The Malevolent Eight – Sebastien de Castell
His name meaning “shadow,” former Glorian Justiciar turned mercenary wonderist Cade Ombra is once again caught in the crossfire of an incipient war he is trying to stop along with his fractious band of associates, Corrigan, Gallas, Alice, Shame and Aradeus, cast-outs and rejects all, but with attributes powerful and strange, together with the vampire kangaroo summoned from another dimension by Cade and subsequently adopted by Corrigan and now named Temper collectively known as “the Malevolent Seven.”
Cade manipulated and abandoned by the Lords Celestine to whom he once gallantly pledged himself, they are as convinced of the righteousness of their cause and their inevitable victory in the Great Crusade as the Lords Infernal are of the wrongeousness and equally unquestionable victory of their own, their chosen battleground the mortal realm and the cannon fodder all those who live there, persuaded or pressed into service for one side or the other, a bloody disaster waiting to unfold precipitated by Cade’s own former folly.
A high fantasy novel told from the trenches in a low style by an acerbic but entertaining narrator, Sebastien de Castell sheds his Greatcoats again to pick up the tortured saga of Cade Ombra in The Malevolent Eight, a suitably titled sequel to what was initially implied to be a standalone, though followers of dirty heroic fantasy know that no man ever stands alone, with the closing acknowledgements hinting at, or possibly threatening, a third in the sequence.
For those who have survived the first book, the second opens with a prelude in the form of a handy guide to the divisions and sects and specific areas of prowess of the varied wonderists, as well as the opposing forces of the Auroral and Infernal Hierarchies and their ruling circles, the Lords Celestine and Devilish, written with the caustic dismissal customary to one Cade Ombra, knowledge of their alignments important in understanding the characters.
Infernals easier to negotiate with than the pious Aurorals, morally flexible and willing to compromise rather than defiantly and snidely haughty, neither side will postpone the coming war, provoked by a doomsday cult called, much to Corrigan’s disdain, the Apocalypse Eight, his ire less about the trouble they are causing than that their dark deeds are carried out while wearing matching uniforms, the only aspect of their outfit he will confess to being envious of.
Caught in a crossfire, there is no moral high ground, as if Cade would ever presume to occupy such himself, but there is still the right thing to be done, but beyond those Cade has learned to admit are his friends there are new players, among them the Abomination, a mistake from his former life which he cannot even recall, shrouded in Auroral Haze, the absence no comfort when faced with the consequences of actions absent from his murky memories.
Cade a brilliant strategist but not always a smart man, refusing to walk away even when he knows he cannot win, things get messy fast and continue that way until the final pages, The Malevolent Eight not to be considered a good influence on children but undeniably good company, at least from a safe distance, their fool’s errand of thwarting the angry gods and side quests of Oceans’ Elevensing holy relics told with the gathering momentum and heft of an avalanche.
The Malevolent Eight is available now from Jo Fletcher Books
