The Maleficent Seven by Cameron Johnston

 Cameron Johnston's first series, for some reason, skimmed low on the radar of many readers/bloggers, which I think was a shame. Because I found his first book, The Traitor God, to be an absolute doozy of a debut. But I think, this one - The Maleficent Seven pitched as the Fantasy version of the Magnificent Seven, but featuring all villains, is going to be the definitive breakout novel for Johnston. 

This was bloody relentless non-stop fun all the way, right from get go. Johnston gives us a heady mix of a line up of the most reprehensible villains (think Bloodthirsty Dracula rip-offs, Witches who control demons and death, Angry uncontrollable orcs, pirate queens and a pissed-off God of war along with a psychopath of an alchemist who relishes the most gory experiments ever!) going to head-to-head with a religious fanatic blessed by a mysterious Goddess' power of lightning. Yup, it is as bonkers as it sounds. And even more fun, when it actually comes to the execution on paper. 

The first half is the typical set up part - like a heist movie, the team is getting recruited/re-banded where we are introduced to the individual villains and their backgrounds, their motivations. Some of it ties back to the big reveal of the story, as to why they want revenge against this "anti-villain" - a blessed fanatic who has been crushing all towns/villages under the yoke of this Lucent Empire. But the others just want in, for the fun of large-scale destruction' or the 'glory of war'.  Frankly, this was one of the best bits of the book where each single 'Villain' needs to be brought back to their General, the fearsome demonologist Black Heran. 

The second part is where it all goes to hell, where the town of Tarnbrooke, nothing more than a little sleepy hamlet, becomes the center-point of this bloody siege between the two parties. The righteous Prince leading his charge against the dastardly otherworldly alliance. The siege, the strategies and the counter-attacks are fun, blood-soaked and filled with non-stop action. Lots of gore, flying broken bits of body parts and yes, some squeamish torture scenes. But the best part? Johnston drops all of this in an irreverent manner, his writing laced heavily with humour. And that keeps us grounded throughout the book, despite it dealing with so much body-count and the relentless gore-spattered action sequences. 

The third part of the book is where some of the well-laid plans start to unravel and the fissures within the group widen, but I will stop there. It's fiendishly clever, these well plotted backstabbing and diabolical twists but ultimately, what we all take away, is how relentlessly enjoyable the whole story was. The villains all have heart, are humane in more ways than one, with their own selfish motives to stay in this battle. 

If you love your battle-scenes big and epic, narratives and dialogues irreverently funny and not to forget the over-the-top characters and settings, then look no further. The Maleficent Seven is a go-big-or-go-home story about how seven villains stood up against the yoke of tyranny and saved the day in a absolute cluster-fuck of doomed-last-stand.