The Malevolent Seven, most recent release of Spellslinger author Sebastien de Castell, is the first adult fantasy by this author that I’ve read. As expected, De Castell’s world building was brilliant, and he’s put together a cast of characters whose snarky banter made for a highly entertaining read.

Cade Ombra is, in his own words, not one of the good guys. In a world where magic is leveraged for power or money, wonderists fight as mercenaries for the side with the most coin. At the outset of the novel, we see Cade in battle on behalf of Ascendant Lucien. But when a violent turn of events forces Cade on the run from his current job and the celestial judiciars, he joins Corrigan Blight, fellow war mage and the closest thing to a friend he has, on a mission to take down the seven most powerful mages in the world. But first, they must find five other mages willing to join their mission.

This novel is fast-paced, with relatively short chapters that encourage you to just read that bit more. I devoured The Malevolent Seven over two long bus journeys in one weekend. While Cade went to great lengths to explain how he isn’t one of the good guys, it’s probably fair to say that the majority of the characters fall firmly into the range of ‘morally grey’, willing to do bad things for financial gain, or simply making questionable choices. The novel is dark and gritty, yet at the same time there’s a lot of humour. I loved De Castell’s subversive take on mages, which he depicted as morally grey at best, and was hooked from the first page.

“In case I hadn’t made this clear already, we’re not exactly the good guys.”
Pure (or not so pure!) magic. Sebastien de Castell can do no wrong as far as I’m concerned. Here we have a motley crew of wonderful characters in a heaven ish and hellish world.
Many thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a digital copy to review.

The Malevolent Seven is a rip-roaring, gritty tale of mercenaries and magic, where you’ll find yourself rooting for the bad guys, because let’s face it, they have a lot more fun here in this book.

After a job goes hideously wrong, Cade Ombre who has a moral streak about a centimeter wide, finds himself coerced by his only friend Corrigan – to fight seven mages and retrieve a mythical treasure. Simple right? As they start to pull their own team together and head off on what could be their final battle, Cade realises something is not quite going according to their plan.

I absolutely loved this book. The writing is dark and gritty, but the strong characters really do make this story, pulling it away from falling into the turgid side of this genre. It’s a fun read, albeit a little chaotic with the pacing not quite pitched right around the middle. However, there are plenty of twists and turns to keep you interested, with a complex but interesting magic system.

This is an entertaining story with plenty of humour to counteract the grimness within. The world is fascinating and thankfully the author includes a handy note at the end explaining more about the magic system.

I have not read anything from Sebastien de Castell before, but I will certainly be adding them to my TBR.

Note, this book does lean heavily into the Grimdark genre and there are mentions of subjects and events that readers may find difficult. I recommend seeking out content warnings before picking this one up.

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.

Two things drew me to The Malevolent Seven by Sebastien de Castell; it was by an author I had really enjoyed previously and the synopsis. I mean, who doesn’t love a book that openly mocks the trope of wizards and promises to show you what a “real” wizard? As someone who is not a fan of a certain epic fantasy, I’m the type of reader who loves books that subvert what’s expected of genres. It didn’t take long for me to start devouring this one, just like all the other de Castell books I’ve read.

The book opens in the middle of battle showing very clearly that our protagonist, Cade, and his companions are not the good guys. They’re mercenaries, wonderists (de Castell’s term for mages/wizards) for hire and at that moment in time they are working for Ascendant Lucien to help him take control of the lands of another Ascendant. As Cade’s friend explains, they get paid to conquer one group and then years later the second group hires them to kill the first group. Of course, Corrigan Blight uses a lot more curse words when he actually says it and if you’re not someone who likes cursing then this isn’t the book for you.

The Malevolent Seven is a dark fantasy book and is set in a world loosely based on the Christian mythology of heaven and hell. The world is ruled by the human worshippers of the Lords Celestine the benevolent rulers of the Auroral realms as they prepare for the Grand Crusade; the final confrontation with their enemies the Lords Devilish. The Lords Devilish are the rulers of the Infernal realms, and the two sides have been in conflict for millennia. The problem is that neither side can exist in the mortal realm, so until they can find a battlefield where they are able to do battle they build armies and use humans to help them gain any advantage they can.

When the job with Lucien goes sideways, Cade has nowhere else to run except towards a job that Corrigan has accepted – one that he had just turned down. It’s a suicide mission that requires seven mages to fight seven powerful mages. Cade soon finds that finding a team is easier said than done, as Corrigan leads him on a trip to fill the roster. As they begin to find members for their team and edge closer to their destination, revelations come to light that and Cade starts to realise that not everything as it seems.

De Castell has written a book that is dark and gritty with brutal honesty and humour mixed in. This is one that you will want to check content warnings for before reading. Bringing his skill for evocative storytelling and characters with layered backstories, this is de Castell without any restraints and writing complete chaos. It was a pleasure to read the wild and tempestuous Corrigan who at times felt like an immature teenager and other times was terrifying. There’s a rat mage who is both annoying and yet impossibly charming, with fascinating magic. Other characters I do not want to mention due to spoilers, but they are also fabulously interesting and captivating.

As for Cade himself, his backstory is brilliant. While The Malevolent Seven is very different to the Spellslinger series, I see similarities between Cade and Kel. Both of them are outsiders who do what they have to do to survive in a world that doesn’t want them to. They also very much have this attitude of “can you please just go away and leave me alone?” and the world doesn’t want to. There’s also an animal character, as seen on the cover, who while not quite squirrel cat material will worm his way into your hearts nonetheless.

The Malevolent Seven is not going to be a book for everyone. It’s a book about anti-heroes, and it’s description as being a fantasy Deadpool is right on the money. It’s being compared to Terry Pratchett, but having only read one book I can’t answer that. I can say that if you read The Maleficent Seven by Cameron Johnson then you will probably also love this.

I was actually severely disappointed in this one.

It felt like the author took 90% of what makes his books unique and discarded it.

Gone were the great characters you felt instant connection to and instead they were replaced with a cardboard cutout of decent character work.

There were some random dark bits thrown here and there as if to show how dark the world was while the main character repeatedly stated he isn't one of the good guys only to go and be one of the good guys

Cade is a magical mercenary with a mysterious past and a surprising amount of conscience for his chosen career. Don't mistake him for the good guy, though. It's hard to keep both your morals and life in a world that is being fought over by two opposing forces, one openly evil and one pretending to be good.

Let's talk about world-building first. In the beginning, there is a lot to grasp as we are bombarded with the workings of the magic system and the structure of the world. In short, the wizards of this world are able to connect to one other plane of existence and bring forth part of that plane's reality. Two of these planes belong to this world's spin on angels and demons, who are in a fight with each other, as usual, and humans are their soldiers.
Sebastien de Castell manages to mix familiar concepts with enough originality to pull out something that feels fresh.

Our main character is our guide throughout the world. I don't always enjoy the main character that talks to the reader as it can come off a bit cringy, but this time it was handled well. The story is also infused with a substantial amount of comedy, if of a somewhat dark kind.

Cade is an interesting morally grey character. A guy that does what needs to be done despite his conscience. This is especially put to shine when the whole ragtag group of characters comes together, as there is a whole spectrum of moralities in the group. Somehow they still manage to work together, if grudgingly. Needless to say that each character also has their own special ability to add to the mix.

The story was really interesting, but a bit chaotic. I love me some twists and turns but I also like to look back and see the signs and here there was very little that would be satisfying in retrospect. I know that some parts had to be done like that, so I don't blame the author for it. Although It did somewhat lower my enjoyment.

All in all, this book was a satisfying ride. The end settled the main storyline of this book, but there is definitely more left to tell, so I am pretty sure we are getting a sequel.

I received an ARC for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Cade Ombra is not a good guy. He’s a bad guy surrounded by other bad people doing bad things. There’s no benevolent wizards here. Every ounce of magic in this world is somehow leveraged for power or money, and Cade is definitely rooting for money.

This book is almost comical when it isn’t very grimdark and gruesome. The start was rough for me as I felt wayy too much focus was on desperately trying to convince us that the whole squad was evil, especially Cade.

When violence and demons force Cade on the run from his previous job. He begrudgingly accepts a job with his friend (okay not friend, not hated enemy is a better word) Corrigan. Seven mages to beat Seven Brothers, who had somehow pissed off someone, and the first step for Corrigan and Cade was to find five other mages stupid enough to take a job from a Demon.

Found family will always be my favourite trope, though the absolutely spiteful wit that bounced between this lot added a slight hilarity to it all. I loved the magic system in this book. It was super unique and honestly just fun to read about. I didn’t expect to enjoy this book as much as I did, especially from the rough beginning, but I was hooked once I learned more.

⚠️trigger warning ⚠️
Sexual assault and child abuse were mentioned a disturbing amount of times (especially at the beginning of the book) when imo it didn’t affect the story or plot in anyway. It felt like a preteen trying to convince you that they are tough by just saying awful things.

This was a really enjoyable read, which I would definitely recommend checking out. The characters were all unique and well written, the world was an interesting one and the writing was good. If you've read any of Sebastien de Castell's other works, I think you'd enjoy this one too.

So i haven't read any of Sebastiens adult work, but this is very much in a similar vein to the Spellslinger series with the MC aware of the reader and telling that reader how bad plan A was and they should've gone home and lives in ignorant bliss instead. And I kind of wish I had the audiobook because I know how well Jamesons narrative works with sarcky humour and this has tons of it.
Imagine guardians of the galaxy 1 except instead of little loveable assholes they're massive arseholes and some outright demons! So our MC and his friend go on a quest that requires 7 people so they need another 5? Picking up characters who want to kill them and a dog along the way. The humour doesn't stop for a single second so if straight up fantasy is something you want, don't read this.

As many of you know, I absolutely adore Sebastien’s books, and this was no different. It did take me a little while to get into, as you jump in at the deep end with some action and Cade is, as he says, not the good guy. But he’s also quick to like and the action is great at highlighting that really he’s doing the best he can with what he’s got. He’s so different to both Falcio and Kellen, but still using quick wit and humour to get by, and feels like a character I will continue to adore in future books.

I love the world and magic system here, it’s mildly messed up and therefore perfect for a book like this, where everything that can go wrong for our characters does. I did predict a couple of little things, but that may be

While I read an e-ARC of this, I am planning to listen to it soon too, because I am so excited to hear what Joe makes of these characters, I already know it will add to the experience.

I also laughed so hard at the acknowledgements! Contrary to what Sebastien thinks of most of us, I actually do like reading the acknowledgements of a book but I found it brilliant that he combined it so well with his magic system 😂

Can’t wait for the next instalment! 4.5 stars

Sebastien de Castell is as good as ever, Very witty and very sharp, as you would expect from a work of his. But it is not just humour. The Malevolent Seven has far more depth than that. Humour is used to explore and expand on our characters, looking at their virtues and vices (many of the latter).

This is a book that just has it all. Fantastic leading characters, a really interesting plot, efficient prose and a completely unique world full of orders and demons and naturally, some Rat Mages as well. What more could you ask for?

I first became a fan of Sebastien de Castell with his wonderful Spellslinger books and although I knew he'd written more adult fantasy book I hadn't read any of them until now with The Malevolent Seven, and what a joy I found within its pages.

It's a quirky stand-alone book that challenges the issues relating to what is good and what is bad, are the titular seven the villains or are they actually they heroes? All the time the book questions the readers vision of what they consider a wizard or mage to be. The book mainly focuses around Cade, a 'mercenary wonderist', a man with a huge secret eating away at him that could easily destroy his reputation and his very life.

This book is fantasy at it's best, the worldbuilding is really great and the characters are wonderfully flawed. I will definitely be venturing further into this authors obviously terrific works of fantasy fiction. Bring on the next series........

“Real mages don’t wear funny hats.”
And in that first line, I knew I was going to love this book.

Cade is not one of the good guys. He’s very clear about that. War mages… well, they don’t tend to be.
Working for whoever pays the most doesn’t lend itself to moral outrage, after all.
Cade used to be one of the good guys, until he realised they’re actually… not so good. So now he’s on the run from a religious organisation, and his friend has volunteered him for *literally the worst job* they’ve ever been offered.
Honestly. What’s a mage to do?

I loved Cade as a character. He was fabulously flawed and jaded, trying to plod along at his acceptable level of morality.
Subjugating an entire population for money? Fine. Killing them after they’ve surrendered? Now I need to kill the guy who hired us, dammit.
Along with the band of misfits they collect along the way - I am a sucker for a band of misfits! - it had a very DnD-esque feel to it.

The magic system was equally wonderful. I loved all the different sources of Magic and the ways that this impacted not only the spells produced, but also the time and preparation required to cast those spells.

Fast paced, witty, and sarcastic, I thoroughly enjoyed The Malevolent Seven and will read more in the series if it continues.

The Malevolent Seven by Sebastian de Castell 

Thanks to Net Galley and Quercus Books for a digital ARC copy in return for an honest review.

I saw the blurb for this book and having read the author’s first series the Greatcoats which I thoroughly enjoyed I knew I wanted to read this book.

Cade Ombra is a war mage, a mercenary wonderist who works for the highest bidder. He and his cohorts are not what you would call nice people. After a job goes wrong he is hired along with his closest friend a somewhat enthusiastically aggressive thunder mage to go take down seven mages who are trying to make the world a better place. To do this they need to recruit more wonderists for the mission to take down the good guys.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved de Castell’s writing and the plot kept me properly engaged from the first moment we meet Cade. The plot was well paced and had a couple of twists I particularly enjoyed.

The characters in this book were a lot of fun. Cade was a great character he’s a good man trying to be a bad man and de Castell writes it so well. I loved the supporting cast of characters from a rat mage to demons but the chaotic thunder mage Corrigan Blight was a big hit for me, there is a lot of mayhem to live up to with a name like that and he does. 

I enjoyed the world building in the book and learning about the world and the different factions. The magic system was really interesting with mages being attuned to different planes for different magic. 

Overall I really enjoyed the Malevolent Seven and would recommend it to any fans of Sebastien de Castell and just fantasy in general

I honestly struggled a lot with this, and nobody is more surprised than me that it's still getting 3 stars, considering how close I was to a DNF at about 50% in. But something managed to spark my interest at that point, and even though I can't say that lasted very long, I guess I was entertained enough to finish it after all.

The synopsis gives you a good indication of the tone of the entire book. It's written in first person POV, but in a way that feels directed at the reader. I've come to the conclusion that I don't tend to enjoy this writing style, but this is very much personal preference and doesn't say anything about the quality of the writing itself, which was fine. I can't say that the synopsis is misleading, but I wasn't expecting certain parts of this to be dragged out as much as they were. As a result, most of the actual plot and action happens in the last 25%, and the entire book feels more like a setup for a series than a story that can stand on its own.

Our main character is Cade Ombra, and lest you be confused about what kind of person he is, he makes sure to remind you 438975398467 times that he's a bad guy, terrible, really, truly, the worst, the human equivalent of a trash bag. This book really goes for the "there are no good guys" angle, which I do enjoy on occasion, but I have to wonder why authors always head to specific themes to let us know someone is horrible. Out of the seven characters that end up forming this group of elite warriors, three of them were forced into prostitution before the start of the story (2 of them were underage, and 2 were also women). If there's one thing I wish (male) fantasy authors would stop including, it's this.

I did like the way magic works in this world, which is basically by pulling a different world's reality briefly into the current one to make use of their laws of nature. There were a couple of interesting plot twists, which is really the only reason I kept going. I don't know if this is meant to be a series or not, but if it is, I don't think it's one I'll be continuing.

I adored this so much. Cade was a really interesting character and I really liked that they were all morally grey characters. Cade definitely had the sort of characteristics I have come to expect from Sebastien and he never lets me down. I adore his writing style so much. Cannot wait for more :)

This is a difficult one for me to review. I’m giving it five stars because it’s well-written and could be a lot of fun for some readers, but I personally didn’t enjoy it. The characters were great, the story worked, but it just wasn’t for me. I can easily see it becoming someone’s favourite book, though. There was something quite cinematic about it — it would probably make a good film!

“In case I hadn’t made this clear already, we’re not exactly the good guys. But don’t worry – by the end of this story, me, Corrigan and the five other wonderists who would come to be known as the Malevolent Seven would definitely be getting what was coming to us.”

My thanks to Quercus Books Jo Fletcher Books for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Malevolent Seven’ by Sebastien de Castell.

This fantasy romp is told by Cade Ombra, who is currently making his living as mercenary wonderist (mage). He used to have a more noble title but parted ways after learning that the people he worked for weren’t as noble as he had believed. Now he’s on the run. His only friend, a thunder mage, has invited him to join on a mission against the seven deadliest and most powerful mages on the continent. To do so they have to recruit some very bad people to help them …

This is my first experience of Sebastien de Castell’s writing though I had often seen the distinctive covers of his Spellsinger series. While I wasn’t quite sure what to expect I was quickly swept up in the story and impressed by his world-building. I enjoyed Cade Ombra’s tongue-in-cheek storytelling. There was plenty of action alongside the quips.

Sebastien de Castell concludes the book with a blended Acknowledgements where he combines a detailed listing of his book’s magical system with the more traditional thanks to the people who helped him bring the book to publication.

Overall, ‘The Malevolent Seven’ proved an enjoyable fantasy romp. While not listed as being the start of a series, the ending seems to allow for the possibility of a sequel. Whether or not that materialises, I am certainly interested in reading more of Sebastien de Castell’s books.

The Malevolent Seven has a heck of a blurb:

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

This book has so many of the ingredients that make up an addictive magical adventure. As its name suggests, there are definite elements of a western meets dark fantasy. Band of misfits with complimentary and deadly skills? Check. A healthy heaping of humour? Check. A deadly mission with a showdown they almost certainly won’t survive? Triple check.

So why haven’t I given the Seven 5 stars? Maybe it’s the mood I was in when I started reading or maybe the esoteric planes just didn’t align, as at first I found the ‘heroes’ just a little *too* anti-hero. I also wasn’t hugely enamoured with how the female characters were written overall. However, I’m glad I persevered a little more, as the second half of this book was hugely enjoyable and I really warmed to Cade, our main character. I’d love to read a sequel and find out what’s in store for them next!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this arc from NetGalley in return for an honest review.