The Black Company Does It Again in The White Rose by Glen Cook—A Review

I don’t know what it is about these books that never fails to draw me in! I mean, I read the previous book in this series back in 2018. Yet, all I had to do was pick up this one, and I was wholly invested in what was happening to the characters. They must be leaving an impression too, because it wasn’t that hard to recall who everyone was.

As I’ve already mentioned, I turned to this series to determine what about them had inspired Steven Erikson when he began writing MBotF. So, it didn’t surprise me when I found concepts here that Erikson built on, such as unreliable narrators, characters doing a complete 180, and strong female characters. The twist at the end is so yummy and repays the readers who have been along for the ride so well. That’s an Erikson move too btw.

Since there were three timelines and the story alternated between them, it might take some readers a bit of time to settle in. However, once they do so, they’ll certainly enjoy the journey this book will take them on.

I did guess the identity of one of the Black Company characters masquerading as a nobody well before it was revealed. That didn’t take away any of my enjoyment, though.

Another thing I loved was how this book satisfactorily concludes the events from the first two. Some long-running series fail to do that and keep introducing cliffhanger after cliffhanger. That can make readers feel cheated when they have to invest their time and energy to get to the climax. In other words, you can stop reading the series after finishing this book because it wraps up the trilogy well. However, I won’t be doing that and intend to forge on!

To conclude, this is a good book that’s not too lengthy and still packs a punch.