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A review by asparklingzombie
The Grey Bastards by Jonathan French
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Fatphobia, and Homophobia
Minor: Rape and Trafficking
As someone who hasn't read a lot of fantasy, I found the world interesting, and I enjoyed the concept of a story centered around half-orcs. The primary characters are decent and likeable. It took me nearly two hundred pages to really get into the story, when things started to come together better.
In terms of technicality, French is a good writer. The sentence structure gets repetitive at times, but otherwise there's good flow and description.
For me, the biggest detractor is the pervasive homophobia - most of it in the form of jests between straight men, but it's present in nearly every chapter to the point that it becomes tiresome and seems to be the author's own views coming through, not just an attempt at gritty worldbuilding. French even makes "no homo" jokes in the acknowledgements, and that same "humor" continues into the sequel.
The novel isn't exactly kind to women or fat people, either. The wizard's weight is often disparaged, and most of the female characters, meta-wise, are relegated to childrearing, prostitution, or serving as a victim for the protagonist to be empathetic towards.
In general, the trilogy does not seem like it would be a good read for anyone who doesn't like that sort of straight man humor, and it's for that reason that I would be hesitant to recommend The Grey Bastards to anyone.