Shadow Games

Chronicles of the Black Company, Book 4

By: Glen Cook

Narrated by: Marc Vietor

After the devastating battle at the Tower of Charm, Croaker leads the greatly diminished Black Company south, in search of the lost Annals. The Annals will be returned to Khatovar, 8,000 miles away, a city that may exists only in legend...the origin of the first Free Companies.

Every step of the way, the Company is hounded by shadowy figured and carrion-eating crows. As they march every southward, through bug infested jungle; rivers dense with bloodthirsty pirates; and cities, dead and living, haunted by the passage of the Company north, their numbers grow until they are thousands strong. But always they are watched by the Shadowmasters, a deadly new enemy. They are twisted creatures that deal in darkness and death, powerful, shadowy creatures bent on smothering the world in their foul embrace.

This is the first round in a deadly game, a game that the Black Company cannot hope to win.

Listen to more in the Black Company series.©1989 Glen Cook (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Best series and best voice... really good.

Best characters ever. Hands down. You should really read or listen. Many more books to go.

New Direction

This book takes what remains of The Black Company in a new direction. Intrigued to see what happens next.

New Life

This book yields new life to this series. It draws one back to this story with a vengeance and it is totally worth listening to.

Great stuff

It's been a long road getting this far in the series, and every time we're on the road a lot has changed surrounding our favorite band of mercenaries. Without spoiling I'll say there has been a rift in what was once the more full band of the Black Company and has to be repaired by those surviving. Rebuilt, and made stronger. A hint of war threatens from the horizon, with grim omens and moments of tense fear. Glen Cook's writing is, as always, dry and gritty but also clever, occasionally tinged with humor and sometimes even beautiful poetry. It has and maybe always will shock me to read his work when there are so few that capture the same doom and gloom without coming off as completely boring. He thrives in the darkness. I wonder what happened in his life to train him so well for this literature. In any case, I had a feeling through most of this particular entry in the series that most of the really exciting stuff was behind me, with promise of maybe a little more excitement ahead, but here we are stuck in the bridge between. The bridge is still a worthwhile journey. It just wasn't as glorious as the previous books, which to me rivaled the Lord of the Rings when played in the theatre of my mind. That's giving it a lot of credit, but I think in terms of how it made me feel then it deserves it. It made me feel like the world, the war and it's characters were real, flawed people, but not flawed so much that I can't sympathize with or like them. I like them very much. It even turns some of the most famously villainous characters into anti-heroes into heroes! But it's done so believably, which takes the story to places I never imagined were possible. I am looking forward to reading more immediately. I hope there are other books that capture my interest beyond five novels or I will have lost faith in the capabilities of our modern day fantasy authors. Oh, well, I already have for the most part. At least there's always Miles/Christian Cameron, Bernard Cornwell (Arthur trilogy), to name a few.

A good continuation of a great story.

First time through this book. Read the Black Company books of the North and loved them. This story was a little odd by comparison in my opinion. The Performance continues to be great!

Lots of Fun

I've been listening to a few audio books lately that while were good always felt like a bit of work to get through, that was not the case with Shadow Games.

First off let me say you really don't want to start your Black Company experience here. While Cook does a very good job of allowing this book to be an intro to the series it really will shine in it's proper place as #4.

Following Croaker from book 1 to now you really get a great feel for the guy and are either really interested in his journey or have given up before now. This books picks up right from 3 and does a good job of answering a lot of lingering questions you may have had.

It has as much action as the previous books and brings back enough of the past characters to keep you attached to the events while also adding in enough new gems to keeps things fresh.

Don't get me wrong there book is not perfect. My main gripe relates to the mystery surrounding the villains. It makes some sense but it also is annoying that Cook couldn't come up with better.

Vietor does a great job as always of voicing Croaker and I always felt his performance fit. I have more to add but I want to avoid spoilers even the most obvious ones.

All in all this is a fun read and if you are into the Black Company or this kind of military fantasy style you would really enjoy it.

just as good as I remembered

good book. good performance. lots of stuff I didn't remember going on so listening was almost like a brand new book.

the last of the free companies of khatovar is going home. whatever and wherever that is. don't get in the way.

Shadow Games for sure

Croaker's in charge of the Black Company on a path south to Khatovar. Down to a company of seven, it recruits along the way introducing us to a few new characters. One-Eye and Goblin have to be at the top of their game with their wizardry skills, while adding comedic relief to the story. The Lady is still adjusting to the loss of her powers, but seems to have a hidden agenda with new allies. Lots of mystery surrounding the Shadowmasters, crows and a shadowy figure following Croaker. It all leads up to a bloody battle and a heck of a cliffhanger.

good

This series is so good, the series is very interesting....... t t t t t

New Territory

Impressed as always with Marc Vietor’s flawless performance! The Silver Spike (or The White Rose, depending on your reading order) is a tough act to follow, and this novel shifts a bit away from traditional Black Company blood-sweat-and tears battles to focus on some (awesome) character development. It’s definitely still a solid Black Company book and there were some great twists and really exciting battle sequences. I can’t wait to read the next one!