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bookwormjls's review
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Violence, and Gore
gatorademachinegun's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Is is possible for a book about 7 vicious backstabbing villains set against a gore splashed background to be a comfort read?
Because this book is a comfort read for me. The action, the dashes of heartwarming humanity, the dry humor, and the unique takes on classics monsters like vampires and war gods keeps me coming back every time I hit a dry spell with my reading.
5 star book
With the narration of the audiobook by George Weightman an absolutely amazing. Each voice is unique withMaven’s Grandfathers voice being especially haunting
Because this book is a comfort read for me. The action, the dashes of heartwarming humanity, the dry humor, and the unique takes on classics monsters like vampires and war gods keeps me coming back every time I hit a dry spell with my reading.
5 star book
With the narration of the audiobook by George Weightman an absolutely amazing. Each voice is unique with
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Death, Violence, and Gore
Moderate: Vomit, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Medical content, Body horror, and Excrement
Minor: Forced institutionalization, Child abuse, and Suicide attempt
sws004's review
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The village of Tannabroke has a problem. The fanatical armies of the Lucent Empire are converging on them to conquer and convert. Thankfully brave heroes are here to protect them, including a fiendish vampire, a scheming necromancer, and a drunken demigod...wait, what? As the title suggests, The Maleficent Seven is a take on the Seven Samurai/Magnificent Seven style of story with the characters, in this case, being archetypical fantasy villains. Forty years ago, demonologist Black Herran led her armies to nearly conquer the continent of Essoran before mysteriously abandoning her troops on the eve of ultimate victory. When Herran returns to recruit her six most fearsome captains to protect her adopted home of Tannabroke, they are, unsurprisingly, not happy to see her. Can Herran keep her bickering and insane former comrades in line long enough to stop a force even worse than themselves? Doubtful. Will they provide fun adventure along the way? For me they did.
Although the concept of the bad guys taking down an even worse bad guy isn't an original one, it still feels novel enough for epic fantasy. Johnston doesn't shy away from truly showing the seven as villains. These are monstrous people, and the story never, with the possible exception of Tiarnach (the demigod), softens or tries to show them as too sympathetic. Instead, the story embraces creativity and carnage as the seven unleash all the horrors you would expect of bad guys in epic fantasy. Chemical warfare, zombie attacks, and summoned demons compete against holy magic in battles that gave me the giddy feeling of smashing action figures against each other. The seven could easily be considered "overpowered" characters, but Johnston strikes a fine balance between giving them faceless enemies to butcher and more powerful foes. The divinely powered inquisitors and their leader, the Falcon Prince, provide a significant challenge and lead to some of the book's most memorable action scenes.
Character-wise, the seven are more memorable than they are deep, with the emphasis on action overtaking character development. Black Herran in particular, feels underdeveloped. Despite supposedly being the main character, she often feels like side peace to the rest of the seven. She frankly doesn't have a lot to do until the epilogue. The rest of the seven get the bulk of the action and emotional moments throughout the battle, and Maeven (the necromancer) does most of the heavy lifting plot-wise. While Herran's ultimate plans are foreshadowed early in the book, having a character get a "Just as planned." through actions that largely occur off-page and are only hinted at feels lazy.
That aside, I feel like Johnston does a great job playing to the book's strengths. Worldbuilding is conveyed smoothly and through demonstrations of the character's abilities (the way Johnston portrays vampires is especially unique). The story is very efficient in setting up the seven, never getting bogged down with long scenes of traveling or exposition, getting right to the action.
The Maleficent Seven is hands down one of the best times I had reading last year. It's pure entertainment without any of the unnecessary padding of more traditional epic fantasies. Fans of grimdark (but with a sense of fun) and well-constructed action should give it a look.
4/5
Although the concept of the bad guys taking down an even worse bad guy isn't an original one, it still feels novel enough for epic fantasy. Johnston doesn't shy away from truly showing the seven as villains. These are monstrous people, and the story never, with the possible exception of Tiarnach (the demigod), softens or tries to show them as too sympathetic. Instead, the story embraces creativity and carnage as the seven unleash all the horrors you would expect of bad guys in epic fantasy. Chemical warfare, zombie attacks, and summoned demons compete against holy magic in battles that gave me the giddy feeling of smashing action figures against each other. The seven could easily be considered "overpowered" characters, but Johnston strikes a fine balance between giving them faceless enemies to butcher and more powerful foes. The divinely powered inquisitors and their leader, the Falcon Prince, provide a significant challenge and lead to some of the book's most memorable action scenes.
Character-wise, the seven are more memorable than they are deep, with the emphasis on action overtaking character development. Black Herran in particular, feels underdeveloped. Despite supposedly being the main character, she often feels like side peace to the rest of the seven. She frankly doesn't have a lot to do until the epilogue. The rest of the seven get the bulk of the action and emotional moments throughout the battle, and Maeven (the necromancer) does most of the heavy lifting plot-wise. While Herran's ultimate plans are foreshadowed early in the book, having a character get a "Just as planned." through actions that largely occur off-page and are only hinted at feels lazy.
That aside, I feel like Johnston does a great job playing to the book's strengths. Worldbuilding is conveyed smoothly and through demonstrations of the character's abilities (the way Johnston portrays vampires is especially unique). The story is very efficient in setting up the seven, never getting bogged down with long scenes of traveling or exposition, getting right to the action.
The Maleficent Seven is hands down one of the best times I had reading last year. It's pure entertainment without any of the unnecessary padding of more traditional epic fantasies. Fans of grimdark (but with a sense of fun) and well-constructed action should give it a look.
4/5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Torture, Violence, Gore, War, and Blood
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Religious bigotry
cassilynn's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, War, and Violence
Moderate: Genocide, Gore, War, and Violence
Minor: Child death, Genocide, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Religious bigotry, Slavery, and Torture
bookswithjk's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
This book is more of a Kings of the Wyld crossed with Suicide Squad, as other reviewers have said, with villains reuniting instead of heroes. I would have preferred the Falcon Prince's identity, along with the demonologist's reason of abandoning her army on the eve of victory, to remain a secret until the very end, but the final twist of Grace's location was satisfying enough. Overall, this was a good story with a slow beginning that slowly picks up speed towards the end of Act 2.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, Gore, and Religious bigotry
meltingpages's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
fast-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Torture, War, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore
intotheheartwyld's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
fast-paced
5.0
He Failed.
Time and time again he failed until it broke him. He gave up trying as the Lucent Queendom became a rising Empire with the Falcon Prince as it’s head.
Twenty years of failure – it couldn’t help but change a man…
Thank you Netgalley and Angry Robot for providing me with an early copy in exchange for an honest review!
Oh boy where to begin.
Where.
to.
begin.
The Maleficent Seven was wild, compelling, gross, and a journey like no other. I laughed, shed a tear or two and even cried out "wow that's gross". Johnston created a high action, fast moving tale that just kept me begging for more. This is the read I needed after two not so great reads in a row.
The Maleficent Seven follows the point of views from the villains who are going after the "good guys" (who are totally insane fyi). We get to see the team come together in the classic "lets go and find everyone and convince them to join in our cause" journey only of course those ways of convincing each other are more on the heinous side of things rather then the do well kind. I absolutely loved this, (I usually do I wont lie) Each character was introduced with just enough background that it made you feel like you had been following them for much longer. Each one had a distinctive voice and I feel being able to successfully pull that off in a short amount of time can be difficult for some authors, but Johnston made it look easy. We get to follow 7 people and a few side characters and each one stood out.
Tiranach was without a doubt my favorite character. I felt so much pain and heartbreak for him, he was the one who kept getting the tears to flow from my eyes. I wasn't full on bawling but I am a sap and this mans story just broke my heart and seeing how he handled it made me hurt even more for him. He had for me the most intriguing background and I was constantly rooting for him and loved every moment he was focused on, I just could not get enough of him.
Lorimer was my second favorite. I don't like vampires, I never have, they bore me with their whole " oh no we can't go into the sunlight" bit, I have always been a werewolf kind of girl. But Johnston said "girl you will fall so hard for this vampire" and I freaking did. Lorimer (from my experience) is not like any other vampire out there. I'm not going to give it away but I really feel like Johnston brought something new to the world of vampires and I would love to see more like this particular one. His abilities, manners, speech and interactions were captivating and hilarious, Just like with Tiranach I wanted more and more of him.
I did not walk away from this book hating anyone, I mean even Penny left her mark and she is a side character. Everyone was captivating in their own way and it made me want to keep meeting more people. All the conversations felt real and not forced (and never gave me second hand embarrassment thank heavens) Johnston really has a way with characters.
The pacing of this story was fast and I mean break neck speed fast. You will find yourself flying trough pages and each page makes the story more compelling. I had a desire and craving to just know what would happen next. I needed to know what happened to Maeven's sister, I needed to know who would win, who would die (and yes lots die). I stayed up till 1:30 am to finish this because I just couldn't put it down. Johnston grabs you and just refuses to let go, and frankly I should have seen that tactic coming as he did the same thing in his debut "The Traitor God". Johnston knows just how much story to dangle in front of you to keep you hooked and obsessively wanting more.
The action is fast, bloody and honestly at times gross, I can handle this so it wasn't an issue for me, but as a warning I will say there are parts with animal torture/death. There are mutilations, and gore everywhere, I mean one of the characters we follow is a necromancer and she does some nasty stuff and it's in some pretty gnarly detail. If you can't handle that kind of stuff than this might not be for you. But if you can than you are in for a treat because the action just comes and feels like it never ends and the final part is just nonstop action.
The story plot its self was captivating, I mean I have only said that a 100 times now. I loved the idea of following a bunch of villains taking on the quest to do one solid act of actual goodness for the world because these "good guys" were not as good as they really thought they where. The only problem I had was that we don't get to see to much from the opposing sides point of view. I would have liked to see a little bit more of that. I feel it would have gave The Falcon Prince that push in really needed in selling how deranged and mad he was. I just kept hoping that at some point I would see the world from his perspective we got one moment of it and after that it was all through the eyes of everyone else we follow.
The story has a solid ending but honestly if Johnston wanted to continue with this world ( I don't know if this is suppose to be the start of new series or a standalone) but I feel he has enough material to work with with how it ended. And frankly speaking, I would buy it in a heartbeat.
So if you are in the mood for villains who hate each other working together and some nasty fights but a lot of laughing (and maybe crying if you’re a sap like me) Then go fourth and read this magnificent tale, you won’t be disappointed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Death, Animal death, Torture, and Violence
storieswithbee's review
adventurous
dark
funny
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
4.5
Genre: adult fiction, epic fantasy, high fantasy, dark fantasy, war, demons, magic, vampire, orc, pirate
Age range: 17+
Overall: 4.5/5
Characters: 5/5
Plot: 5/5
Writing and Setting: 5/5
Content warning: *swearing, extreme gore, violence, use of weapons, alcohol use, binge drinking, death, injury, mental illness: PTSD, Anxiety, Depression, war, sexual themes
The gist of my review:
If you like the writing of Stephen Aryan, diverse, hilarious characters, and a begrudgingly group alliance like in Suicide Squad, then ‘The Maleficent Seven’ by Cameron Johnston is the read you’ve been pining for.
When all the heroes have failed to defeat the tyrannical religious zealot conquering the continent, the fate of the world relies on the anti- heroes of the past.
In ‘The Maleficent Seven’ we see characters from all walks of life, including a god of war, a vampire, a mad alchemist, an demonologist, a necromancer, an orc chieftain, and a pirate queen. They begrudgingly take up arms with one another to save the last standing colony of Tarnbrooke.
I hadn’t expected to like this book as much as I did. Throughout the book we get to experience such great character growth and development, magic, skills, and individual evil plots and ulterior motives behind each character.
The reason as to why I didn’t give it a 5/5 is because there was a few choice curse words from a character that I didn’t necessarily think needed to use them. This character is a naturally crass individual, but I think there is still other words that could have been used in its place.
Other than that, I found this book to be virtually perfect.
Characters: 5/5
There is seven very diverse main characters in this book. This review would be incredibly long if I went in-depth about all of them, so to speak generally, the characters in this book were simply phenomenal.
Each character had their own motives, drives, powers and skills. In the beginning of the book, we realise that all of the MC’s hold a grudge or a drive to kill the others, yet due to a power, strength, magical protection, they all are unable to hurt one another without putting their own safety at risk. I think this creates a very interesting dynamic between each member of the group and only serves to highlight that the group are only working together because they have a mutual interest.
I have nothing but praise for Johnston and how he represented women throughout this book, particularly with Amogg, Verena and Red Penny. Normally in novels centred around medieval times, women aren’t depicted as members of war or shown as fierce combatants, so it was a proud moment when these characters displayed strength and willingness to fight to protect those they love.
Plot: 5/5
The plot was incredibly interesting. The twists and turns kept me on my toes and all the schemes and underlying plots developed into this mass crescendo at the end. There were only a few lulls in the plot but it was expertly written to give the reader a sense of ‘the quiet before the storm’.
Writing and Setting: 5/ 5
We see multiple perspectives throughout the book from each main character. The writing is in third person which allows the reader to experience not just the character’s thoughts but also the surrounding environment and how the character interacts with this space.
Also, was that a lord of the rings reference…?
Without a doubt, the world building must be praised. We see a vast array of kingdoms, races, creatures, towns and locations that were fascinating to read about and is unique to this story and incredibly creative.
This book will definitely be a knockout once it’s released.
Age range: 17+
Overall: 4.5/5
Characters: 5/5
Plot: 5/5
Writing and Setting: 5/5
Content warning: *swearing, extreme gore, violence, use of weapons, alcohol use, binge drinking, death, injury, mental illness: PTSD, Anxiety, Depression, war, sexual themes
The gist of my review:
If you like the writing of Stephen Aryan, diverse, hilarious characters, and a begrudgingly group alliance like in Suicide Squad, then ‘The Maleficent Seven’ by Cameron Johnston is the read you’ve been pining for.
When all the heroes have failed to defeat the tyrannical religious zealot conquering the continent, the fate of the world relies on the anti- heroes of the past.
In ‘The Maleficent Seven’ we see characters from all walks of life, including a god of war, a vampire, a mad alchemist, an demonologist, a necromancer, an orc chieftain, and a pirate queen. They begrudgingly take up arms with one another to save the last standing colony of Tarnbrooke.
I hadn’t expected to like this book as much as I did. Throughout the book we get to experience such great character growth and development, magic, skills, and individual evil plots and ulterior motives behind each character.
The reason as to why I didn’t give it a 5/5 is because there was a few choice curse words from a character that I didn’t necessarily think needed to use them. This character is a naturally crass individual, but I think there is still other words that could have been used in its place.
Other than that, I found this book to be virtually perfect.
Characters: 5/5
There is seven very diverse main characters in this book. This review would be incredibly long if I went in-depth about all of them, so to speak generally, the characters in this book were simply phenomenal.
Each character had their own motives, drives, powers and skills. In the beginning of the book, we realise that all of the MC’s hold a grudge or a drive to kill the others, yet due to a power, strength, magical protection, they all are unable to hurt one another without putting their own safety at risk. I think this creates a very interesting dynamic between each member of the group and only serves to highlight that the group are only working together because they have a mutual interest.
I have nothing but praise for Johnston and how he represented women throughout this book, particularly with Amogg, Verena and Red Penny. Normally in novels centred around medieval times, women aren’t depicted as members of war or shown as fierce combatants, so it was a proud moment when these characters displayed strength and willingness to fight to protect those they love.
Plot: 5/5
The plot was incredibly interesting. The twists and turns kept me on my toes and all the schemes and underlying plots developed into this mass crescendo at the end. There were only a few lulls in the plot but it was expertly written to give the reader a sense of ‘the quiet before the storm’.
Writing and Setting: 5/ 5
We see multiple perspectives throughout the book from each main character. The writing is in third person which allows the reader to experience not just the character’s thoughts but also the surrounding environment and how the character interacts with this space.
Also, was that a lord of the rings reference…?
Without a doubt, the world building must be praised. We see a vast array of kingdoms, races, creatures, towns and locations that were fascinating to read about and is unique to this story and incredibly creative.
This book will definitely be a knockout once it’s released.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Excrement, Genocide, Gore, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Torture, and Vomit
Moderate: Addiction, Deadnaming, Fire/Fire injury, Slavery, and Suicide attempt
the_grimdragon's review
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
4.0
"As she marched through the forest with the might of her clan at her back she felt the stirrings of bloodlust again, the likes of which she had not felt in years. She hoped the strange humans would prove a worthy challenge."
The Maleficent Seven by Cameron Johnston is what happens when the world is all out of heroes, leaving only villains.
Big thanks to the radical folks over at Angry Robot Books for sending me a copy!
Black Herran is a demonologist who, on the brink of victory which would have given her incredible power, abandoned her army some forty years ago.
Now, the battle calls to her once again.
IT'S TIME TO GET THE GANG BACK TOGETHER!!
Along with Black Herran, the group includes a necromancer, pirate queen, vampire, alchemist, a war god & an orc leader. This motley crew doesn't trust one another, sometimes they even plot against each other, but they must come together in order to take down a brutal new enemy.
Blood, banter & battles! SO MANY BATTLES!
The Maleficent Seven is one wickedly entertaining ride! It's stabby, sweary & has a dark sense of humor. Needless to say, I am a fan!
CW: As expected, there is... a lot. Extreme violence, gore, animal torture, mutilations, religion & PTSD. The Maleficent Seven is an adult grimdark fantasy novel about villains. There are no *good* people in this story.
The Maleficent Seven by Cameron Johnston is what happens when the world is all out of heroes, leaving only villains.
Big thanks to the radical folks over at Angry Robot Books for sending me a copy!
Black Herran is a demonologist who, on the brink of victory which would have given her incredible power, abandoned her army some forty years ago.
Now, the battle calls to her once again.
IT'S TIME TO GET THE GANG BACK TOGETHER!!
Along with Black Herran, the group includes a necromancer, pirate queen, vampire, alchemist, a war god & an orc leader. This motley crew doesn't trust one another, sometimes they even plot against each other, but they must come together in order to take down a brutal new enemy.
Blood, banter & battles! SO MANY BATTLES!
The Maleficent Seven is one wickedly entertaining ride! It's stabby, sweary & has a dark sense of humor. Needless to say, I am a fan!
CW: As expected, there is... a lot. Extreme violence, gore, animal torture, mutilations, religion & PTSD. The Maleficent Seven is an adult grimdark fantasy novel about villains. There are no *good* people in this story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Death
Moderate: Alcohol and Mental illness
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