The White Rose (The Chronicles of the Black Company, #3) by Glen Cook

After completing Shadows Linger I couldn't help but to notice the great jump in the quality of Cook's writing from book one to book two. I had a big problem with the pacing of The Black Company- the book seemed to drag on in certain places and I never felt the battle at Charm was the epic conclusion I was looking for in that book. All of those problems were solved in Shadows Linger, and they included the fascinating redemptive character arc of Marron Shed.

Most of these reviewers have covered The White Rose very generally, so I will instead touch on some specific points that I found incredibly enjoyable.

My biggest problem with the book were the seemingly rushed events leading up to the climax. As Amazon user freedom78 said;

"The story reaches its conclusion with some good storytelling and a few surprises, but there were a few things about this installment that disappointed. In particular, details about the role of the Old Father Tree, Tracker and Toadkiller Dog, and the final battle with the Dominator all could have used greater development. Each of these offered interesting twists but the details were too few and potentially worthwhile tangents were touched on all too briefly and largely left unexplored."

This is the core of my issues with the book. At certain points I was reading so quickly that I seemed to skip over what little detail there was during these events; particularly the scene late in the book on the Plain of Fear regarding the Old Father Tree. I believe this is a downfall of Cook's style of writing more than it was a lack of exposition. I enjoy Cook's clipped writing style, but there are certain events in The White Rose that left me wanting a bit more description. I did not feel that way about any part of Shadows Linger.

The Bomanz chapters are a bit jarring to the flow of the book, and, in the beginning, a bit slow-paced. In the end, however, I came to really enjoy them and warmed greatly to the character of Bomanz and his story. In an effort to avoid spoilers, I will simply say that his character develops wonderfully through the book.

By far my favorite part of the book and of The Black Company series so far was the character development of The Lady in this novel. I have only read the first three books in the series but I have a hard time seeing how Cook can top this. It is an example of his central theme throughout the entire series: Humans are neither good, nor evil- they are just human. I don't want to spoil the experience for any new readers, but The Lady is developed in such a way that she jumps off the page at you. She is so well-rounded, and so realistically motivated that you've actually got to stop and think through your feelings about her. The only other author in fantasy who has ever forced me to do that is George R. R. Martin, and he's one of the best character writers I've ever read in ANY genre, not just within the realm of fantasy.

By the end of The White Rose I found myself genuinely caring about The Lady and wishing her well despite rooting for an abrupt end to her brutality and tyranny. Only the best character writers can make a reader feel that way, and Glen Cook has accomplished it. Bravo.

⭐⭐⭐