#Sebastien De Castell

[schweizercomics]

Hey, there, friends! I'm going to be releasing a collection of one hundred sword drawings from my recent visits to museums in NYC, Leeds, London, and Paris. I hope you'll visit the kickstarter preview here and click the "Notify Me" button - I'll be launching soon!

[fluoxetinegf]

Apparently I have a thing for books that have a small fandom (and a mmc called Kel) 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️🫠

[mizeliza]

I've started reading the greatcoats books and I'm obsessed with how the country, constantly derided and referred to as corrupted and degenerate, is named tristia. the land of sadness.

[rhetoricandlogic]

The Malevolent Seven by Sebastien de Castell

Rising fantasy star Sebastien de Castell returns with a bold and highly entertaining new fantasy novel, The Malevolent Seven, that takes several dangerous and dastardly characters on a magical journey of death, deceit and despair which is so much fun to behold.

Magic is power and only the strong can hope to wield it, especially if they can make a profit out of it.  Cade Ombra is a powerful wonderist, a magic user who makes his living as a war mage, selling his services to highest bidder to fight in their wars and kill their enemies, even if his employers are monsters.  Cade has long struggled with the ethics of his job, and when his latest employment ends badly, with Cade framed for murder resulting in a relentless band of holy enforcers hunting him, he knows he needs to find a way out.

Luckily, a lucrative new job is looking for wonderists, and the payment is something he’s always desired, an artefact capable of changing everything about his life.  However, to get paid he needs to do one last very bad thing: kill seven heroic mages attempting to take down a corrupt noble and survive everything that wants to kill him along the way.  Determined to win no matter the cost, Cade and his violent colleague Corrigan set off to claim the reward before any of their rivals can.  But to succeed, they’ll need to recruit five more mages capable of taking down their powerful enemies and who have no moral qualms about killing heroes for money.

So begins a deadly recruitment mission as Cade and Corrigan seek out five mages just as crazy as they are.  But even with a mentally unstable blood mage, a fallen angel, a moral demon knight, a charismatic rat mage and a mysterious jackal, can even this mismatched bad of rogues hope to survive against the seven most deadly magic users on this plane of existence?  However, nothing about this job is as it seems, and Cade and the Malevolent Seven find themselves caught up in a deadly game between gods, demons and monsters, with the fate of the world lying in the balance.

Wow, now this was a very, very fun and addictive novel.  Sebastien de Castell wasn’t an author I was too familiar with before this point, although I had heard good things about The Greatcoats series.  However, I am now going to have to go out of my way to read more of his stuff, especially after reading the epic and entertaining The Malevolent Seven.

The Malevolent Seven was such a great read as de Castell pulls together a dark fantasy reimagining of heroic stories like Seven Samurai and The Magnificent Seven.  The book starts of strong with a great introduction to the main character, Cade Ombra, the rules of magic in this realm, and the author’s very entertaining and outrageous sense of humour.  Expertly and hilariously told from the first-person perspective of Cade, whose observations about the insane events going on around him adds so much value to the story, you soon get a great sense of what to expect from this book and de Castell does not disappoint.  The story initially focuses on Cade and his friend Corrigan’s efforts in a brutal war for a mad ruler, but things go south when their employer is killed, Cade is betrayed by his fellow wonderists, and a band of ruthless religious warriors, the Glorian Justiciars, arrive determined to hunt down Cade for his use of demonic magic.  Forced to take a new job with Corrigan to save his skin and quickly get out of dodge, the two take up the mysterious contract to kill seven heroic mages in exchange for a powerful artefact, and begin a recruitment drive for five additional mages.

I love a good recruitment montage in heist or action fiction, and this one is pretty damn fun as de Castell writes in a particularly eclectic and insane group of mages for the protagonists to recruit.  Naturally nothing goes as plan, as the two are forced to take along a half-insane junior blood mage who Cade feels responsible for.  Their subsequent recruitment attempts land them in all manner of trouble as they rescue a highly chivalrous rat mage, save a mysterious fallen angel from a pleasure ship, journey to hell to recruit a demon knight, and end up in the middle of a wasteland, chased by everyone.  This recruitment period took up more of the plot than I thought it would, but it works really well to tell a great overall narrative.  Each scene introduces the reader to more of the world and it allows a compelling dynamic to grow between the various protagonists, especially as they grow to understand each other crazy tendencies.  De Castell also builds up several intriguing long-running storylines of manipulation and betrayal as it becomes clear that someone is influencing their mission and has set gods and demons against them.  This middle section of the book is a lot of fun, and I loved how de Castell keeps up the same blend of humour, intriguing character development, and insane over-the-top moments, that really draws you in at the start of the novel.

Everything perfectly leads up to the final third of the book, when the protagonists arrive at their destination.  Of course, as can be expected by the theme of this story so far, nothing is what they thought it would be, and instead they find themselves facing off against a mysterious foe with very different motivations to what they expected.  I loved how de Castell turned the plot a little on its head at this point, as the characters find themselves in the unexpected position of being the good guys.  This leads to some amazing scenes in the final third, loaded with magic, chaotic confrontations and more, all of which is a ton of fun to see.  There is some great character growth as several storylines come full circle, as well as a ton of twists and turns.  I loved some of the epic reveals that came across, and while I saw a few coming, de Castell managed to surprise me in places, which I really enjoyed.  The final twists about why the characters were on the job and who really wins were pretty damn epic and it sets the story up nicely for a sequel, which I am definitely going to grab a copy of.  I loved how de Castell really enhanced the drama in this final third of the book, especially as several character relationships or conflicts come to the boil in some explosive and captivating ways.  This combines really well with the continued craziness of the story and the inherent humour of the plot, and you really get drawn into all the fantastic elements of this book.  The Malevolent Seven ended up being an incredible read, and I managed to power through this entire story in a couple of days and had a ton of fun doing so.

I loved the dark and despairing world that served as the cool new setting for The Malevolent Seven and de Castell has a ton of fun showcasing this new fantasy landscape throughout the book.  Loaded with petty tyrants, warring nobles, and wandering wonderists who dish out death to the highest bidder, this land is the perfect backdrop for the crazy and self-serving narrative, and I loved seeing de Castell’s great characters traverse it causing trouble.  While there are some outstanding locations, including a magically blasted wasteland and several deadly battlegrounds, the highlight of this setting is the complex magical system that the author came up with.  This magical system is primarily predicated on wonderists breaching dimensional barriers and utilising magic that they have an infinity for.  This results in several unique rules and abilities that de Castell did an outstanding job of effectively introducing, and I loved how weird some of the abilities were, especially those that played into the novel’s humour.  Some of the more interesting realms require the magical users to interact with the associated denizens, including this world’s equivalent of angels and demons, all of whom have a stake in the mortal realms.  Several of the best scenes in the book require the protagonist to make dark and forbidden deals with his demonic contact, and the manipulation of the various mystical entities from both heaven and hell becomes a key part of the book.  The author makes sure to utilise all these fantastic and lethal abilities to their full extent throughout The Malevolent Seven and the epic, ultra-destructive battles that emerged, as well as the clever combination of talents, resulted in some amazingly, electrifying sequences.  It will be interesting to see what crazy abilities de Castell brings to the table for the sequel, but it’s going to be good.

The final thing I want to highlight about The Malevolent Seven are the excellent and compelling damaged characters featured throughout the plot.  De Castell really went out of his way to make his main seven protagonists as random, broken and insane as possible, and this really works in the context of this brilliant story.  The main protagonist is point-of-view character Cade Ombra, a wonderist with a secret past whose current magical ability comes from deals with a literal demon (nice guy actually).  Because of this and many other mistakes in his life, Cade is pretty alone and damaged when the story starts, and he is constantly trying to balance his survival instincts and desire for power, with his conscience, something that keeps getting him in trouble.  De Castell builds up Cade extremely well throughout The Malevolent Seven and I liked his constant growth as he tries to do the right thing, even though it usually makes life even harder for him.  The author sets Cade up as a reluctant leader and hero, and it was intriguing to see the dynamics that form between him and the rest of the team fate brings together around him.  The rest of the titular Malevolent Seven are all pretty entertaining and uniquely crazy in their own way, and the range of diverse and entertaining personalities makes for a great overall dynamic to the story. My favourite character in the group was the excessively violent Corrigan Blight, whose thunder magic matches his outrageous personality.  Corrigan served as the straight speaking, highly reactive and trigger-happy organiser of the group, who plays off the more reserved Cade perfectly, especially as they form a unique and fragile friendship.  Other highlights include the highly charismatic and surprisingly noble Aradeus, whose rat magic proves to be highly effective if a little weird, and the novice blood mage Galass, whose spunky personality is only matched by her deadly abilities that are slowly driving her insane.  I loved this impressive and very entertaining cast and I cannot wait to see what happens to them next.

I think it is very clear that I loved The Malevolent Seven as Sebastien de Castell’s outrageous and inventive dark fantasy tale was a real joy to behold.  The great blend of fantastic humour, twisty storytelling, brutal magic and over-the-top characters, works exceedingly well and I loved the witty and extremely fun story that emerged.  The Malevolent Seven is a great read and if you are in the mood for a cool and highly compelling fantasy adventure than this is the book for you.

[ace7librarian]

Just finished fall of the argosi. I need to scream. I need this series to have a bigger fandom. I need so much fanfics.

[leafandlore]

Finished reading Play of Shadows by Sebastien de Castell and I desperately need for there to be a Greatcoats fandom on here. But alas, I am but one of few who even seem to know these books exist. 😔

[emrysofstorybrooke]

I'm rereading Spellslinger after reading the first two Argosi books and I just... I loved Ferius before. She's basically one of my favorite characters in any book I've ever read. But I just somehow have way more respect for than I even did before. I mean, this woman has so many reasons to hate the Jan'Tep (though, let's be real, they're the worst anyway), and assuming the massive hints in the Argosi books aren't super misleading, Kellen's family in particular. But literally the first thing she does when she shows up is save Kellen's life, and then even when she knows who he is, she KEEPS HELPING HIM. Like. Talk about overcoming adversity and being the bigger person.

Ferius Parfax may not be a lady, but she is a queen among women.

[unorthodoxiguana]

Kellen spent the the first half of his life having complete faith in Jan'tep propaganda whilst living a privileged lifestyle.

Kellen spent the second half of his life on the run, juggling his survival with the expectations of those around him.

Kellen is usually surrounded by people who are functioning adults that know who they are, what they want (unlike Kellen who doesn't), and often demand something of him, regardless of which half of his life you are talking about.

People constantly criticise Kellen's immaturity.

What the fuck.

[squeeze-the-lemon]

The best part about rereading the Spellslinger series is that you realise what a whiny child Kellen was in the first book and you can see how much he grew from that into the man he became by Crownbreaker

Now that's character development

[taggedmemes]

SENTENCE MEME ⟶ SAINTS BLOOD by SEBASTIEN DE CASTELL / ch10 - ch18 always feel free to tweak the sentence to fit your muse.

'three against thirteen is terrible odds.'

'i wouldn't know. i've never had that much money.'

'you'll try to kill me, of course.'

'then you'll be dead /and/ embarrassed.'

'i know it isn't your usual approach, but i'd suggest you consider surrender.'

'the last time i surrendered to someone they tortured me until there was almost nothing left of me.'

'there's always luck. and red, bloody rage.'

'you're killing her.'

'i'm not sure if you've noticed but the bad men here are pointing weapons at us.'

'i really need to find a new job. one that doesn't involve swords.'

'you don't reason with mobs for the same reason you don't reason with hordes of fire ants: they're too stupid to understand what you're saying and eventually they'll just swarm over you.'

'try not to get torn to pieces.'

'this is what you do, you know.'

'you throw yourself into fights you have no real chance of winning.'

'it's the only thing i know how to do that ever works.'

'it's a /staff/, not a stick.'

'say there, friend, why exactly have you chosen to tie that nice fellow to a post?'

'you would attack an unarmed man?'

'that was a remarkably foolish gamble.'

'something you need to see, going to make your day a whole lot worse.'

'so how long have you been riding around with a corpse strapped to your horse?'

'help me get the ropes off, will you? my hands are still too numb; i was tied up for hours.'

'i just didn't have any faith any more.'

'he was, in fact, a son of a bitch.'

'he's a little slow sometimes, but he usually gets there in the end.'

'would someone /please/ tell me what we're talking about so i can decide if i care?'

'she wants to speak with you and that is the only gift left that either of us can give her now.'

'we pray in the shadows that we may summon the light.'

'well, i'd sort of had my heart set on an extended discussion of just how terrible you look, but if you insist, we can move straight on to how bad you smell.'

'now i remember why i liked you.'

'see, when you put it that way i don't sound very clever.'

'his desires cannot abide mercy. he will destroy it unless you stop him.'

'i suspect he despises a great many things.'

'the only thing the gods ever call any of us is fools.

'are you too busy sleeping with men for money to bring me some tea?'

'there are still things worth saving.'

'i would have spared you this if i could.'

'do not touch me with those hands, those hands of violence — hands meant only for holding swords and shedding blood.'

'you know i could kiss you right now, don't you?'

'oh well. i've been cursed plenty of times in my life and nothing too bad's happened yet, right?'

'"arsehole" is a terrible name for any beast.'

'your nervous griping is taking all the fun out of this trip.'

'maybe if we found you a proper weapon you wouldn't feel quite so scared all the time.'

'of course you'd rather sleep out in the cold.'

'i hear the call of music, a soft bed, women and, most importantly, beer.'

'you can /hear/ the beer?'

'and here i thought you were on a mission to get drunk and bed the local schoolteacher.'

'i can do more than one thing at a time. i'm ambidextrous.'

'how about, instead of pining here in your little room, you go down there and be a fucking man for a change?'

'go ahead and tell me what's wrong with me.'

'of course some of it's real. i mean, it's a giant pain in the arse, so it has to be real.'

'walk in like a man, mind you, not some shade of the long dead.'

'if you're both so fucking cursed then i'm sure lightning will strike you down.'

'dancing. well there's a tactic that never occurred to me.'

[oneletternames]

i feel like ferius would wear platforms boots everywhere and with anything. like wear a really pretty dress, a hideous stupidly fluffy cardigan and platform boots. probably with some funky socks poking out of the top.

[schweizercomics]

Hey, friends!

One thing I'm very, very excited about with A DREAM OF SWORDS (in its last week on Kickstarter!) is that one of my favorite contemporary authors, Sebastien de Castell, has written its introduction, an essay about the outsized impact that swords have on the popular imagination.

If you haven't read his GREATCOATS series, I really love it. It's a great high adventure swashbuckling fantasy, and it's got some stellar audiobook narrations by Joe Jameson. There's a very good chance that your library has them, and if not, they're on Audible or you can find links to the retailer of your choice through his website. There's heavy, gritty subject matter, and sometimes ain't for the squeamish, but unlike some darker fantasy stuff there's an undercurrent of hope and idealism that permeates the whole thing. I'm a sucker for idealism in fiction and I can think of few folks in modern times that have done it better than has Sebastien (another top contender is Avatar: The Last Airbender).

(the above is my attempt to capture the lead of the book, Falcio, and his two best friends/brothers-in-arms).

I wrote at length about the books here, if you're inclined to read.

[fluoxetinegf]

I really need more people reading the spellslinger books because they’re AMAZING

[mizeliza]

following up on this post, tristia in the greatcoats series is so broken, so jaded, and yet falcio has such faith that it can get better, and that it will, and that he must do whatever he can to make it better, even if it means his own certain death, and everyone around him is simultaneously "wtf" and inspired and given hope despite themselves, and that's valour

[bookcoversonly]

Title: Fate of the Argosi | Author: Sebastien de Castell | Publisher: Hot Key Books (2023)

[corviine]

kest drawing for @algifs feat. her faceclaim choice! anyway i adore him.