Where to Start with the Chronicles of the Black Company Series - Tor/Forge Blog
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Where to Start with the Chronicles of the Black Company Series

Where to Start with the Chronicles of the Black Company Series

A genre-defining series like The Chronicles of the Black Company can be intimidating. It might seem hard to know where to get started. There are plenty of places to begin (though we recommend book #1 or the upcoming Port of Shadows as entry points), but we’ve made it easy for you with the official chronological order!

Discover the original grimdark fantasy series with the dark and epic tale of the mercenary group The Black Company.

Some feel the Lady, newly risen from centuries in thrall, stands between humankind and evil. Some feel she is evil itself. The hard-bitten men of the Black Company take their pay and do what they must, burying their doubts with their dead.

Until the prophecy: The White Rose has been reborn, somewhere, to embody good once more. There must be a way for the Black Company to find her…

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The Books of the North (Compiled in THE CHRONICLES OF THE BLACK COMPANY and PORT OF SHADOWS)

1. The Black Company
2. Shadows Linger
3. Port of Shadows
4. The White Rose

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The Books of the South (Compiled in THE BOOKS OF THE SOUTH)

4. The Silver Spike
5. Shadow Games
6. Dreams of Steel

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The Books of Glittering Stone (Compiled in THE RETURN OF THE BLACK COMPANY and THE MANY DEATHS OF THE BLACK COMPANY)

7. Bleak Seasons
8. She is the Darkness
9. Water Sleeps
10. Soldiers Live

5 thoughts on “Where to Start with the Chronicles of the Black Company Series

  1. I agree with DW above. Will the “real position” of Port of Shadows please stand up. Perhaps Tor could go directly to Cook for an answer. I’m fixing to reread The Black Company series and I sure would like to read Port of Shadows in its proper place.

  2. Weird listing. After the initial trilogy was written, the books of the south were announced: Shadow Games, The Silver Spike, Dreams of Steel, and Glittering Stone (which later MIRVed into 4 separate books). However, when they were published we found out that The Silver Spike happened basically simultaneously with Dreams of Steel and was actually SET IN THE NORTH. It follows and wraps things up for the half of the company that stayed in the north as opposed to Croaker’s half that went south. Moving its position ahead of Dreams of Steel is, I guess, OK, but if you’re going to do that you might as well move it up to be with the books of the North because it is most definitely the epilogue to the north.

  3. I’m pretty sure port of shadows ours supposed to be book 1.5 with it collecting and integrating several of the short stories (Bone Candy, Bone Eater, Tides Elba, and Smelling Danger) that all clearly take place during that time and make vague references to a Port of Shadows. Only option I see that would make this list make sense is if the book is split with some taking place before and some after Shadows Linger (picking up Shaggy Dog Bridge in the process)

  4. There doesn’t seem room in Port of Shadows for Shadows Linger to take place during it.

    And those who read it before White Rose will get extra confused about Dorotea Senjak!

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