Let me tell you who I am, on the chance that these scribblings do survive. I am Murgen, Standardbearer of the Black Company, though I bear the shame of having lost that standard in battle. I am keeping these Annals because Croaker is dead, One-Eye won't, and hardly anyone else can read or write. I will be your guide for however long it takes the Shadowlanders to force our present predicament to its inevitable end. This omnibus volume comprises the novels Water Sleeps and Soldiers Live.