The Malevolent Seven cover art

The Malevolent Seven

"Terry Pratchett meets Deadpool" in this darkly funny fantasy

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About this listen

 'Brilliant and vivid world-building . . . riveting' CHAD STAHLESKI, director of John Wick

'A masterful blend of Sebastien de Castell's unique brand of wry humour, elegant prose, and wonderfully imaginative worldbuilding. I devoured this book and loved every page' NICK EAMES, bestselling author of Kings of the Wylde

From the bestselling author of THE GREATCOATS: seven war mages with dark pasts must come together to fight an unknown enemy - but the stakes are higher than anyone can imagine . . . and someone's setting the seven up for a fall.

Picture a wizard. Go ahead, close your eyes. There he is, see? Skinny old guy with a long straggly beard. The hat's a must, too, right? Big, floppy thing. 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).

Yep. Behold the mighty wizard.

Now open your eyes and let me show you what a real war mage looks like . . . but be warned: 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.

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 . . .

(P) 2023 Quercus Editions Ltd©2023 Sebastien de Castell Action & Adventure Dark Fantasy Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Magic Magic Users Wizardry

Critic Reviews

There is no way you can read this book without a grin on your face
Chaotic energy, clever ideas and characters that stay with you after the final page
Brilliant and vivid world-building . . . riveting
With a contemporary style, relentless pace, and a unique and exciting magic system, The Malevolent Seven is an action-packed adventure that not only questions the true nature of heroes but the very meaning of good and evil
Irreverent, foul-mouthed fun
A dark, comedic and bleak fantasy . . . breakneck and filled with twists and turns
A novel that wears its anti-hero credentials proudly on its sleeve
de Castell doesn't get bogged down in the philosophizing. He lets his characters express the complexity and themes of the book through a propulsive and very fast-paced plot . . . this would make for a perfect summer beach read
If you enjoy fantasy with clever plots, witty dialogue and characters with a keen sense of humour, you should keep The Malevolent Seven on your radar
A march through mayhem. A unique mix of murderous mages, polymorphic angels, cunning demons, found family, and much more . . . one of my favourite books of the year, no question
This is de Castell without any restraints and writing complete chaos. It was a pleasure to read
A great time with bad people. The magic is fun, the cast is funny, and the quest is hopeless. I highly recommend you strap in and watch this diverse cast of rogues fall upward toward their goal with as much cursing and calamity as possible
Suffice to say if you enjoy your characters, magic and world on the darker side, aren't afraid of a little blood and enjoy found families who try to kill each other... this is the book for you
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
This pulled me in from the first moments; it just felt like it was going to be fun - and it was
All stars
Most relevant
An excellent story line by a very good author with distinct abilities to captivate his audience from the very start.

Imagination to its fullest.

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Certain elements could have been fleshed out more, but overall, an enjoyable listen. The narration was fairly solid as well.

Fun listen

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It took a while to get into this. I didn’t feel like I understood what was happening until the 2nd Act. This started picking up and I really enjoyed the end.

However the performance was fantastic. Joe Jameson’s performance was absolutely brilliant with many, many characters being portrayed with distinct characteristics. This OSS worth listening to just for the performance.

Astonishing performance

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A fun silly adventure that keeps you engrossed all the way through. Narrator was incredible, the lack of action was disappointing but the laughs made up for it all the way

The narrator

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not de castells best work but the story is engaging enough and it's easy to finish. I don't think the narrator is right for the story though. made the antagonist seem a bit too depressed to be likeable

not terrible

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