The Maleficent Seven by Cameron Johnston
(Angry Robot, 2021)
Reviewed by Phil Nicholls
The Maleficent Seven is the third novel by Scottish dark fantasy writer Cameron Johnston, all published by Angry Robot. Let us take a moment to admire the wit of his brilliant title: The Maleficent Seven. This should be a prize-winning title, if such was an award category for the Hugos. But what of the story?
The fanatical army of the Bright Goddess marches on the town of Tarnbrooke, home to Black Herran a retired demonologist. To save her community, Black Herran reforms her band of villainous generals. Johnston mixes The Magnificent Seven with The Dirty Dozen in this grimdark fantasy.
The opening chapters introduce the villains in turn, gradually assembling the cast. Just like the early MCU films, this is a slow build. The opening chapters are an extended recruitment quest finding each former general in turn. This steady introduction to the cast is also a chance to explore Johnston’s setting. In the end, the demonologist is joined in Tarnbrooke by a necromancer, a vampire, a pirate queen, an orc chieftain, a minor war god and an alchemist.
The villains bicker as they prepare the town defences, but once battle is joined the book kicks into a higher gear. The combat is brutal and bloody. Johnston describes a vicious, brawling battle decorated with spraying blood and prolific swearing.
Despite the relentless fighting, it is the characters which stand out. The Maleficent Seven features a sprawling cast of villainous defenders, antagonists and minor characters who step forward from the inhabitants of Tarnbrooke. Johnston juggles the same problem regarding spotlight time that we see in the Avengers films. Readers are likely to enjoy some characters more than others. We all want more spotlight time for our favourites and less for those heroes who are simply “making up the numbers.” There is no easy solution for this issue, but Johnston tries to move the spotlight around briskly.
The two main sorcerous characters plot against each other, for as villains the band of defenders are far from united. However, the most repellent of the group is Jerak Hyden, the truly evil alchemist. Jerak’s callousness and repertoire of hideous alchemical devices reminded me of the scientists of Granbretan in Moorcock's Hawkmoon books.
I found the rugged warrior characters far more entertaining. Tiarnach is a world-weary war god to a dead tribe, who finds solace in ale and brawling until the defence of Tarnbrooke brings him a new purpose. This foul-mouthed warrior is probably the closest thing to a conventional hero in the book, perhaps the darker shadow of Gemmell’s Druss the Legend.
My highlight was Amogg, the huge orc chieftain of the Hadakk clan. She is fierce, brutal and amusingly disdainful of human culture. Johnston’s portrayal of orc culture is refreshing and all too brief in the initial quest as Amogg is swept off into the Black Herran’s desperate defence of Tarnbrooke. I always enjoyed her time in the spotlight.
Yet for all these fun characters, the bulk of the book is an extended battle sequence. Johnston follows the Jackson model from The Two Towers and regularly cuts away from brutal battle sequences. The breaks might be a naval battle, or the assorted machinations of the villains. Then it is back to the brutal, blood-soaked battle. The book wraps up with two epilogues, at least one of which suggests a sequel of sorts is possible.
Johnston has written an ebook in the Warhammer 40k universe and The Maleficent Seven fits easily into the grimdark style of the Old World of Warhammer fantasy. I struggled with the prose style and Johnston’s preference for conjunctions. Yet the book is all about action not style. If you want an extended, bloody battle filled with scheming villains, then The Maleficent Seven delivers.
Review from BSFA Review 15 - Download your copy here.