The Black Company, by Glen Cook

 

This is a re-read, but it’s been over a decade since I last read The Black Company and in my quest to try and clear bookshelf space I’ve been revisiting some old ones to see if I still like them.

The Black Company is old school fantasy and throws the reader right into the thick of things. The aforementioned military outfit is a mercenary company that has its own sense of tradition and honour but does get hired by ropey sorts. Early on, they get hired by Soulcatcher, one of the Taken, ancient wizards recently returned to the world in the enthralled service of the Lady.

This gets the Company out of an unwanted, pre-existing contract but also means they’re fighting for The Bad Guys in a major war. And it’s not just the enemy on the battlefield they need to watch out for, as the Taken bicker and fight with one another.

The POV is Croaker, the Black Company’s annalist and surgeon, and generally a good egg. Other major characters in the Company include the Captain (unnamed beyond the rank), wizards Silent, One Eye and Goblin, and newcomer Raven (who is a cold fish but very talented at killing things).

There’s very much a theme of war soon stripping away the virtuous idea of good versus evil, which is a little grim if realistic. Easy to read and relatively short, The Black Company doesn’t waste time faffing about and the antagonism between the Taken is shown very clearly early on, which adds an interesting extra dimension to the story There’s also a prophecy that The White Rose has been reborn, having in an earlier incarnation defeated the Lady (and her still trapped husband the Dominator). That could present a way out for the Black Company from their contract with the Lady…

Overall, I liked The Black Company a lot.

 

As a side note, I have the second book, Shadows Linger, and am going to start it shortly, but it’s annoying that the third, The White Rose, isn’t available except second hand or as part of a first-three-books compilation.

 

Thaddeus

Early Impressions Age of Wonders 4 (PS5)

 

Generally speaking, pre-ordering video games is a bad idea and I don’t usually do it. However, Age of Wonders 4 seemed to tick so many boxes that I made an exception and I don’t regret it, having played the game for about a week.

This is a preliminary sort of review so I can’t draw a full conclusion. I’ve completed multiple story missions (on easy, admittedly) and have just won a non-story, normal difficulty game.

Age of Wonders 4 is a 4X strategy game with a fantasy setting. Players have a relatively small number of cities (3 is standard but this can be modified by faction creation choices and in-game perks) and can achieve victory by either conquering other throne cities (capitals), expanding substantially, achieving magical dominance, or winning a score victory. The expansion and magical victories both require the construction of specific structures which must be defended.

Faction and ruler creation is an undoubted high point. By allowing for a multitude of small differences these stack up to an astonishing array of variety. Better yet, the system has been well thought through so there are very few, perhaps no, wrong choices and the dilemma between roleplay and gameplay choices is not really present.

There are around 10 fantasy races from which to pick, from fantasy staples of human, dwarf, elf, and halfling to feline, toad, and mole forms (others being goblin, orc, and rat). The forms do have default physical/mental attributes but none are fixed in stone, which is flexible but does reduce the lore flavour a little.

Players also pick culture, society traits, the starting magical tome, and their ruler. The ruler can be either a champion of the same race or a wizard king (think arcane dictator).

Other rulers will get along better with you if you have similar affinities, which are determined by culture, society traits, and tomes. Likewise, opposing affinities lead to a more antagonistic predisposition.

Affinities add to empire progression each turn. This works in two ways, with a specific affinity working along a specific branch, and all affinities combined adding up to a general branch. Perks are accessible with sufficient cumulative affinity, and unlocked using imperium, which is also used for major decisions like absorbing a conquered city into your empire.

Advancement also occurs by researching magical tomes. A good bet, especially early on, is sticking with the same general type (nature, for example) and deviating either rarely or never. One of the biggest advantages of research is minor and major race transformations. These upgrade your race in various ways and usually have a physical representation, though this can vary from practically unnoticeable to enormous.

Battles play out on a hex-grid in a somewhat XCOM style. The auto-combat option actually works very well most of the time and is a viable option if you aren’t inclined to manually run a fight. Occasionally it’s weaker than one might hope but sometimes it can turn in fantastic results too.

I’ve played with a few builds at this stage, having just won my first normal difficulty sandbox game and a few easy story mode games. There are a lot of valid strategies, and my last build was a straightforward but fun ranged focus which worked nicely. City development is critical, as is getting the right provinces (an early mix of farm, forester, and quarry plus taking advantage of special features like pastures that improve yields is advisable).

There’s also an underground on the map, although I’ve delved relatively little into this as yet. I do have plans for a molekin underground empire in the future. This adds another layer of flexibility as you can travel underground and emerge on the surface via tunnels (or vice versa). As many maps are broken up with rivers/seas, or lava, this is one more thing to consider.

Way too early for a definitive perspective but right now I’m liking Age of Wonders 4 a lot.

Thaddeus

Review: Classical Mythology, by Helen A Guerber

Hot(ish) off the heels of her excellent book on Norse mythology I bought Guerber’s work on classical mythology, which I know rather better. As such, there were fewer surprises and less novelty value. Also, as the intro mentions, she deliberately avoids what might be called the racier details. In this edition, which is illustrated, there’s plenty of fantastic artwork covering the gods, heroes, and monsters of classic myth. Note that Roman rather than Greek names are usually used, with the exception of Cronus/Saturn.

We start off with the creation of the world, then proceed through the various gods and goddesses, before covering major heroes and then, briefly, minor gods/spirits. As much be expected, some gods and heroes have bigger chapters than others (Hercules gets a lot, as one might expect).

Overall, the coverage of stories is very good indeed, although personally I prefer Greek to Roman names as (almost always) the origins are Greek. It’s also worth noting there’s no mythological comparison, so this might be better preceding than succeeding the Norse book.

While there’s no detail of the racy stuff (and I think nothing homosexual whatsoever, though I could be wrong) there is still reference to rape and abduction etc. Which is just as well for Jupiter or his chapter would’ve been rather short. In addition to the excellent artwork there’s also a map at the front/back which isn’t strictly needed but can be interesting for the various journeys.

As with the very enjoyable Norse book the writing style presents an engaging amount of detail without wandering into flabby padding territory, and I often read more than intended in a session.

My decision to add this to my sizeable reading pile was very much vindicated, and I recommend this to anyone after classical mythology tales in a single volume.

Thaddeus

Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, by Tad Williams

 

Just finished re-reading, for the first time in about two decades, the whole four volumes of Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, which comes in at over 3,000 pages.

It’s a classic old school fantasy and, while a little annoying because I was looking to clear shelf space and am definitely not throwing this out, it was just as good as I remember.

The author does takes his time, particularly early on, but for the most part this works perfectly well and can heighten the drama when the pace picks up. The world and history is interesting and interesting twists and characters, as well as original ideas, make this a highly engaging and enjoyable series.

NB at the time of writing, Amazon has a Kindle discount for the whole thing for just £2.99.

Thaddeus