Wow man thanks for the shout! Hope your viewers find something great. All I can say is if they like to have S&S sci-fantasy fun like me, How Black the Sky oughta fit the bill!
I absolutely have to agree with you about The Shadow of the Torturer. I read over 100 pages of it because I loved the writing style and then gave up because I couldn't take the actual story.
Thank you! Not many people talk about Book of the New Sun, and most who do are rabid fans who have reread it multiple times. It's great to hear from someone who understands my perspective on this. Yes, it's a beautiful piece of literature. But we just didn't enjoy the story.
@@FantasyfortheAges I've always wondered if there was anything else by Gene Wolfe I should try reading instead but never had the courage (or perhaps just the time) to go looking for it.
@@cylelle376 My cohost (Zach/Son) is actually familiar with some other Gene Wolfe writing that he said is more approachable, but I have no experience with it.
So fun stuff with The Black Company! The main series proper is indeed nine books, though The Silver Spike (1989) and Port of Shadows (2018) make the total sequence eleven books. They should be read fourth and eleventh, respectively. The Silver Spike concludes the main conflict of the original trilogy, while Shadow Games (book 4) starts off a new sub-series in "The Books of the South" and "The Books of Glittering Stone". It's a smoother order to read Shadow Games fifth. Then there's Port of Shadows, which is extremely weird; it technically takes place between books 1 and 2, but it also includes some wonky narrative stuff that kinda demand reading it after the rest of the books. Cook has also been releasing a series of connected Black Company short stories and novellas over the last decade, which take place between books 2 and 3, collectively titled "On the Long Run". These include "Shaggy Dog Bridge", "Bone Eaters", "Chasing Midnight", "Cranky Bitch", "Leta of the Thousand Sorrows", and "Wet Dream Fish Story". Most of these are only available in anthologies, with half of them coming from New Mythology Press's "Valor" anthologies in the last three years. I think he's still planning on writing more of these, and "Wet Dream Fish Story" came out just last year. Then there's the long-rumored sequel "A Pitiless Rain", which actually got a HUGE update earlier this year. It is now a full-blown, four-book sequel series called "The Orphan's Tale", and he's *already written three of them*-Lies Weeping, They Cry, and Summer Grass. He's midway through the fourth, currently titled Darkness Knows. From what I've heard, there was some internal upheaval with his publisher and he kinda got lost in the cracks as editors were shifted around. It seems likely we'll start to hear more news about the sequel series next year. Basically, Cook is still actively writing The Black Company (and he's actively writing more Garrett, P.I. books, which is also both a surprise and a treat!)
![ILLSLICK X YOUNGOHM - We're The same [Official Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/yUJNkobYR0E/mqdefault.jpg)
Thanks for the shout out! Hope everyone likes The Nutcracker Trilogy. Dancing the Nutcracker right now
Nice! And my pleasure!
Wow man thanks for the shout! Hope your viewers find something great. All I can say is if they like to have S&S sci-fantasy fun like me, How Black the Sky oughta fit the bill!
Excellent! It's on MY TBR, for sure.
Love seeing Senlin Ascends on your list! The Books of Babel are one of my favorite series of all time!
Thanks. Your comment moves it higher up my TBR!
@@FantasyfortheAges Yeah!! That's great to hear!
I absolutely have to agree with you about The Shadow of the Torturer. I read over 100 pages of it because I loved the writing style and then gave up because I couldn't take the actual story.
Thank you! Not many people talk about Book of the New Sun, and most who do are rabid fans who have reread it multiple times. It's great to hear from someone who understands my perspective on this. Yes, it's a beautiful piece of literature. But we just didn't enjoy the story.
@@FantasyfortheAges I've always wondered if there was anything else by Gene Wolfe I should try reading instead but never had the courage (or perhaps just the time) to go looking for it.
@@cylelle376 My cohost (Zach/Son) is actually familiar with some other Gene Wolfe writing that he said is more approachable, but I have no experience with it.
So fun stuff with The Black Company! The main series proper is indeed nine books, though The Silver Spike (1989) and Port of Shadows (2018) make the total sequence eleven books. They should be read fourth and eleventh, respectively.
The Silver Spike concludes the main conflict of the original trilogy, while Shadow Games (book 4) starts off a new sub-series in "The Books of the South" and "The Books of Glittering Stone". It's a smoother order to read Shadow Games fifth. Then there's Port of Shadows, which is extremely weird; it technically takes place between books 1 and 2, but it also includes some wonky narrative stuff that kinda demand reading it after the rest of the books.
Cook has also been releasing a series of connected Black Company short stories and novellas over the last decade, which take place between books 2 and 3, collectively titled "On the Long Run". These include "Shaggy Dog Bridge", "Bone Eaters", "Chasing Midnight", "Cranky Bitch", "Leta of the Thousand Sorrows", and "Wet Dream Fish Story". Most of these are only available in anthologies, with half of them coming from New Mythology Press's "Valor" anthologies in the last three years. I think he's still planning on writing more of these, and "Wet Dream Fish Story" came out just last year.
Then there's the long-rumored sequel "A Pitiless Rain", which actually got a HUGE update earlier this year. It is now a full-blown, four-book sequel series called "The Orphan's Tale", and he's *already written three of them*-Lies Weeping, They Cry, and Summer Grass. He's midway through the fourth, currently titled Darkness Knows.
From what I've heard, there was some internal upheaval with his publisher and he kinda got lost in the cracks as editors were shifted around. It seems likely we'll start to hear more news about the sequel series next year. Basically, Cook is still actively writing The Black Company (and he's actively writing more Garrett, P.I. books, which is also both a surprise and a treat!)
This is all fantastic information! I'll use your insights in adjusting my TBR appropriately. Thanks, Drew!
Great video and great list. Love EOTW. I think I have a few of these on my 2025 TBR list and some further down the line
Thanks! So many good books. My own TBR swelled up over 1,500 now.
Check out Castle Perlious by DeChancie and Agdyle by Elizabeth Willey
Thanks! Appreciate recommendations.