The Grey Bastards

I freaking loved this!!!! It's high fantasy meets Sons of Anarchy and it couldn't be any cooler. Legit, this is one of the most unique and exciting fantasy books I've read in a while. It's gritty, raunchy, bloody, funny, and action packed. The characters are amazing, the world building is unmatched, and the plot is tightly woven together. This better be the beginning of a long series, because after a journey like this, I AM ALL IN! I want more! Jackal is a member of the Grey Bastards one of the nine hoofs who lord over the lot lands. They're barbaric half orcs and proud of it, they live in the saddle and die on the hog. Jackal has long had his sights set on the leader's seat and when the Grey Bastards weak willed leader lets some savage show more orcs live after an attack, Jackal is furious. He's got rampaging blood lusty centaurs, ravaging orcs, the sludge man, and some dumb ass frails (humans) to contend with before he can try for the leaders seat, but that doesn't slow his roll. He's got ladies to screw, enemies to kill, and Grey Bastards to laugh with. One hell of a book!!! show less

Now THIS is the reason I read. Years and years, weeks and weeks, tossing away story after mediocre story. And then… every once in a while… you strike gold.

It hits all my right buttons. It’s got good characters, good writing, good pace and plotting, good worldbuilding. And it has all the pluses and premiums I like–twists, irreverence, sex and violence, humor and levity. It’s full of friendship and love and adventure. A flawed main character who makes mistakes, does the best he can with the knowledge he has, but gets his goalposts pushed back. There are wizards and humans and monsters (even slimes, which seem to be in every RPG). If you like the lore of Warhammer, but don’t want to go down a rabbit hole, this is the book to show more read. But everyone in this story is having fun.

In every story, 99% of the time, the characters hate what they’re doing. I guess that’s the nature of the beast of storytelling, but it gets repetitive. Bruce Wayne doesn’t want to be Batman, but he feels it’s the only way to honor his parents. Hercules doesn’t want to have to do all these labors but the gods are forcing him. Scrooge is a grinchy old miser, but he doesn’t like it. It doesn’t make him smile.

So when you find characters who actually like what they’re doing, I latch on. That’s why I like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Snoopy, Mickey Mouse, Superman, Mario, Spider-Man, Kermit the Frog, Iron Man, Buffy. These are all people who like what they’re doing. They joke and slap each other on the backs. They’re half-friends and half-family. show less

This was so good! If you like your world-building imaginative and gritty, your characters unapologetically brash, your plot fast-moving and epic, and don't mind some salty language, this book (and hopefully the entire series) delivers. It is simply terrific. Yes, there is plenty of adult language, but I never found it gratuitous; it fit perfectly well with the characters and their hard lives, and if anything it added to the world-building and set this book apart from most mainstream fantasy. Sure, many (most?) of the male characters are incredibly misogynistic boors, and that can be tedious and cringey at times, but that is the world these people inhabit: it feels fitting. This book reminds me a lot of the old [a:Ramsay show more Thorne|209429|Ramsay Thorne|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]/[a:Lou Cameron|350702|Lou Cameron|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] "Captain Gringo" ([b:Renegade|23474650|Renegade (A Captain Gringo Western Book 1)|Ramsay Thorn|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1414596634l/23474650._SX50_.jpg|43066070]) adult westerns: trashy and filthy, but well-written and incredible swash-buckling fun. show less

Pros: main characters are half orcs so that was cool in that it one of the very few books where we are looking at the world through the view point of a non human character; main characters were riding hogs which is also pretty cool, I like seeing human-animal bonds being an important part of a story

Cons: everything else but mainly I have a real BIG problem with how female characters from all the races are portrayed in this book. I won't repeat any of the derogatory terms used in the book here but one quote from the book pretty much sums it all up here "females are only good for f**king and fetching". And not a single male character seems to have an issue with this which is crazy considering how they were all conceived and how their show more origins are founded in slavery. It's actually quite disturbing when you reach the end of the story and you are trying desperately to think of a single female character that hasn't been raped, has self agency, isn't a prostitute, and isn't referred to in a derogatory manner. I just can't get behind this book because of this issue. It makes me wonder about the author and what his intent was with this book. show less

The Grey Bastards (The Lot Lands #1) by Jonathan French is a powerful, deeply moving, gritty, emotionally powered book that thrilled my every being! I felt I needed to shower off sweat, blood, hog hair, and grime when finished with this amazing book! It was the best book I have read in soooo long!
So rich in world building in every facet..just so detailed yet told without pointing out details, if that makes sense. The multiple species and the differences in their life habits and habitats.. WOW. Elven, Orcs, Half-Orcs, and Wizards, and of course humans. The story is about a group of Half-Orcs and their group called the Grey Bastards. The history of these, and all the fighting Half-Orcs, is so emotionally charged and thrilling...I wanted show more to get on a hog too!
After reading this book I tried to read several books and I couldn't! I felt I was reading children's books compared to The Grey Bastards. This book spoiled me! I tried a cozy mystery, a fun fantasy, and a few others and decided I shouldn't read for a day or two and then read. I had to just let the story marinate in my head and then read something else. I am still thinking about the book a few days later. I finally picked up another book but nothing compares to this. I bought his other books now. I hope it lasts until book two comes out! I am addicted to his rich, gritty, wild but wonderful writing!
I requested this book and the review is voluntary. I received an arc copy of the new edition. show less

This was a pretty good book, overall, but definitely not worth all the drooling five-star reviews it's getting. I mean, holy crap, if it could have veered a bit farther from the entire Sons of Anarchy thing, it would have easily earned the four stars I gave it, instead of me having to round up a 3.5 star rating.

Yeah, there's some great action, some cool magic, and a bunch of interesting characters, but as someone else stated in their review, there's very few females, and most of them are whores, or treated as whores.

The story itself was a touch overlong and drawn out at times, but in the end, yes, it got the job done. Yes, I'll read the next one, but I really didn't think the world needed a fantasy/SoA mash up, and quite frankly, I show more still don't. show less

Half-orcs get to be politically incorrect, which makes for easygoing fun.

I really like the interactions and the jokes between all the characters.

The story is well-paced, though a bit full of lucky timings and the ending is not that great. It's not a definite "just the first in a trilogy" feel, it's a bit different, it does have an ending, which is a bit preordained, and then it's made clear that there might be more to come. of course, by now we know the trilogy goes on and is complete already.