Author | Glen Cook |
---|---|
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Genre | Epic fantasy Dark fantasy Adventure Hard fantasy |
Publisher | Tor Fantasy |
Published | May 1984 - present |
Media type | Print (hardback and paperback) |
The Black Company is a series of dark fantasy books written by American author Glen Cook. The series combines elements of epic fantasy as it follows an elite mercenary unit, the Black Company, through roughly forty years of its approximately four-hundred-year history.
The short stories of the On The Long Run arc all take place within the first 4 years of the 6-year gap between Shadows Linger and The White Rose. They are published out-of-order, as the most recently published stories occur before the earlier three.
"Shaggy Dog Bridge" and "Bone Eaters" were republished in The Best of Glen Cook, where "Chasing Midnight" first appeared.
Four other short stories were published but later reappeared as chapters within subsequent novels:
"Tides Elba", "Smelling Danger", and "Bone Candy" were collected and reworked into the novel Port of Shadows. [2]
The series follows an elite mercenary unit, The Black Company, last of the Free Companies of Khatovar, through roughly forty years of its approximately four-hundred-year history. Cook mixes fantasy with military fiction in gritty, down-to-earth portrayals of the Company's chief personalities and its struggles.
The main chronology spans nine novels, which can be grouped into three sections: The Books of the North recount the Company's dealings with the Empire of Lady; The Books of the South follow the Company on its journey back to its beginnings in Khatovar; Glittering Stone sees the Company achieve victory over its employer's enemies, and move on to its destiny. A spin-off novel, The Silver Spike, follows events concerning former members of the Company and one of its adversaries. Port of Shadows, an interquel, describes forgotten events which took place between The Black Company and Shadows Linger. And, the short stories of the On The Long Run arc all take place during the first 4 years of the 6-year gap between Shadows Linger and The White Rose.
In 2017, it was reported that a television show based on the Black Company was under development, with David S. Goyer as executive producer. Eliza Dushku was to produce and play The Lady, with episodes airing on The CW and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television. [3] As of 2022, there have not been further updates on the television show's progress.
Green Ronin Publishing published The Black Company role-playing game in 2004. In 2024, Arc Dream Publishing announced their plans to develop a new role-playing game based on the series. [4]
Elric of Melniboné is a fictional character created by English writer Michael Moorcock and the protagonist of a series of sword and sorcery stories taking place on an alternative Earth. The proper name and title of the character are Elric VIII, 428th Emperor of Melniboné. Later stories by Moorcock marked Elric as a facet of the Eternal Champion.
The Chronicles of Amber is a series of fantasy novels by American writer Roger Zelazny. The main series consists of two story arcs, each five novels in length. Additionally, there are a number of Amber short stories and other works. While Zelazny's will expressly forbade sequels by other authors, four posthumous prequels authorized by Zelazny's family were authored by John Gregory Betancourt.
Damien Francis Broderick is an Australian science fiction and popular science writer and editor of some 74 books. His science fiction novel The Dreaming Dragons (1980) introduced the trope of the generation time machine, his The Judas Mandala (1982) contains the first appearance of the term "virtual reality" in science fiction, and his 1997 popular science book The Spike was the first to investigate the technological singularity in detail.
Karl Edward Wagner was an American writer, poet, editor, and publisher of horror, science fiction, and heroic fantasy, who was born in Knoxville, Tennessee and originally trained as a psychiatrist. He wrote numerous dark fantasy and horror stories. As an editor, he created a three-volume set of Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian fiction restored to its original form as written, and edited the long-running and genre-defining The Year's Best Horror Stories series for DAW Books. His Carcosa publishing company issued four volumes of the best stories by some of the major authors of the so-called Golden Age pulp magazines. He is possibly best known for his creation of a series of stories featuring the character Kane, the Mystic Swordsman.
Anne Bishop is an American fantasy writer. Her most noted work is the Black Jewels series. She won the Crawford Award in 2000 for the first three Black Jewels books, sometimes called the Black Jewels trilogy: Daughter of the Blood, Heir to the Shadows, and Queen of the Darkness.
Nina Kiriki Hoffman is an American fantasy, science fiction and horror writer.
Janet Inglis "Janny" Wurts is an American fantasy novelist and illustrator. She has written several standalone novels and series, including the Wars of Light and Shadow, The Cycle of Fire trilogy and the internationally best-selling Empire trilogy that she co-authored with Raymond E. Feist. Her short story collection That Way Lies Camelot was nominated for the British Fantasy Award in 1995. She often illustrates her own books, and has won Chesley Awards for her artwork.
James Daniel Lowder is an American author, anthologist, and editor, working regularly within the fantasy, dark fantasy, and horror genres, and on tabletop role-playing games and critical works exploring popular culture.
Christopher Golden is an American author of horror, fantasy, and suspense novels for adults and teens.
Cemetery Dance Publications is an American specialty press publisher of horror and dark suspense. Cemetery Dance was founded by Richard Chizmar, a horror author, while he was in college. It is associated with Cemetery Dance magazine, which was founded in 1988. They began to publish books in 1992. They later expanded to encompass a magazine and website featuring news, interviews, and reviews related to horror literature.
The Silver Spike is a spin-off novel from Glen Cook's The Black Company. The story combines elements of epic fantasy and dark fantasy as it follows two former members of The Black Company and the formerly renowned "White Rose" down their own path after parting ways with the company following the events at the conclusion of The White Rose.
Dreams of Steel is the fifth novel in Glen Cook's ongoing series, The Black Company. The series combines elements of epic fantasy and dark fantasy as it follows an elite mercenary unit, The Black Company, through roughly forty years of its approximately four hundred-year history.
Bleak Seasons is the sixth novel in Glen Cook's ongoing series, The Black Company. The series combines elements of epic fantasy and dark fantasy as it follows an elite mercenary unit, The Black Company, through roughly forty years of its approximately four hundred-year history.
Water Sleeps is the eighth novel in Glen Cook's ongoing series, The Black Company. The series combines elements of epic fantasy and dark fantasy as it follows an elite mercenary unit, The Black Company, through roughly forty years of its approximately four hundred year history.
The Australian Shadows Awards, also known as the Australasian Shadows Awards, are annual literary awards established by the Australian Horror Writers Association (AHWA) in 2005 to honour the best published works of horror fiction written or edited by an Australian/New Zealand/Oceania resident in the previous calendar year.
Michael Joseph Cassutt is an American television producer, screenwriter, and author. His notable TV work includes producing or writing, or both, for The Outer Limits, Eerie, Indiana, Beverly Hills, 90210, and The Twilight Zone. In addition to his work in television, Cassutt has written over thirty short stories, predominately in the genres of science fiction and fantasy. He has also published novels, including the 1986 The Star Country, the 1991 Dragon Season, the 2001 Red Moon and the 2011 Heaven's Shadow, in collaboration with David S. Goyer. In addition, Cassutt contributes non-fiction articles to magazines and is the author of the non-fiction book, The Astronaut Maker, a biography of NASA legend George W. S. Abbey (2018).
This is a list of books by Mercedes Lackey, arranged by collection.
Echoes of Valor III is an anthology of fantasy stories, edited by Karl Edward Wagner. It was first published in paperback by Tor Books in September 1991.
List of complete works by American fantasy fiction author Glen Cook.