Reddit reviews Chronicles of the Black Company

If you're a fan of when CK2 bleeds a bit into the fantasy/supernatural world, I can heartily recommend The Black Company by Glen Cook. Follows a mercenary company in dark fantasy world, and is a damn good read.

And then if that takes you, then maybe give Battle Brothers a try. You run a mercenary band in dark fantasy world. It's sort of like Mount and Blade mixed with XCom, in a good way. Best of all, it's just about to leave Early Access, so no waiting 3 years for it to be complete!

The Black Company- the heroes are basically the heroes just by virtue of not quite being as bad as the really bad guys- they're basically Fantasy Blackwater.

I have thought about doing the same thing. I started thinking about this after I read the first three books in the "Black Company" series by Glen Cook. I would suggest checking it out. Very good read. Might give you a lot of ideas.

In thinking about the campaign that I wanted to make, I also thought about using the tales of the yawning portal book. This would give me something to use as a kind of filler. Just kind of re-flavor some of the mobs/bosses/feel of the dungeon to fit my needs.

I was also thinking of having my players be the "special ops" component of the military. This would give an easy explanation to why they always needed to sneak off or why they have such better toys than the rest.

In case you are interested. Here is a link for the first three books. https://www.amazon.com/Chronicles-Black-Company-Glen-Cook/dp/0765319233/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1497121270&sr=8-3&keywords=the+black+company.

you should check out the Chronicles of the Black Company

Let's start with the obvious. You seem to enjoy the Warcraft universe. Did you know that fantasy novels have been released for that universe? See here for more details.


Maybe you want something new, though. I can't vouch for the quality of Warcraft novels, but a lot of the Warhammer Fantasy novels out there have had positive reviews, and take place in a similar (but more grimdark, because Warhammer) world. You can find more information about Warhammer Fantasy novels at Black Library, here.


Okay, so far, so good. But maybe you want something older and unrelated to a game franchise. Instead of mindlessly bleating TOLKIEN TOLKIEN TOLKIEN over and over at you, I'm going to suggest you avoid him. He's one of those fantasy authors that people like to tell everyone to read when they have no better suggestions, or because he's old and somehow a "father of the genre." Instead, try Tad Williams with his Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy. It tells the same sort of story, but with more character development and less time spent on epic feasting.


Alternatively, if you enjoy gritty military tales, give The Black Company a whirl - easily one of my favourites in the genre, and a book that inspired another awesome series, Malazan Book of the Fallen. (Note: Malazan is sort of like A Song of Ice and Fire in that it has a ton of characters, frequently jumps around, and can leave you disengaged from one novel to another.)


Edit: I should add that Brandon Sanderson is a good bet, and I'd recommend his Stormlight Archives series (aka, The Way of Kings) over his Mistborn stuff, but that's personal preference. I didn't mention him originally because he'd already been mentioned everywhere else in this thread, and repetition isn't helpful.

I recommend you read "Chronicles of the Black Company" (Aka The Books of the North) by Glen Cook.

That will give you a good idea of what grimdark fantasy about men intended for men is supposed to be like.

To clarify, the books have been republished in the form of four omnibus editions:

• The Chronicles of the Black Company
  
• The Books of the South
  
• The Return of the Black Company
  
• The Many Deaths of the Black Company
  
  By today's fantasy standards, this is a four book series, even if it is divided into ten shorter novels.

Chronicles of the Black Company - Only a 30 pages into it But it's good so far, written sort of Journal like. Not much Fluff, which i like.

Just Finished The Wise Man's Fear Really enjoying that series, but not looking forward to wait times on the next novel....

Sexy Rexy!

I have never been gifted either, i just posted my intro last night actually!

http://www.amazon.com/Chronicles-Black-Company-Glen-Cook/dp/0765319233/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=3RHOBNPXHQ933&coliid=I2TFAT0VMH420K

I'd definitely suggest Glen Cook's The Black Company about a group of mercenaries with a mysterious past that would fit right into the background history of The Witcher universe.

The books have an equally dark tone and don't shy away from consequence or death. The books are told from the Company Historian's perspective that records the events, so there's a hook of an unreliable narrator, with selective memory - the black company are not good people, they're just fighting to survive.

There's a bunch of parallels to the Witcher, not the least of which being the sense that they're the last generation of a long line that's been dying out.

(Think: a group of freelance soldiers that are employed by an empire of sorcerers and warriors as powerful as the Wild Hunt)

Not sure how easy it is to find the actual book, here it is:

http://www.amazon.com/Chronicles-Black-Company-Glen-Cook/dp/0765319233

off the top of my head right now the only one I can think of is this one and the first three dark tower books. At work right now i'll come up with list ASAP.

Dark / Gothic?

Chronicles of the Black Company, my friend.

The Black Company Series by Glenn Cook first three books found here

Really good read, no real similarites between them and NoTW, WMF, except for a certain irreverence. But could be my favorite fantasy series.

You are very generous indeed,

I would like to request - Chronicles of the Black Company by Glen Cook in physical

I have always heard this is such a great series but my local library doesn't have it, and I have blown my next 3 months book budget already.. Thanks Sanderson Leatherbounds