The Maleficent Seven

By: Cameron Johnston

Narrated by: George Weightman

When you are all out of heroes, all that's left are the villains.

Black Herran was a dread demonologist, and the most ruthless general in all Essoran. She assembled the six most fearsome warriors to captain her armies: a necromancer, a vampire lord, a demigod, an orcish warleader, a pirate queen, and a twisted alchemist. Together, they brought the whole continent to its knees.... Until the day she abandoned her army, on the eve of total victory.

Forty years later, she must bring her former captains back together for one final stand, in the small town of Tarnbrooke - the last bastion against a fanatical new enemy tearing through the land, intent on finishing the job Black Herran started years before.

Seven bloodthirsty monsters. One town. Their last hope.

©2021 Cameron Johnston (P)2021 Angry Robot

Fun

Enjoyed this story more than I thought I would. It reminded me of Kings of the Wyld, though I wouldn’t claim nearly on par, with its dark humor and array of characters.

Suicide Squad meets Joe Ambercrombie

40 years after The Black Harren abandons her army on the eve of battle, a new evil arises that only the six villainous captains she spurned have a hope of defeating.

This is Suicide Squad meets Joe Ambercrombie. The first 25% is recruitment of the six and the last 75% is war. It’s very plot driven so if you’re looking for a deep character dive you won’t find that here but if you like grim dark/war fantasy I think you’ll absolutely love this. It’s fast paced, exciting, unique, darkly humorous and has all the morally grey/villainous characters you could ask for. Side note: The narrator is fabulous, every voice is very distinct, if you like audiobooks.

⚠️ adult content note: heavy violence and language, no sexual content

Good Listen

Narrator did great. Parts of the story were predictable but overall an enjoyable listen. Grew attached to many of the anti-hero characters.

Really enjoyable, absolutely violent

I love the dark violence of this book. The magic is fun and i enjoyed all the different characters and backstories in this book!

Do yourself a favor and get this!

Great VA work that kept the different characters separate. Great writing. One of my top 20 all time favorite books.