Scott's Take: The Malevolent Eight by Sebastien De Castell

 

The Malevolent Eight by Sebastien De Castell is second book in the Malevolent series that began with The Malevolent Seven. At this point there is supposed to be a third book in the series, The Malevolent Nine, but the publishing date is unknown. All we have, for now, is the reference to it in the author’s multi page acknowledgement section at the back of the book.

 

Spinning out of the events of the first book, The Lords Celestine (their version of angels) and the Lords Devilish (their version of demons) are recruiting humans to wage war against their counterparts on the Mortal Plane (quasi Earth). Cade and his friends (The Malevolent Seven) are attempting to stop the war before it truly gets going by murdering people both sides until they call it off. Of course, things only get worse from there. As happened with the first book, the plot synopsis does not really reflect what the book is actually about and I am not going to ruin with a more accurate description.

 

This book has humor, action, sex, extensive and graphic torture scenes, and much more. If you enjoyed the first read, you should enjoy this book as it is more of the same. As was true with the first one, this is very much an adult book. Like the previous read, this one also gets weird at times, but in a good way. For example, one of the new characters introduced to join the team includes a vampire Kangaroo from another dimension. About halfway through the read, the Kangaroo also learns and can speak Samuel L. Jackson’s favorite movie curse word.

 

I read the hardback book through my local library and enjoyed it a lot. I am eagerly awaiting the third book which is supposed to be the final book in the series.

 

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4aRlp9V

 

 

My hardback reading copy came from the Central, aka Downtown, Branch of the Dallas Public Library System.

 

 

Scott A. Tipple ©2026

Scott's Take: The Malevolent Seven by Sebastien De Castell

The Malevolent Seven by Sebastien De Castell is a complicated book just like all his works. The book jacket copy describes the read in one way and the actual book tells another. In the book description, Cade is a mercenary wizard who, after the end of his last job, pissed off a lot of people. He has now joined his friend Corrigan on a suicide mission to kill 7 deadly wizards who want to change the world for the better. Of course, things are a lot more complicated than that.

 

This book has action, horror, drama, humor, and lots of dark fantasy elements. This is a world where there are not really any just rock-solid good guys or good girls. Everybody in the read, just like real life, are characters that are shades of grey.

 

As one expects in a book by Sebastien De Castell, there are plenty of twists, turns and manipulations. My one complaint is that for a book that supposed to be from the bad guy perspective, the so called “bad guys” are not as bad as one would expect. They are pretty tame. I was expecting evil mercenaries, instead I read about people who are troubled and need a good therapist.

 

While the book is supposed to be about fighting the powerful wizards, a good portion of the book is spent on the journey to get to where the other wizards are gathering. There is also a good portion of the book spent detailing Cade’s last job before he went on this suicide mission. While a really good book, The Malevolent Seven by Sebastien De Castell is not the book I was expecting based on the book jacket copy.

 

The book offers a route for a possible sequel should the author choose to do it. I hope that happens.

Amazon Associate deal is not showing correctly so go here to pick it up.

My reading copy from the Downtown, or Central Branch, of the Dallas Public Library System.

 

Scott A. Tipple © 2024

Scott's Take: Guardians Of The Galaxy: No Guts, No Glory by M.K. England

Guardians Of The Galaxy: No Guts, No Glory by M.K. England is a prequel novel to the Guardians Of The Galaxy video game that came out last fall. I highly recommend the video game as it is a lot of fun, but I digress. In this book, Starlord and the rest of the team successfully completed their last mission, but were ripped off when it came time to get paid. They are in desperate need of funds, so they are taking a rather questionable job.

Twelve years ago, during the war against the Chitauri, Starlord fought with the resistance on Mercury in order to prevent the invasion of Earth. During the fighting, there was a traitor that actively sabotaged their mission. The identity of the traitor was never uncovered. Someone has now taken control of the abandoned base. The team has been hired to retake the base. Starlord is hoping a side benefit to retaking the base will be that he can identify the long-ago traitor.

The story is told through frequent flashbacks that take up about fifty percent of the tale. Guardians Of The Galaxy: No Guts, No Glory has plenty of action, humor, and some drama. All five Guardians have important parts of the story, but the main character is clearly Starlord. There are some really fun moments of dialog.

I think Guardians Of The Galaxy: No Guts, No Glory makes more sense if you have played the video game, but things will still be clear for those who have not played. While it has nothing to do with the movies or the graphic novels, if you have watched or read either, you will not be lost here. While the characters have some differences in their backstory here as compared to the movies or the graphic novels, those changes are relatively minor.

I think as long as you are a fan of the Guardians Of The Galaxy you should enjoy this tale. I enjoyed Guardians Of The Galaxy: No Guts, No Glory by M.K. England as it is a lot of fun.

 

My paperback reading copy came from the Central or Downtown Branch of the Dallas Public Library System.

 

Scott A. Tipple ©2022