Title: Port of Shadows:
A Chronicle of the Black Company (Book 1.5)
Author: Glen Cook
Genre: Dark Fantasy
Pages: 400
Rating: 3 of 5

Note: if you haven’t read at least the first 2-3 Black Company books, this review might not make a whole lot of sense. There are no spoilers, but I am assuming that you have a basic idea of the characters & world (I would recommend skipping this your first time through the series)

This book takes place between the original books one and two, so the original gang’s all here. It was great to see Croaker, One-Eye, Goblin, the Captain, and the rest back in action…sort of. Unfortunately, they spend almost the entire book befuddled by sorcery and obfuscation, so they don’t act entirely like themselves. To be honest, this mental confusion and being kept more-than-usually in the dark about what is really going on seems to be a lazy way for the author to gloss over any continuity errors.

The writing style and plotting differ a bit from the other books in the series. There was quite a bit more profanity/vulgarity, more time spent just sitting around waiting for things to happen (i.e. less action), and way more self-pitying introspection from Croaker.

There were some fascinating new characters, including a new Taken Sorceress who is at the center of the action. Interwoven with the Company’s story is a tale from the distant past, which gives some background on the Senjak sisters (aka the Lady’s family). This was probably the most interesting plotline in the book, but parts of it seem to contradict already-established lore. Cook acknowledges this and in a fourth-wall-bending epilogue offers some possible interpretations but chooses to not definitively resolve much of anything. It was a rather unsatisfying ending to a ho-hum book.

If you’re a fan of the Black Company this is probably worth reading for some insights into the Lady’s character. Croaker, on the other hand, is so whiny and muddle-headed throughout that any character development on his part comes off as the result of sorcerous mental illness.