The True Bastards

August 15, 2019
The True Bastards' motto says it all: "Live in the saddle! Die on the hog!" In the action-packed sequel to The Grey Bastards (2018), French returns to the sprawling wastelands of Ul-wundulas with a gore-splattered, foulmouthed adventure following Fetching and her band of half-orcs as they battle adversaries bent on eradicating their kind from the lawless badlands that separates humans from orcs. After the events of the first novel--in which the Bastards' home was destroyed and their legendary leader lost--Fetch attempts to save the dwindling group (called a "hoof") from dying off. On the verge of starvation and struggling mightily to finish a structurally sound and defensible home, she must deal with a number of momentous issues, first and foremost being her deteriorating health. As she tries to find a cure for her strange affliction, a pack of seemingly indestructible "devil-dogs" roams the badlands, as do encroaching humans (called "frails"), killing any free-riding half-orcs they run across. When Fetch uncovers a devious scheme masterminded by the frails to wipe out all the hoofs, she must somehow unite the bickering mongrel factions before it's too late. Although the pacing is a bit more methodical in this installment, the story is filled with relentless action and powered by a cast of adeptly developed and emotionally appealing characters. Fetch is an obvious favorite--a female outcast finding acceptance and respect in a cutthroat and patriarchal society--as are Incus, the deaf giant female thrice (born of an orc and a half-orc) also known as the celebrated fighter Anvil's Bride; and Mead, Fetch's one-handed second-in-command. Fans will be overjoyed not only with the return of some beloved characters, but also with the novel's conclusion, which sets up the storyline for a much larger adventure to come. Imagine an outlaw biker gang of half-orcs riding giant war pigs and you've captured this saga's gloriously dirty soul.

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Starred review from August 26, 2019
This grim but brilliant sequel to The Grey Bastards follows the Bastards’ new leader, half-orc/half-elf Fetching, as she takes charge of her cohort (or “hoof”) of half-orcs and the humans who rely on them. Fetch and her fellow “mongrels” face off against famine and starvation, cavaleros from neighboring Hispartha, another band of half-orcs who feel that Fetch is unworthy to lead, and a mysterious, enormous orc (large enough to pick up a horse and throw it like a baseball) and the oversized hyenas that he commands. The woes that face the Bastards are unrelenting, and Fetch isn’t sure she can count on their supposed allies: the other hoofs, the cultish human Unyars, the elven mountain-dwellers, and the newly arrived foreigners called Zahracenes. But by the novel’s end, Fetch has secured real connections and support for the surviving Bastards. French’s half-orcs are an uncouth lot but fiercely loyal to one another and those they protect, and Fetch herself is prepared to endure unimaginable pain to secure safety for her people. The many cultures are richly detailed, adding depth. This installment will more than satisfy fantasy readers who like deadly battles balanced with intricate worldbuilding and skilled characterization.

September 15, 2019
Picking up a year after the conclusion of The Grey Bastards (2018), French returns readers to Ul-Wundulas, the borderland between humans and orcs that is defended by half-orcs and other outcasts from human society. The brotherhood known as the True Bastards is led by Fetch, a rare female rider, who is struggling to keep her band together as drought, illness, and other residents of the Lot Lands seek to tear them apart. The hoof, or band, is further reduced by having three riders elsewhere: Warbler is staying with the elvish Tines for medical reasons; Oats is fighting in the Pits to support the hoof; and Jackal is still searching for Crafty, the wizard who betrayed their hoof. As in the previous book, there are glimpses of the other societies as the protagonist encounters them: Fetch interacts peacefully, to her surprise, with centaurs; visits the Tines; and confronts an orc wizard as well as other half-orc hoofs, each operating by their own set of rules. Once again, French holds readers attention and leaves them anticipating the next volume.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

September 1, 2019

In the Lot Lands, bands of half-orcs called hoofs keep the tenuous peace. Fetching is an anomaly among the True Bastards, both as the only female rider, and now as hoofmaster and leader. The last year has been difficult, with a mysterious famine, a crumbling fortress, dissent in her ranks, and the other half-orc leaders questioning her abilities. As orcs and humans begin to encroach upon the Lots, Fetch and her band must defeat the plots against them while keeping their band and village alive. Searching for safety leads them through the barrens of the Lots themselves, into regions controlled by elves, and for Fetch, a deeper quest into her own mysterious heritage, which is darker than anything she has ever faced. The male gaze and attitude is rife but has purpose, one that Fetching and many other female characters upend every chance they get. VERDICT French's sequel to The Grey Bastards, a 2018 LJ Best Book, continues the half-orcs' penchant for rough rides, foul language, and heady action sequences. [See Prepub Alert, 4/1/19.]--Kristi Chadwick, Massachusetts Lib. Syst., Northampton

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2019

French debuted in a big way last year with The Grey Bastards, an LJ Best SF/Fantasy and multistarred "Lot Lands" series opener. Here, Fetching now leads her own band of half-orcs, the True Bastards, and she faces famine and desertion from within and contempt from other half-orc leaders from without. Then real problems come from beyond the grave.

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.