This is actually the fourth book in the Tales of the Black Company. The first three I read awhile back as a compilation. I was surprised that I enjoyed the story/stories as much as I did since they are a war saga. The series is described by Steven Erikson as being "like Vietnam War fiction on peyote" and I think that is definitely a better description than one I could come up with.
In the previous three books we were introduced to the Black Company. This is a band of professional mercenaries who have been traveling for well over 400 years (they are not immortal, except maybe the two wizards, One Eye and Goblin). They are also, incidentally, the last of their kind, all of the other companies had dissolved or gone back to the South. They were brought up to the North, further than the company had ever gone, to serve the Lady and her Taken. The Lady is/was a sorcerer of immense power who, with her fallen husband, the Dominator, had conquered a vast empire. These two powers were such that they could, and did, 'take' the strongest wizards and bend them into their service. All were conquered at one point and laid to rest in the barrowlands but (oops) they were all accidentally awakened, except the Dominator who was purposely left buried, and immediately got up to their old tricks. Enter the legend of the White Rose. This is a woman who was destined to defeat them, again, and this is a large part of the reason that the Black Company was brought into service. To make a long story short, the White Rose popped up and was warring with the Lady but then the Dominator started to work his way out. They teamed up to take him down and in the end the Taken were all killed and the Lady was stripped of her powers but, most importantly, the Dominator was put down again.
Now, as I get into the Books of the South you may see mention of people and events that were tied into the previous three books but that can't be helped. So onward soldiers!
We pick up with Croaker (former annalist and now Captain), Goblin, One Eye, Otto and Hagop. They are all that is left of the 'original' Black Company. I say original but the company is composed of men, men die and new men enlist. They had picked up another man, Murgen, as they defected from the empire and the Lady, now stripped of her vast powers, rides with them. They are a broken band and without the means to continue their mercenary work, Croaker has decided that it is time to take the Company 'home'. Home, or at least where the Black Company had originated from hundreds of years ago, was Khatovar, a city that lies to the furthest south of any known map. The journey to get to Khatovar will cover thousands of miles. From descriptions, imagine that you are starting off around the Northwestern area of Russia and walking or riding a horse to the very southern tip of Africa. Sounds very much like a quest to me.
Making their way south through the empire turns out to be relatively easy. Even though the Taken are gone and the Lady has no powers left to her, for the most part the administration of the empire is unchanged. Stealth and bluster are more than enough to get them through and as they go, here and there they pick up a man or two. They have a few skirmishes with bandits grown brazen in the slight loosening of the grip of the imperial forces but nothing terribly dangerous. It is when they finally get to the outer edge of the empire that they will face harsher challenges.
As they travel along, the long ignored attraction between Croaker and the Lady grows. Unfortunately, every time they are alone and have the ability to consummate their 'feelings' for each other something pops up. Whether it is Croaker's obliviousness and/or mishandling of the Lady's signals or a band of assassins, they just can't seem to find time to actually 'do it.'
Meanwhile there are powers far to the south who have become aware of their presence and their intention to reach Khatovar. These beings are sorcerers of some strength called Shadowmasters. They are a group of four, all with that catchy 'Shadow' in their names. It is through these new players in the game that most of their troubles come.
After passing through a patch of jungle, the Black Company comes to a river that will take them further south and on to the next part of their journey. In the town that lies on the bank of the river they discover that there is a band of warriors who are descendants of the Black Company from their initial trek northward. These warriors are a separate sect in their society, and it appears that they have been waiting to join up with their fore-bearers for centuries. About 20 or 30 of these warriors are selected to join up with the Black Company.
So the group has grown now from a handful to almost enough for a small military unit. Which is a good thing since the river passage is blockaded by a pirate and he cannot be budged. This is a notable 'road block' because it is revealed that one of the Taken, Shifter, has in fact survived and is shadowing the company. The Lady finally admits to knowing this and assures Croaker that for now, at least, his goals are mirroring the goals of the Black Company. Namely, to get past the pirate blockade. Croaker and his men arm up a barge and set all sorts of nasty tricks into place and head off down the river. When they meet up with the pirates, it turns out to be a very good thing that Shifter is along because the pirates are led by a powerful wizard. It isn't until the pirates are defeated and they hear a familiar howling on the wind that they realize who they've been fighting...The Howler, another of the Taken.
They press on and enter a large city (description of the city and the people sounds like India) where they are approached by the prince to serve him in his war against the Shadowmasters. Croaker has no interest in signing on to another commission, he just wants to return his annals to Khatovar but to get through the Shadowlands, he will have no choice but to fight and defeat the Shadowmasters. No safe passage for the Black Company, sorry...
Croaker and Lady build an army out of the citizens and, even though they are not well trained or seasoned, use this force to kick the crap out of the first Shadowmaster. They press on and manage to take the fortress of the second but in an ensuing battle they lose the bulk of their men and are pressed back into the fortress, now under siege. Worse than that though is that Croaker takes an arrow through his chest and after all is said and done, his body cannot be found. He is presumed dead by everyone, including the Lady who mourns him deeply (especially since they finally found time to make with the nookie).
Now the Lady has taken over the annals and while she still plans on leading the Black Company to Khatovar eventually, her real mission is to destroy all of the Shadowmasters and their army for some good old fashioned revenge. She is 'adopted' by a secret sect of religious assassins who assist her in rebuilding her army. This comes in quite handy for her as she has at least a few loyal people, in a patriarchal society this is a necessity.
As she mourns she focuses her energies on rebuilding the now scattered and factional army. She has a few interesting exploits along the way but while she makes plans to avenge Croaker's death, it turns out that Croaker is very much alive. Alive and hostage to Soulcatcher, another Taken, and also the Lady's sister-turned-attempted-assassin. Soulcatcher had been beheaded but that wasn't enough to kill her apparently. She just carried her head with her in a box.
Soulcatcher's role in this is merely a plot to hurt her sister as badly as she can. Croaker has become a pawn, one she is intent on seducing though he holds out against her.
Sheer luck allows Croaker to escape from Soulcatcher. One of the Shadowmasters has Howler 'kidnap' her while she is in the city, posing as her sister. The Lady finally learns that her beloved is alive and well and things seem set for a happy ending.
Meanwhile, the Lady is largely successful in rebuilding her army and though she is ill, she still cements her ties with her religious assassins by undergoing some rituals and such. She doesn't think to much of it, it is merely a means to an end for her. If she had known she was pregnant and not sick, she might have thought better of it. When she was too far along, she cloisters herself to give birth. Shortly after, a band of the assassins breaks into her rooms, kills her guards and steals the baby.
Then we pick up with Raven, former guardian of the White Rose.
What? Where did that come from? Two thirds of the book were all about the Lady and Croaker and now out of nowhere we are thrown all the way back to the beginning of the Black Company's journey, literally a few days after they left the barrowlands??
Yep.
I'm not going to cover this section of the book too well. Suffice to say that another Taken, Limper, is revived (which is kind of interesting since all that was left of him was his head) and the silver spike that the 'soul' of the Dominator was trapped in is stolen. Blah, blah, blah...the White Rose with the Tree God's minions/creatures take Limper down, Raven really gets killed (no more faking his death) and the spike and Limper's head are tossed into another plane of existence. I think we will see more of Toadkiller Dog later though.
This book of the Black Company managed to suck me in as thoroughly as the previous three. Generally speaking, war books, you know with bloody battles and all that, have never really appealed to me but the characters in these stories are really well rounded and you find yourself understanding them and relating to them on many levels. The fact that wizards and magic are such a strong part of the story is rendered completely normal and acceptable. The descriptions of locations and events is particularly well done, dare I say, vivid?
I admit I was completely thrown off by the abrupt switch from Croaker/Lady to Raven/White Rose and I'm not sure that the second storyline really belonged with the first, but regardless, both stories are amazingly told.
Overall I would recommend this series to just about anyone. It takes a little bit of work to get into the story as a whole, plan on a couple of chapters worth just to get your bearings, but once you get involved with the characters you will probably find yourself enjoying them and looking forward to the next installment. (Cough, cough, hint, Frizzy)
