Lies Weeping

The Chronicles of the Black Company #10

by Glen Cook

From the godfather of Grimdark himself, LIES WEEPING is the first book in a brand new arc of Glen Cook's groundbreaking Chronicles of the Black Company series!

The Black Company has retreated across the plain of glittering stone, toward a shadow gate that would let them trade the dangers of the plain for the questionable safety of the Company’s one-time haven on Hsien, a region in the world known as the Land of Unknown Shadows.

In Hsien, the company returns to their former base, An Abode of Ravens, where the Lady ages backwards in a return to force, shaking off the thrall, one breath at a time. Meanwhile, Croaker, ascended to godlike status as the Steadfast Guardian, has been left behind in the Nameless Fortress.

In their adopted father’s stead, Arkana and Shukrat have taken up the role of annalist for the Black Company. At first, life in Hsien appears quiet, even boring, but it is quickly apparent that strange goings on are more than what they seem, and it's up to them to discover the truth hidden in the shadows of this strange land.

Genres: Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Fiction, High Fantasy, Audiobook, Science Fiction Fantasy

384 pages, Hardcover

First published November 4, 2025

About the author

Glen Cook was born in New York City, lived in southern Indiana as a small child, then grew up in Northern California. After high school he served in the U.S. Navy and attended the University of Missouri. He worked for General Motors for 33 years, retiring some years ago. He started writing short stories in 7th grade, had several published in a high school literary magazine. He began writing with malicious intent to publish in 1968, eventually producing 51 books and a number of short fiction pieces.
He met his wife of 43 years while attending the Clarion Writer's Workshop in 1970. He has three sons (army officer, architect, orchestral musician) and numerous grandchildren, all of whom but one are female. He is best known for his Black Company series, which has appeared in 20+ languages worldwide. His other series include Dread Empire and and the Garrett, P.I. series. His latest work is Working God’s Mischief, fourth in the Instrumentalities of the Night series.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/glencook

Reviews

[✘✘ Sarah ✘✘ (former Nefarious Breeder of Murderous Crustaceans) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The latest Black Company installment. Written by a now 81-year-old Glen Cook. 41 years after the first book in the series was published. Narrated from the (slightly erratic) POV of two sarcastic as fish, ever-bickering teenage girls, "my dear diary" style (I kid you not). And it bloody works. Glen Cook really is a god.



It's not the Black Company we used to know, but the shift makes perfect sense in light of how the Company has evolved after the events of the third arc in the series. It's a new era, a new Company, and it calls for a new perspective. And for a new pace. Yes, it's true, this installment is not exactly action-packed. How could it be when the Company no longer has any foes to fight against? What the book does is serve as a bridge to A Pitiless Rain, the new series arc. It shows how the Company has settled in this time of peace, and introduces new characters. A new evil nemesis (and possibly nemeses) slowly makes its way into the narrative, which seems to indicate that fun times await, yay!

But you know what the somewhat hysterical Black Company fangirl in me really really really really really really LOVED about this book? Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler's POV. (No, this is not the character's real name and yes, you'll know who this person is if you read the blurb but hey if the publisher wants to spoiler their readers to death it's their problem and I'm not like that because I have a heart—sometimes—so Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler it shall be.) This third POV is basically everything you ever wanted to know about the Domination and the Senjaks, but were afraid to ask. (Like the Dominator's funny as fish true name, which sounds like something One Eye would have come up with.) And it's bloody shrimping glorious. And I can't wait to read the next installment because I need more.

Add to that Lady being Lady, Soulcatcher being Soulcatcher, a no-longer-howling Howler (I don't think I'll ever get used to that), flying carpets and posts and stuff, Tobo's ghostly menagerie, characters acting in the weirdest way and super fishy goings-on all-round (I smell devious Glen Cook shenanigans in the series future), and you get the best possible introduction to this new Black Company era.

I will say one thing, though: that cliffhanger, REALLY? I don't really mind cliffhangers when they are used as a way to link to the next installment, but ending a book mid-chapter, right in the middle of an action scene is pushing things a bit too far, if you ask me.



Oh, and by the way, I'm not blaming Glen Cook for this. I'm pretty sure this was the publisher's decision. You know, the old "this book is going to be too long, let's split it into two installments, it will sell better, and who the fish cares if we end the story mid-action anyway?" trick. Yeah, eye roll and stuff.

And on that happy note, until next time and stuff 👋.

· Book 1: The Black Company ★★★★★
· Book 1.5: Port of Shadows ★ ← I have no idea where this book came from, or what it's about. Pretty sure I never read it.
· Book 2: Shadows Linger ★★★★★
· Book 2.2 (short story): Shaggy Dog Bridge ★★★★★
· Book 2.3 (short story): Bone Eaters ★★★★★
· Book 3: The White Rose ★★★★★
· Book 3.5: The Silver Spike ★★★★
· Book 4: Shadow Games ★★★★★
· Book 5: Dreams of Steel ★★★★★
· Book 6: Bleak Seasons ★★★★★
· Book 7: She Is The Darkness ★★★★★
· Book 8: Water Sleeps ★★★★★
· Book 9: Soldiers Live ★★★★★



We have a cover, and it's pretty scrumptious indeed! (ETA: come to think of it, it's probably way too pretty for this series. It sort of gives off YA fantasy vibes, doesn't it? *shudders*)



Okay, so it is a truth universally acknowledged that nothing beats old-school fantasy covers and I much prefer the style of the first installments in this series (Shadows Linger anyone?) but I have to admit that I kind of love Raymond Swanland's covers for Glen Cook's books. Except maybe for the one he created for Port of Shadows. Then again, the book and I didn't exactly part on the best terms. So I might quite possibly be a little biased here. Maybe.



[December 10, 2024]

OH MY SHRIMP OH MY SHRIMP OH MY SHRIMP OH MY SHRIMP!!!!!!!!

Expected publication date Nov. 4th, 2025!!!!!!!!!!! I thought I'd never live to see the day!!!!!!!!!!!







Tor website: https://torpublishinggroup.com/lies-w...

[Jake Bishop · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lies Weeping was a book I was pretty nervous to read, because it had a huge publishing gap between Soldiers Live, and I consider Soldiers Live to be one of my favorite ever final scenes to a series. Especially with the last published Black Company book(Port of Shadows) being received rather poorly.

So the number 1, most important question is, does this book ruin, or harm Soldiers Live, because if that was the case, I would actively recommend people to not read it. I am happy to say I think it unequivocally does not ruin Soldiers Live, and if you like The Black Company series you should read it without fear.

My favorite thing about this book, is the duel narrators who have a best friend/sibling dynamic going on, and who spend a bunch of time basically talking shit about the other narrator. They were pretty consistently quite funny, and compelling to me. I think Glen Cook does meta humor quite well. There was also a 3rd PoV that gave us some history of the world, and I liked those even more. So as a result I overall enjoyed most of the novel.

That being said, I think the plotting is a little weak. For a solid chunk of the book I just don't think there is an inciting incident, and it felt a little aimless. And then I don't feel like we are really clear what the actual conflict is about, to a degree that I can be really invested, until like 10 pages before it's resolved, and then the book ends very very suddenly. Like this might set a record for shortest falling action ever, we barely even get a resolution, I was wondering if my ARC was missing a chapter or 2.

And this isn't some mystery where I was trying to figure stuff out, it was just kinda an absence of knowledge, until I got it.

So I can sum this up really easily. Do you like the Black Company. Read this without fear of it ruining Soldiers Live in hindsight, or reading it and thinking Glen Cook forgot how to write.

Have you never read The Black Company before, or are not caught up. Go read the main series first, this one will spoil the ever loving shit out of Soldiers Live, and a lot of previous Black Company books as well. And I think is a little less good, although that is not due to writing, or characters, but plot, so it does have me excited for Cook to continue with Pitiless Rain, as I really like the characters, and setting.


7.4/10

[Darren McGowan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh man, this was music to the ears! So, so glad to be back with Glen Cook and the black company. While many of my favorites are no longer among the living, we still have croaker,lady, howler and the infamous soulcatcher. Combine that with some newbies and a brand new world, we have the makings for a long story line. The new annals writers are a interesting choice ,and at times was a little frustrating, but overall the teenage girls did ok. Hopefully the wait is shorter for the next book.

[Allen Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

It feels so good to be back with the Company!

I had never read Port of Shadows, so this was my first experience with a BC novel post-Soldiers Live (and wonder why). I completed a re-read right before receiving this ARC, so I was about as refreshed as one can be before hitting this book which takes place IMMEDIATELY after the end of book 10. Cook is firing on all cylinders here, filling the pages with everything we've come to expect from a Company novel - the lives of the regular soldier, a cynical, yet hopeful worldview, and some overpowered sorcerers on top of an unraveling mystery. This time, however, it's from the perspective of two teenage girls.

I gave this 4 stars because, for me, it feels more a setup novel than even Shadow Games. It doesn't have the highs of Darkness, Water, and Soldiers. In fact, this may be THE slowest paced of all the Company novels. And that's for a reason. What does the Company do when it's 'off-duty' so to speak? What are they supposed to do when they have no immediate purpose? I love the explorations of soldiers who don't have any soldiering left to do.

My problems with this book:

- the annalists are both straddling the line of annoying. If I see Shukrat call Arkhana 'boob-monster' one more time lol

- I am CONVINCED Cook did not remember that Howler died in the last book. About 100 pages in we get an explanation of why the freaking Howler is back up and operating but it feels like he realized he had messed up and hand-waved it

- is anyone else sick to DEATH of Soulcatcher? I mean, can there please please please be a different antagonist? Pleeeeeeeease.

Those qualms are small and though not a ton of epic moments are present in here, it does unravel some mysteries we thought we were done with as well as add a whole lot more. And, of course, it's the Black-freaking-Company. Can't wait for the next book.

Thanks to Netgalley and Tor for the ARC!

[AoC · Rating 4 out of 5]

I find it difficult to believe it's been 25 years since Soldiers Live that concluded the story of the Black Company. Since then we've received an interquel in the form of Port of Shadows that somehow ended up being strangely relevant in Cook's return to the series with Lies Weeping. Is it a fresh start or something aimed solely at fans?

It's impossible to really talk about the new story without going into some prior details, but the Black Company has survived its return from the Plain of Glittering Stone albeit not going back to the old world. Now, as chronicled by Arkana and Shukrat - Voroshk cousins from another doomed world who got adopted by the Company - they're making their due from An Abode of Ravens. Much of their angle contends with managing a wizarding power house Tobo who seems intent on self-destructing, as well as their own sibling rivalry. Third perspective is that of old man Croaker himself, or rather Shivetya the New as that is the almost all-present godlike role he has assumed. Why? So he can explore history to his timeless leisure. Naturally, we wouldn't have a story if things were ideal so strangeness is afoot with actions spurred from both former Shivetya, remnants of old Shadowmasters villains and the Lady herself who seems intent on reviving hers and Croaker's daughter.

Initial impressions of Lies Weeping were not the best. Quickfire POV switches between Arkana and Shukrat don't really have the desired effect since novel takes a while for them to start differentiating significantly to warrant it. I definitely had some laughs as they refer to one another as bimbette and boob-monster, but that highschool girl act gets old fast if that's all you have to work with. Too many of their back-to-back chapters are essentially identical and merely rephrased. I just wish they got to do more SOONER, that's all. What I assume was entirely intentional on Cook's part this is then in turn counterbalanced by Shivetya's much longer at times diffused chapters. Here we also take a while for Croaker to come to terms with what he is and how to utilize the tools he has. Oddly, this is also where aforementioned Port of Shadows comes into play as we again dive back into the Domination era with greater detail. Add to this Croaker has his old archenemies Soulcatcher on both proverbial and literal shoulder, her being the only person he can natively interact with, and it makes for a snarky dynamic where you can't tell when the dagger is coming.

I may have given you the impression I didn't really like how the Voroshk cousins were written as the new annalists of the company, and I'm not thrilled, but I'm also pleased to say Cook hasn't lost his touch. This is a Black Company novel through and through. He doesn't shy from darkness and cruelty, not even with some events like Arkana's mistake you'd expect to be quietly forgotten about. You're simply looking at a far lower "power level" in this one with a story setting up a whole lot with very little payoff as Lies Weeping is merely the first novel of a new arc.

Would I recommend Lies Weeping? If you don't like author's signature "we saw the fort, and we took it" terse approach to writing with no words wasted on purple prose you know to avoid this one. If you do, however, this is less military fantasy you've come to expect purely because our POVs are so unlike that. Darkness aplenty, though.

[Danielle]

OH MY GOOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDDDDD!!!!!!

I will *not* be calm about this. I refuse! Let’s fucking goooooooooo!

[Mark Redman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review: Lies Weeping by Glen Cook

Lies Weeping marks Glen Cook’s triumphant return to The Black Company series, delivering a fresh and compelling story through the lively perspectives of young Annalists Arkana and Shukrat Voroshk. Their journal entries inject the narrative with humour and banter, creating an engaging contrast to the dark, grim world they navigate. Revisiting the Company’s universe was enjoyable, and reconnecting with familiar faces only heightened the excitement.

Cook’s signature strengths shine through once again: rich character development, intricate world-building, and subtle hints at mysteries yet to unfold. The setting feels vibrant, thick with history and depth that enrich the story. However, the novel isn’t without its flaws. The pacing felt sluggish at times, overly focused on setup, and the narrators’ voices occasionally seemed awkward or repetitive, especially early on. Those expecting large-scale Black Company battles may find themselves disappointed, as the story emphasizes intrigue and complex relationships instead. The ending leaves several threads unresolved, culminating in a cliffhanger that teases more chaos to come — though waiting a year for resolution might test patience. A more self-contained story could have made for a more satisfying experience.

Still, for devoted fans, Lies Weeping offers a promising new chapter, trading rapid momentum for nuanced groundwork. New readers might find it a tough starting point without prior knowledge of the series’ extensive history.

In the end, while not a thunderous installment, Lies Weeping delivers an engaging, character-driven beginning to a new era — one driven by voice, mystery, and the relentless spirit of the Black Company

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lies Weeping is the tenth book in Glen Cook's long-running Grim Dark Fantasy, "The Chronicles of the Black Company". This book takes a different turn from the previous books. In this one, most of the original members of the Black Company are long gone. A crop of new people have taken their places, but a few of the old hands are still around, such as Croaker/the Steadfast Guardian, The Lady, and Soulcatcher. This book is definitely different. It has an interesting choice of chronicle writers and their adventures, all intertwined with Croaker in his new incarnation as The Steadfast Guardian.
In this one, weird stuff keeps bubbling up often enough that Arkana and Shukrat, the new Annalists of the company, eventually realize that things are moving beyond their limited “teenage drama” concerns. Tobo was supposed to be the future of the wizards in the company, but after a brush with spectral vampires, he is in no shape to defend the company. It is the girls who are going to be left to figure out what the hell is going on. In the meantime, "The Lady" returns to her home world in an effort to revive her daughter, who remains in a coma. All this while Croaker becomes accustomed to being the new minor god, The Steadfast Guardian. A must-read for Black Company fans.

[José Alejandro Vázquez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tardé bastante en terminarlo porque he estado ocupado y ahora enfermo, pero que tu autor favorito empiece una nueva trilogía es una de esas pequeñas felicidades que he tenido en este año de kk.
Ahora bien, hablemos del libro.
Lo primero es que si no has leído los once anteriores te vas a perder el 90% de todo lo que está sucediendo incluyendo muchas referencias a Port of Shadows que no tendrán sentido y son claves para muchas de las revelaciones.
En cuanto al ritmo es calmado, pero a medida que las cosas avanzan se va haciendo interesante hasta llegar a un final que weno, no quedará claro hasta el siguiente libro.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lies Weeping by Glen Cook
4.5 out of 5

I think this is a great first entry in the new Black Company series(yes this should be considered a new series).

It is a direct sequel to Soldiers Live but also acts as a reboot for the series. We have new Annalists and new locations/characters.

The tone and voice of the book is different than any previous entries as well. Yet again Cook shows us his mastery of using character voice to make each POV feel unique.

Now that I have read his bibliography I can see how his style has changed over the years. This has a lot more in common with his later Garrett novels when it comes to his word usage and pacing. Which is a good thing. Some of the later Garrett novels are not very good but they go down easy and I enjoyed the writing on a "line by line" level.

This reads like a pared down version of the previous works which plays into the feeling of it being a new series and I am really looking forward to the sequels.

[Longtime Black Company Fan · Rating 5 out of 5]

(This is a spoiler-free review of Glen Cook's upcoming novel Lies Weeping, part of the grimdark Black Company series, after reading an advance copy from the publisher)

One quarter century ago, I was separated from a group of treasured friends. Though I learned some things about their pasts in the meantime, we remained out-of-touch that whole time. Now, by some wizardry, I am reintroduced to them almost right where we left off.

For many Black Company fans who had read Soldiers Live when it hit the shelves in 2000, that is the feeling of reading Lies Weeping. Some of us have been waiting twenty-five years. Yes, we were treated to a novel and some great, optional short stories in the interim. But they were interquel narratives. In the lore chronology, Soldiers Live was the most recent tale until now.

Altogether this is a deeply fascinating tale that serves as a long-awaited reunion with our dysfunctional, wayward characters... and an introduction to some exciting, brand new ones. It sets the stage for what we already know will be a 4-part saga.

First, the title. The story is not depressing as the book's title might make it sound. I recall being concerned that the grim words "Lies Weeping" must presage a narrative that would be a basket of sorrows (to borrow a phrase from one of the more recent short stories). But it’s nothing of the sort. I'd characterize the spirit of the book as one of youthful: energy, uncertainty, excitement, frustration, and discovery. It is no spoiler that the Voroshk cousins, the co-Annalists Shukrat and Arkana, are back. They're roughly 20 years of age -- with writing styles that reflect this -- and they get on each other's nerves. And the nerves of others. One wonders if their minor squabbling is setting them up to be the spiritual heiresses of One-Eye and Goblin's absolutely legendary trolling of one another.

But theirs is not the only tale being told.

Glen Cook as ever remains a master storyteller, capturing the insecurities and frustrations of his narrators expertly.

The stakes start relatively small. Personality mismatches. Concerns about securing foodstuffs in the face of a difficult season. A certain species of creature becoming an escalating agricultural pest.

Then, things get stranger. Bizarre signs and happenings at the Company headquarters, An Abode of Ravens. An inexplicable haunting. A baffling mission. We begin to visit many distant places in the Land of Unknown Shadows, the world which is the chief (but not sole) setting of the novel.

There is politics. Intelligence and counterintelligence. Maneuvering and counterstrokes. No surprise there, though. There can be no BC tale without good old conniving.

There is badassery. Some incredible, satisfying badassery... though to be candid, I would have enjoyed much, much more.

And there is some foreshadowing of tales to come. Lies Weeping is the first of four books in a new arc, and the name of one of the upcoming books is mentioned several times.

But primarily we are focused on mysteries, both new and old. Of course, new mysteries abound. They take some time to develop as we experience the realism of a military body that is not in the midst of waging a war. It’s this famous realism that helped make the series so widely appreciated by American servicemen.

We are reminded of many old mysteries which still remain unsolved. Unexpectedly, at least for me, shadows are thrown onto old mysteries which we thought were already solved in prior tales. And yes, some old mysteries are uncovered, at long last. One of these - you'll know it when you read it - left me with eyes and mouth frozen open in gleeful shock. I glanced at my reflection in a nearby window and my face looked like that meme of Chris Pratt from Parks and Rec.

Although an adventurous reader might enjoy this book without any backstory from previous novels, I probably would not recommend making this your first Black Company novel. This narrative is firmly rooted in all the stories which preceded it. Elements of the recent short stories are incorporated, but I will state that they are not mandatory reading before Lies Weeping.

That’s enough from me. I’ll be clever and close this with quotations from a much better writer than I. Here are 3 context-free lines from Lies Weeping:

“Came laughter, falling away into an abyss.”

“Truth be told, did politics not exist there would not be much work for the grim and damaged sorts who gravitated to the mercenary’s life.”

“ “We chip off the jagged edges and polish up the rest of our memories. So, thus do we create nostalgia for a place that never really was.” ”

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My thanks to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for an advanced copy of this fantasy novel which features the famed Black Company, a series that is still going strong, and a series that has influenced many writers and entertained countless fans.

I was a huge reader of fantasy in my early teens reading anything I could find. I combed through used book stores, flea markets, tag sales and book sales at my library to feed my hunger. Back before the Internet is was hard to find out about books, especially genre. I read Dragon, the occasional Locus and Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine, but there were always gaps. An author I had found, Glen Cook had a series Garrett P. I. which I quite enjoyed mixing the adventures of hardboiled private detective in a fantasy setting. So I knew the name when I picked up another series by Cook and thinking I was going to read a nice light humourous fantasy novel. There was humor, but it was as dark as the plot and the company that the books were talking about. The Black Company was a series that treated people at war with a realism that was rare, with stories and characters that stayed with the reader. They were influential, name checked and ripped-off in equal measures. After a long absence, the Company returns, and has not lost a step, daring in many ways to try new ideas, something one wouldn't expect in a classic series. And succeeding. Lies Weeping is a direct sequel to the classic Soldiers Live and the first book in a new series, of A Pitiless Rain, a Chronicle of the Black Company by Glen Cook featuring the Black Company facing new threats from within and without, new challenges, and some troublesome monkeys.

The Black Company has retreated to an old base in the region of Hsien, known as the Land of Unknown Shadows. There they find a city in chaos, as the old regime has been overthrown and refugees filling the land and more importantly their old base, An Abode of Ravens. The Company starts to work with the refugees knowing that winter is coming and food must be gathered or else a season of starvation will follow. The Company is regrouping as their last Captain and writer of their narrative Croaker has become almost like a god, taking the place of the Steadfast Guardian. Though that is not going so well. The Lady, Croaker's wife and also an ancient God is using the time to recover her youth, and power while mourning those the Lady has lost. And thinking of how to bring them back. Arkana and Shukrat, adopted by Croaker have taken on the role of chronicling the Black Company's tale, though their narrative is filled with snide remarks, and poison pen attacks on each other. A simple idea of stopping monkeys from attacking the food supply leads to big problems for Arkana and Shukrat as both are sure they have seen Croaker among the monkeys, which could lead to problems. For in the Black Company things are never easy.

For a writer with a successful series, Glen Cook has taken some interesting chances in this book. For one making a sequel so many years later. And also for taking a lot of narrative chances which really work well and bring a lot to the story. The narrative is told through the points of view of Arkana and Shukrat with both sharing their views, their comments on each other, and what others are thinking. There is another view one that explains the world and what is going on, which again expands on the story in many ways. There is humor, fighting and a lot of traveling, but the book does not bog down, nor have that feeling of many first books in a series.

One should really read the other books in the series, for they are quite good and one can see their influence on a lot of modern fantasy. This is a sequel even with the fact that this is the first part of a new series. The characters are quite at home with each other, and to come in without knowing why is a pretty steep learning curve. Read all of them. In fact read the Garrett PI books in between to rest one's mind. Glen Cook is a very good writer, and to have him back is a great thing. I can't wait to read more in this series.

[Andy Peloquin · Rating 5 out of 5]

TL;DR Review: Somber and serious military history…as told by sarcastic teenagers? A tonal change to the Black Company I loved!

Full Review:
The Black Company is one of my all-time favorite dark and military fantasy series. From the first pages, we’re taken into this band of hard-boiled, throat-cutting, take-no-shit brothers in arms who know their business—war—and do it better than anyone else. From wars between sorcerers to bloody sieges to killing evil goddesses, the Black Company’s adventures go hard and dark.
Except in Lies Weeping, all their great threats have been eliminated, and the Black Company is now sort of sitting around on their butts with nothing more important to do than keep their farms running and no enemies beyond a few rock monkeys to fight off.
And with no one else to keep the historied Annals of the Black Company, the task falls to the former Annalist’s sort-of-adoptive teenage daughters to do it. Which means the Annals have now effectively become a diary where the two girls (cousins from a conquered kingdom and minor wizards in their own right) bicker and snipe about each other while still somewhat telling us what’s happening with the Black Company.
Let’s get one thing very clear: this is NOT the Black Company as we know it. Gone is the serious, workmanlike, epic tone of Books 1-9 (and The White Rose and Port of Shadows). Shukrat and Arkana are the absolute worst at keeping actual records of what’s going on. Everything is so colored by their perception and perspective that we barely even see what’s happening to the Black Company at large (which, honestly, is very little at this point). It’s all about them, their romances, their issues with Lady and the Captain.
Really, the only lingering shadow of the former Black Company tone is the scenes we get to see of Croaker-as-the-Steadfast-Guardian. It’s when we’re in his POV that we remember, “Ahh, yes, this is what the Black Company is supposed to be.”
But make no mistake: I absolutely LOVED it.
Switching the tone to this snippy, sarcastic, rambling, chaotic teenager style takes something that was so serious and somber (soldiers dying in an endless war) and twists it. Through their perspectives, we see just how strange things have gotten for the Black Company with nowhere to march and no one to fight. It becomes all about internecine squabbling and subtle intrigue and the most trifling issues. Because that’s exactly what happens when a military company that has for centuries spilled blood and moved from one war to another finds itself sitting around in peace time.
We get a wonderful look at the very few surviving Black Company characters—Lady, her devious sister Soulcatcher, the Howler, and more—and see how they’re faring now that battle is ended and life has to move on. We also come to learn more about the new world the Black Company has settled in, and are introduced to a new threat that slowly crawls out of the shadows to become a very real problem for all of our players, major and minor.
I will complain that the book had a cliffhanger ending—not the good kind where the story’s wrapped up neatly and a new hook is introduced, but a proper middle of the climactic action cliffhanger. My suspicion is that this was done to split a longer complete book into multiple parts for easier publication.
Aside from that, however, I reveled in every second I spent back in this world, with this new tone and unfamiliar set of characters. I adored the time Croaker spent delving back into the history of the world to learn more about the Dominator (whose True Name had me snorting milk through my nose), the Senjak sisters, and how the past shaped the present. It was an awesome way to move the story forward while also giving us a look backward to some of the darkest moments in this world’s history.
Lies Weeping was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, and it absolutely delivered in a way I didn’t expect, but still immensely enjoyed. I can’t wait for the next book to find out where this story is going and what new, looming, world-spanning threat will arise to challenge the Black Company!

[Philip · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first encountered Glen Cook’s The Chronicles of the Black Company, I was fresh out of college and working at Borders (it was 2010, and the economy was garbage, and it was the only work I could get, despite a degree in technical writing). I found the original ten of Cook’s fantasy novels (published between 1984 and 2000) in large paperback omnibus editions, and I was immediately entranced by the cover art and the premise of a mercenary band roaming across a fantasy empire and struggling to survive against all odds. It would be over a decade before I managed to sit down with them, and at the time I was unaware that Glen Cook was not only still alive but also still writing, continuing the adventures of Croaker, Goblin, One-Eye, Lady, and all the others. I recently had the opportunity to go through the audiobook versions of the entire series in anticipation of the release of Lies Weeping, a new volume set after the events of Soldiers Live.

The Black Company as it was is no more. Soulcatcher and her forces were finally defeated, and Taglios was freed from her rule. The heroes who were trapped beneath the Plain of Glittering Stone were freed to participate in the final battle, and many were lost in the struggle. Now the Company is lead by Suvrin, who had once served as Sleepy’s lieutenant. They have returned from Taglios, through the Shadowgate into Hsien, to the outpost known as An Abode of Ravens. Taking over as co-annalists are Arkana and Shukrat, two young women from the world known to the company as Khatovar who were taken in by Croaker and Lady. Lady herself remains with the company, but with the defeat of the goddess Kina, her magic is greatly diminished once again. Shukrat and Arkana may bicker over how best to maintain Croaker’s legacy with the Company’s annals, but they’re still working together. Croaker himself is no longer with the Company, having taken the role once held by the demon Shivetya as the guardian of the Plain of Glittering Stone. Now with his burgeoning omniscience, he can monitor all the comings and goings of his loved ones back and forth through time, even when his physical form is still bound to the throne beneath the Plain.

Things are not quite what they all seem at An Abode. Packs of roving monkeys are threatening the Company’s food supply as winter approaches. Strange spirits appear to be haunting Tobo, the Company’s primary mage and friend of the Unknown Shadows. Arkana and Shukrat have spotted an old man wandering about near the outpost, and of all the impossible things, he looks like Croaker. Lady, meanwhile, is crafting a plan to try to restore her daughter, Booboo, to a level of health and sanity she had never in her short life possessed. The only hints anyone has received have been in the form of mysterious notes posted about An Abode, and the whispered phrase “Lies Weeping.”

Glen Cook is launching a new continuation of The Chronicles of the Black Company, with Lies Weeping being the first novel in a A Pitiless Rain. He’s deftly weaving together his original novels with his more recent work like Port of Shadows. Arkana and Shukrat serve as our primary narrators in this book, with amendments by a young man named Dikken in interstitial chapters. This book strikes me as a fine addition to the series that I’ve come to love so much in recent months. My utmost thanks to Tor Books and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for a fair review. Lies Weeping came out last Tuesday, 11/4/25. If you’re a Black Company fan, you should snag this one ASAP. If you’re not yet a fan, now’s as good a time to start as any.

This review originally appeared here: https://swordsoftheancients.com/2025/...

[Alex Berg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before I can start my review of Glen Cook’s Lies Weeping, the 10th installment in his Black Company series (or 11th or 12th depending on how you do the counting), I have to admit that I’m a massive, MASSIVE fan of this series, and henceforth my review is anything but unbiased. If I weren’t such a huge fan, I have no doubt that some of this novel’s weaknesses would rankle more than they did, but I also doubt that many readers of this series, now over forty years past the publication of the first in series, are anything other than huge fans.

Given that the previous true installment in the Black Company arrived in July of 2000, it’s worth setting the stage: Croaker has swapped places with the demigod Shivetya, guardian of the Glittering Plain, while the remains of the Company reside in An Abode of Ravens in the world of Hsien, also known as the Land of Unknown Shadows. Most of the cast of characters from books past have died or moved on, leaving Lady, Howler, Tobo, Croaker’s adopted daughters Arkana and Shukrat, and current captain Shuvrin as the only holdovers (also Soulcatcher, as always).

Chronicler duties are split between Arkana, Shukrat, and Croaker/Shivetya (as written down with the help of a new scribe). Croaker/Shivetya’s sections are intriguing, an amalgam of Croaker’s old style with the omnipresence of a demigod, and while Croaker/Shivetya does spend some time in the present, most of his sections are devoted to ‘time-dives,’ explorations of the past primarily focused on the Domination, Lady’s youth, and the actions of her family. Arkana and Shukrat’s sections take place in the present in Hsien, and while the narrative voices here are functional, they sometimes border on grating, with lots of bickering and petty insults between the two cousins.

The biggest issue with Lies Weeping, however, is a near total lack of plot. Precious little happens in the present day until the final fifty pages or so, with the Company itself under no real threat, one of the main characters spending nearly the whole novel in a supernatural coma, and the narrators Arkana and Shukrat mostly spending their time performing patrols. The time-dive sections, while interesting for fans of the series, don’t provide any conflict either, nor do they even answer the burning question that Cook pushes of what the Lady’s true name is (does it even matter at this point?). There’s not a single antagonist in the whole book driving any sort of conflict until the final section, and then, Cook ends the novel on a massively abrupt cliffhanger, which frankly is unforgivable.

All in all, this newest iteration of the Black Company does some things very well and very much feels like a Black Company novel, but it’s terribly slow and contains vanishingly little conflict. If I were rating it in a vacuum, I’d give it less than four stars, but as a huge fan of the series, it does tickle that itch of nostalgia and sets the stage for future action. Read it if you’re an established Black Company fan, otherwise start with the original publication from 1984.

[John Mauro · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review of Lies Weeping is published at Grimdark Magazine.

A new Black Company novel in 2025? You read that right: Glen Cook returns to his pioneering grimdark epic fantasy series with Lies Weeping, the tenth mainline novel in Chronicles of the Black Company. As the first book in an all-new arc called A Pitiless Rain, Lies Weeping also serves as an ideal entry point for readers new to Cook’s mesmerizingly dark world.

Lies Weeping is told from the alternating perspectives of two young women, Arkana and Shukrat Voroshk, orphaned cousins who have been selected as the new Annalists of the Black Company. Although their work as Annalists serves as official historical record, with their informal and often playful writing, Arkana and Shukrat’s logs are more akin to personal diaries.

Glen Cook struck storytelling gold with this dual narrator approach. Rather than simply telling the story directly, Arkana and Shukrat use their journal entries to poke fun at each other, providing a surprisingly lighthearted narrative style to this series famous for pioneering the grimdark aesthetic.

Lies Weeping shines in its nuanced character work, especially in the relationship between the two cousins and the interactions with their friends, Dikken and Tobo. Arkana and Shukrat’s origin story is shrouded in mystery, but that’s only the tip of the iceberg of secrets that will be revealed. The girls were adopted by Croaker, a mortal man on an ascent toward godlike status. Another standout figure is known simply as the Lady, whose history and motivations are among the most enigmatic of the novel.

The Black Company itself has experienced many ups and downs throughout its long history. The elite group of mercenaries shrank to as few as seven members before rebounding into the thousands. At the time of Lies Weeping, the Black Company finds itself in a lull and at a crossroads, returning to their erstwhile home of Hsien in the Land of Unknown Shadows.

Plotwise, Lies Weeping is a slow and rather meandering read, without much action until the final part of the novel. Despite the lack of action, the punchy narration from Arkana and Shukrat made Lies Weeping a fun read and kept me fully engaged throughout the novel, with a cliffhanger ending that left me craving the next book of A Pitiless Rain.

Altogether, Lies Weeping is a very welcome return of Glen Cook to the Chronicles of the Black Company, one of the pioneering series of grimdark fantasy. I am eager to find out what happens next with Arakan, Shukrat, and others in A Pitiless Rain, this newest arc of the series.

[Anthony O'Connor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man, the latest entry in Glen Cook's longrunning Black Company series may be the weirdest yet. That's quite a claim, considering this is a collection of yarns that features battle-wizards, floating whales, sentient tree gods, demonic dog creatures, astral travel, evil shadows, slightly less evil shadows, transdimensional portals, body-swapping ancient demigods, narky ghosts and flying carpet rides.

Lies Weeping picks up the story post Soldiers Live but also contains a surprising amount of material connected to Port of Shadows (which, if you haven't read yet, you should do so before Lies Weeping). However, the biggest change of all is the fact we have two new Annalists in the form of teen smart arses, Shukrat and Arkana. There is a third narrator (who I won't spoil) but the main crux of the story is in the hands of two teenagers written by a man in his 80s. So, does it work?

Honestly, yes, mostly. The characters start off a little obnoxious but that's kind of the point. They do possibly bang on about one another's boobs a little more than I suspect teen girls do, but overall they're an engaging way to kickstart a long dormant series. The third narrator, however, was my favourite and longtime fans can probably work out who it is.

Pacing-wise is where the book suffers the most as the first half is devoted to a lot of table setting and feels a bit inert. Even when the action kicks off it's not large scale battles or tense encounters so much as weird exploration and eerie magic. This is very much the slow-burn opening for a new arc that's designed to go for 4-5 books and ol' mate Glen is in no hurry spinning the yarn.

It works, somehow, in defiance of all storytelling convention. Although I imagine people who haven't read the series in a while or neglected to pick up Port of Shadows will be profoundly baffled.

Lies Weeping is a strange, surreal and absolutely engaging beginning to a brand new take on The Black Company from an author unlike any other. It's gleefully obtuse at times, genuinely hilarious in others and dizzying surreal and edge-of-your-seat tense in its third act. Cook showcases some jaw-dropping chutzpah in this new iteration and I can't wait to see where he goes with it.

The book does end on something of a cliffhanger, FYI, and it feels like a looooong wait until November 2026 and the release of the next book, They Cry.

[Katie Putz · Rating 2 out of 5]

💫 The Black Company books are some of my favorites. Cook is the father of the whole grimdark fantasy genre, the gritty realism and black humor of his writing was always unique and enjoyable to me. But 25 years since the last one was published and this one was... disappointing. I wanted to love this. I did not.

✏️ Croaker has ascended to near godhood on the glittering plain; the Black Company returns to its home world and settles into An Abode of Ravens. Croaker's adopted daughters have taken up the work of the Annalist, but neither of them are very good at it. Lady is being Lady. Tobo is haunted and useless. The Captain, now Suvrin, is rather useless too.

💔 Cook decided on three narrators, two of them teenage girls. He writes teenage girls' perspectives as if filtered through a creepy old man's fantasies. The Shivetya chapters have Croaker's voice and are far more coherent, so it's not that Cook forgot how to write he just made what I view as terrible choices as to what to write.

The cousins, Shukrat and Arkana, spend half their time bitching about each other. That's not the problem. For me the problem was that Shukrat constantly brought up Arkana's apparently enormous breasts, using every word in the thesaurus for tits including "milk bags" and referring to her as "the boob-monster." It was massively off-putting.

✉️ The plot was weak and wandering. Half the book is about fighting a horde of monkeys, and not in interesting ways or for interesting reasons. The other half is backstory info-dumped in massive chunks for no clear reason either. Toward the end things pick up in Shiveyta's chapters, but mostly via info-dump via no-longer-Croaker's time travel abilities.

👥 If you loved the earlier Black Company books, do yourself a favor and pretend this book doesn't exist. Or just read the Shivetya chapters and pray the series gets better...

❗Thank you Tor (@torbooks) for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

[Keith Hock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very different from the preceeding books in the series (unsurprising, considering Cook took a multi-decade break between Soldiers Live and this one). It has sort of the opposite problem of some of its forebears: where they were exciting but then took too long to end, this spends 200-odd pages table setting before it gets interesting, but it then heats up in a hurry. I'm super excited for the next book to come out next year.

Part of the reason this one takes so long to get rolling is that its protagonists aren't soldiers, yet. Arkana and Shukrat have to toughen up significantly if they're going to actually fit into the Black Company, but they don't really realize that until shortly before the book ends. But the reason they haven't already been toughened up is that nothing is being asked of them. The Black Company isn't at war. It seems like all that is about to change.

I will say I was excited to have Croaker back as a narrator but I'm not getting a ton out of his portions. It isn't uninteresting but it is pulling attention away from the actual Black Company. It feels like all the New Shivetya stuff is Cook justifying why he wrote Port of Shadows a couple years ago, which I don't think he needs to apologize for and we certainly don't need to relitigate. I'm coming around to the idea that Croaker [and Cook] needs to let the past die. Croaker isn't the Annalist or the Captain anymore, and Lady and Soulcatcher are neither their patron nor their enemy. Let them enjoy their retirement and let us continue to march with the Black Company, until the Annals of Arkana and Shukrat are as ancient as those of Lees or Kanwas Scar.

[Sean · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll be honest, I wasn't really expecting The Black Company: Teen Vogue edition, but surprisingly enough it worked for me. Maybe partly because I was dreading this being just buried in Nyueng Bao, which was absolutely the worst part about the previous books.

Instead we get the Voroshk sisters, which makes sense coming off the end of the last book. And while I never really thought I'd read words like "bimbette" and "boob monster" in this series, it just goes to show how well Cook does with switching to the voices of whomever is doing the Annals at any given time. This is how teenage girls would write, but tempered enough that it didn't alienate me or make me think it was a young adult book. If you are worried about that after reading those words, don't be. The sisters are interesting and easy enough to read, while still being refreshingly different from any Annalist that has gone before. Much, much more entertaining than Sleepy or Murgen or even Lady, much as I love her.

I knew I wasn't going to get the old guard back, and it unfortunately wasn't going to be a prequel all about the Domination with all the badass sorcerors kicking each others asses all over and Lady being equal parts terrifying and mesmerizing, but what I did get, with no spoilers, was good enough for me to eagerly await the next one and be happy I read this.

[Frank Vasquez · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s not necessary to break down the literary merits and articulations of Glen Cook’s insanely good Black Company series because you’ll get that when you read them and read them you should! When I say Lies Weeping popped off, know that that is an understatement. This unanticipated novel, the first of at least 4 new Black Company entries, accomplishes exactly what you don’t expect from an old, presumably hetero writer: it’s got teenaged female protagonists writing events from their perspective (and it’s believable for what you can credit these books are meant to be, if it fails to be Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) and the unexpected return of someone we all love but not as what they were. This cleverly-titled re-entry establishes a lot of sinister with a lot of understatement. Obfuscation and sowing doubt was always critical to understanding and enjoying these books, but the twist of the narrative choice will leave long-time readers squirming in their diapers for answers and adventure. Cook cooks here, ghoolies and goblins, and it’s fun and wise and never mean even when it hints at or directly speaks to atrocities and violence. I’m not sure this will work as a starting point for anyone new to The Black Company, but don’t try that anyway. Start from the beginning, and by time you get here there will be more to come.

[Mighty Sea · Rating 4 out of 5]

The old crew is all but gone. Evil wizard “games” still remain

In theory the Black Company and many leaders won. Over three arcs of different campaigns the Black Company survived and prevailed against the Dominator, the Shadow Masters and the Cult of Kina. Now Survin is the Captain and the Black Company quietly dominates its neighbors, though feeding 11,000 mouths through winter maybe be a moderate challenge.

Except weird stuff keeps bubbling up often enough that Arkana and Shukrat, the new Annalists of the company, eventually twig to things moving beyond their limited “teenage drama” concerns. Tobo was supposed to be the future of the “wizards” in the company but it’s the girls who are going to start the adventure of figuring out what the hell is going on.

Glen Cook keeps a lot of things under his vest so far, in the first book of a new campaign. But it’s clear that different factions exist that see the current status quo as an opportunity. And the Black Company as a problem.

While reading alternate chapters from different characters point of view is new, as is the cattiness of two teenaged chroniclers, there is still plenty of Cook’s grim humor and cynicism that made the earlier books so addictive. Thumbs up!

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked it but can see why many would not. First thing I want to do is answer some questions some might have.
1. I have read the previous books a long time ago and am wondering if a refresher is needed to read these?
Answer: Not necessary. I finished sodiers live about five years ago and didn't remember much but the author did a great job helping me remember the characters and situations necessary to this.

2. I have never read any Black Company and want to start here. Is that a good idea?
Answer: I don't think it would be a good idea and feel like this book wouldn't make much sense

Now to get back to the review; lots of maneuvering and putting pieces into place for the author to get to later in this (to my knowledge) projected five book series. Some might think it dull but I found the chroniclers voices to be so very engaging. I love the new additions of the two teenage girls and found their petty jealousies and gossip of day to life to be a fascinating juxtaposition of this grim world and mercenary unit. The narrators for this aufiobook were fantastic and I was very imptressed with their performance. Looking forward to more!

[BJ Haun · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 star book, though I honestly thought about docking a star because of a cliff-hanger ending.

I wasn't really sold on "Lies Weeping" when I first read about it. I had incidentally just finished a re-read of the "Black Company" series, and "Soldiers Live" was a great place to end the series, and I wasn't really sure where the story would go from there. I did enjoy "Port of Shadows" (an apparently controversial opinion to have), but there is a world of difference between going back and telling untold stories, and picking up the thread of the series where it comfortable lay for many years.

All told I am happy enough with "Lies Weeping" despite the fact it does seem like it's more about setting up for bigger things to come. I liked the switching narrators, and thought that Cook did a good job of giving Shukrat and Arkana different voices.

To be fair: while I did like the book, thinking back on it not a lot happens. Like I said before it does seem to be setting things up, rather than having a lot happen in this particular book. It doesn't hit the highs of the really great Black Company books, but it's better than some of the lesser regarded books.

[Lost the Plot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh does it feel good to be back. "The Black Company" was one of the first fantasy series that hooked me and I this latest installment did not disappoint.

Cook's writing is fantastic, his word economy might be second to none — lean and spartan. In classic "The Black Company" fashion our narrator is the company annalist, this time Arkana and Shukrat — Croaker's adopted daughters — take up the pen and ink to detail the tale. This was a really interesting choice to have multiple PoVs. Normally we have to take the annalists with a grain of salt, being the unreliable narrators they are. But this time having two unreliable narrators coming at the same events from two different views might allow us as readers to get closer to the truth than we're used to from previous books in the series.

Also props to Glen Cook for stewing up some of the greatest book and sub-series titles in the fantasy genre. Can't wait for the rest of "A Pitiless Rain" to be released.

Fans of the series will not be left disappointed. A great read and fantastic book.


Rating: 4.5

[Michael Schirle · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was fun to have a new Black Company to read, and to be caught up enough to read it as it was releasing.

It's exciting that this is the first of many new Black Company books. After reading this book, it's hard to predict what will come next.

Shukrat and Arkana make interesting Annalists. I enjoyed them in Soldiers Live, and liked them here as well. Some of the early chapters in particular, their narration felt off. One way or another, I feel that reflects on Cook, I just can't decide if in a positive light (making their initial Annals entry awkward) or negative (Cook struggling to write in their voice), or somewhere in between.

The overarching villain or plot after this book is still not totally clear. Events are in motion, but which represent the biggest threats to our characters is yet to be clear. Also, although Port of Shadows is mentioned, this book gets to fully clarify how its events and characters fit into the larger narrative.

I'm looking forward to the next book in this series.

[K D · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars, which doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy reading this greatly.
But... I think that the book was best in croaker's sections... I'm not sure why Glenn Cook is trying to do female PoV writing, but to me those parts don't hit the mark. just pretend certain sentences don't exist....
With croaker stuck on his throne there's a lot of observing going on but this gives us a chance to explore the past and learn more about our favorite mysterious characters / retcon the hell out of prior books.
We're still trying to figure out who the Lady is, which Senjack? And the list of candidates is growing instead of shrinking.

I was worried about the idea that this is book #1 of a new sub-series, but it looks like two sequels are already written, and book#4 is being written. So hopefully we aren't left hanging.

[Joel Jorden · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Soldiers Live ended, it felt like the end of an epic saga, like a triumphant final note to a beautifully moving symphony. Then came along the chronologically confusing Port of Shadows, which threw everything into uncertainty regarding what had actually happened back in the past.

Lies Weeping starts to put together the puzzle pieces for us. Our theories and speculations regarding Port of Shadows are justified or encouraged, while also providing plenty of intimidating new developments for Shukrat and Arkana, Tobo, the Lady, Croaker, Shivetya, and Soulcatcher.

It's the start of something new, the continuation of everything we loved before, and a welcome return to force for The Black Company.

[William Bentrim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lies Weeping by Glen Cook

I found the book confusing. On checking my database, I have read 34 Glen Cook books. I am a fan. This book takes the Black Company or its remnants back to the Glittering Stones.

I guess it has been ten years since I last read one of Cook’s books, and frankly, I have minimal recollection of the stories. Some of the characters are vaguely familiar but vagueness just doesn’t cut it.

If you want to read this book, I suggest you read the Black Company books first. I suspect that if I had better recollection of the past books, I might have enjoyed this one.

[Claudette Gabbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one book that I have been waiting for, since I heard about it a few years ago. I'm a huge fan of The Black Company, as it was the first fantasy series that I had read.

I got an ebook ARC from Netgalley, but am waiting for my physical hard cover book to arrive.

This book was really interesting, even if not much really happened. It basically was an update with what The Black Company has been up to, which isn't a lot, since Soldiers Live.

My full review: https://rottiegirl-2.blogspot.com/202...