Black Company vs The First Law

[Brian R]

Title says it all, which series do you prefer and why? I chose these two titles since both seem to fall into the gritty fantasy genre.

 

[KatG]

I like them both for very different reasons. You will never force me to give either of them up. Never!

 

[Heather Myst]

I liked both series but I think the First Law characters stayed with me long after the books were over so Abercrombie would get my vote. I also would recommend Best Served Cold.

 

[Third Eye]

First Law gets my vote. Never got into Glen Cook. In my opinion Abercrombie writes battle scenes better than anyone in the genre. I find authenticity in the brutality. When Abercrombie writes a fight it actually feels like a fight. He captures those emotions so vividly. I think Abercrombie could probably write for Ring Magazine in his spare time.

 

[Haliax]

I'm with KatG here. I could never pick between the two, I loved both series. Very different writing style but a similar tone. I think that the Black Company books could be a little harder to get into because I think Cooks writing style is a bit of an acquired taste, and it was near the middle of the first book before I got used to it.

 

[Aktunka]

I guess I would have to say The First Law is more to my taste. I have read the first Black Company book and I liked it, but it hasn't drawn me back to read the others yet. With The First Law, as soon as I finished the first one I had to read the next one to see what would happen. Although I cannot clearly quantify what that means, I do know that somehow I must enjoy it more.

 

[hawkeyye]

First Law. Loved every moment. Tried to read the first Black Company, couldn't finish it. Thought the style was awful.

 

[Ornery Wyvern]

First Law hands down, I remember enjoying the Black Company novels, but, well, that's about it I can't even recall any of the characters which is highly unusual for me. I did enjoy the novels though don't get me wrong.

 

[barfly]

for me the question is like asking "which do you like better, beer or wine?" beer is heaven with pizza and pretzels, wine is great with pasta and grilled veg. know what i mean?

i remember Glen Cook's Black Company stuff as being fairly cutting-edge when it first came out. loved it to bits for what it was and i think Cook deserves a lot of credit for pulling fantasy into the new millennium. his contemporary-ish characters dealing with realistic-seeming and unpleasant (world scale) problems broke new ground in its day, or broke it more engagingly than his contemporaries. on the other hand it doesn't seem to have aged too well: my recent attempt at reading the omnibus stalled out pretty quickly.

Abercrombie on the other hand is writing in a different style and, i believe, in a genre that has morphed considerably since Cook started with The Black Company. I think JA's greatest strength is his outstanding characterization and excellent descriptive writing.

but JA is writing in a time when we can pretty much assume the realities of multiple theatres of war, global-scale corporate corruption and massive infrastructure decay (although i freely admit these don't feature directly in either authors work they do provide a texture, a sense of the place, a collective 'given' about the way of the world). i would argue that such was not the case when Cook started Black Company and as such he needed to spend a fair amount of time painting the scenery whereas JA has pretty much just walked into it and started doing his thing.

to put it another way, Black Company was hot stuff 20 years ago but if i was to reach out today for a re-read i'd probably end up with The First Law in my hand. in fact i started re-reading it yesterday, so there you go.

 

[Hobbit]

Think barfly's got this one: Glen's books are getting on for 30 years old. In the context of their time they read well, but yes they can take a little bit of getting into.



Joe's have all been published in the last five years and so are perhaps more attuned to contemporary tastes.

Me: I like both, but it does depend when and what I read at that time.

Mark

 

[SLASH]

The First Law

 

[Shadowspawn_01]

That's a tough one. They are both great. I'd choose Black Company, because I just enjoy the whole mercenary army thing.

 

[Seegee]

I read The First Law before picking up The Black Company. I like both, but personal preference is for The First Law. I could see the influence of The Black Company in The First Law, though.