The White Rose (Cook novel)
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| Author | Glen Cook |
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| Cover artist | Keith Berdak |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Black Company |
| Genre | Epic fantasy, Dark fantasy |
| Publisher | Tor Fantasy |
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Publication date
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April 1985 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 310 pp |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 43005218 |
| Preceded by | Shadows Linger |
| Followed by | Shadow Games |
The White Rose is the third novel in Glen Cook's ongoing series, The Black Company. The series combines elements of epic fantasy and dark fantasy as it follows an elite mercenary unit, The Black Company, through roughly forty years of its approximately four hundred year history.
Centuries in the past, the Dominator and his wife, the Lady, (both supremely skilled in the art of magic), had founded an empire legendary for evil. They were overthrown by a rebellion led by the White Rose, but even in defeat, they remained too powerful to be killed; the best the rebels could do was to imprison them and their most powerful minions in the Barrowland. A wizard named Bomanz awakened the Lady in an attempt to learn from her, but she used him to gain her freedom and rebuilt the empire. However, she betrayed her husband by leaving him where he was.
A rebellion broke out against the Lady's new empire; the Black Company played a key role in putting it down (as detailed in The Black Company). Later, the Company also assisted the Lady in preventing her husband from escaping his prison (as recounted in Shadows Linger), but it was forced to flee her wrath when she discovered that it had unknowingly sheltered the reborn White Rose.
The Black Company has taken refuge from the Lady in the Plain of Fear. Its magical, non-human denizens are powerful enough to daunt even her. Among them is Old Father Tree, a god manifesting itself as a tree planted in the exact center of the plain. From this sanctuary, the White Rose rebuilds and directs the rebellion.
No wizard in the world can rival the Lady's magical skill and power, but the White Rose is immune to magic and as she matures, the magic-free zone around her expands. (This explains how her former incarnation was able to defeat the Lady and the Dominator.)
After several years of relative peace, the pace picks up. The Taken and their armies gather on the borders of the plain, threatening to swamp the vastly outnumbered rebels. Also, couriers begin arriving from the far eastern reaches of the empire, among them Tracker and Toadkiller Dog, a man and his mutt. Each messenger bears a letter for Croaker, describing what some unnamed rebel spy has found out about Bomanz. The last letter claims that the wizard knew the Lady's true name. With the situation becoming increasingly desperate, the White Rose sends Croaker and wizards Goblin and One-Eye to retrieve that vital bit of information. Tracker volunteers to go with them as a guide.
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