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Book Preview In those days the Black Company did not exist. This I know because there were laws and decrees that told me so. But I did not feel entirely insubstantial. The Company standard, its Captain and Lieutenant, its Standardbearer and all the men who had made the Company so terrible, had passed on, having … Read more

Book Preview The wind whines and howls with bitter breath. Lightning snarls and barks. Rage is an animate force upon the plain of glittering stone. Even shadows are afraid. The scars of cataclysm disfigure a plain that has known only an age of dark perfection. A jagged fissure lies like a lightning slash across its … Read more

Book Preview Incessant wind sweeps the plain. It mutters across grey pavements that sweep from horizon to horizon. It sings around scattered black pillars, a chorus of ghosts. It tumbles leaves and scatters dust come from afar. It teases the hair of a corpse that has lain undisturbed for a generation, mummifying. Impishly, the gale … Read more

Book Preview Many months have passed. Much has happened and much has slipped from my memory. Insignificant details have stuck with me while important things have gotten away. Some things I know only from third parties and more I can only guess. How often have my witnesses perjured themselves? It did not occur to me, … Read more

Book Preview We seven remained at the crossroads, watching the dust from the eastern way. Even irrepressible One-Eye and Goblin were stricken by the finality of the hour. Otto’s horse whickered. He closed her nostrils with one hand, patted her neck with the other, quieting her. It was a time for contemplation, the final emotional … Read more

Book Preview This here journal is Raven’s idea but I got me a feeling he won’t be so proud of it if he ever gets to reading it because most of the time I’m going to tell the truth. Even if he is my best buddy. Talk about your feet of clay. He’s got them … Read more

Book Preview The still desert air had a lenselike quality. The riders seemed frozen in time, moving without drawing closer. We took turns-counting. I could not get the same number twice running. A breath of a breeze whined in the coral, stirred the leaves of Old Father Tree. They tinkled off one another with the … Read more

Book Preview The children’s heads popped from the weeds like groundhog heads. They watched the approaching soldiers. The boy whispered, “Must be a thousand of them.” The column stretched back and back. The dust it raised drifted up the face of a far hill. The creak and jangle of harness grew ever louder. The day … Read more

Book Preview TheBlackCompany The Black Company Croaker spoke to assembled Company: “In olden times the outfit consisted entirely of black soldiers. Thus the name. Its slow drift northward has seen not only its diminution but a shift in its makeup. One-Eye is the black man with us today. “We are the last of the Twelve … Read more

Book Preview And Dragons in the Sky It has been a good year for Glen Cook. He won an Honorable Mention in last year’s NAL prize contest; he has increased his magazine sales; he has just sold a fine novel to New American Library; he has married a lovely girl (whom he met at Clarion); … Read more

Book Preview An Ace Science Fiction Book / published by arrangement with the author Ace Original /April 1985 All rights reserved. Copyright © 1985 by Glen Cook Cover art by Barry Jackson This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by mimeograph or any other means, without permission. For information address: The … Read more