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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
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
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