The Malevolent Seven

'Brilliant and vivid world-building . . . riveting' CHAD STAHLESKI, director of John Wick

'A masterful blend of Sebastien de Castell's unique brand of wry humour, elegant prose, and wonderfully imaginative worldbuilding. I devoured this book and loved every page' NICK EAMES, bestselling author of Kings of the Wylde

From the bestselling author of THE GREATCOATS: seven war mages with dark pasts must come together to fight an unknown enemy - but the stakes are higher than anyone can imagine . . . and someone's setting the seven up for a fall.

Picture a wizard. Go ahead, close your eyes. There he is, see? Skinny old guy with a long straggly beard. The hat's a must, too, right? Big, floppy thing. Wouldn't want a simple steel helmet or something that might, you know, protect the part of him most needed for conjuring magical forces from being bashed in with a mace (or pretty much any household object).

Yep. Behold the mighty wizard.

Now open your eyes and let me show you what a real war mage looks like . . . but be warned: you're probably not going to like it, because we're violent, angry, dangerously broken people who sell our skills to the highest bidder and be damned to any moral or ethical considerations.

My name is Cade Ombra, and though I currently make my living as a mercenary wonderist, I used to have a far more noble-sounding job title - until I discovered the people I worked for weren't quite as noble as I'd believed. Now I'm on the run and my only friend, a homicidal thunder mage, has invited me to join him on a suicide mission against the seven deadliest mages on the continent.

Time to recruit some very bad people to help us on this job . . .

Readers love The Malevolent Seven!

'I absolutely loved this book. Immediately engaging characters and great world building - the story runs along at a breakneck pace and is gripping from start to finish' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ reader review

'Sassy and humourous . . . Sebastien makes characters that make you feel like you know them' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ reader review

'Really inventive and satisfying fun fantasy' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ reader review

'I honestly had so much fun reading this . . . easily one of my favorite reads of the year' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ reader review

'Well-written, intriguing, and highly entertaining!' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ reader review

'Never felt so good routing for the bad guys' ⭐&a

“The Malevolent Seven is a masterful blend of Sebastien de Castell's unique brand of wry humour, elegant prose, and wonderfully imaginative worldbuilding . I devoured this book and loved every page - NICK EAMES, bestselling author of KINGS OF THE WYLDE I love the Greatcoats novels . . . rare examples of books that are fantastic from the first sentence to the last. Combining old-school swashbuckling action with contemporary character and a good dose of grit , these books are the rarest of things , great rollicking fun combined with an emotional punch . I cared about the characters, I laughed out loud at the banter and camaraderie, I HATED the bad guys and girls! Sebastien, write faster! - JOHN GWYNNE, award-winning author of THE FAITHFUL AND THE FALLEN seriesThese books are just joyous . This is first-rate fiction, first rate adventure, first rate full stop - CONN IGGULDEN, bestselling author of THE GOLDEN AGE seriesGuaranteed to increase household swashbuckling by 100% - LIBRARY JOURNAL on TRAITOR S BLADESebastien de Castell is a rare talent , one of the most gifted storytellers to emerge in recent years . . . The Greatcoats now sits in a place of honour on my bookshelf as one of my favourite fantasy series of all time - BIBLIOSANCTUM on THE GREATCOATSIf I could recommend one series from the last five years that I hold up as the most action-packed and emotionally riveting , I would be hard-pressed to look past Sebastien de Castell's The Greatcoats - FANTASY BOOK REVIEW on on THE GREATCOATSI've rarely enjoyed swordplay and fight scenes in a book as much as I enjoyed these. I got the action, I got the intrigue, I even got a pretty impressive monster out of the deal (sort of). Join the Greatcoats? Hell yes - OVER THE EFFING RAINBOWThe Greatcoats is now up there on my list of favourite fantasy series - BIBLIOSANCTUM on THE GREATCOATS”

There is no way you can read this book without a grin on your face Financial Times
Chaotic energy, clever ideas and characters that stay with you after the final page SFX
Brilliant and vivid world-building . . . riveting Chad Stahelski, director of John Wick
With a contemporary style, relentless pace, and a unique and exciting magic system, The Malevolent Seven is an action-packed adventure that not only questions the true nature of heroes but the very meaning of good and evil Michael J. Sullivan
Irreverent, foul-mouthed fun Track of Words
A dark, comedic and bleak fantasy . . . breakneck and filled with twists and turns Grimdark Magazine
A novel that wears its anti-hero credentials proudly on its sleeve Geek Dad
de Castell doesn't get bogged down in the philosophizing. He lets his characters express the complexity and themes of the book through a propulsive and very fast-paced plot . . . this would make for a perfect summer beach read The Fantasy Review

If you enjoy fantasy with clever plots, witty dialogue and characters with a keen sense of humour, you should keep The Malevolent Seven on your radar

Bibliosanctum
A march through mayhem. A unique mix of murderous mages, polymorphic angels, cunning demons, found family, and much more . . . one of my favourite books of the year, no question FanFiAddict
This is de Castell without any restraints and writing complete chaos. It was a pleasure to read Just Geeking By
A great time with bad people. The magic is fun, the cast is funny, and the quest is hopeless. I highly recommend you strap in and watch this diverse cast of rogues fall upward toward their goal with as much cursing and calamity as possible The Quill to Live
Suffice to say if you enjoy your characters, magic and world on the darker side, aren't afraid of a little blood and enjoy found families who try to kill each other... this is the book for you Becky's Book Blog
Full to the brim with magic, mayhem and danger. If you're looking for a book that will keep you guessing and keep you hooked right to the very last page, this one should definitely be on your wishlist The Bibliophile Chronicles
This pulled me in from the first moments; it just felt like it was going to be fun - and it was British Science Fiction Association

Sebastien de Castell had just finished a degree in Archaeology when he started work on his first dig. Four hours later he realised how much he actually hated archaeology and left to pursue a very focused career as a musician, ombudsman, interaction designer, fight choreographer, teacher, project manager, actor and product strategist. His only defence against the charge of unbridled dilettantism is that he genuinely likes doing these things and that, in one way or another, each of these fields plays a role in his writing. He sternly resists the accusation of being a Renaissance Man in the hopes that more people will label him that way.

Sebastien's acclaimed swashbuckling fantasy series The Greatcoats was shortlisted for the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Fantasy. the Gemmell Morningstar Award for Best Debut, the Prix Imaginales for Best Foreign Work and the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. His YA fantasy series Spellslinger was nominated for the Carnegie Medal and is published in more than a dozen languages.

Sebastien lives in Vancouver, Canada with his lovely wife and two belligerent cats.

'Seven powerful mages want to make the world a better place. We're going to kill them first.' Picture a wizard. Go ahead, close your eyes. There he is, see? Skinny old guy with a long straggly beard. No doubt he's wearing iridescent silk robes that couldn't protect his frail body from a light breeze. The hat's a must, too, right? Big, floppy thing, covered in esoteric symbols that would instantly show every other mage where this one gets his magic? Wouldn't want a simple steel helmet or something that might, you know, protect the part of him most needed for conjuring magical forces from being bashed in with a mace (or pretty much any household object).Now open your eyes and let me show you what a real war mage looks like . . . but be warned: you're probably not going to like it, because we're violent, angry, dangerously broken people who sell our skills to the highest bidder and be damned to any moral or ethical considerations.At least, until such irritating concepts as friendship and the end of the world get in the way.My name is Cade Ombra, and though I currently make my living as a mercenary wonderist, I used to have a far more noble-sounding job title - until I discovered the people I worked for weren't quite as noble as I'd believed. Now I'm on the run and my only friend, a homicidal thunder mage, has invited me to join him on a suicide mission against the seven deadliest mages on the continent. Time to recruit some very bad people to help us on this job . . .

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