Golden Anvil

The White Rose is the third book in the Black Company series by Glen Cook. I usually try not to read too many books back to back in the same series in order to avoid burnout, but I have the first three books in this series in omnibus form, so I wanted to complete them together.

In this book, the black company has left the service of the evil faction (fleeing for their lives), and finds themselves allied with the good faction. However, the greater evil is stirring, and appears to be breaking free from his prison. The main characters are desperately trying to find some leverage to use against the greater evil before he escapes.

This story is interesting because it interweaves the ongoing story with the stories of the man who ended up accidentally releasing the lesser evil from her prison, and the man who discovered that man's story. The back stories are interesting, and present the reader with a sense of mystery about what happened, and how it will tie in with the current events. While this kind of mechanism can go wrong, I thought the author pulled it off really well.

Once again, the story, setting, and characters work really well. The overall style is a bit unusual, which is fun. All in all a very enjoyable book. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next.

1. 3/19/11 - Sheepfarmer's Daughter by Elizabeth Moon
2. 4/30/11 - Storm Front by Jim Butcher
3. 4/9/11 - Oath of Gold by Elizabeth Moon
4. 3/13/11 - Daemonslayer by William King
5. 5/6/11 - The White Rose by Glen Cook
6. 5/3/11 - Shadows Linger by Glen Cook
7. 1/31/11 - Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks
8. 2/28/11 - Skavenslayer by William King
9. 1/12/11 - Fall of Angels by L.E. Modesitt
10. 2/24/11 - Trollslayer by William King
11. 4/1/11 - Divided Allegiance by Elizabeth Moon
12. 4/28/11 - Metal Swarm by Kevin J. Anderson
13. 2/19/11 - Sinner by Sara Douglass
14. 4/19/11 - The Gift by Bryan M. Litfin
15. 1/24/11 - Stalking the Dragon by Mike Resnick