{"id":5371,"date":"2018-04-27T10:13:34","date_gmt":"2018-04-27T14:13:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sfreader.com\/r\/?p=5371"},"modified":"2018-07-06T10:35:39","modified_gmt":"2018-07-06T14:35:39","slug":"pr-the-grey-bastards-by-jonathan-french","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sfreader.com\/r\/industry-news\/press-release\/pr-the-grey-bastards-by-jonathan-french\/","title":{"rendered":"PR: The Grey Bastards, by Jonathan French"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>A gritty, irreverent fantasy debut for fans of\u00a0The Lord of the Rings<\/em>,\u00a0Sons of Anarchy<\/em>, Dungeons & Dragons, and World of Warcraft<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jonathan French\u2019s debut novel,\u00a0THE GREY BASTARDS\u00a0<\/em>(Crown; on sale\u00a0June 19, 2018<\/span>)<\/strong>,\u00a0<\/strong>is a raucous, blood-soaked adventure that approaches the epic fantasy genre from an entirely new angle. Originally self-published, it won the 2016 Self-Publishing Fantasy Blog-off (SPFBO), where\u00a0a panel of ten top fantasy bloggers picked it as the best of hundreds of entries, with international bestselling author Mark Lawrence hailing it as \u201ca filthy, charismatic, and frankly excellent read.\u201d\u00a0Crown\u2019s editor, who published the debuts of such novelists as Andy Weir and Ernest Cline, recognized French\u2019s talent immediately and knew the author had created something unprecedented.<\/p>\n

Picture\u00a0Lord of the Rings<\/em>\u00a0reimagined by way of\u00a0Sons of Anarchy<\/em>.\u00a0Ever since J.R.R. Tolkien popularized orcs and elves, they\u2019ve been co-opted by novels, films, TV shows, and even games like Dungeon & Dragons and World of Warcraft. Here, French takes these familiar high-fantasy elements (along with wizards, halflings, centaurs, and others) and\u2014with a wink to the reader\u2014recasts them in his own shockingly down and dirty fashion. This time, the monsters are the good guys as we follow Jackal, a protagonist whom\u00a0New York Times\u00a0<\/em>bestselling author Scott Sigler calls \u201chalf orc and all badass,\u201d in a swaggering, action-packed adventure that author Brian McClellan dubs\u00a0\u201ca bloody good tale of battles, intrigue, betrayal, duty, and frickin\u2019 war pigs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jackal is proud to be a Grey Bastard, a member of a sworn brotherhood of half-orcs. Unloved and unwanted in civilized society, the Bastards eke out a hard life in the desolate no-man\u2019s-land called the Lots, protecting frail and noble human civilization from invading bands of full-blooded orcs. But as Jackal is soon to learn, his pride may be misplaced. Because a festering secret lies at the heart of the Bastards\u2019 existence\u2014one that reveals the truth behind humanity\u2019s tenuous peace with the orcs, and exposes the danger on the horizon. On the heels of the ultimate betrayal, Jackal must scramble to stop an invasion even as he wonders where his true loyalties lie.<\/p>\n

THE GREY BASTARDS<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0is\u00a0stuffed with inventive action, clever world-building, and a constantly surprising plot. Equal parts humor and epic struggle, it\u2019s at once one of the most compelling fantasy stories in years and a story that will make fantasy readers grin as the sardonic voice pokes fun at familiar tropes: prissy elves, oddball halflings, rotund and powerful wizards, and let us not forget the corrupt human beings. And if you\u2019re left hungering for more at the end of the book, there\u2019s good news: this novel is book one in a series!<\/p>\n

Praise for THE GREY BASTARDS<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cA filthy, charismatic and frankly excellent read.”
\n\u2014Mark Lawrence, international bestselling author of\u00a0Prince of Thorns\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Red Sister<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cA funny thing happens when reading\u00a0The Grey Bastards<\/em>. You\u2019re rolling along, smiling at the novelties on display,\u00a0<\/strong>but then, almost without warning, you find yourself truly in the world French has created, and it all becomes wonderfully familiar and convincing. The world-building creates exactly the kind of seamless transition that makes fantasy literature compelling, informative, and just plain fun.\u201d
\n\u2014R.A. Salvatore,\u00a0New York Times<\/em>\u00a0bestselling author of\u00a0The Legend of Drizzt<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cFrench flips the fantasy script as the monsters become the good guys, fueling an action-packed, sneakily smart adventure. Half orc and all badass, Jackal is a hero you won’t soon forget.\u201d
\n\u2014Scott Sigler,\u00a0New York Times\u00a0<\/em>bestselling author of\u00a0Alive<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Infected<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Grey Bastards<\/em>\u00a0dragged me in immediately.\u00a0 A bloody good tale of battles, intrigue, betrayal, duty and frickin\u2019 war pigs.\u201d
\n\u2014Brian McClellan, author of The Powder Mage trilogy\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cA gritty adventure with a fantastic, foul-mouthed voice and filthy, lovable characters in a wonderfully original world.\u00a0 Fans of Abercrombie\u2019s THE FIRST LAW or the soldierly banter of Erikson\u2019s MALAZAN BOOK OF THE FALLEN will like this a lot.\u201d
\n\u2014Django Wexler, author of The Shadow Campaigns series<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A gritty, irreverent fantasy debut for fans of\u00a0The Lord of the Rings,\u00a0Sons of Anarchy, Dungeons & Dragons, and World of Warcraft Jonathan French\u2019s debut novel,\u00a0THE GREY BASTARDS\u00a0(Crown; on sale\u00a0June 19, 2018),\u00a0is a raucous, blood-soaked adventure that approaches the epic fantasy genre from an entirely new angle. Originally self-published, it won …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5314,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1059],"tags":[1178,1308,290],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfreader.com\/r\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5371"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfreader.com\/r\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfreader.com\/r\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfreader.com\/r\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfreader.com\/r\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5371"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sfreader.com\/r\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5371\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5543,"href":"https:\/\/sfreader.com\/r\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5371\/revisions\/5543"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfreader.com\/r\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfreader.com\/r\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfreader.com\/r\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfreader.com\/r\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}