As I've said in recent blogs, I've been getting back into fantasy novels to supplement my usual reading diet. In particular, I've been looking into some very obscure fantasy. There is just something...satisfying...about hearing good things about a lesser known, obscure fantasy series and reading it to find that it is an underappreciated gem that needs to be spread to other lovers of the genre.

One of them is the Black Company series by Glen Cook. The series has actually been around since the mid-1980s, and many of you have probably never heard of it. It has ten books, divided into three sagas. Publisher Tor Fiction is in the process of releasing omnibus editions, which is the main reason why I waited a bit to start this series. The first three omnibus editions are currently out in North America, with the final one coming out in January. If you live in the US, each will set you back about $15.99.

Finally, I'll get to the novels themselves. The Black Company is a unique epic fantasy series about a band of mercenaries, the titular Black Company. They are the last of the major mercenaries units left in the world, and the series follows their exploits after being hired by one of the Taken, a group of ten powerful sorcerers who serve as the elite generals of The Lady, a mysterious, powerful ruler in the North. Centuries ago, The Lady and her king The Dominator, as well as the Taken, were defeated by rebels led by someone referred to as "The White Rose." They were sealed away, but have recently been released to reclaim their old kingdom.

The Black Company is across the sea, in a city called Berryl taking on a sort of peacekeeping job defending the government from rebels. Things go sour, and they find themselves employed by Soulcatcher, one of The Lady's Taken to assist The Lady's campaign against rebel elements. The rebels have been emboldened by rumors that The White Rose has been reincarnated somewhere in the kingdom and are on a quest to find him or her while fighting The Lady's armies.

The main character is Croaker, a medic in The Black Company who also serves as The Company's current historian. In fact, the books are written in first person, through Croaker's viewpoint, in the style of a memoir. The writing takes some getting used to. It is very simple and choppy, with small, abrupt sentences that start and stop. This is deliberate, as Glen Cook was trying to invoke the feeling of a memoir as written by a soldier who didn't exactly have high grade training in writing. After a while the style grows on you and eventually adds an extra layer of flavor to the novel.

This awkward style extends to other aspects of the series. A lot of the plot has a confused, fast-moving feel, always giving you the idea that you aren't seeing the whole picture. This is again deliberate, an attempt to invoke the confused, frantic nature of war. It is once again something that takes getting used to, but it gives the novel an extra layer of depth.

The plot itself tends to focus more on the key soldiers of The Black Company, as opposed to the battles. The battles are often merely summarized, but this can also be explained by the fact that Croaker is a medic and therefore doesn't get involved in direct combat as much as others. The books are, after all, written in the style of Croaker's memoirs, so it is hard to get into the deep, gritty details of battles that Croaker wasn't actually in the thick of.

The best part of the series is that it all just feels real. There are few modern fantasy clichés here. There are no princesses to be rescued, no evil demon kings trying to rule the world, no evil wizards that are evil for evil's sake, no magical MacGuffins that need to be collected to save the world, and no effeminate and graceful elves. For that matter, there is no good or evil either. It is a very gray series, where all sides are equally morally ambiguous. The Lady and her Taken may seem villainous, and they certainly are, but the rebels are ultimately little better. The men of The Black Company may have morals (Let's just say they draw the line at raping and killing children), but they are still a huge gray area.

I must say I really like this series. I'm almost done with the first omnibus and already have the second with the third on my Christmas list. The style takes some getting used to, but it adds an extra layer of flavor that many fantasy series lack. The Black Company is a unique series that has managed to age well after all these years. Sure, it isn't quite as revolutionary as it no doubt was in the 1980s, but it is still fresh and avoids pretty much all the clichés that are crammed into most of the books you'll find in your local fantasy section.