Description

‘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 . . .

Readers love The Malevolent Seven!
‘I absolutely loved this book. Immediately engaging characters and great world building – the story runs along at a breakneck pace and is gripping from start to finish’ reader review

‘Sassy and humourous . . . Sebastien makes characters that make you feel like you know them’ reader review

‘Really inventive and satisfying fun fantasy’ reader review

‘I honestly had so much fun reading this . . . easily one of my favorite reads of the year’ reader review

‘Well-written, intriguing, and highly entertaining!’ reader review

‘Never felt so good routing for the bad guys’ reader review

Publisher Review

I love the Greatcoats novels . . . rare examples of books that are fantastic from the first sentence to the last. Combining old-school swashbuckling action with contemporary character and a good dose of grit, these books are the rarest of things, great rollicking fun combined with an emotional punch. I cared about the characters, I laughed out loud at the banter and camaraderie, I HATED the bad guys and girls! Sebastien, write faster! * JOHN GWYNNE, award-winning author of THE FAITHFUL AND THE FALLEN series * These books are just joyous. This is first-rate fiction, first rate adventure, first rate full stop * CONN IGGULDEN, bestselling author of THE GOLDEN AGE series * Guaranteed to increase household swashbuckling by 100% * LIBRARY JOURNAL on TRAITOR'S BLADE * Sebastien de Castell is a rare talent, one of the most gifted storytellers to emerge in recent years . . . The Greatcoats now sits in a place of honour on my bookshelf as one of my favourite fantasy series of all time * BIBLIOSANCTUM on THE GREATCOATS * If I could recommend one series from the last five years that I hold up as the most action-packed and emotionally riveting, I would be hard-pressed to look past Sebastien de Castell's The Greatcoats * FANTASY BOOK REVIEW on on THE GREATCOATS * I've rarely enjoyed swordplay and fight scenes in a book as much as I enjoyed these. I got the action, I got the intrigue, I even got a pretty impressive monster out of the deal (sort of). Join the Greatcoats? Hell yes * OVER THE EFFING RAINBOW * The Greatcoats is now up there on my list of favourite fantasy series * BIBLIOSANCTUM on THE GREATCOATS * Ambitious, twisty fantasy series * CIVILIAN READER * Excellent, page-turnery reading * BLUE BOOK BALLOON on SPELLSLINGER * The Malevolent Seven is 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 *