Release Date: May 11th 2023
Publisher: Jo Fletcher Books
Pages: 384
Find it on: Goodreads. Waterstones.
Source: I bought a copy of this from my local bookshop
Rating: 4.25/5 stars

Synopsis

Seven powerful mages want to make the world a better place. We’re going to kill them first.’

Picture a wizard. Go ahead, close your eyes. There he is, see? Skinny old guy with a long straggly beard. No doubt he’s wearing iridescent silk robes that couldn’t protect his frail body from a light breeze. The hat’s a must, too, right? Big, floppy thing, covered in esoteric symbols that would instantly show every other mage where this one gets his magic? Wouldn’t want a simple steel helmet or something that might, you know, protect the part of him most needed for conjuring magical forces from being bashed in with a mace (or pretty much any household object).

Now open your eyes and let me show you what a  real war mage looks like . . . but you’re probably not going to like it, because we’re violent, angry, dangerously broken people who sell our skills to the highest bidder and be damned to any moral or ethical considerations.

At least, until such irritating concepts as friendship and the end of the world get in the way.

My name is Cade Ombra, and though I currently make my living as a mercenary wonderist, I used to have a far more noble-sounding job title – until I discovered the people I worked for weren’t quite as noble as I’d believed. Now I’m on the run and my only friend, a homicidal thunder mage, has invited me to join him on a suicide mission against the seven deadliest mages on the continent.

Time to recruit some very bad people to help us on this job . . .

Review

The newest release from Greatcoats author Sebastien de Castell, The Malevolent Seven follows war mage Cade Ombra who ends up joining six other wonderists on a suicide mission to against the deadliest mages on the planet. What could possibly go wrong?

This is my second book from Sebastien de Castell and it was such a clever, entertaining story. While I didn’t love this one as much as Traitor’s Blade, it is a really compelling read with plenty of humour. It’s a fast paced story, one that has lots of action packed moments. The world Sebastien de Castell has created is particularly intriguing and I was so fascinated by all the different types of magic in this world. The magic system felt really well thought out and the author gives the reader plenty of time to get to gripes with the wide variety of wonderists.

One of the things I found most compelling about Traitor’s Blade was how strong the character’s voices are and the same is true of the Malevolent Seven. Cade and his crew are really brilliant characters and they really shine in this story. I loved that this was a story from the point of view of the bad guys and it felt like such a fun and fresh read. The short chapters definitely had me saying ‘oh just one more chapter’ because I just had to know what was going to happen next.

The Malevolent Seven is full to the brim with magic, mayhem and danger. If you’re looking for a book that will keep you guessing and keep you hooked right to the very last page, this one should definitely be on your wishlist.