The Company was the first book I picked up by K.J. Parker, browsing along until the cover art cot my eye on a shelf in a bookstore. It was an impulse buy and it was worth the price paid. I found this one of the better books I have read recently, Parker keeps a solid tempo throughout the whole thing, does a great job at explaining the past of the characters and the characters (though their names get confusing here and there) are a nice mix of high-and-mighty and I'm-here-to-be-here. The main character is likeable, and his intentions are for the best. The plot is pretty straight forward: One-time leader of a group of the best soldiers the world has ever seen, decides to steal an island from the government and settle it with the 4 guys he was in the Army with. They bring along more supplies than you can shake a stick at, along with wives that don't really want to be there. Parker does a decent job at moving along. The whole thing boils down to the last few chapters that really made me scratch my head. It was as if the whole book had been written in a nice orderly fashion, nicely laid out...then the deadline hit and Parker had to throw together an ending. I finished the last few chapters in one night and was eagerly anticipating an epic ending, but sadly there was only an ending...no epic-ness about it. All in all, a great read (and a good size novel at that, nothing too gargantuan, yet something that will take a few nights to read). I look forward to diving into more of K.J. Parker's works soon enough. EIE
