The Malevolent Seven by Sebastien de Castell is a dark fantasy novel about antiheroes who hilariously are put in a position to save the mortal realm. Let’s get this out of the way: if you don’t take this novel too seriously, you’ll have a fun time. They weren’t kidding when it got compared to Dead Pool. I got the impression that making fun of the traditional wizards would be a norm in this story, but other than a few opening pages, there was not much afterward. What we do get is a band of unique magic users that somehow got tasked with saving their world by getting pulled from both sides.

“No such thing as luck. Just angels and demons putting their thumbs on the scale.”

Cade Ombra

The magic system and world building was nicely done. This is my first novel from this author and so I never know what to expect. The explanation of how wunderists were attuned to different planes of existence to draw on their powers made a lot of sense, and one of the better ones I’ve read in a while. The pacing of the story moved quickly, and the troops were never really stuck in one place for too long, nor did their dialogue got hung up on the unnecessary. In addition, the length of the novel was just perfect for what I’d call a quick and fun read.

You know you’ve screwed up your life when a demon starts referring to you as ‘fallen one’.

Cade Ombra

Not sure if this is a start of a new series or not, but the Malevolent Seven could be considered a one and done if need be. I’ll be sure to keep my eyes open if a new one does drop, just for the quick laughs and action sequences.