The White Rose
On to the 3rd book of the Black Company. This one basically jumps forward a decade or so. The black company is now in opposition to the Lady after events of the 2nd book, and they’ve wholly devoted themselves even in their diminished form to the service of the White Rose. Or Darling, as they’ve known her since her rescue.
The apparatus of how the white Rose can defeat wizards and witches of the Lady’s caliber is finally explained, in that she emits an anti-magic field. This is fairly brilliant as it means that the main might of the most powerful men and women are basically halpless within the anti-magic field and explains why armies and such are still maintained.
The book is once again split between multiple perspectives, and you don’t see the convergence until way later . There’s even a 3rd perspective in the form of letters addressed to Croaker, and this is also once again the black Company against the world. As after the events in the 2nd book, there are scarcely enough members of the Black Company that they are barely even a squad.
Still, they retain their biggest advantages in their mages, and Darling, and they have a new ally in the terrain themselves. Apparently they are now staged in a weird place where change storms happen and there’s a deity involved.
Its still confusing and a bit of mental gymnastics is required to take into account the new surroundings and such, but it does keep the book fresh.
The big bad is still the dominator, and this time he threatens to escape through natural causes. Erosion of his tomb is going to break all the magical bonds that had kept him and his minions there, and he also takes advantage of the fact that the lady has to deal with the threat of darling.
The action still comes in fast and furiously, and a lot of things happened. A truce is evantually called between the Lady and Darling, and they work together to thwart the emergence of the Dominator and a lot of interesting things happen.
You learn more about the world, and its still a large enough world that you never get sick of it. The recycling of old villians does get a bit old, but there’s enough human elements that makes you remember you’re still rooting for the real heroes.
In any case, this is an incredible conclusion to the series. There is more of the books, but the start of the book is as compelling and amazing as ever.
Highly recommend reading the first 3 books of this incredible series. It doesn’t get old and though the reading is difficult, its exciting enough to still excite me even 20 years past my first reading.