The Crew
Ratings2
Average rating3.5
15
Ratings2
Average rating3.5
Kings of the Wyld meets Deadpool in this action-packed fantasy adventure set in an Arab-inspired landscape. Varcade fled to the deserts of Harrah to escape his past as an Educator, a member of an order of zealot warrior-monks that aims to shape the world according to their sacred Teachings by force. Varcade makes his living as a reckless sword-for-hire, caring only about himself, until his self-centered lifestyle is turned on its head when he is contracted to recruit a misfit team of unruly assassins and take out the mighty Bone Lord of Akrab. But the Bone Lord is aware of the plot and sends her band of Dusters to stop them; individuals who have gained bizarre and lethal magical powers by snorting the pulverised bones of dead gods. Hunted by Educators and Dusters in a city-state where an escalating conflict between the human and demon population threatens to boil over in a civil war, will Varcade and his ragtag crew save Akrab from the cruel Bone Lord, or will they make things even worse? "The Crew is a rampaging romp of an adventure, as thrilling and hilarious as it is fantastically unique. I loved it." - Dyrk Ashton, author of The Paternus Trilogy
Featured Series
1 primary bookThe God Dust Saga is a 1-book series first released in 2022 with contributions by Sadir S. Samir.
Reviews with the most likes.
I really wanted to like this more than I actually did. The concept is great - a snarky deadpoolesque super assassin forms a ragtag crew to assassinate the ruler of country. I just really struggled with the voicing in places.
This is certainly an all action story, with violence, gore and a callous disregard for life thrown everywhere. I can tell that the author has tried to leaven it all with humour, but for me the humour ultimately mostly fell flat. The main issue for me is the MC is just not very likeable, coming across as whiny little man boy for most of the first half of the novel. Whilst there is some growth and I find the character much improved by the end, it is hard to get past how unpleasant he is at the start. And when it is his snark that is driving the early humour that just failed for me.
I also had some issues differentiating the voice of some of the earlier characters, with a similar cynical and whiny outlook on all of them. Again all the characters added later had a better more distinctive voice and one, Zuba, is downright brilliant with his faintly rapey creepiness... The demons and dusters are also well realised with their weird names and abilities
The worldbuilding is done well too. The concept of snorting ground up bones of gods to gain magical powers is clever in its slightly uncomfortable way. The clash of cultures between the demons and the humans leads to an interesting power dynamic as well.
Ultimately this is a book of promise. The voicing issues do plague the first half, but the second half steps it up with a much improved style. I wish that first half had the quality of the second!
This has been a brilliant read.
I loved following the journey of the ragtag crew as they came together! Had so many laughs along the way.
I loved Varcade and the gang. Such a weird and wonderful mix of characters.
It was fast paced with plenty of action!
Thoroughly enjoyed this!
