Black Company fans!

[A2Z]

Yeah, at the point where I am now, Soulcatcher is actually somewhat interesting. Still, have a little ways to go to finish even the first one, though...

Soulcatcher is my personal jesus! I just read all the books last spring and I was hooked. I loved all the old Taken. In fact, one of the things I'm looking forward to the most with Green Ronin's BC:RPG is getting some more info on the Taken. Some of them were pretty glossed over in the books and it'll be nice to have some more history on them, and the Lady as well.

 

[barsoomcore]

Soulcatcher is my personal jesus!

Hee. Soulcatcher's quite a character.

Come on, JD, hurry up! I'm dying to talk about stuff you haven't even gotten to yet!

 

[Desdichado]

Well, my wife's going out of town for a week and a half -- I went out today for a "lunch break" and picked up Shadows Linger and The White Rose...

 

[Desdichado]

I did finish the first book last night. Wife and kids leave town any minute now (if they haven't already) so although I'll probably pop into the Storyhour chat while I'm at it, I'm hoping to make some major progress on Shadows Linger today.

 

[Mog Elffoe]

I just received my SFBC four book BC set yesterday (but no Midnight Sun! --Arghh!)

I'm about 20 pages or so in right now. I have to agree with Barsoomcore--that first page is classic.

 

[Desdichado]

I'm only going to read the first three books for now; I've got too many other books on deck before I get into the rest of it.

 

[John Q. Mayhem]

Reading She is the Darkness now, after a short respite, and enjoying it very much.

 

[Desdichado]

I just picked up The Coming Of Conan today. [sigh] Too many books! I'll still try to finish my Black Company books before I read those, but they're so easy -- they're just short stories!

 

[WizarDru]

Those who enjoy the Black Company should also enjoy, for different reasons, Glen Cook's Garrett series, 9 or 10 books about a pivate eye in a fantasy setting (and ignore the covers...he doesn't look or dress like Phillip Marlowe). They're funny as hell, and the stories are just great.

I've met Glen Cook himself at several cons over the past few years, and he's a really nice guy. Freely offers to sign his books, always willing to stop and chat and is just a swell guy. AFAIK, he retired sometime around 1998 or so, and turned to writing full time (allowing him to finish the Glittering Stone books, finally). His last book, again AFAIK, was a Garrett book Cold Lead Skies, or something similar.

One of my favorite authors, bar none. One of the few authors who, like Steven Brust, can make me laugh out loud while I'm reading his work.

 

[barsoomcore]

One of the few authors who, like Steven Brust, can make me laugh out loud while I'm reading his work.

Or gasp. I'm thinking particularly of the ending of She Is The Darkness and four-fifths of the way through Orca.

Yeah, I'm SO on the Cook/Brust bandwagon. Just to plug my newest find -- Steven Erikson. He's the first fantasy writer since Cook and Brust both emerged in... 1986, wasn't it? I believe both The Black Company and Jhereg were published at around the same time... never mind... anyway, after years of having Cook and Brust as my Dynamic Duo, after reading Erickson's first five books, I find myself with a Triumphant Trio.

If Brust and Cook are your guys, Erikson will probably hit you hard. Not as funny (or as tight) as either of them, but every bit as uncompromising and human and unafraid of ugliness.

Brust is the king of the well-formed sentence. Cook is the master of plain speaking. Erikson rambles, but his vision is so unbelievably broad, so immense in scope, that anywhere he goes you find something to fascinate.