So I had heard a lot about this book from Reddit, Youtube and just general word of mouth, so when I saw that it was at my local waterstones I just had to pick it up.

The Grey Bastards is essentially about how the world would look like when society has to deal with Orcs and what to do after they have rampaged across human towns. This leads us to a look at a society with half orc - half humans that are essentially utilised as the orc killing squad. Now, in this story they are not necessarily as organised as that but imagine Sons Of Anarchy biker gangs, where the gangs are different groupings of half orcs riding massive hogs that are tasked at ensuring no orcs stay on their turf.

That is essentially how this story feels to me and it works extremely well, it is grim, but also has a good sense of humour and it stays away from a lot of the grim dark stereotypes that you may expect. All of the graphic violence and sex scenes are well written, and did not make me outworldy cringe when it came up. There are notes of sexual violence but this book strikes a fine line of "this is just how the world is" without being graphic about it or trying to show off some strange fetish that some authors shoe horn in.

The main characters of this novel are well written, you get a great understanding of the key characters, even while only getting one POV, that of Jackal. I really enjoyed his character, his insights to the world and other members of his group and the way he handles situations. Thankfully, the author doesn't go out of his way to make him seem stupid, just a bit naive and a bit too impulsive which really works well.

I do not have a lot of gripes with the book, but the main issue I had with it was solely due to the pacing of the story. At times it felt like the story didn't want to have a lull, it needed something to happen to push the pace. It didn't want you to think about the story, what has happened or really think about all the world building. It wanted to continue to describe things, show you new plot elements or characters and wanted to get on with it. This can be a great thing but in the first of a trilogy, I think it would have benefitted in letting the reader enjoy the world and get to grips with certain things before quickly rushing on.

Good stuff - Half orcs riding war pigs is brilliant and hilarious. Lots of action without getting dull, and some good world building and backstory.
So-So stuff - Doesn't really break out of fantasy character stereotypes, especially for the female characters. So many jokes about genitalia. Like half the number would still be too many. And Jackal is sort of hapless as a hero.

Disclaimer: Before anybody assumes that my straight-white-male-ness precludes me from "getting it". Let me assure you, I do. I will 100% support you in standing up against injustice and bigotry in any form it takes in the real world. But I will also defend any artist's ability to write any story they want to write. I also believe there is a vast difference between writing a story which contains bigotry and actually being a bigot or championing bigotry.

Do you feel strongly that present-day social issues should be mirrored in the fantasy books you read regardless of the story setting? Do you feel that fiction should be the primary method through which societal injustices should be addressed and fought? Do you think there is no place in fiction for books to contain non-PC content? Are you incapable of separating entertainment from the passion of your beliefs? If any of these are major issues for you, you should probably go ahead and skip this book.

This book is crude. This book is irreverent. This book contains sexism, racism, and probably some other -isms. This book is about a primitive, warrior-clan society that isn't "enlightened" by today's standards. This book is about surviving in an environment that doesn't care about fair. This book is also immensely funny and enjoyable. This book is also about friendship and loyalty and sacrifice. This book is pure entertainment and it was exactly what I was looking for in a book at the moment. Set aside your personal crusades for a moment and just enjoy a damn story.

I thought that this was a really well-crafted book that felt almost like a video game. The characters were developed and the world was definitely more fleshed-out than many in this genre. However, despite how much I enjoyed the premise and the excitement I don't believe that I'll be picking up the next in the series.

For starters, the language in the book was really a little over the top for me. Now, I'm certainly not one to shy away from using a curse word, but these characters really took vulgarity over the top. Women were often referred to by their genitalia and most of the conversations involving them included some sort of reference for their use as a sex object. Even when the men spoke to each other it was never a long wait for someone's dick size to make an appearance into the conversation. I wasn't necessarily angered or outraged by the vulgarity, but it honestly just became boring, overstated, and a distasteful in terms of writing style.

On top of that, I think that there was slightly too much going on here. The world was immersive and extraordinarily creative, but there was a lot of focus on numerous fantasy races and interactions. The main conflicts in this novel were caused by political clashes and race wars, but I still don't feel as if I truly understand why some dislike each other or what the history is here. Wizards, orcs, elves, humans, sludge people, and all of the half-races in between were all present and held separate grudges. It got a little bit confusing, especially when thinking about territories.

Overall it was well-done, but due to the boring vulgarity as well as a lack of editing down I don't believe I'm going to continue reading. I would definitely recommend this to people looking for a lot of violence, sex, and action (usually a winner for me) set in a LOTR-style universe with a barbarian cast.

That was quiet a thrill. Though it took time to get into its groove, but once it was there there was no stopping it. Kept me hooked on each line after that and wouldn't let go.

The characters were amazing and the twists surprising. The world that Jonathan Fetch has created is interesting and vast to say the least. It does take you through an emotional ride every now and then which makes it even better. I legit got angry at one point which doesnt happen often. Waiting on the sequel now.

Live on the saddle, Die on the Hog.

Great characters, interesting world and cool story with lots of close calls, twists and turns.

I like to think that I’m tired of violence and bloodbath. But then, when I try to remind myself the best books I read in few months the violent ones are usually on top. Damn.

The Grey Bastards has been sitting on my Kindle for almost two years (I bought it a moment before or just after it won SPFBO 2016). I was planning to read it multiple times but after I get caught in feverishly burning through 48 SPFBO 2017 books, I needed a break.

So, here I am trying to review the book. Not an easy task.

I loved it.

And disliked at times.

And then loved even more than before.

Jackal is a half-orc living with his brothers and sister of the Grey Bastards “hoof” in the badlands that separate the human kingdom of Hispartha from the lands of the orcs (called Thicks). They ride hogs with massive tusks they call affectionately barbarians. The bond between hog and hogseman is strong, surprisingly so. Sometimes you may feel that riders will mourn their mounts more than their brothers.

The Grey Bastards hoof plays an important role in stopping Orcs incursion. Jackal is interested in taking over the hoof as their chief – plague-ridden Claymaster seems to make a lot of strange choices lately.

Ambition, though, isn’t enough to make the wish come true, especially that there are more forces at work and Grey Bastards hoof is interesting to the seemingly jovial wizard.

The plot starts out small, but as we follow it, it organically turns into something big, complex, convincing and terrifying. The events turned in unexpected and exciting ways.

World-building is impressive. The world is huge and rich and yet the narrative never falls into info dumping. Instead, the details are an important part of the story and unraveling some of the mysteries. In other words, the world develops as the story unfolds. We start with strong action and strong conflict and when we start to care about the characters details are added and they feel important.

Characters are great and most of them grew throughout the story. I can see and understand this book won’t become a favorite one for feminists. It’s filled with profanity and offensive language – if you want to count, you’ll be able to list literally hundreds of fucks, an abundance of dick jokes, quim and cunny licking and referring to women as bad warmers. My first reaction to all of this was ambiguous. Maybe even a bit negative. And yet, after a while, the story engaged me so strongly I simply didn’t care. I was laughing and despairing together with hoof members. I may have checked if I can get a hog. And if there’s no moving tar in the area.

Before reaching for the book, remember that half-orcs are sex-obsessed creatures and sexuality defines their lives. Women are treated as objects. Some explicit scenes are here. So be prepared to be offended. But also be prepared to discover that everything starts to make sense after a while.

The book is dark and brutal, it’s unlike any grimdark book I ever read. I’m not surprised that a publisher came for it. Mr. French, I’m impressed. You’ve got a remarkable talent and a vision that left my imagination aglow.

Also, when I'll finally buy a rancho I'm getting a pig and I'll call it Ugfuck.

Gritty, foul mouthed and full of soul, The Grey Bastards is an awesome romp between middle earth and the Deep South.