What do you think?
Rate this book
Strange Company #1
Strange Company
Stack bodies, get paid, get to the ship.
“If you can survive Reaper Platoon in the Strange, then Ghost or Dog Platoons will get you for their own. Best to steer clear of the freaks in Voodoo, kid.”
Surrounded and outgunned, a group of private military contractors known as “Strange Company” find themselves on a remote planet at the edge of known space, and on the losing end of a bad contract. Orbital D-beam strikes, dropships bristling with auto-guns, missiles, and troops - even Monarch space marines in state-of-the-art advanced battle rattle - will try to prevent the company from reaching the exfil LZ and getting off-world.
For Strange, that means it’s time to hang tough and get it on with as much hyper-kinetic violence as they can muster to get clear of the whole mess. And what the Strange can’t get done by violent assault and crazy firefights, they’ll get done by the freaks of Voodoo Platoon - operators who have been changed by the Dark Labs into powerful and unnervingly unnatural asymmetrical weapons.
This is the Strange Company. Because in the Strange, it’s always really Strange. Join them - and get ready for full auto combat at the furthest limits of human exploration.
“If you can survive Reaper Platoon in the Strange, then Ghost or Dog Platoons will get you for their own. Best to steer clear of the freaks in Voodoo, kid.”
Surrounded and outgunned, a group of private military contractors known as “Strange Company” find themselves on a remote planet at the edge of known space, and on the losing end of a bad contract. Orbital D-beam strikes, dropships bristling with auto-guns, missiles, and troops - even Monarch space marines in state-of-the-art advanced battle rattle - will try to prevent the company from reaching the exfil LZ and getting off-world.
For Strange, that means it’s time to hang tough and get it on with as much hyper-kinetic violence as they can muster to get clear of the whole mess. And what the Strange can’t get done by violent assault and crazy firefights, they’ll get done by the freaks of Voodoo Platoon - operators who have been changed by the Dark Labs into powerful and unnervingly unnatural asymmetrical weapons.
This is the Strange Company. Because in the Strange, it’s always really Strange. Join them - and get ready for full auto combat at the furthest limits of human exploration.
385 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 23, 2021
376 people are currently reading
290 people want to read
About the author
Nick Cole
183 books622 followersNick Cole is a working actor living in Southern California. When he is not auditioning for commercials, going out for sitcoms or being shot, kicked, stabbed or beaten by the students of various film schools for their projects, he can often be found as a guard for King Phillip the Second of Spain in the Opera Don Carlo at Los Angeles Opera or some similar role. Nick Cole has been writing for most of his life and acting in Hollywood after serving in the U.S. Army.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 72 reviews
March 22, 2021
Strange Company by Nick Cole is a trip deep into the uncanny valley where everything is at once familiar and unsettling. It is a love letter to the lost and the rejected and the broken who nonetheless have enough spirit to give the universe that screwed them over the middle finger. And finally, it is an example of an almost forgotten style, the weird tale, dressed up as military science fiction.
After finishing Strange Company, I fear that I lack words to describe it. I can give you a list of things it is like, in some way, yet none of those things are this. The Strange Company is a unit like no other, and it has gone places and seen things that no one else has.
The first thing that the Strange Company makes me think of is the crazy stuff that went down in the wars of post-colonial Africa. You can see what happened as wars of liberation, or as proxies of the Cold War, or as tribal score-settling. All of those things happened. Sometimes in the same places. You might think it all makes some kind of sense, until you look at things like the Biafran War in Nigeria, which had the oddest patterns of who was backing whom.
The chaotic conditions of Africa in the 1960s and 1970s attracted soldiers of fortune, looking for adventure, for a quick buck, or just because it was the only thing they knew how to do. This is the time and place that gave us Rhodesian range detectives, the Mozambique Drill, and the reputation of South African mercenaries. A fair number were Vietnam veterans, men like Jim Bolen with time on their hands after the United States di di mau’ed out of Southeast Asia.
What went on there in that time was, not nice. They were ugly little wars, and no one came out the other side looking good, win or lose. The mercenaries especially, who had no loyalty to anyone but themselves. When I was listening to the Blasters and Blades podcast, Nick talked about giving this book to his wife, and after she read it she came downstairs to ask him “what’s wrong with you?"
This is a warts and all presentation of what that time might have been like, and as such, it is also, not nice. I am reminded of a review I gave eight years ago of Hammer’s Slammers on Amazon, and I found that I was quite disturbed by David Drake’s [a Vietnam vet himself] portrayal of mercenaries in it. Back when they still allowed comments on Amazon reviews, I can remember some comments on that review that I didn’t understand the “realism” of Drake’s book. I understood it perfectly well. I just found the callousness and amorality of the mercs disturbing. There is a reason no one throughout history liked mercenaries when they show up.
I’ve probably changed in the past decade, and I might write a different review of Hammer’s Slammers now, but I don’t disagree with what I said then. What is so unusual about what Cole does here is how he humanizes the monsters, without pretending they are anything but what they really are.
As Sergeant Orion says
“We don’t always shoot bad guys in the company, man”. I know, I’m a killjoy. But I can’t do anything but do me. It’s all I know. Your mileage may vary, as I tell guys when they complain about me raining on life with reality and stuff. "We shoot who we get paid to shoot. It’s best not to think about that too much, Boom, if good guys and bad guys is some kind of criteria for you, I mean.”
The primary mechanism by which we see the men of Strange Company for who they are is Sergeant Orion, the Log Keeper of Strange Company, who records the story of anyone who chooses to tell it to him, exactly as it is, just as the eighteen Log Keepers before him have done. His dedication to the truth is the one bright spot in an otherwise grim and dark existence. Through his eyes, we can see.
We see Gains, the ever cheery gymbro who always has an encouraging word, or Boom Boom, the former hunting guide who joined the Company because he couldn’t abide having to work for a Monarch, the smug and oblivious Masters of the Universe. Or Amarcus Hannibal, who is just a murderous psychopath. Some of the best soldiers have been those. Lost loves and broken dreams abound among the men whose rejection of the corrupt system they find themselves in has brought them to the Company.
We also see the war crimes and the brutality and the naked, desperate struggle for survival. Because Orion is setting it all down truthfully. There is that.
If Strange Company was just that, it would be a solid example of military scifi in a venerable tradition. But this is where stuff starts getting weird. The advantage of the weird tale is that it allows the story to go places that a more standard narrative cannot. It can “weave a spell of words that mystifies and fascinates the reader“. The pulp tradition has many well known authors who wrote weird fiction, but perhaps the best known author who has blended science fiction and weird tales was Philip K. Dick. Accordingly, there are plethora of Phil Dick references in Strange Company.
Like PKD’s work, the veils of reality are thin wherever the Strange Company finds itself. That rupture in reality isn’t necessarily their doing, but being the dirty, cheating, underhanded mercs they are, they take full advantage to fulfill their contract, to get the job done, to survive. The choice of Pascal Blanche to illustrate the cover is absolutely perfect, as his brand of hyper-real surrealism matches up with a gang of ruthless mercenaries whose bag of tricks involves tears in the fabric of reality and psychic voodoo.
As we fall further down the rabbit-hole with Strange Company, as they battle their way across the planet of Crash desperately seeking exfiltration from a job gone badder than they thought it possibly could, we gradually leave behind what we thought was real, and learn who tore reality, who the real monsters are. The men of Strange Company, as bad as they are, are not the most horrible things lurking in the dark hollows of the universe.
Not even the Ultra Marines, loyal and vicious servants of the Monarchs are that. This being a weird tale, we also get an inversion of Cole’s usual style of elite military operators doing elite military things. The Strange Company has a long and storied history, but now they are down on their luck and flat broke. The real elite units are in hot pursuit, and it will take all the guile and treachery the Company can muster to evade annihilation. And absolutely none of them know what they are getting into.
If you liked anything else Nick has done, there is a family resemblance in Strange Company, with the strangeness turned up to eleven. So if you like military scifi, stick around and see how weird it can get. I don’t think you are going to find anything else quite like this. And if you are a fan of weird tales, and I know there are some out there, give this a try. Come and see what redemption there is on the far side of nowhere. Christ died for the least of these too.
I was provided with an advanced review copy by the author.
After finishing Strange Company, I fear that I lack words to describe it. I can give you a list of things it is like, in some way, yet none of those things are this. The Strange Company is a unit like no other, and it has gone places and seen things that no one else has.
The first thing that the Strange Company makes me think of is the crazy stuff that went down in the wars of post-colonial Africa. You can see what happened as wars of liberation, or as proxies of the Cold War, or as tribal score-settling. All of those things happened. Sometimes in the same places. You might think it all makes some kind of sense, until you look at things like the Biafran War in Nigeria, which had the oddest patterns of who was backing whom.
The chaotic conditions of Africa in the 1960s and 1970s attracted soldiers of fortune, looking for adventure, for a quick buck, or just because it was the only thing they knew how to do. This is the time and place that gave us Rhodesian range detectives, the Mozambique Drill, and the reputation of South African mercenaries. A fair number were Vietnam veterans, men like Jim Bolen with time on their hands after the United States di di mau’ed out of Southeast Asia.
What went on there in that time was, not nice. They were ugly little wars, and no one came out the other side looking good, win or lose. The mercenaries especially, who had no loyalty to anyone but themselves. When I was listening to the Blasters and Blades podcast, Nick talked about giving this book to his wife, and after she read it she came downstairs to ask him “what’s wrong with you?"
This is a warts and all presentation of what that time might have been like, and as such, it is also, not nice. I am reminded of a review I gave eight years ago of Hammer’s Slammers on Amazon, and I found that I was quite disturbed by David Drake’s [a Vietnam vet himself] portrayal of mercenaries in it. Back when they still allowed comments on Amazon reviews, I can remember some comments on that review that I didn’t understand the “realism” of Drake’s book. I understood it perfectly well. I just found the callousness and amorality of the mercs disturbing. There is a reason no one throughout history liked mercenaries when they show up.
I’ve probably changed in the past decade, and I might write a different review of Hammer’s Slammers now, but I don’t disagree with what I said then. What is so unusual about what Cole does here is how he humanizes the monsters, without pretending they are anything but what they really are.
As Sergeant Orion says
“We don’t always shoot bad guys in the company, man”. I know, I’m a killjoy. But I can’t do anything but do me. It’s all I know. Your mileage may vary, as I tell guys when they complain about me raining on life with reality and stuff. "We shoot who we get paid to shoot. It’s best not to think about that too much, Boom, if good guys and bad guys is some kind of criteria for you, I mean.”
The primary mechanism by which we see the men of Strange Company for who they are is Sergeant Orion, the Log Keeper of Strange Company, who records the story of anyone who chooses to tell it to him, exactly as it is, just as the eighteen Log Keepers before him have done. His dedication to the truth is the one bright spot in an otherwise grim and dark existence. Through his eyes, we can see.
We see Gains, the ever cheery gymbro who always has an encouraging word, or Boom Boom, the former hunting guide who joined the Company because he couldn’t abide having to work for a Monarch, the smug and oblivious Masters of the Universe. Or Amarcus Hannibal, who is just a murderous psychopath. Some of the best soldiers have been those. Lost loves and broken dreams abound among the men whose rejection of the corrupt system they find themselves in has brought them to the Company.
We also see the war crimes and the brutality and the naked, desperate struggle for survival. Because Orion is setting it all down truthfully. There is that.
If Strange Company was just that, it would be a solid example of military scifi in a venerable tradition. But this is where stuff starts getting weird. The advantage of the weird tale is that it allows the story to go places that a more standard narrative cannot. It can “weave a spell of words that mystifies and fascinates the reader“. The pulp tradition has many well known authors who wrote weird fiction, but perhaps the best known author who has blended science fiction and weird tales was Philip K. Dick. Accordingly, there are plethora of Phil Dick references in Strange Company.
Like PKD’s work, the veils of reality are thin wherever the Strange Company finds itself. That rupture in reality isn’t necessarily their doing, but being the dirty, cheating, underhanded mercs they are, they take full advantage to fulfill their contract, to get the job done, to survive. The choice of Pascal Blanche to illustrate the cover is absolutely perfect, as his brand of hyper-real surrealism matches up with a gang of ruthless mercenaries whose bag of tricks involves tears in the fabric of reality and psychic voodoo.
As we fall further down the rabbit-hole with Strange Company, as they battle their way across the planet of Crash desperately seeking exfiltration from a job gone badder than they thought it possibly could, we gradually leave behind what we thought was real, and learn who tore reality, who the real monsters are. The men of Strange Company, as bad as they are, are not the most horrible things lurking in the dark hollows of the universe.
Not even the Ultra Marines, loyal and vicious servants of the Monarchs are that. This being a weird tale, we also get an inversion of Cole’s usual style of elite military operators doing elite military things. The Strange Company has a long and storied history, but now they are down on their luck and flat broke. The real elite units are in hot pursuit, and it will take all the guile and treachery the Company can muster to evade annihilation. And absolutely none of them know what they are getting into.
If you liked anything else Nick has done, there is a family resemblance in Strange Company, with the strangeness turned up to eleven. So if you like military scifi, stick around and see how weird it can get. I don’t think you are going to find anything else quite like this. And if you are a fan of weird tales, and I know there are some out there, give this a try. Come and see what redemption there is on the far side of nowhere. Christ died for the least of these too.
I was provided with an advanced review copy by the author.
April 13, 2021
I'm a sucker for military science fiction sometimes. I was a big fan of David Drake's Hammer's Slammers when I was younger. I thought I'd give this one a try since I was looking for something easy to read, and I've liked some of Nick Cole's other stuff. I have to be honest. This is a complete retread of Glen Cook's The Black Company. We start with Strange Company being mercenaries. That's not so derivative, but we also have the wizened, grotesque wizards as well as a beautiful immortal transhuman female who may as well be the Lady from the Black Company. Oh, and narrator is the company archivist for a mercenary company that has a history stretching back hundreds of years. Again, all elements of the Black Company. For all that, I enjoyed the story despite the shameless borrowing. I did let myself get drawn in, and wanted to see how it would end. If you read this book and like it, do yourself a favor and read the Black Company. It's sort of like if Vietnam took place in a low fantasy setting. The author has another series that billed itself as "Star Wars done right." I enjoyed it for a while. At least he was honest about his inspiration though.
August 11, 2023
Starp visu, kas gan sērijā nenotiks, Orionam jāvada sava komanda un viņam nevar būt citas dzīves filozofijas, kā vien uz pirmās grāmatas vāka un konkrētāk uz grānatas uzrakstītā teksta, ja ir vēlēšanās ar veselu saprātu izdzīvot no viena algota uzdevuma uz otru.
https://poseidons99.wordpress.com/202...
https://poseidons99.wordpress.com/202...
May 9, 2021
Damn.....Epic.
There is a darkness. There are side bars. There is action.
There is nothing to Merc life except mem [$].
There is a weaving of a new universe? A side universe?
Does it end here? I hope not.
The 1st 1/3 of the book does a good job of back story fill with interspersed action, that at times gets a bit frustrating. Bear with it.
From then on, it's some racing heartbreaking, astonishing action that reflects at a deeper level today's world. A nice metaphor going here.
But above all of that is the action of Sgt Orion.
Thank you Nick, you capture brothers in arms and weave a hell of a story.
There is a darkness. There are side bars. There is action.
There is nothing to Merc life except mem [$].
There is a weaving of a new universe? A side universe?
Does it end here? I hope not.
The 1st 1/3 of the book does a good job of back story fill with interspersed action, that at times gets a bit frustrating. Bear with it.
From then on, it's some racing heartbreaking, astonishing action that reflects at a deeper level today's world. A nice metaphor going here.
But above all of that is the action of Sgt Orion.
Thank you Nick, you capture brothers in arms and weave a hell of a story.
April 6, 2021
Its good. Read it.
If you want dark, real, hard, military sci-fi. Read It.
If you want silly, all-knowing hero type, always happy ending, plot holes you can see from space. Don't read it, this isn't it.
What a refreshing read.
If you want dark, real, hard, military sci-fi. Read It.
If you want silly, all-knowing hero type, always happy ending, plot holes you can see from space. Don't read it, this isn't it.
What a refreshing read.
May 7, 2021
Glen Cooks Black Company in SPACE! I wasn't really taken by Black Company as a teenager, but this I liked tremendously. Looking forward to more.
December 1, 2022
"Strange Company" is one of this novels that kinda grows on you. Yes, I did like it even at the start but they tone and the repetitive wording takes a while to worm its way into actually not being strange but being a thing a quirk of the subjects narrative. Sargent Orion is our narrator but at the same time, we are seeing his viewpoint on the Mere life he seems to be unable to leave. Lots of action and the sci-fi trip on it is a classic. Can't wait to read the rest of the series.
March 29, 2021
An interior monologue interspersed by overwhelming battle
Orion is the records keeper for his mercenary company, one that’s gone back from conflict to conflict for over 600 years. He’s the guy who knows each member’s story and keeps the record so no one forgets. This book is how he tells about the contract to advance on the world of Crash as this world teeters on the brink of obscurity or relevance.
The book is 80% backstory, people’s stories, filling in context, and 20% action. It’s much different than others in the Galaxy’s Edge universe but you’ll find yourself much more emotionally impacted by the depth each character has. Good closure on a lot of angles of the story, but also left open for a continuation of some characters. Just outstanding.
Orion is the records keeper for his mercenary company, one that’s gone back from conflict to conflict for over 600 years. He’s the guy who knows each member’s story and keeps the record so no one forgets. This book is how he tells about the contract to advance on the world of Crash as this world teeters on the brink of obscurity or relevance.
The book is 80% backstory, people’s stories, filling in context, and 20% action. It’s much different than others in the Galaxy’s Edge universe but you’ll find yourself much more emotionally impacted by the depth each character has. Good closure on a lot of angles of the story, but also left open for a continuation of some characters. Just outstanding.
April 14, 2021
I came to Nick Cole the Galaxies Edge route, like probably a lot of people. This is my first time reading a solo book from him. The man has interesting tastes. He likes experimental humans, and space mysteries, and really likes the perspective of the grunt. This is a book of almost constant combat, that still manages to start fleshing out a universe. It's not the GE universe, but if you are a reader of GE, you're going to recognize some themes and references. This universe might suck (for the people in it) more then GE's. A space dictatorship run by metahumans that don't mess around when it's time to go to war. A company of mercs who end up on the wrong side of a war they can't win, and a mysterious asset that might be able to save them. It's worth the read.
KTF
KTF
March 29, 2021
Satisfyingly dark and gritty
Wow. Thant’s the first word that came to mind when I closed the book. I won’t post spoilers but the way the author stitched together flawed (gentler than monstrous) character with futuristic/fantastical elements and mixed in well/timed comic relief scratched just the right itch.
Wow. Thant’s the first word that came to mind when I closed the book. I won’t post spoilers but the way the author stitched together flawed (gentler than monstrous) character with futuristic/fantastical elements and mixed in well/timed comic relief scratched just the right itch.
August 15, 2022
This is a 3-star review. It is closer to 3.5 stars, but I couldn't round it up.
I have become a big fan of Nick Cole's work as a solo author. He writes convincing characters and compelling action sequences. Those skills are widely present in this book. The back half of the book as our heroes fought a series of running gun battles was engaging and almost captivating.
However....spoilers lie ahead
I have book 2 as the first two were a set. I'm not sure if I will ever get to book 2. Having had a very positive track record of reading Nick's other solo works, I was hopeful for this time around.
The serial digressions coupled with the "hey wouldn't be cool if this happened" elements made this a less enjoyable experience for me.
I have become a big fan of Nick Cole's work as a solo author. He writes convincing characters and compelling action sequences. Those skills are widely present in this book. The back half of the book as our heroes fought a series of running gun battles was engaging and almost captivating.
However....spoilers lie ahead
I have book 2 as the first two were a set. I'm not sure if I will ever get to book 2. Having had a very positive track record of reading Nick's other solo works, I was hopeful for this time around.
The serial digressions coupled with the "hey wouldn't be cool if this happened" elements made this a less enjoyable experience for me.
April 18, 2021
This was a strange book! I guess I should have expected it to be considering it's title, "Strange Company". The title could have meant some kind of strange business and it a way it does. The business of the Strange Company is killing because they are a company of mercenaries! Very, very deadly mercenaries. Their story is being told by a Sergeant Orion who is in charge of the Reaper platoon and the company log keeper. He keeps the stories all the men tell him during their tenure with Strange Company so it kind of makes for a history book of who was there and when. It also keeps some kind of record of the guys that died while part of Strange Company and if someone wanted to, they could read the logs and remember someone long dead. The guys in Strange Company usually told Sergeant Orion their stories, like about how they got to joining the company and why, and about anything else they wanted him to know, before they died! It wasn't a requirement, that's for sure, but you needed to tell Sgt. Orion your story before you died so he could write it all down. You would become part of Strange Company history then. And it was a very strange company, indeed!
You'll read about several key parts of the mission on this world out on the frontier of space. They were hired to help the government of the planet free itself from under the thumb of the Monarch. Explaining who and what the Monarch are is going to take quite a bit of the story, especially since you're going to have a Monarch riding right along with Strange Company. That never happens. The Monarchs don't mix freely with other humans. It's not natural. They are way more superior to normal humans that it's impossible one would come down to their level and be right there with them. But, she did, this female Monarch who was about the most beautiful woman Sgt. Orion had ever seen. Still, his job was to kill those his Captain told him to kill because they were getting paid to do so. This first day, they were setting up to ambush a bunch of people, militia types, who had thought they had won their independence. Little did they know that they were just about ready to die, all of them, at least all of them on that parade ground mall. As the book says, it was a massacre.
The thing about being a mercenary is that whomever is paying you, that's who you work for. You ain't on their side, nor are you on the side of whomever they want dead. It's just that you have a job to do and want to get paid. It just so happens in this books that the guys who were supposed to pay, got taken out real bad by the Monarchs so for a while there it looked like Strange Company wasn't going to get paid at all. It also wasn't sure it was going to be able to get off this planet was now being visited by the Ultra Marines who were paid by the Monarch. These guys were the ultimate in fighting. They were highly trained and had all the latest gear to go with all that training. When the Ultra Marines came, everybody else died. Everybody!
But, by some strange happenstance, this Monarch female hired Strange Company to do something for her during this world-wide end of everything! So, they had a new contract and were going to get paid after all, provided they lived and got off this planet to do so. And that's what most of this story is about. Oh, there is this ape-army, and the Enterprise spaceship involved. Some of it talks about the future and then you'll also get to hear a lot of stories told by various members of Strange Company when they are talking to Sgt. Orion, the company log keeper. It will be interesting for you to find out who survives this book, if any one does. After all, it's a Strange Company story.
Nick Cole has written a number of book along with Jason Anspach and Doc Spears. I don't know how they divide up the writing, but everyone of their stories have been great. This one is no exception so I'll be looking forward to other books just by Nick Cole. He's a very good writer on his own.
You'll read about several key parts of the mission on this world out on the frontier of space. They were hired to help the government of the planet free itself from under the thumb of the Monarch. Explaining who and what the Monarch are is going to take quite a bit of the story, especially since you're going to have a Monarch riding right along with Strange Company. That never happens. The Monarchs don't mix freely with other humans. It's not natural. They are way more superior to normal humans that it's impossible one would come down to their level and be right there with them. But, she did, this female Monarch who was about the most beautiful woman Sgt. Orion had ever seen. Still, his job was to kill those his Captain told him to kill because they were getting paid to do so. This first day, they were setting up to ambush a bunch of people, militia types, who had thought they had won their independence. Little did they know that they were just about ready to die, all of them, at least all of them on that parade ground mall. As the book says, it was a massacre.
The thing about being a mercenary is that whomever is paying you, that's who you work for. You ain't on their side, nor are you on the side of whomever they want dead. It's just that you have a job to do and want to get paid. It just so happens in this books that the guys who were supposed to pay, got taken out real bad by the Monarchs so for a while there it looked like Strange Company wasn't going to get paid at all. It also wasn't sure it was going to be able to get off this planet was now being visited by the Ultra Marines who were paid by the Monarch. These guys were the ultimate in fighting. They were highly trained and had all the latest gear to go with all that training. When the Ultra Marines came, everybody else died. Everybody!
But, by some strange happenstance, this Monarch female hired Strange Company to do something for her during this world-wide end of everything! So, they had a new contract and were going to get paid after all, provided they lived and got off this planet to do so. And that's what most of this story is about. Oh, there is this ape-army, and the Enterprise spaceship involved. Some of it talks about the future and then you'll also get to hear a lot of stories told by various members of Strange Company when they are talking to Sgt. Orion, the company log keeper. It will be interesting for you to find out who survives this book, if any one does. After all, it's a Strange Company story.
Nick Cole has written a number of book along with Jason Anspach and Doc Spears. I don't know how they divide up the writing, but everyone of their stories have been great. This one is no exception so I'll be looking forward to other books just by Nick Cole. He's a very good writer on his own.
June 10, 2025
This should be a simple, entertaining beach read, but is ultimately dragged down by several shortcomings. DNF
As already mentioned several times in other reviews, this novel is heavily inspired by Glen Cook's Black company, which is not a bad thing in itself.
The setting is gritty and about as futuristic as a grimy 80ies scifi B-Movie. In other words, you have the tech of the late 80ies but make it space. There are cocktail bars, spaceports that work like airports (including luggage fountains), chicks straight from an erotic thriller (French accent included) and cyborgs with German accents (I guess the fact that Schwarzenegger is Austrian got lost somewhere, maybe intentionally?). And all that is not a bad thing in itself.
Also, from what I have seen so far, Strange Company is a sausage fest (I am not counting the horror trope with magic powers). This in itself is not a bad thing itself. It fits the 80ies vibe (there are no chicks in the rescue squad in Predator either, right?). However, it doesn't add anything of value either.
And that is ultimately why the book didn't do it for me - it's not bad, but it doesn't add anything of value either. The characters are supposed to be compelling, hinting at tragic decisions in their life or inner demons, but ultimately are too cartoonish or drawn too superficially. The action is constantly interrupted by infodumps and vapid, repetitive meanderings about the grittiness of the universe.
Truly, it cannot be stated how repetitive those asides are. Certain facts like political factions being powerful or tech being deadly will be repeated over a couple of pages like the reader can't be trusted to remember it. This, to me, is the difference between a good novel inspired by Black Company and a bad one. Black Company had a point to make other than "damn, the world is really bleak, huh?".
In Black Company you saw people in a desperate struggle to ride the Tiger and not getting eaten. You had small vignettes of camaraderie and outlooks on life. In Strange Company, it's just a boring shopping list of who committed war crimes and the many ways the universe sucks.
As already mentioned several times in other reviews, this novel is heavily inspired by Glen Cook's Black company, which is not a bad thing in itself.
The setting is gritty and about as futuristic as a grimy 80ies scifi B-Movie. In other words, you have the tech of the late 80ies but make it space. There are cocktail bars, spaceports that work like airports (including luggage fountains), chicks straight from an erotic thriller (French accent included) and cyborgs with German accents (I guess the fact that Schwarzenegger is Austrian got lost somewhere, maybe intentionally?). And all that is not a bad thing in itself.
Also, from what I have seen so far, Strange Company is a sausage fest (I am not counting the horror trope with magic powers). This in itself is not a bad thing itself. It fits the 80ies vibe (there are no chicks in the rescue squad in Predator either, right?). However, it doesn't add anything of value either.
And that is ultimately why the book didn't do it for me - it's not bad, but it doesn't add anything of value either. The characters are supposed to be compelling, hinting at tragic decisions in their life or inner demons, but ultimately are too cartoonish or drawn too superficially. The action is constantly interrupted by infodumps and vapid, repetitive meanderings about the grittiness of the universe.
Truly, it cannot be stated how repetitive those asides are. Certain facts like political factions being powerful or tech being deadly will be repeated over a couple of pages like the reader can't be trusted to remember it. This, to me, is the difference between a good novel inspired by Black Company and a bad one. Black Company had a point to make other than "damn, the world is really bleak, huh?".
In Black Company you saw people in a desperate struggle to ride the Tiger and not getting eaten. You had small vignettes of camaraderie and outlooks on life. In Strange Company, it's just a boring shopping list of who committed war crimes and the many ways the universe sucks.
April 17, 2021
I didn't know where this particular journey would take me. I'm glad I went along for the ride.
Nick Cole's 'Strange Company' defies easy categorization. I had just finished a cookie-cutter Military Sci-Fi adventure from a series and was waiting for sequels from some of my other favorite genre authors. This was recommended to me so I took a chance. At first I wasn't quite sure what to make of it. Narrated by the primary protagonist, one Sergent Orion of Reaper Platoon, it often has an almost conversational, stream of consciousness flow to it that took me several pages to get used to. After that I was hooked.
Essentially, the story takes place at an unspecified future date on a far-flung planet that was settled by humans. The mercenary soldiers of Strange Company are there to fight on someone else's planet in someone else's war. They are there to do a job. Don't let morals get in the way, they don't pay the bills. The author is former military, and there is a gritty realism to the way his characters think, feel, and do what they are hired to do. Sgt. relates the events, but there are also flashbacks and vignettes highlighting other members' lives and setting the galactic stage of events.
There is an almost níor meets Apocalypse Now feel to the narration, interspersed with introspection and the just plain bizarre -- not to mention full-tilt battles that go from almost hopeless to well beyond. You can almost smell the cordite and hear the brass clinking as it hits the ground. There is military weaponry, and then there is future tech that can't be easily described. And there are aliens, ...or are there. Anyway, it is the character that will hook you. At least they did me.
I won't spoil the story. This is one you have to read and mentally embrace on a personal level. Most novels of this sort I find enjoyable but somewhat forgettable after I finish them and start the next book. Strange Company is lingering. I would read it again. That's high praise considering how many books I have on my list. If there is ever a sequel, I'll be the first in line to get it. There is that anyway...
~ Kort
Nick Cole's 'Strange Company' defies easy categorization. I had just finished a cookie-cutter Military Sci-Fi adventure from a series and was waiting for sequels from some of my other favorite genre authors. This was recommended to me so I took a chance. At first I wasn't quite sure what to make of it. Narrated by the primary protagonist, one Sergent Orion of Reaper Platoon, it often has an almost conversational, stream of consciousness flow to it that took me several pages to get used to. After that I was hooked.
Essentially, the story takes place at an unspecified future date on a far-flung planet that was settled by humans. The mercenary soldiers of Strange Company are there to fight on someone else's planet in someone else's war. They are there to do a job. Don't let morals get in the way, they don't pay the bills. The author is former military, and there is a gritty realism to the way his characters think, feel, and do what they are hired to do. Sgt. relates the events, but there are also flashbacks and vignettes highlighting other members' lives and setting the galactic stage of events.
There is an almost níor meets Apocalypse Now feel to the narration, interspersed with introspection and the just plain bizarre -- not to mention full-tilt battles that go from almost hopeless to well beyond. You can almost smell the cordite and hear the brass clinking as it hits the ground. There is military weaponry, and then there is future tech that can't be easily described. And there are aliens, ...or are there. Anyway, it is the character that will hook you. At least they did me.
I won't spoil the story. This is one you have to read and mentally embrace on a personal level. Most novels of this sort I find enjoyable but somewhat forgettable after I finish them and start the next book. Strange Company is lingering. I would read it again. That's high praise considering how many books I have on my list. If there is ever a sequel, I'll be the first in line to get it. There is that anyway...
~ Kort
September 4, 2025
The man, Orion, knows how to monologue. And that's not a bad thing across the board.
The book itself runs a story similar in structure to that of The Black Company by Glen Cook, though many of the characters here come off as smaller than those of Cook's novel. An interesting state as most of the named characters in Strange Company come with a full backstory of how they joined the company which delves deeper than the nicknames in Cook's novel. However, a few characters here did stand out as inspired figures.
Further, the book presents a sci-fi world where the accessible technology varies greatly depending on the amount money (called "Mem" here; not "Credits" as the trope goes) you have at hand. Though this technology spans the gambit of things in science fiction, I wouldn't position Strange Company as "hard sci-fi" due to how the characters interact with this technology and its presentation. In my eyes the novel comes off far more as a sci-fi fantasy than something more grounded, though perhaps to some less creative, novels like Voice of the Whirlwind by Walter Jon Williams.
The cover art is fantastic and represents the story well. It captures the mood and mentality of the Strange Company in a true fashion.
Overall, worth a read to get a taste of the high variety world building that Cole plays out on the page. Though, for now, I'm not drawn to pickup the second book right after closing this one.
The book itself runs a story similar in structure to that of The Black Company by Glen Cook, though many of the characters here come off as smaller than those of Cook's novel. An interesting state as most of the named characters in Strange Company come with a full backstory of how they joined the company which delves deeper than the nicknames in Cook's novel. However, a few characters here did stand out as inspired figures.
Further, the book presents a sci-fi world where the accessible technology varies greatly depending on the amount money (called "Mem" here; not "Credits" as the trope goes) you have at hand. Though this technology spans the gambit of things in science fiction, I wouldn't position Strange Company as "hard sci-fi" due to how the characters interact with this technology and its presentation. In my eyes the novel comes off far more as a sci-fi fantasy than something more grounded, though perhaps to some less creative, novels like Voice of the Whirlwind by Walter Jon Williams.
The cover art is fantastic and represents the story well. It captures the mood and mentality of the Strange Company in a true fashion.
Overall, worth a read to get a taste of the high variety world building that Cole plays out on the page. Though, for now, I'm not drawn to pickup the second book right after closing this one.
May 31, 2024
Orion is in charge of the Reaper platoon, one of 4 platoons in Strange company. They're a bunch of mercenaries, down on their luck and fighting for a client that may or may not pay them even if they win. Orion is also the Company's Keeper of Records, a tradition handed down from Keeper to Keeper from the beginning of the Company nearly 2000 years ago.
Just as the final battle to defeat the enemy begins, a spanner is thrown into the mix when a Monarch BattleSpire turns up, and starts slaughtering everyone, not caring which side they are on. To escape the Ultra Marines, they agree to help a renegade Monarch called the Seeker to find a treasure lost in an inhospitable land, deep within a long-lost space wreck. As Orion discovers, every job has a price, but what if the price is too high, even if you get paid.
Along the way you get to meet the members of Reaper, Ghost and Dog platoons, as well as the weirdo's of Voodoo, who you never want to meet on a dark night..
it's a great book, and I can't wait to read the next one.
Just as the final battle to defeat the enemy begins, a spanner is thrown into the mix when a Monarch BattleSpire turns up, and starts slaughtering everyone, not caring which side they are on. To escape the Ultra Marines, they agree to help a renegade Monarch called the Seeker to find a treasure lost in an inhospitable land, deep within a long-lost space wreck. As Orion discovers, every job has a price, but what if the price is too high, even if you get paid.
Along the way you get to meet the members of Reaper, Ghost and Dog platoons, as well as the weirdo's of Voodoo, who you never want to meet on a dark night..
it's a great book, and I can't wait to read the next one.
June 3, 2021
Nick Cole has a way of writing characters who have more about them than meets the eye, to paraphrase Gandalf. Same goes for the stories they live and/or tell. There's plenty of action but it's not wall-to-wall pewpewpewBOOM -- instead the action takes its appropriate place in a setting where there are nonzero odds that Abel's next-door neighbor is Cain (hat tip: Herman Wouk).
As is usual with Cole -- both solo and with his co-author Jason Anspach -- the setting is a dumpster fire, made so by the decisions and actions of those who presume to rule it. It certainly comes from the tragic rather than the therapeutic view of human nature (hat tip: Victor Davis Hanson).
Main characters and supporting characters alike are well realized, and even the the least sympathetic characters -- including the protagonist's main antagonist, a fellow Strange Company NCO -- isn't entirely unsympathetic. If you like military science fiction with heart and mind, Strange Company is highly recommended.
As is usual with Cole -- both solo and with his co-author Jason Anspach -- the setting is a dumpster fire, made so by the decisions and actions of those who presume to rule it. It certainly comes from the tragic rather than the therapeutic view of human nature (hat tip: Victor Davis Hanson).
Main characters and supporting characters alike are well realized, and even the the least sympathetic characters -- including the protagonist's main antagonist, a fellow Strange Company NCO -- isn't entirely unsympathetic. If you like military science fiction with heart and mind, Strange Company is highly recommended.
August 31, 2021
Good sci fi military story. Reminded me right off of Cook's Black Company.
Don't know if it was inspired by it at all, but would not be surprised if it was.
The story's lead, who narrates it is as Croaker a little, the Voodoo Squad is as the the wizards of Black Company.
Again an inspiration only, the book stands by itself.
As with with other of Coles books the narrator is very verbose, and can go off on tangents, but always comes back to the action. The full story is also very good, the ending is surprising and well done.
the mercs still use basic military weapons of today, different names/numbers but for the most part the same calibers and not even caseless ammo.....at first it seemed strange for a sci fi galaxy spanning story, but in the end it dosent take away from the action or the story...some sci fi military authors try to hard to advance the weapons and ruin the story, not here...
Don't know if it was inspired by it at all, but would not be surprised if it was.
The story's lead, who narrates it is as Croaker a little, the Voodoo Squad is as the the wizards of Black Company.
Again an inspiration only, the book stands by itself.
As with with other of Coles books the narrator is very verbose, and can go off on tangents, but always comes back to the action. The full story is also very good, the ending is surprising and well done.
the mercs still use basic military weapons of today, different names/numbers but for the most part the same calibers and not even caseless ammo.....at first it seemed strange for a sci fi galaxy spanning story, but in the end it dosent take away from the action or the story...some sci fi military authors try to hard to advance the weapons and ruin the story, not here...
April 7, 2022
Nothing to believe in
Cross Glen Cook's "The Black Company" with Pierre Boulle's "The Planet of the Apes (The movies since I haven't read the book), set it in a future human galactic setting and you might think the result kind of strange. What Nick Cole came up with is Strange Company.
Every page is set in a mercenary's view of a planetary civil war for independence from the more than human rulers of Earth's star empire. A soldier seldom has time, or awareness, of anything beyond keeping himself and his buddies alive while trying to win the battles he is thrust into. Sargeant Orion of Reaper platoon, Strange Company manages to become aware of a bigger picture.
The story unfolds in first person POV. The battles well written. Backstories sparse. A nice read in MilSpec Sci-Fi.
Cross Glen Cook's "The Black Company" with Pierre Boulle's "The Planet of the Apes (The movies since I haven't read the book), set it in a future human galactic setting and you might think the result kind of strange. What Nick Cole came up with is Strange Company.
Every page is set in a mercenary's view of a planetary civil war for independence from the more than human rulers of Earth's star empire. A soldier seldom has time, or awareness, of anything beyond keeping himself and his buddies alive while trying to win the battles he is thrust into. Sargeant Orion of Reaper platoon, Strange Company manages to become aware of a bigger picture.
The story unfolds in first person POV. The battles well written. Backstories sparse. A nice read in MilSpec Sci-Fi.
February 9, 2023
This was a strange book. For about the first half of the novel, I was enjoying reading the action about a mercenary company in the far future but had no real sense of an overall plot. That changed with a bang around the midpoint when the Monarchs (secretive, high tech, rulers of all the rest of humanity) took an interest in their current war and sided with their opponents. However, instead of getting run over by the Monarchs, the company gets hired by one of them to help her seek out an ancient wrecked starship which might well have secrets that could reshape the galaxy.
The action comes fast and furious from beginning to end, although I thought that the cannon fodder at the end (thousands of apes) could have been better thought out. If you want a lot of action that doesn’t require a lot of thought, this is a fun novel.
The action comes fast and furious from beginning to end, although I thought that the cannon fodder at the end (thousands of apes) could have been better thought out. If you want a lot of action that doesn’t require a lot of thought, this is a fun novel.
April 2, 2021
Not what you're expecting, yet somehow better.
I'm not going to drop any spoilers.
Strange Company is science fiction at its best. It mixes futuristic elements with knowable tech and creates both wonder and horror at what may be while shining a clear light on a universal truth about what it means to be human and why we forge bonds with one another.
Strange Company is in a style difficult to read but is well worth the effort required to slip into the thinking of our narrator and tells a story that reveals something we usually prefer to keep hidden. Strange Company is filled with golden nuggets of battlefield wisdom and the truth reveals itself back layer after layer like an onion not finishing until the final words of the epilogue.
I'm not going to drop any spoilers.
Strange Company is science fiction at its best. It mixes futuristic elements with knowable tech and creates both wonder and horror at what may be while shining a clear light on a universal truth about what it means to be human and why we forge bonds with one another.
Strange Company is in a style difficult to read but is well worth the effort required to slip into the thinking of our narrator and tells a story that reveals something we usually prefer to keep hidden. Strange Company is filled with golden nuggets of battlefield wisdom and the truth reveals itself back layer after layer like an onion not finishing until the final words of the epilogue.
May 23, 2021
Black Company 3000AD
Rip off of Black Company, with very special guests the Terminator, the Shrike from Hyperion, Galaxy's Edge special forces, a little girl character from some other franchise I dont recognize, Planet of the Apes/King Solomon's Mines with the baddies from Firefly.
I got sick of the very Colesque page after page of Orion explaining stuff in the middle of battles, so there's that, as he said a thousand times.
Typical of Cole, though, he ended really strong. So there's that.
Really curious as to what happens next. Will get next one in the series. So there's that.
Rip off of Black Company, with very special guests the Terminator, the Shrike from Hyperion, Galaxy's Edge special forces, a little girl character from some other franchise I dont recognize, Planet of the Apes/King Solomon's Mines with the baddies from Firefly.
I got sick of the very Colesque page after page of Orion explaining stuff in the middle of battles, so there's that, as he said a thousand times.
Typical of Cole, though, he ended really strong. So there's that.
Really curious as to what happens next. Will get next one in the series. So there's that.
July 3, 2021
I enjoyed reading "Strange Company" by Nick Cole.
Elements of his style were spot on with expectations. Very gritty, ultra-authentic dialogue and detailed portrayal of active military life.
The mercenary aspect and other fictional historical elements were compelling. Worldbuilding was up to the task = not mind-blowing but sufficient to carry the story.
My only challenges were that the action came in sporadic bursts and did not feel very tense. No underlying tension to carry the reader through the floppy middle as it were. And I continuously felt that I was reading a version of Cook's "Black Company" set in SF setting.
Elements of his style were spot on with expectations. Very gritty, ultra-authentic dialogue and detailed portrayal of active military life.
The mercenary aspect and other fictional historical elements were compelling. Worldbuilding was up to the task = not mind-blowing but sufficient to carry the story.
My only challenges were that the action came in sporadic bursts and did not feel very tense. No underlying tension to carry the reader through the floppy middle as it were. And I continuously felt that I was reading a version of Cook's "Black Company" set in SF setting.
March 24, 2021
Cole has unleashed the full force of his imagination and created a universe more grimdark than grimdark, a story of brutal warriors armed with high technology and eldritch powers, mercenaries engaged in ugly wars at the behest of one paymaster or another, employing a range of bizarre experimental superpowers as an equalizer when confronted by overwhelming force, and over all, a stellar empire of 'Monarchs' who are inexorably consuming the known universe. One part Firefly, one part intense war movie, one part Warhammer, pick this one up and you won't regret the ride.
March 31, 2021
Nick Cole has never let me down yet I have loved every book he has written or coauthored. He turned this book up to 12 and broke off the nob off throwing it into the sea. This book had touches of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, hard core KTF, and touched on current global, social and political issues effecting our freedoms we take for granted everyday. I can't wait for the next installment of this series and to learn more of Strange Company. Also I am loving Christopher Ryan Grant as a narrator I hope Nick continues to use him in future books to come.
July 10, 2024
Okay, so has my reading appetite changed this much?! I hated this book. It was so highly rated. If I enjoyed just listening about a troop of military bouncing from one mess to the next, blowing things up and being blown up, maybe. But I thought I did enjoy that. However, there was no direction. Maybe I did not make it far enough. there was no purpose. It was like a military drama just playing out a battle. I don't know. There were a lot of repeated tropes and tired phrases. I did not enjoy it, and this represents one of a handful of books that I must mark DNF. life is too short.
abandoned
April 10, 2021Got about 40% in before I gave up. Up to this point the book has been almost entirely overly detailed backstory on characters and the unit, and very repetitive. A lot of other reviews mention this emphasis on backstory and seem cool with it, but I guess I just didn't realize it was THIS MUCH. The book has glowing reviews on literally every platform so I tried to push on but I am just not enjoying any aspect of it.
September 8, 2021
Book one?
I'm not doing my normal style of review for this book. This book to me is something special.
When I first started reading I got a Firefly feel from it. By the time I finished I realized this book was and is a tribute to combat soldiers around the world. For those that will never know combat, read this and come as close as you can to holding the line and getting the job done when your brothers and sisters of battle are counting on you.
9/10
I'm not doing my normal style of review for this book. This book to me is something special.
When I first started reading I got a Firefly feel from it. By the time I finished I realized this book was and is a tribute to combat soldiers around the world. For those that will never know combat, read this and come as close as you can to holding the line and getting the job done when your brothers and sisters of battle are counting on you.
9/10
December 9, 2021
Ever wanted to know what would happen if Apocolypse Now ran headfirst into a sci-fi setting? This book is just that. Fast-paced, interesting characters and world-building. Crazy fights, magic, so other magic like stuff that even the users aren't sure of and then top it off, double-crosses and triple-crosses and then a bigger plot twist at the end, yeah this an amazing ride across the stars and into a setting that will have to not only pacing for the next one, but ready for the three after that.
August 28, 2022
Thoroughly enjoyable up until the shark-jumping primates. I got the serious feeling the author is a bit out there, politically, and kept seeing veiled references to white supremacist stuff, e.g. the number 88 makes several appearances
And the monkeys are an obvious metaphor. The sequel seems to confirm all that with Bill Gates being responsible for killing billions by providing... Malaria vaccines? I'm glad I decided to pirate the book rather than pay the guy. What a schmuck.
And the monkeys are an obvious metaphor. The sequel seems to confirm all that with Bill Gates being responsible for killing billions by providing... Malaria vaccines? I'm glad I decided to pirate the book rather than pay the guy. What a schmuck.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 72 reviews