Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Jun 2018
432 pages
Genre: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Speculative, Alt. History
Publication Information
Delivered with a generous wink to Sons of Anarchy, featuring sneaky-smart worldbuilding and gobs of fearsomely foul-mouthed charm, The Grey Bastards is a grimy, pulpy, masterpiece - and a raunchy, swaggering, cunningly clever adventure that's like nothing you've read before.
Live in the saddle.
Die on the hog.
Call them outcasts, call them savages - they've been called worse, by their own mothers - but Jackal is proud to be a Grey Bastard.
He and his fellow half-orcs patrol the barren wastes of the Lot Lands, spilling their own damned blood to keep civilized folk safe. A rabble of hard-talking, hog-riding, whore-mongering brawlers they may be, but the Bastards are Jackal's sworn brothers, fighting at his side in a land where there's no room for softness.
And once Jackal's in charge - as soon as he can unseat the Bastards' tyrannical, seemingly unkillable founder - there's a few things they'll do different. Better.
Or at least, that's the plan. Until the fallout from a deadly showdown makes Jackal start investigating the Lot Lands for himself. Soon, he's wondering if his feelings have blinded him to ugly truths about this world, and the Bastards' place in it.
In a quest for answers that takes him from decaying dungeons to the frontlines of an ancient feud, Jackal finds himself battling invading orcs, rampaging centaurs, and grubby human conspiracies alike - along with a host of dark magics so terrifying they'd give even the heartiest Bastard pause.
Finally, Jackal must ride to confront a threat that's lain in wait for generations, even as he wonders whether the Bastards can - or should - survive.
"Starred Review. Terrific and highly original...This is excellent fantasy fare on all levels." - Publishers Weekly
"Starred Review. This is a dirty, blood-soaked gem of a novel. An addictively readable - and undeniably cool - fantasy masterwork." - Kirkus
"A filthy, charismatic and frankly excellent read." - Mark Lawrence, international bestselling author of Prince of Thorns and Red Sister
"The world-building creates exactly the kind of seamless transition that makes fantasy literature compelling, informative, and just plain fun." - R.A. Salvatore, New York Times bestselling author of The Legend of Drizzt
"French flips the fantasy script as the monsters become the good guys, fueling an action-packed, sneakily smart adventure. Half orc and all badass, Jackal is a hero you won't soon forget." - Scott Sigler, New York Times bestselling author of Alive and Infected
"The Grey Bastards dragged me in immediately. A bloody good tale of battles, intrigue, betrayal, duty and frickin' war pigs." - Brian McClellan, author of The Powder Mage trilogy
"A gritty adventure with a fantastic, foul-mouthed voice and filthy, lovable characters in a wonderfully original world." - Django Wexler, author of The Shadow Campaigns series
This information about The Grey Bastards was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Jonathan French lives in Atlanta with his wife and son. He is a devoted reader of comic books, an expert thrower of oddly shaped dice, and a serial con attendee.
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