A terrific read, and one of the stronger books in an already strong series. It takes full advantage of having had the table set in the previous two volumes, and the pace is brisk and exciting as a result, even by the Black Company's already fairly high standards in that regard. My main gripe is that the book continues past its natural conclusion. It's all about the siege of Overlook and the fight against Langshadow, until that plot is (satisfactorily) resolved, and then, the book just continues, with a big chunk of pages yet to go. What follows is really all just set up for the next book, I imagine, and it continues on until a huge, exciting cliffhanger can be set up for the next installment. It's not that the novel is weak in this section, it's just that it feels a bit tacked on after what seemed the novel's natural conclusion. Though there are spoiler reasons why it probably had to be like that, I imagine. And otherwise, this was great. I even mostly enjoyed the dream sequences, and that never happens. ( )

The first half of this book is the worst Black Company I have ever read. It was slow and boring. However halfway through it really took off, and ended with a cliffhanger to make the earlier slog worth it all.

( )

This book did not work out for me at all. It consistently failed to hold my attention, and I found myself going back to podcasts or music again and again, instead of listening to the audiobook. I think this means that I should drop the series for now and possibly come back later, if at all. ( )

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She is the Darkness was a much better read than the previous book. It was much more understandable and interesting. I still don’t like Murgen much as a narrator. There just isn’t much dialog anymore, at least not as much as there was with Croaker. Murgen’s story is a little more intersting now, however, so I am starting to get to know him a little better. Hopefully, I will learn to enjoy his narration.

The plot finally moved forward a little in this book instead of focusing on past events. I thought it moved at a pretty good pace and there were lots of small battles and other events that kept me interested. For one, Goblin’s adventure was intriguing because I didn’t know what he was up to and I just wanted to know. Also, One-Eye’s disappearance was interesting as well. There were also quite a few battles in this book as the Company tries to take down the Shadowmaster! Pretty epic! Also, the ending was amazing!! Can’t wait to read the next book!

There wasn’t too much wrong with this book like there was with the previous. Murgen’s situation is a lot clearer now and he doesn’t switch between the past and present without notice. This time we just get to see a lot more of his ghostwalking with Smoke and enter more of his dreams. It ended up being very interesting by the end of the book.

As always I love (or hate) the chracters in this series. They are all developed so well and are very entertaining. I am glad that there was more of One-Eye in this book, however Goblin was absent. :( I love Lady and Croaker, so any mention of them is awesome. There was a lot more of them in this book even though it is through Murgen’s perspective. I am very pleased with Cook’s characters and their development.

Overall, She is the Darkness was a much better read than the previous one so stick with the series. If you find the book to be a little slow don’t worry because it picks up about half way through and you can’t miss the ending! If you enjoyed all the other books than you must continue with this series. If you are new to the series than I strongly suggest starting with the first Black Company books. Reading these in order is a good idea. ( )

She is the Darkness was a bloody slog. It follows a long, boring, mostly uneventful military campaign from the eyes of the recently-bereaved and endlessly whiny Murgen. I know you're sad, dude, but I don't want to hear it any more. There's yet more hinting and mincing around the mystery of the Company's origins, but it still doesn't really go anywhere - even at the end, when they're presumably on their way home. They do idiotic things like keeping terribly dangerous enemies around in handcuffs instead of sensibly chopping them into small pieces, with predictable results (over and over again! These people never learn,) and since the viewpoint character is neither in charge nor actually on the front lines, at least 75% of the action is at least one step removed from immediacy.

I kept reading, but it was tough. ( )