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maleficent seven black herran pirate queen lucent empire world building battle scenes dark fantasy favorite character seven samurai town of tarnbrooke forward to reading well written magnificent seven fun read lot of fun third of the book great characters loved this book story and fun great book
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Starscream22
4.0 out of 5 stars "Evil World Building" done right!
Reviewed in the United States on July 22, 2023
Verified Purchase
Each of the "Seven" could have a spinoff of their own. Which I hope will come in the future followed by a sequel to this! There aren't too many 10+ hour audiobooks that I personally read listened to hoping won't end. And this is one of them now. It's crazy when you route for the villain in a story but you're stuck because every main character in it is a sadistic savage. So here's hoping there's more to come!
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it!
Reviewed in the United States on August 25, 2023
Verified Purchase
This book has everything I like, monsters swords magic vampires etc
it's fast paced but coherent and a good story as well. I'm very glad I read it!
WAGS
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Plec
4.0 out of 5 stars Solid Read
Reviewed in the United States on May 7, 2023
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Not the best book I’ve read this year but still very good. Looked forward to reading it and it ended strong!
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Al Green
5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome!
Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2023
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Wish this was one book of a series, really would like to read more of the characters.
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Minxy Melissa Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars A very dark ride that I was immensely satisfied with....
Reviewed in the United States on March 16, 2022
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With the amount of unfettered violence and gore that was a part of this story you would think that it would be vile but, as it turns out, The Maleficent Seven was actually quite amusing. I do love grimdark fantasy but I also have a limit on how much “dark” I want to experience. I was truly amazed that this story never devolved to the point of disgust for me. It should have but, as it turns out, the story was surprisingly quite fun and humorous, albeit very dark in nature.

My feeling is that I enjoyed the story as much as I did because all the characters were nearly equal on the morality scale. Yes, there were moments where the story dipped into places that I would have preferably not gone myself but, honestly, that was rather the fun part of it all. There was no true “good” versus “bad” in this story. It was just a matter of one being worse than the other. Overall, The Maleficent Seven was a cleverly spun tale that gripped my imagination and took it on very a very dark ride that I was immensely satisfied with.
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Nate
2.0 out of 5 stars Interesting idea but I would pass
Reviewed in the United States on November 23, 2021
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This book had some really good ideas. Unfortunately they were executed fairly badly. The characters were all barely more than what they were at face value with little to no character development. There were some glimmers here and there but most were thrown away before they really mattered. As for characters there is one that bothers me. Lorimer. The book says over and over again that he is a vampire but he really isn't. Some sort of monster instead. Sunlight doesn't effect him, nor wood through the heart, and he is several times described as having tentacles. I am all for authors creating their own monsters by why call it a vampire? Is the author not familiar with vampires?

The ending fell pretty hard on its own face because it was on the crux of one character. The villain of the story had untold power that is never explained. He is strong because the plot needs him to be. He apparently derives his power from a god but it turns out to just be an ordinary girl with no explanation how she became this god like figure.

There are some interesting scenes and ideas but the subpar dialogue, plot and characters really undoes that. It was a chore to finish and I'm honestly surprised there is.

Oh and there is ball torture as well. The author needed to make sure you knew they were bad so why not have a man eat one of his own testicles?
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Richard J Lucas
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book...wish I could have given it 6 stars!
Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2023
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I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Very well written, some good plot twists. I'll be looking for more from this author.
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DarthNiRiK
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read for My fantasy fan
Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2022
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With great characters great storylines brutal fights and amazing magic this is a well worth a book for anyone that likes the fantasy genre. Once I started I couldn't put it down.
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Top reviews from other countries

Ziggy Nixon
5.0 out of 5 stars An amazing book of enormous magnitude and richly crafted characters!
Reviewed in France on April 24, 2022
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"The Maleficent Seven" is a nearly perfect book that has left me exhausted and utterly fascinated at the end of each day for the better part of a week! I found it to be amazing in both its sheer magnitude as well as the divine and richly crafted characters that populated the story! Just an exquisitely crafted tale that I really and truly enjoyed.
Reader beware! There is no clear line of morality to be found here as many of the characters we meet are just being true to themselves. After all, Orcs have to Orc, Vampires have to be awesome in every way, Gods of War got to, well, fight wars and so on. And Johnston adds some twists to all these and other beings that are deliciously unique. Really the nastiest of all creatures we happen upon are those humans that think too much of themselves and in particular in those cases where they see a means through which to further strengthen their own power-base through fear-mongering, religious fanaticism and worse. So basically it does fit in rather well with the current reality and political climate found in our own world today!
There is no question this is dark, dark, DARK fantasy filled with horror, gore and all the gooey bits in between with appearances even by some of your most vivid nightmares along the way. This is certainly not a tale for the squeamish, that much is clear! But it was still fun as any blood-soaked, death-filled saga could be! And throughout I found Cameron Johnston's style to be extremely entertaining and his diction to be more than pleasing. And his characters and the multiple POV's are handled with aplomb, from getting to know, for example, what it feels like to be a god (small G) that has lost all his followers to being an almost omnipotent demonologist balancing promises made with hell's most loathsome demons against the desire to protect her own, gasp, loved ones! It's an action-packed fantasy Smörgåsbord to be sure!
Good stuff fans, a must read! I can't wait to read my copy again some day!
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Sandy Wilson
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Reviewed in Australia on June 26, 2023
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By far the best book by this author. If you like stories with heaps of magical and battle action and a bit of humour mixed in, try this book. The story has a nice little twist at the end too.
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Alex Stargazer
5.0 out of 5 stars At last, the villains get a story for them
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 21, 2023
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This was the best book of 2022 for me. In fact, it’s up there in the top ten books with works such as Paolini’s Inheritance, Canavan’s Magician, Narnia, and Northern Lights as companions (or at least the top 20). But why did I enjoy this book so much? Partly, it’s because I’m bored of valiant heroes fighting against Dark Lords. It’s a trope that’s overdone in fantasy. Likewise, I’m kind of bored by the anti-hero, who has himself become kind of cliché at this point (not to mention that some anti-heroes are rather dull). The Maleficent Seven is a book in which the *villains* finally get some time in the limelight. And these are not boring, one-dimensional villains, either: they have complex, human motivations, and some of them even redeem themselves. Nor does this book make the mistake of treating the villains as being the same. Some villains are much worse than others.

The plot is brilliant. Somehow, the author manages to always keep the reader hanging on the edge of their seat, even through the “slow bits”. When there isn’t a fight scene—and the fight scenes are very well-written; you can see exactly what is going on—the events are clearly building up to something. This author doesn’t waste pages with pointless exposition, meandering plot lines and irrelevant subplots.

The worldbuilding is okay. It’s definitely not a book that tries to create a novel setting; this is generic, medieval fantasy at its finest. That said, I found Maeven’s necromancy and Black Herran’s demonology to be interesting magic systems, with great potential that could be developed in a sequel. Likewise, the lore surrounding gods and how they are created is definitely intriguing. The take on vampires is good too: these are not dainty, blood-sipping nosferatus, but cannibalistic monsters with near unstoppable regeneration abilities. Yet, somehow, the vampire lord known as Lorimer is not a mindless caricature, but an honourable man who values loyalty to his people.

The character of the evil alchemist, Jerak Hyden, is perhaps the most disturbing, in that he is all too real. He feels like a Joseph Mengele or a Unit 731 brought to life in fantasy. As for Maeven, she’s a great secondary antagonist. But perhaps the most evil character in the book is Amadden, the Falcon Prince himself. He may not be as twisted as Jerak Hyden, a necrophiliac like Maeven, or monstrous like Lorimer, but he’s a fanatic with the power of a God and an empire’s might behind him. He is effective as an antagonist because we all know what religious fanatics are capable of in real-life, like Ayatollah Khomeini.

Finally, there’s Black Herran herself. She’s sent thousands to a fate worse than death. And yet… Black Herran is a classic case of kill a few to save the many. Better to condemn a few thousand to Hellwrath than let hundreds of thousands suffer under tyranny. She’s also a great example of how a character can slowly change, developing a conscience and remorse.

All in all, this was a hugely entertaining, imaginative book. A few minor typos did not spoil the experience.
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Kindle Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Middle dragged but overall a good read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 16, 2023
Verified Purchase
Overall pretty good, starts well and ends well but slightly stodgy in the middle. Still an enjoyable read and would give 3.5 if able to.
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Lana @ Lore & Lullabies
4.0 out of 5 stars A Fun Grimdark Romp
Reviewed in Australia on April 14, 2023
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This was a humorous grimdark...wait is that a thing? Well, it is now.

This was a fun frolic through a last stand battle with the worst monsters, and even though they were each deplorable, Johnston did a great job making you root for them.

A demonologist, a necromancer, a vampire, alchemist, a pirate queen, an Orc, and a once upon a time God of war. The chemistry of hatred for each other was brilliantly done with such finesse. There were characters I rooted for more than others, and a couple of peasants that made it interesting and fun and added that extra layer.

Everyone has their own reasons for being there and watching plans hatch and come apart was one of the things that delighted me most.

I don't recommend this to people who don't like grimdark, as it is dark despite the humour and antics. But for those that do, it is a quick and easy read and a shade lighter than the normal dark and gloom.
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