The Black Company influenced The First Law

Abercrombie has named Cook among the writers who made grimdark possible, and The Black Company is where its rules were set: a war seen from inside a unit of professional soldiers, a narrator who is an unreliable company annalist, wizards as dangerous colleagues rather than mentors, and no side worth supporting. The First Law keeps the moral position and swaps the annalist for a rotating close third person, which is what lets Abercrombie put the torturer in the room and make him funny.