins one of the greatest fantasy epics of our age—Glen Cook's Chronicles of the Black Company.
Where The Black Company keeps showing up
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What you might want to know about The Black Company
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
First in The Black Company series. A weary mercenary outfit is hired in the south, then carried north to serve the Lady, an ancient sorcerous empress at war with rebel wizards. The company physician Croaker keeps their annals.
Glen Cook's Black Company series has nine main novels plus a few related works. The series is divided into Books of the North, Books of the South, and Books of Glittering Stone, all following the same mercenary company across decades.
Yes. The Black Company (1984) is widely cited as the original grimdark fantasy novel, predating Joe Abercrombie's First Law and influencing the entire subgenre. Steven Erikson has called it one of his major influences.
The Black Company was written by Glen Cook, published in 1984 by Tor Essentials.
The Black Company is 319 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, The Black Company takes most readers 5 to 7 hours to finish.
The Black Company is a standalone novel by Glen Cook, not part of a series.
The Black Company is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
