The Malevolent Seven

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this book, but with a title like "The Malevolent Seven", I knew it was going to be fun. Though its got mages and spells and a quest to stop evil other-dimensional beings from taking over the world, it's not your typical epic fantasy nor is it a satire of one. I want to think of it as the story of a magical X-Men, but it's actually more of a magical Suicide Squad. The main character (the whole story is narrated from his point of view) is a mercenary war mage named Cade Ombra. We join him as he is fulfilling his contract to help a particularly nasty ruler defeat his enemies with the help of a small army of mages, including Cade's best friend, Corrigan. When Cade and Corrigan are ordered to brutally slaughter the enemy forces (even after they've surrendered), the duo decide they have had enough and make tracks to pursue another commission, recruiting other wonderists (that's what they call mages in this world) along the way. As expected, things really don't go as expected and the story builds from a couple of self-serving mercenary mages to something with good vs. evil, world-threatening stakes. Nevertheless, none of the characters are snowy white good (even the ones who literally appear to be on the side of the angels -- they call them "aurorals" in this book), and ultimately, it's fun to watch an armageddon of anti-heroes.

De Castell's writing is nice and clever. Cade's attitude is dry and cheeky, and Corrigan is brazen and sarcastic. Even when the situations seem serious enough to deserve a grim tone, our heroes laugh in the face of calamity and danger. There's a scene when Corrigan (who is a thunderist, i.e. fires bolts of lightning magic) runs into another like him, he blasts her unprovoked, claiming justification because of her over-the-top name (Elena Scourge). Everyone then calls hypocrite on him, since his name (Corrigan Blight) is just as bad. The facetious tone is a little bit like something from a Terry Pratchett novel, except it's not quite as ornately clever, mostly tongue-in-cheek. Though the tone can be humourous, the subject matter is still often quite adult and dark. It is probably closer to the Dungeon Crawler Carl series (even though the plots and settings are nothing alike).

My favourite part of this story is the fantasy world-building, specifically the character designs and the variety of magic. Aside from thunderists (who wield “tempestral” magic), Cade is an infernal mage (who trade pieces of their souls to demonic beings for spells). Then almost every other mage is a different type, with different powers, coming from a different realm of magic. These “attunements” have an extremely wide variety: everything from blood magic, to auroral (i.e. angelic), to floronic (who manipulate plants and nature), to rats, bats, keys, knots, torture, to my favourite: cosmists, whose bodies are portals to a cosmic dimension. They look like a starfield, or night sky, in the shape of a person (and apparently like to wear orange striped clothing). Everyone from the main characters to each little side character, whether mage or some other kind, has an interesting profile sheet (this story might make an enjoyable video game now that I think of it). In fact, the characters are all pretty well drawn out for such a short storyline and how much happens. The main focus is on Cade, so we dive a lot deeper into his backstory, but the cast is a wonderful mix and virtually no two characters are alike.

So if you enjoy fantasy but you're interested in something other than your typical Tolkien-inspired epic, and you want to read something that is colourful, clever, facetious, and fun, this book is very much worth your time (and apparently a sequel is coming out soon. So let's get ready for The Malevolent Eight!) (4 out of 5)