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The Grim Company (The Grim Company Series Book 1) Kindle Edition
First in an epic, gritty trilogy from the hottest new voice in British fantasy.
It is a time of darkness. The last magic of the dead gods is on the wane. Demons and half-formed monsters plague the land as the final barriers between the realms begin to fail. The jealous Magelords of three great cities sit in their towers of stone and brood over the scant power that remains...
It is not a time of heroes. Their songs are long forgotten, their deeds go unwritten.
But, even now, some few still nurse a spark of hope, an unlikely fellowship, united against the tyranny of their immortal overlords – THE GRIM COMPANY.
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherHead of Zeus
- Publication dateMarch 1, 2013
- File size1.3 MB
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Review
"[S]pins a gripping tale with expertise and relish."--The Guardian
"[A] grisly, compelling read...hugely enjoyable."--The Daily Mail
"A noteworthy and gripping debut that promises to develop into an altogether superior series--one well-worth getting hooked on at the outset."--Kirkus Reviews
"Luke Scull delivers a fantastic story that is ripe with action, strong characterization and a tight plot....This is one debut not to be missed and marks Luke Scull as one of epic fantasy's talented debutants."--Fantasy Book Critic
"[A] rollicking dark fantasy adventure novel. It moves with verve and pace...and is threaded through with a great sense of humor."--The Wertzone
"Highly memorable with a great cast and an even greater story all wrapped up in a mature world, told by a true story-teller. The Grim Company is one of the best fantasy books you will read this year."--SFBook.com
"Luke Scull is more than good. He's the sort of author you buy on publishing date and read on the way home."--TheBookBag.co.uk
About the Author
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
The High Fangs were a world away, but there were some memories you couldn’t leave behind. No matter how far you ran.
He bit down and grunted with the effort. His large, scarred hands trembled around his gnarled manhood. The pain was excruciating. Spirits be damned, the pain was unholy. He’d taken arrows and blades in the gut that hurt less than this. At least, he thought they had. That was the problem with age. It played tricks on the mind.
Concentration. That was the key. Shut out the maddening noise of the street and focus on the job in hand. It was easier back up in the Fangs, where the wind was a constant whisper broken only by the howls of wolves or other beasts and a man respected another’s privacy enough to let him take a piss in peace. Here in the big city it seemed everyone wanted to impose on his business. Merchants thrust their wares into his face like he was a pleasure maid at a chieftain’s war gathering. It was madness.
He’d knocked one trader unconscious earlier in the day. The merchant had tried grabbing his hand, apparently with the intent of pressing some gaudy cloth into it. Brodar Kayne had apologised when he realised the fellow had meant no harm.
Gradually he felt the pressure begin to relent. Obstructions of the purifying mechanisms by which the body is cleansed, the physician had told him. He’d wanted to make a small incision, and had only just escaped without his metal tools wedged somewhere unpleasant. Kayne hadn’t survived this long by allowing men with sharp implements free rein to poke around his body.
‘Ten, nine, eight, seven . . . .’ He mentally counted down the final part of his silent ritual. If there was one thing he’d learned over his many years it was the importance of routine in maintaining the aegis of the human body against time’s hoary hand. It had nothing to do with superstition. Or getting old.
‘Five . . . four . . . three . . .’ he continued, and he sighed in relief as the pain lessened and his bladder prepared to empty itself. ‘Two . . . one . . . shit.’ The sounds of a noisy pursuit interrupted him in on the cusp of release and he fumbled his cock, a few drops of discoloured piss dribbling down his leg before it seized up like a dead man’s chest.
Kayne thrust his treacherous member back inside his breaches. Then he strode out of the side alley determined to find out what all the fuss was about.
Someone was going to pay.
A lad slumped against the side of an old warehouse a little further up the street. His head rested on his chest and his breathing was ragged, as if he carried an internal injury that made every inhalation a struggle. Faces peered out from behind doors and then melted away as Brodar Kayne approached the miserable figure. He grabbed a handful of sweat-matted hair and pulled the boy’s head back.
A mouthful of bloody spittle missed his eye by a finger’s width. A hand groped up, desperately seeking a weapon but succeeding only in prodding him painfully in the groin.
As swift as a snake, he grabbed the youngster’s arm and twisted it, eliciting a yelp. His other hand cuffed the insolent bastard in the head hard enough to bounce it right off the wall behind. He reached down and hauled the fool upright, shaking him like a butcher’s dog with a rat between his jaws.
‘You picked a bad day to start something with me,’ he snarled down into the blood-smeared face. He was a lad of around twenty winters, Kayne saw, unusually pale even by the standards of these pasty-skinned city dwellers. His steel-coloured eyes were unfocused and slightly watery, as if he’d been crying. Kayne shook his head in disgust.
‘You know you’ve lived too long when a smack upside a fellow’s head is enough to set him to tears. At your age I’d killed more men than I could rightly remember. Took some wounds that could kill a man too, and came through ‘em none the worse for it. You got yourself a broken rib, I reckon, and that nose won’t ever be as straight as it was. Still, you’ll live – assuming I let you.’
He heard the rustle of chainmail behind him and turned, releasing his grip on the wounded lad. The young Lowlander promptly flopped to the ground.
‘Out of the way! This is Crimson Watch business.’ The speaker was an ugly little man with a plague-ravaged face. He dragged his right leg as he approached. A trail of blood glistened behind him.
The other fellow was younger and somewhat broader but still half a head shorter than Kayne, who saw that he sported a fresh bruise beneath his left eye. The red-cloaked soldier scowled up at him.
‘You’re a Highlander. What are you doing so far south? A man of your years ought to be tending goats or sat around a campfire spinning bullshit tales to convince some maiden to suck your cock – whatever the fuck it is you mountain folk do. You’re not welcome here. Lord Salazar holds no love for the Magelord of the High Fangs.’
Kayne shrugged. ‘Can’t say I blame him,’ he replied. ‘The Shaman and me, we got our differences as well. Enough to make the frozen north an unsafe place for an old barbarian.’ The youth at his feet had begun to moan. ‘I was down this way. Thought I’d pass through, see the sights of the city. Tell me, what’s the boy done?’
‘What business is that of yours?’ said the pock-faced fellow. ‘He’s guilty of interfering with the application of the law. The fucker stabbed me in the leg with this dagger. It won’t stop bleeding.’ He gestured at the weapon at his belt and then to his leg. There was a hint of panic in his voice.
Kayne’s eyes swept over the weapon and noted the telltale glow. ‘Magic, if I ain’t mistaken,’ he said. ‘I’m no expert on the subject but I reckon that wound won’t be closing by itself any time soon. Best find yourself a decent physician.’ He folded his arms and fixed the two soldiers with his best implacable stare.The younger soldier’s hand went to his sword, but he sounded uncertain all of a sudden. ‘Not without this shiteater we’re not. Come on, move aside.’
Kayne flexed his neck. It clicked slightly. He sighed in satisfaction. ‘No,’ he said.
‘Then you’ll die with him. Merrik, you take his left side.’
The Watchmen advanced on him slowly, their scarlet cloaks fluttering in the breeze.
Come at me, he thought, reaching behind him to the hilt of the greatsword slung on his back. He felt its familiar grip beneath his fingers. He stepped away from the prone lad, sparing the twitching figure an annoyed glance. This wouldn’t make things any easier. His opponents circled around him.
The soldier to his right feinted low and then brought his sword around in a vicious backhand chop. Kayne thrust his hips backwards and drew his chest in. The sword whistled past, barely an inch away.
He caught movement out of the corner of his left eye and spun, forming a crouch. As he felt the steel pass harmlessly over his head, his right elbow rose and crunched into the cheek of his assailant, who flopped to the ground. He pulled his greatsword loose of its scabbard with his other hand as he completed the rotation, raised it just in time to parry the other soldier’s follow-up attack.
His opponent stepped back and blinked. ‘Fuck,’ he said.
‘Aye,’ nodded Brodar Kayne. ‘Let’s get this over with. I need to piss.’
Greatsword and longsword came together. Kayne hardly moved as he casually responded to the wild thrusts and lunges of the Watchman. In desperation, his opponent launched a desperate overhead slash intended to cleave his skull, but Kayne neatly sidestepped it and brought his own blade sweeping around at waist height.
The Watchman stared at the entrails spilling from the bloody mess where his midriff had been. He dropped his sword and moved to gather the glistening, snaking things in his hands, but then reflexively drew back in disgust.
Always bad when that happens, Kayne thought sympathetically. He raised his greatsword and cut the man’s head from his shoulders.
Wiping the blade clean on the corpse’s tabard, he sheathed it behind him and then walked over to the other Watchman, who was struggling groggily to his feet. He grabbed the solder’s head and smashed it four, five, six times into the side of the warehouse. Holding the body upright with one hand, he took the dagger from the man’s belt with the other and let the corpse fall, ignoring the patch of bloody skin and hair left on the side of the warehouse.
He turned the dagger around in his hands. It was a fine enough weapon. The hilt and guard were plain, but the pommel was inset with a large ruby and the slightly curved blade radiated the soft blue glow that signified an enchantment of some kind. He sheathed it at his belt and was just starting back to the tavern when a cough got his attention.
‘Almost forgot about you,’ he muttered to the moaning lad. ‘Suppose I should thank you for this. Might be tough finding a merchant who’ll take it off my hands here in Dorminia, but it’ll fetch a tidy sum elsewhere.’ He hesitated for a moment, then raised a boot and placed it over the boy’s neck. ‘Sorry about this,’ he said. ‘More of those rotten bastards will show up soon. If they find you here, you’ll be wishing you was dead a hundred times over before the day is out. I’m doing you a favour.’
The lad’s face turned blue as Kayne’s boot pressed down on his windpipe. His hands flapped weakly. A pathetic gurgle escaped his lips. Grey eyes met his, wide with the terror of death.
They were begging him. Pleading with him.
Kayne looked away. He remembered that same look, eyes of a similar hue on a face much the same age. Recalled the mad agony as Mhaira’s wild screams hammered at his skull and the sickening stench of burning flesh filled his nostrils while he scraped his arms bloody on a cage that refused to yield.
He looked down at his forearms. The marks were still visible, though he was covered in so many old scars it hardly mattered a damn. There were other, worse scars to carry. The kind that changed a man forever.
Sighing heavily, the old barbarian removed his boot from the lad’s throat and hauled him upright, tossing him over his shoulder with an ease that belied his years. With a final grunt, he turned and loped away as fast as his creaking legs would carry him.
*
The Wolf was well into his cups by the time Brodar Kayne stumbled into the grimy tavern near the slums. He bitterly regretted taking a stroll before attempting to empty his bladder. The patrons of the smoky dive cast curious glances at him as he dropped his groaning burden to the ale-spattered floor. His back ached like a bastard.
He’d gotten soft, that was the problem. They could be on their way east to one of the Free Cities by now. He doubted any of them could compare to this sprawling, stinking place – but they were well within the Unclaimed Lands, where no Magelord held sway and magic wasn’t contraband like it was in the Trine. The dagger at his belt would fetch a chieftain’s ransom from the right people.
But no. Instead he’d been unmanned by the bloody fool who was now writhing around at his feet.
Jerek had spotted him. He was sitting in the dingiest corner of the tavern, hunched over his beer, casting dark scowls at anyone foolish enough to meet his gaze. His bald head reflected the torchlight, giving him an angry red glow. His eyes narrowed further as Kayne stalked over.
‘Time to go, Wolf. I had a run in with the local authorities. They’ll be all over this place like a rash within the hour.’ He waited expectantly as his friend slowly drained his cup and refilled it from the pitcher in the centre of the table.
Jerek looked up at him briefly. Then he raised his cup and drained it. ‘Who the fuck’s that?’ he asked in his gruff, rasping voice, slamming the cup down and nodding at the youth across the tavern. His tone was almost conversational. An ominous sign.
Kayne sighed. Might as well get this over with. ‘The lad? He was about to be murdered by a couple of those bastards with the red cloaks. They told me to step aside. I weren’t that way inclined.’ He waited patiently for the outburst he knew was coming.
Jerek stood up suddenly. He wasn’t a tall man by Highlander standards, though he was plenty broad. Fire danced in his dark eyes as he stared at the boy with an unreadable expression. He stroked his short beard, which was black and shot through with grey. The stroking became a tug, an almost frantic motion. His mouth began to twitch. Here it comes, Kayne thought.
‘Fucking unbelievable!’ the Wolf growled in a sudden outburst of fury. He slammed his fists down on the table, upsetting the pitcher which tumbled off the edge and spilled its contents on the floor. He reached behind him and drew his twin hand axes.
The Wolf gestured at the boy with a shake of his left axe. ‘Who’s he? Nobody. Let him die. Gut the prick. Makes no difference to us. You had to go and get involved didn’t you? Thought we’d done well. Made it here alive. Looked forward to a night of drinking. Well-deserved. Can’t say it ain’t, all the shit we’ve been through. Planned to get myself some pussy tonight, did you know that? Don’t look that way now, does it? Always the hero, that’s you. I’ve had it with this shit. I’m fucking tired.’
Kayne waited patiently for Jerek to finish his rant. The Wolf might be the angriest person he’d ever met in a world full of angry men, and he might be quick to draw blood when a calm word was all that was needed to diffuse a situation, and he might have a tendency to alienate just about anyone who spent more than five minutes in his company – but at the end of the day he was the closest friend he had ever had. You take the rough with the smooth, as his father always used to say.
Jerek had stopped to draw breath for a moment. The old Highlander seized his chance. ‘Calm, Wolf. We’ll steal ourselves a couple of horses and ride east to the Unclaimed Lands. We’ll be there inside a couple of days. See this?’ He drew the glowing dagger from his belt and held it up. ‘Magic. Belonged to our friend over there. I reckon it will fetch us thirty gold spires. Maybe more.’ A thought occurred to him. ‘Didn’t you say you were desperate for female company? You’ve been drinking for the past three hours. Plenty of whores over in the corner there.’ He pointed over to the opposite end of the tavern where a small group of scantily dressed women were attempting to solicit business.
Jerek scowled. ‘Fancied a drink first. Can’t a man wet his whistle? I’d empty this tavern’s cellar and still do ‘em all raw and you fucking know it, Kayne. Impugning my manhood. The front on you.’ The Wolf’s grip on his axes tightened and his knuckles turned white.
‘Nothing meant,’ said Brodar Kayne hurriedly. ‘Just an observation. Let me have a quick word with the owner of this joint and get the boy sorted and then we’ll be out of here.’
He moved over to the bar, where a man with a monstrous boil on the side of his nose watched him suspiciously. Kayne rummaged around inside the pouch at his belt and withdrew two silver sceptres. He placed the coins down on the bar. ‘See that lad twitching around on the floor over there? I want a roof over his head for as long as he needs to get himself up and on his feet again. He’s got a few cracked ribs and his head will hurt like a bitch for the next day or two, but he’ll live. If the Watch happens to stop by here, you never set eyes on him. We understand each other?’
The bartender’s eyes went to the coins and then to the struggling youth. He shook his head and pushed the silver away. ‘My life’s worth more than your sceptres can buy, Highlander. If the Watch discovers me sheltering an outlaw they’ll burn this place down. I’ve seen it happen before. I have a wife and a daughter—’
He was interrupted as the door of the tavern swung open and a rotund man wearing a blacksmith’s apron burst in to the common room, sweat trickling down his soot-plastered face. He spoke in a high-pitched voice completely at odds with his appearance.
‘Important news, fellas! The city’s under lockdown! No one is allowed in or out of Dorminia until further notice. The order’s come straight from Lord Salazar himself.’
Brodar Kayne glanced across at Jerek. The Wolf was tugging at his beard again. ‘Since when?’ he asked the blacksmith. He had a sinking feeling.
‘Since just now,’ the man replied in his girlish voice. ‘Something big’s happened. Something to do with Libernia and the war over those bloody islands.’ He rubbed at the bristling whiskers on the sides of his face. ‘There’s a group of Watchmen just south of here. They’re searching for someone. Apparently a pair of the bastards got murdered nearby.’
Shit, Kayne thought. How did they react so fast? He turned to Jerek.
‘We’ll make for the harbour and find somewhere we can lay low.’ He felt a tugging at his trousers. The lad was struggling to pull himself up. Kayne reached down and hauled him to his feet.
The boy bent over, his hands curled around his chest, drawing in ragged gasps of air. Then, remarkably, he straightened up. Pain was writ large across his blood-caked face, but there was a determined look in those steel-coloured eyes that was mildly impressive. So. You’ve got some fruits after all.
Jerek had stalked over and was now staring balefully at the youth. To his credit, the lad met the Wolf’s gaze and didn’t flinch away.
‘My name’s Davarus Cole,’ he said, in a voice that held a strangely tempered quality in spite of his obvious pain. It was almost as if he was reciting some kind of speech. ‘I know a place north and west of here where we can seek shelter from the Crimson Watch. We’ll be among friends.’ He coughed and spat up a glob of blood. For a second he looked like he would faint. Then he seemed to notice the two Highlanders watching him, and he shot the bloody spittle a hard glare.
Kayne scratched his head. This lad was a strange one all right. ‘I’m Brodar Kayne. This is Jerek. Can’t say I have a better plan, so we’ll take you at your word. What is it?’ He noticed the boy staring at the belt on his waist. ‘Ah. That. I’ll be keeping hold of this dagger for a while, on account on me saving your life.’
The Lowlander looked as though he was about protest, but Jerek shot him a look that screamed brutal murder and he promptly closed his mouth.
Kayne reached over and gave young Davarus Cole a reassuring pat on the back. ‘Right then. Lead on.’
***
The city was abuzz with activity as Davarus Cole led his new companions through a winding maze of alleys and side streets. Fortunately, they encountered no Watchmen among the bustling crowds.
Fate smiles on me once again, Cole thought in satisfaction. His chest throbbed and blazing pain shot through his skull with every laboured step, but at least he was alive.
He cast a quick glance behind him. The older Highlander was of impressive height, almost a head taller than Cole himself. He looked to be around fifty. Despite his advancing years, the man’s lean muscles were evidence that he’d lost little of his strength. His broad-nosed face was weathered and creased. An ugly scar began just beneath his left eye and ran diagonally to just below his cheek. The Highlander’s grey hair had receded slightly and thinned a little at the crown, but the mane still fell impressively to the nape of his neck. Silver stubble covered his face and gave him a rough appearance, and his deep blue eyes were undimmed by age.
All in all, Brodar Kayne looked exactly as Cole imagined the stereotypical Highlander barbarian would look – albeit one who was a score of years past his prime. Cole suspected that women would still consider him handsome, in a fatherly kind of way.
The same couldn’t be said of the silent figure stalking alongside him. Cole judged Jerek to be somewhat younger than Brodar Kayne, perhaps in his early forties. Shorter than his compatriot yet still a few inches taller than he was, he was a burley man with the kind of countenance that gave children nightmares. His dark scowling eyes stared out from a face disfigured by an accident that had left the right side horribly burned. His head was hairless save for a short beard, and his brow seemed permanently furrowed.
Jerek’s eyes met Cole’s own and bore into them. ‘Problem?’ the Highlander growled at him. His hands shifted slightly to the twin axes on his back.
Cole cleared his throat. They had arrived at the Hook. ‘Our destination is just ahead, on the other side of the plaza. You see the crumbling building over there?’
Brodar Kayne squinted as if it were an effort to make out the old belfry a hundred yards ahead of them. ‘I see it. Seems a risky place for a secret hideout.’ His expression turned grim. ‘Are those gibbets?’ He nodded at the cages hanging from the large wooden frame on a raised platform in the centre of the plaza. The wind had picked up with the onset of dusk, causing the swaying prisons to clank together in a grisly cadence.
‘Salazar keeps them well-stocked,’ Cole replied. He was taken aback at the hard look on Brodar Kayne’s face. The man’s expression had turned to stone. ‘The tower is part of an old abandoned temple to the Mother. The Shards meet there once a month. The vestibule collapsed long ago, but there’s a secret entrance at the back.’
‘The Mother,’ Jerek rasped. ‘Ha. Ain’t no goddess looking out for us now.’ He spat on the ground. ‘Nothing spills out of the Mother’s dead old hole these days except abominations. That’s all a man needs, when he’s already balls-deep in demons and with the Brethren hot on his heels.’
Cole wasn’t sure exactly what the Highlander meant, but his tone seemed unmistakably odious. He decided it would be a good idea to move the conversation along.
‘We’ll go around the outside of the Hook. I might get recognised if we try and cut through.’ He suddenly remembered the old man whose skull had been split asunder by the Watchman’s sword. He thought he could see a dark smear of blood on the Tyrant’s Road. It appeared the body had already been hauled away and likely divested of any valuables it had possessed. Such was life in Dorminia.
Cole gestured at the Highlanders and they set off around edge of the Hook. His keen ears picked up fragments of conversation from passers-by as they made their way along the perimeter of the large plaza. Talk seemed to focus on the lockdown and what it meant for the city. Cole could only vaguely recall the last lockdown, which had occurred when he was a young child. A massive abomination had besieged Dorminia’s walls and a squad of Augmentors had been dispatched to nullify the threat. Not all of them had returned.
He overheard a pair of old women chattering about the weather. They were pointing at the horizon. They quieted as Cole and his companions strolled past, and he felt their curious eyes tracking them as they made their way to the opposite side of the Hook.
Highlanders were exceptionally rare in the Trine. Their homeland bordered the very edge of the world far to the north, beyond the tortured Badlands that were once the vast steppes of the nomadic Yahan horse-tribes.
Cole glanced at the grim figures following behind him. The mere fact they had survived the epic journey this far south was telling enough. These were hard men.
Perhaps almost as hard as he was.
They were nearing the ruined tower. The first droplets of rain began to fall. Cole could see the vanguard of a dark blanket of cloud rolling in from the southwest. He paused for a moment and tilted his head back, intending to wet his face and wipe away some of the blood from his chin. Jerek barged him in the back and he almost stumbled over, hot pain shooting through his ribs.
‘Keep out my fucking way,’ the Highlander snarled. Cole’s mouth hung open. He had half-expected an apology, or at least some acknowledgement that the collision had been accidental. He wanted to call the man to task for his rudeness, but something in the Highlander’s tone unsettled him. Instead, he gave a sickly smile.
‘Jerek doesn’t like the rain,’ Brodar Kayne said, almost kindly. ‘Causes his scars to itch something rotten. Don’t take it personally.’
‘No offence taken,’ Cole replied casually, though in his mind his fists had already made a bloody mess of the bastard’s face. ‘Almost there.’
They skirted around the side of the ruined tower and the crumbling walls of the western court and vestibule. The skeleton of the building was snaked with ivy, like the emaciated corpse of a huge beast fallen prey to some verdant, ligneous horror. Cole led them around to the rear of the temple where the walls had subsided and the cracked pediment leaned out at a dangerous angle. Warehouses had sprung up near to the rear of the temple. The close proximity of the buildings created a mostly enclosed space away from prying eyes.
With a quick look around to ensure no one was watching, Davarus Cole bent down and pulled aside a large patch of ivy. Behind the vegetation was a gap just small enough to squeeze through. He pushed himself through it and gestured at the Highlanders to follow him. Brodar Kayne made it inside with surprising ease, his long limbs navigating the aperture with impressive flexibility. Jerek proved more problematic. A torrent of foul curses accompanied his grunts of exertion as he finally forced himself through the opening.
‘We’re here,’ Cole said. He stared down the stone passage to the steps leading up to the sanctuary. The Shards were doubtless even now fretting about his absence. He felt a shiver of anticipation. He had sustained wounds that would have surely incapacitated a lesser man, and yet here he was, the stoic hero breezing in, doughty new companions in tow. He could hardly wait to see the look on Sasha’s face. Those big brown eyes, full of hidden admiration, a flicker of yearning from behind that veil of scorn—
‘Something the matter?’ Brodar Kayne enquired, jolting him out his reverie. Cole shook his head in response.
‘The door ahead leads to the sanctuary. The Shards will be up there. Let me do the talking and everything will be fine.’ Cole strolled to the end of the corridor and climbed the handful of steps, then rapped out a complex sequence on the door at the top. He waited for a few moments, hearing muffled whispers from just beyond. Finally a bolt was released and the door swung open.
‘Cole!’ exclaimed Sasha. Her eyes assessed his battered face without a hint of compassion. ‘You’d better get up here.’
Product details
- ASIN : B00APDVEJI
- Publisher : Head of Zeus (March 1, 2013)
- Publication date : March 1, 2013
- Language : English
- File size : 1.3 MB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 401 pages
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

LUKE SCULL is a British author and videogame designer. Luke’s first novel, The Grim Company, was shortlisted for the Gemmell Morningstar Award and earned a starred review from Kirkus as well as praise from the Guardian, the Sun, and the Daily Mail. Luke’s game design credits include several acclaimed titles for Ossian Studios. He has worked on The Witcher, Neverwinter Nights, and Baldur’s Gate franchises and is currently design lead for several projects.
You can keep up to date with Luke’s various projects by following him on Twitter at @Luke_Scull and visiting his website at www.lukescull.com
For book-specific monthly updates, join his mailing list and receive the short story “A Ring to Rule Them All” absolutely free!
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the book easy to read and enjoyable. They appreciate the well-developed characters with interesting personalities and flaws that make them believable. The story is solid and interesting, with multiple points of view. Readers describe the book as an amusing, exciting adventure with a satisfying ending. They find the pacing fast and engrossing. Opinions differ on the writing quality - some find it well-written and gritty, while others feel it's not great and reads like Joe Abercrombie's YA novels.
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Customers enjoy the book and find it readable. They say it's an enjoyable read and look forward to the next book in the series.
"...The last third of the book is really awesome and I read it in one sitting...." Read more
"A great read that moves quickly without being rushed. It’s a grim setting and the author puts the characters through hell...." Read more
"...Dont get me wrong, i enjoyed the book. It just didnt seem like it was quite RIGHT......" Read more
"I enjoyed this book. Its pretty dark and the setting is depressive at times...." Read more
Customers find the characters well-developed with interesting personalities and flaws that make them believable. The shifting POV characters enliven the story and give it voice. The characters are vividly painted, each with a uniquely immersive story that explains. However, some characters made it painful to read, while bad-ass ones were cool, but not quite.
"...The characters are all likeable. Initially, it seems as if the author borrowed the cast from Abercrombie’s First Law Trilogy...." Read more
"...It’s a grim setting and the author puts the characters through hell. Really a great adventure with a satisfying if not too happy ending." Read more
"...What I liked most about this book is that I didn't hate the bad guy, and I could even follow the logic that lead him to where he was...." Read more
"...None of the characters are fully fleshed out to the point that you KNOW them or feel any bond with them past the whole 'these people are good, that..." Read more
Customers find the story engaging with a solid plotline and relatable characters. They describe the book as an exciting adventure with a satisfying conclusion. Readers appreciate the gritty world and multiple points of view.
"...The plot and the setting pack a punch. While the first 100 pages of the book feel a little rushed (and having some infodumps), the book settles down...." Read more
"...Really a great adventure with a satisfying if not too happy ending." Read more
"...The plot is good, and doesn't follow the standard mold of the normal good vs evil, at least not yet...." Read more
"As others have said, this is true epic sword and sorcery fantasy in the vein of Abercrombie and Erickson and Anthony Ryan and Miles Cameron, my..." Read more
Customers enjoy the book. They find it amusing, exciting, and fast-paced. The adventure is satisfying with a satisfying ending.
"...The Grim Company is a gritty dark fantasy which moves fast and is really fun as well. Highly recommended." Read more
"...Really a great adventure with a satisfying if not too happy ending." Read more
"...give it voice, the tone is grim but not bleak and it's an enjoyable read throughout." Read more
"This was a good, entertaining read...." Read more
Customers find the book's pacing fast and engaging. They describe it as more of a sprint than a marathon, with an intense story that grips readers tightly.
"...Overall, The Grim Company is a gritty dark fantasy which moves fast and is really fun as well. Highly recommended." Read more
"A great read that moves quickly without being rushed. It’s a grim setting and the author puts the characters through hell...." Read more
"...Dark and gritty with a complex storyline, lots of characters, and huge scope...." Read more
"First offering I have read by this author. Initially the story began relatively slowly...." Read more
Customers have mixed opinions about the writing quality. Some find it well-written with an intriguing setting and gritty action. Others feel the writing isn't great and the influence of other writers is clear.
"Well written with an intriguing setting: post-apocalyptic sorcerors as autocratic tyrants in city-states fighting over a dwindling source of power,..." Read more
"...Author 's writing is acceptable, although at this point he is certainly not in the same lead with Abercrombie, Martin, Lawrence et cetera...." Read more
"...It reads like Joe Abercrombie's YA novels, and many of the characters seem like a direct ripoff. The Halfmage is a weak version of Glokta...." Read more
"...Other than that this was a very solid read. While a little magic heavy it was still subtle in its own right...." Read more
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2013The Grim Company is Luke Scull’s debut novel, the first of a trilogy going by the same name. There has been a lot of buzz about the book and after seeing Amazon selling the kindle version for just 2 dollars, I immediately bought it.
The Grim Company is a “grim-dark” fantasy. The world building is top notch. Five centuries ago, a bunch of wizards killed the Gods, becoming immortal and now ruling the remaining world as magelords. When one such magelord, Salazar of Dorminia, is weakened, a group of rebels in his city try to overthrow him. Among them is our protagonist Davarus Cole, who believes it is his destiny to liberate the city. Meanwhile, two barbarians from far North, Kayne and the Wolf, come south, getting tangled up here. The magelord of the North, the Shaman, faces his own problems with demons as a wizardess there tries to achieve her ambition.
The plot and the setting pack a punch. While the first 100 pages of the book feel a little rushed (and having some infodumps), the book settles down. Halfway through I was hooked. Considering the length of the book it is incredible how much backstory and information the author was able to provide. I quite liked the heavy use of magic as well.
The characters are all likeable. Initially, it seems as if the author borrowed the cast from Abercrombie’s First Law Trilogy. However, the appearances are just superficial. Cole in particular was incredibly amusing and it was always fun to see him taken down a peg or two.
After a chaotic beginning, the author manages to keep the reader interested till the end. The last third of the book is really awesome and I read it in one sitting. In spite of it being the first book of a trilogy, there is a sense of resolution at the end while leaving enough loose threads to make me want to read the second book as soon as possible.
Overall, The Grim Company is a gritty dark fantasy which moves fast and is really fun as well. Highly recommended.
- Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2024A great read that moves quickly without being rushed. It’s a grim setting and the author puts the characters through hell. Really a great adventure with a satisfying if not too happy ending.
- Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 20163 out of 5. Heres why:
The story basically only tells the tale of 2 of the main characters. Which is fine, if those were the only two characters' perspective that we saw the story from.
Dont get me wrong, i enjoyed the book. It just didnt seem like it was quite RIGHT...
Characters are added to the story and do nothing more than give the main group a little trouble and then die within the next chapter. Thats ok when you need a quick spot of action, but thats how it is throughout the entire story. None of the characters are fully fleshed out to the point that you KNOW them or feel any bond with them past the whole 'these people are good, that guys bad'.
The story feels like a series of dots that are strung together, or dominoes set up to where the characters 'go here do this, then go here and fight this person, now go here and do some other thing' it didnt feel like the epic tale I was expecting.
- Reviewed in the United States on February 6, 2016I enjoyed this book. Its pretty dark and the setting is depressive at times. The story comes to us from a world where the wizards rose up to kill the gods at some point in the past. As a result this caused huge consequence that people are currently dealing with in during the current timeline.
The plot is good, and doesn't follow the standard mold of the normal good vs evil, at least not yet. I feel that this might have more of a role due to some foreshadowing, but I am only half way through the second book at this time. What I liked most about this book is that I didn't hate the bad guy, and I could even follow the logic that lead him to where he was. I find this to be what drove me to like the book as much as I did. I always hated books were the bad guy is bad for the sake of there needs to be a bad guy for the heroes to face off against.
- Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 2024Just when the author gives you enough to figure out the ending, he throws a wicked curve ball and forces you to buy the next book. Can’t but love stories like these.
Top reviews from other countries
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JonasReviewed in Germany on April 26, 2017
4.0 out of 5 stars Ganz gut
Buch an sich ganz spannend. Charakter s7nd jedoch manchmal etwas überzeichnet. Aber sonst ganz gut u so we i trr
- S. SnipesReviewed in Italy on October 23, 2014
3.0 out of 5 stars ok
I personally found the book dissapointing. It was capitvating writing, and I couldn't put it down, but by the end, you're not left particularly content with the turn of events.
I recomend it in that it's a very readable fantasy, just don't go expenting the next Song of Ice and Fire.
- paul nelsonReviewed in the United Kingdom on May 12, 2013
5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining debut
The Grim Company is set in the age of ruin, where the magelords fought a momentous battle against the Gods and cast their bodies down to the earth. The sites where the Gods fell are now mined for the raw magic they harbour and the magelords harness this power to use as they see fit.
Salazar is one of the most powerful magelords and we get an early indication of his prowess when he unleashes a spell that destroys a city, a spell that takes months to cast and leaves his magic severely depleted. He rules Dorminia with an iron fist, using mindhawks to seek out dissenters and end their rebellious natures.
Davarus Cole is a young member of the rebels resistance movement called the Shards, opposed to the tyrannical rule of the magelord and they are able to torment the cities watch by using drugs to block the mindhawks. Cole has been told all his life that he is the son of a hero, he has heroes blood that enables him to wield an enchanted dagger and all his thoughts centre on the deeds he will and should be accomplishing but his actions never quite go to plan. His attitude can be a little annoying and for this reason he was my least favourite character, his heroes blood line is disputed but he does redeem himself in the end.
The most entertaining characters by far are the two Northmen or highlanders from the High Fangs, Brodar Kayne is the sword of the North adept with his broad sword and no stranger to violence, his companion is Jerek the wolf, an expert tracker and single minded individual who rarely strays from the sullen exterior he portrays. Both have seen better days but the history they share binds them together and makes an interesting component of the story, both men should not be underestimated. On entering Dorminia the Northmen run into Cole almost immediately and soon become embroiled in the plans of the rebels.
The plot is certainly well crafted, compelling and the events that take place in the High Fangs is equally if not more enthralling as both sub plots draw together.
The flow of the story is well paced, interrupted occasionally with story's of the past for the benefit of world building and the exploration of Brodar Kayne's brutal history, this doesn't slow the story but enhances it.
Luke Scull has been compared to Joe Abercrombie, I think mainly because he combines the odd expletive with some sarcastic humour and the fact that he has barbarians from the North or highlanders, with a gritty feel to it but the author should be commended for an excellent debut novel after all these are some of the major traits of modern fantasy and its the stuff I enjoy. Comparisons to Abercrombie should be taken as a huge compliment and I have a feeling the second novel of the series Sword of the North is going to raise the bar even higher.
- PlasticManReviewed in Australia on January 29, 2015
4.0 out of 5 stars Good Read
Recommended
- Kindle CustomerReviewed in the United Kingdom on April 8, 2013
4.0 out of 5 stars fun "grimdark" debut
This was an absolute bargain (in ebook format) and the author's unashamed admission of writing "grimdark" had me checking it out. I'm quite pleased that I did. I'm sure the author is sick of hearing the comparison but it has a very strong "Joe Abercrombie" feel about it in terms of humour and characters. Some characters even feel a bit too similar as there's a Northern Barbarian, a cocky upstart and a cynical cripple. Fortunately these characters come into their own and the cocky upstart, Davarus Cole, turns out to be a hilarious protagonist. Towards the end of the book I also found myself caring about the fates of some of the other characters (The Wolf and Barandas) and it's always a sign of good characterisation when you start to care. One thing that sets this book apart from Abercrombie is that the world is a lot more magical with sorcerers, demons, magical weapons and deicide. This rich world suggests there are more stories to be mined in future installments. It's not a perfect book but it settles into an enjoyable groove in the last third of the book with its abundance of action and twisting revelations left me wanting more. Definitely worth a look at the current ebook price and I suspect future installments will improve upon this debut.