They Cry: Book Two of A Pitiless Rain, a Chronicle of the Black Company

The Chronicles of the Black Company #11

by Glen Cook

From Glen Cook, the godfather of Grimdark himself, They Cry is the second book in a brand new arc of his groundbreaking Chronicles of the Black Company—an epic fantasy series with millions of copies in print.

In this second volume of the Chronicles of the Black Company saga, A Pitiless Rain, Arkana and Shukrat return to An Abode of Raven imbued with powerful magic that they've barely begun to grasp. These powers allow them to do things they’ve never imagined, but have also opened them up to intrigue and murderous plots—both political and supernatural—that only they can contend with. The Land of Unknown Shadows has truly lived up to its name.

Meanwhile, the new Steadfast Guardian's boundless curiosity has stretched him near his limits, putting at risk the demigod-once-known-as-Croaker’s remaining humanity. The only thing keeping him anchored are the misadventures of his adopted daughters, and the scheming Soulcatcher, doing all she can to escape her prison, or failing that, annoy him into releasing her.

Something dark and dangerous is brewing on Hsien, with powerful forces making moves against the Black Company that would change the balance of power on this plane and beyond. And the only ones who could stand in their way are a distracted demigod and the self-proclaimed "Wild Witches" and their shadowy friends.

The future of the Black Company has never been more uncertain.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction

395 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 3, 2026

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)]

Bloody shrimping hell of the stinking fish! We have a title, a cover, and a release date!





· 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 2.4 (short story): Letha of the Thousand Sorrows ★★★
· 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 ★★★★★
· Book 10: Lies Weeping ★★★★

[Entisar Ali · Rating 3.5 out of 5]

I went into this instalment hoping for more clarity about where the new chronicle was heading, but unfortunately, I came away feeling rather uncertain. The multiple narrators made the story feel scattered, and I struggled to connect with much of the narrative. Arkana and Shukrat's sections were particularly difficult for me. Their teenage perspectives often felt overly awkward, and I found myself wishing they would mature and develop beyond the same recurring behaviour. With four different viewpoints, I expected a richer understanding of the unfolding events, but instead, much of the narration felt meandering and unfocused. Even two books into this arc, I still wanted a clearer sense of the bigger picture. Sadly, the nostalgia is beginning to wear thin, and I'm not entirely convinced by this direction.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series is getting difficult to review, but I have some thoughts I want to share. As I started this book I was hoping it would start to resemble more of the original Black Company books (the ones that ended with Soldiers live) but quickly found out the style is very much a continuation of Lies Weeping. 

The original books were focused more on plot progression and while there were always elements of unreliable narrator I still felt like I could trust the annals being written in this fantasy world. These two most recent books have me doubting almost everything. Lies Weeping and They Cry is a very unique blend of Old School Black Company combined with the petty dramas of Gossip Girl tv show and the stream of consciousness of Joseph Heller’s book Something Happened. It's not for everyone, and seems to cater to such a niche audience, that I’m surprised Tor took the risk to publish it. I just so happened to like all three of those elements but even I am a little frustrated at times with the meandering pace. I also feel like there are so many little mysteries I should have enough clues to solve, but I’m still kind of confused.

That being said I love the voice of the two female narrators of the annals and they come off as authentic teenagers that are a delight to read. I love just spending time in this world. In a time where there is so much generic slop is being written such a unique approach to telling a story, that this series doing, causes it to really stand out in today's current publishing landscape. As long Glen Cook keeps writing these stories I will read them.

Since I experienced this story as an audiobook I just want to say the female voice actors especially had an amazing performance and deserve a reward! If only for the sheer amount of times they had to say the following tongue twister and the many variants contained in the text: The Wicked Witch Wenches of the Well. 

[Lost the Plot · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not quite sure where this chronicle is going. The rose tinted glasses are off and the sense of nostalgia is wearing thin.

The narration of the two Voroshk cousins is starting to become a problem for me. Part of it comes from the fact that Glen Cook is in his eighties and writing from the PoV of two teenaged girls and some of it just feels downright weird. The other, and I think Cook gets this part right, is that teenagers are cringy.
It's just a bit too much cringe in this book, I'm ready for these characters to grow up and mature a bit.

There are four narrators in this book; three of them feel like a distraction and the fourth is so removed from the action of the story that it adds little to the narrative. The narration is meandering and unfocused, which is probably the point, but two books into this new chronicle it would be nice for Cook to provide more clarity about what exactly is going on.

[Christopher Teggatz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a great fan of the Black Company and eagerly awaited this book. I read the series over and over, many times. First of all, I think it's just fantastic that Glen Cook is still writing Black Company books for us. I want to digest my thoughts on the book and perhaps read it again, but the excessively teenager attitude and speech of the two young witches got a little irritating. I was not as drawn into this book as some others; I consider Dreams of Steel a masterpiece, for example. My opinion is more reserved here, but nevertheless I'm so happy to have new Black Company to read.

[Pumpkin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Long live the Black Company

Still just as compelling and entertaining as ever...hard to believe that an author could hold your attention for 42 years but Glen Cook has done so