I am haunted by the clear knowledge that, in the end, evil always triumphs.

I struggled with the start of this book. I know that being dropped in to a middle of a story, in a strange land, with unfamiliar characters takes time to adapt but I just wasn't "getting" it.

I was diligent, carried on with the chapters and around the 20% mark something connected and I understood Croaker's perspective. The first few chapters aren't a traditional story where one chapter follows the other, each one was contained in a specific event/time and before I understood that I felt lost.

Once I understood that the story picked up and my interest returned. This was near the end of book one, and with the introduction of the Lady that may have helped my enjoyment too.

We are the victims of our own competence.

Book two felt like more of a coherent story. Having a reminder about who the Taken were, their burial and resurrection helped to coalesce the story for me as I didn't absorb those details in book one. The additional POV's were a benefit and when events connect in Juniper it was fantastic.

Book two and three also benefited from having a consistent story and we weren't jumping years or locations between chapters. This allowed me to settle in and enjoy the story more instead of digging for details trying to understand what is happening where.

Little before have to hate, have to blame someone for their own inadequacies.

I was content with just reading the Northern series of the Black Company but I'm enjoying myself too much now to stop. The world unfolds through the perspective of one person and relies on a 'show don't tell' approach which works wonderfully because the reader learns about events as Croaker does.

The gritty mixture of magic, military and mercenaries is excellent and I'm more than happy to stay on this ride until I read through the entire Black Company series.