The Books of the South: (Chris Miele)

Book: The Books of the South:
Author: Glen Cook
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
Pages: 251
Reasons: I just came across this book by chance. I had no idea what it was about either. I was walking through the bookstore and it caught my eye. It just seemed interesting to me because I like these types of books. However, it is the fourth novel in a series of eleven. I was disappointed that I missed the first three books, but that will change once I find the other segments of the story.
Summary: The Black Company, an elite mercenary unit, led by the main character Croaker, has just emerged from a victorious battle against the Dominator. However, the Company is down to their last seven men. Feeling that they have seen enough battle for themselves, the troop of men decides to travel to the long lost birthplace of their clan/group of brothers, Khatovar, but they stop at the Tower at Charm. After several weeks, the Black Company decides to travel south along with the Lady, a formerly powerful sorceress and ruler of the Empire of the North. Eventually, they reach the Temple of Traveler’s Repose, where Croaker discovers long lost annals of the company’s history. Their journey leads them to Gea-Xle. Here, the company meets the offspring of former Company members. The offspring join the company and set out with them. When the Company reaches Taglios, they are forced to fight with the Taglians against the Shadow Masters, who threaten the city.
Audience: I think this book is for young adults. The author uses present day events and translates them into fantasy and fictional ideas.
Writing Style: The author uses a very unique writing style. It is not very old, as in old English or old times, but it is modern mixed in with how we talk today with profanity slang and all that other stuff, even though it takes place in mid-evil times. For example:
“Otto said, ‘Amazing what a bath and a shave will do. I believe the word is ‘distinguished.’ ‘Looks like a supernatural miracle to me, Ott.’ ‘Be sarcastic, you guys.’ ‘I mean it,’ Otto said, ‘You do look good. If you had a little rug to cover where your hairline is running back toward your butt…’” (pg. 33)
Passages:

“The place had everything I thought I wanted. Comfort. Quiet. Isolation from the
ills of the Earth. Purpose. Challenging historical studies to soothe my lust to know what had gone on before.” (pg. 51)
“From the minute you sign on with the Company you’re doing things that make no sense, drills and practices and rehearsals, so that when the crunch comes you’ll do the right thing automatically, without thought. The mind goes.” (pg. 147)
“Nobody got much sleep. Everybody got testy. But that is the way in our business. You learn to adjust to it, to understand.[…] I spent my time rushing around in confusion, more often a politician than a commander.” (pg. 165)
These passages struck me because, in a way, they describe me as a person. I need to know before I believe like in passage one. And when I find quiet time or isolation I can think to myself what I believe and not what everyone else thinks. The second passage of the book reminds me of “practice makes perfect” or “prepare for the worst.” I like to prepare for things. Like golf. You swing a club a couple thousand times, the motion becomes second nature to you. You don’t have to think about how to hit the ball anymore. The third makes sense of how I worry about things, like a chicken with it’s head cut off. I worry all the time about some things and the problems sometimes begin to grow on you. You can’t sleep.
I’m sorry, but after reading this book, it didn’t really seem to have a theme behind it. No moral values were pulled out from the pages or clichés that can be useful in life. I think this book was just written to be read and not interpreted.
Overall, for this book, I would have to give it the letter grade of a B+. It was written very well but the story was short. I suppose it is because I haven’t read the other ten parts of the story. I liked his writing style and could relate what was going on in the story. It made it easy for the reader to follow the plot. The action was also not that great. Everything happened so fast that it almost felt anti-climactic. The characters also were well drawn out and I was able to make a clear picture in my head of what they looked liked. I would recommend this only to a reader that would start from the very beginning of the series, not the middle. You will miss a lot of information.