The Grey Bastards by Jonathan French
So let’s get this out of the way early with regard to Jonathan French’s The Grey Bastards, winner of the 2017 Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off (SPFBO) contest. (Kevin, who originally reviewed this novel for Fantasy Literature, rated it 7 stars out of 10; Tadiana DNF’d it because of the pervasive offensive content.) It’s foul-mouthed, has a good amount of graphic language (warning: I’m about to give a few examples. Seriously — bad words ahead), sex, and violence, and much of that is aimed in ugly fashion at women. There’s a heaping amount of “fuck’s” in the story (both the word and the act), but also a lot of “quim” and “cunt.” The women, save two, are whores, “bedwarmers,” or mothers who if young breastfeed babies and if old take care of orphans. The two exceptions are a main character who is good at everything and smart and another character who says nearly nothing (and if she does it’s translated) and who was raped, perhaps even gang-raped. On top of that, there’s a whole bunch of “I’m gonna hug you, you other guy you, but don’t think it’s a gay thing!” and “I’m gonna hug ya back, you big lug, but if it goes on too long it’s definitely gay” jokes/dialog.
Now, none of that is going to sound “appealing” to anyone (at least, god, hope not). But if it sounds like it’s a deal-breaker, this is clearly not the book for you. It was a close call as to whether it was a book for me and honestly, I’m not sure I would have finished it had it not been a review copy. Now, I don’t want to imply the author is espousing these views, and there’s an argument to be made that the author is highlighting the negative aspects of a culture. Plus, there are hints that things are changing. But I do think the execution muddies how these views are meant to be seen, and that is problematic. There’s a lot to like in French’s novel if you can look past all that, but I had great difficulty in responding positively at many points; it often took me out of the reading experience, and made me frequently wonder if it was all truly necessary (in my own view, not really; but then that’s me complaining about the author not writing the book I’d write, so there’s that). With that pretty big caveat (really, it’s a big caveat, trust me), onward to a review of The Grey Bastards’ other aspects, which are mostly positive.
Jonathan French
The setting is a world that a lengthy generation ago saw a major war between invading orcs and the allied humans “Frails,” half-orcs, and elves. The war was stopped by a virulent plague that swept through both sides, leaving them too exhausted to continue the fight and forcing the orcs back to their homeland. The allies then divided up the land, with elves, humans, and half-orcs in their own homogenous regions, though there is travel and trade (elves mostly stick to themselves, though). The half-orcs got the horrible borderland — “The Lots”—between the human kingdom and the narrow body of water that the orcs cross to attack.
The half-orcs have just under a dozen social settlements that are warrior-centered, male-dominated, and strongly hierarchical. There’s a clear biker-gang vibe going on here, if not an out and out parallel, even to the half-orcs riding on war “hogs.” The Grey Bastards are one such “Hoof,” and our protagonist is Jackal, a relatively younger generation member who thinks the current Chief has outlived his abilities as leader. Jackal’s two compatriots are Oats (a “thrice-born—product of an orc/half-orc mating) and Fetching, the first female to ever become a Hoof member. The three become embroiled in complicated plots that involve Jackal trying to become the new chief, a possible new orc “incursion,” a prophecy of a returned god worshipped by halflings, centaurs who go orgiastically violent on the night of a certain moon, a half-orc wizard (a first) who shows up out of nowhere, a slave-trade in female elves, and possible fissures in the alliance amongst the three allied races. There’s more, but that should suffice.
First and foremost, the characters are a lot of fun. Jackal, as the main character, is mostly likable and has an engaging personality and voice. Even better, and one of my favorite aspects of The Grey Bastards, is how he’s presented as someone who thinks he has all the right answers and motives. And in most novels, that’s where the characterization would end. But time and again Jackal is thrown for a loop (as is the reader), and his confident plotting thrown awry by learning that the world is more complex than his relatively short life experience has prepared him for. It’s an atypical portrayal of the stock “hero” character and shies away from as well the nearly-as-stock “anti-hero” type.
Oats is a more typical stalwart sidekick/best-friend but has his moments where the author digs a bit more deeply into his character. The wizard character is amusingly inscrutable and adds a nice touch of constant tension, as one is never sure of his motives. Other side characters get a chance to show us more than one side of themselves. The one negative characterization is Fetching, who is unfortunately a bit too good: best archer, best fighter, smart, etc. I would have liked to have seen her less perfect, and as well seen a few more females in positions of strength and power (there are others who act strongly, but that’s different).
The worldbuilding is slowly revealed as The Grey Bastards goes on, and it’s still not fully laid out by the end; it’s more than a little thin, but clearly there’s a second book coming and one assumes we’ll learn more about it. The exposition can be clunky at times, and though the war/division of land at least explains why the regions are homogenous, I admit I’m a little tired of the one-race/one land set up and am ready for some fantasy that presents lands as more cosmopolitan. But that’s just a personal preference and also the result of decades of reading a lot of fantasy.
Plot-wise the action is vibrant, fast, bloody, and deftly handled in terms of logistics. The entire book is also nicely paced and shows good balance and smooth transitions as it moves between fight scenes, chase scenes, political arguments, and more intimate one-on-one conversations. A few cliché moments pop up, as do some a few unexpected twists to balance them out. Dialogue is quite well done for the most part, save the aforementioned language, misogynistic, homophobic “bro talk” moments.
If the more disturbing elements weren’t present or were greatly trimmed down in frequency, I’d have no trouble recommending The Grey Bastards as a fun read with engaging characters, a solid 3.5. But there’s also no avoiding the fact that those elements did cause me a heap of trouble at times and had me wincing quite a bit. So I’m dropping it to a 2.5, and I’ll let you decide how much personal weight to give those elements.
So, I need educating, I think. I assume this is considered “grimdark?” And the casual homophobia and violence against women is part and parcel of the style? It’s seen as “gritty realism,” I guess?
I have two problems with it. The first one is that when you single out one sex— okay, MY sex—to treat badly you’ve basically put up a “No Girls Allowed!” sign on your teeny-tiny clubhouse, and I’m probably going to take you at your word and go find a world that more inclusive and, yes, more realistic.
The second is, I’m just tired of this. I’m tired of writers veiling their power fantasies in “gritty and realistic.” You want gritty and realistic? Create a place where women walk 5 miles a day to bring water to their families. Let your strapping, frat-boy warriors die of a sickness because of nonexistent hygiene, instead of gorily in battle. Oh, wait. That’s not “gritty and realistic,” is it? That’s just REAL.
Oops, this turned into a rant. Sorry. On second thought, not sorry.
I didn’t want to use grimdark because I didn’t want to paint it with that brush (I don’t read it so don’t know how representative it is of that sub genre). In this specific case I just thought it too bad because it ruined what would have been a mostly successful reading experience. even if I want to grant a “reason”even if I want to grant a characterization or something, there’s a casualness to it that just seriously bothers me. Plus, I can’t help but think as I read that there’s a population that simply shrugs at it or worse applauds it, and that just makes me really uncomfortable, like skin crawl, want to put the book down and shower and then give the book a shower as well
Well, that makes me feel better. I guess I will settle for saying, “I know it’s a style, and it’s a style I really don’t like.”
The Grey Bastards does pigeonhole women, while hinting otherwise as Jackal admires a “frail” suckling a half-orc babe after an attack by “thicks.” What it does, is make powerful statements about bi-racial and multi-cultural societies. Half-orc males must struggle to make a society as they can never father children. Thus these ultra-masculine hoofs allow them to develop and display manhood.
Where half-orc females can occasionally birth children and thus nurse young, half-orc males must struggle to find meaning. This is evidenced by Oats love of small children, taking under his wing the child of a deceased sex worker.
Half-orc men and woman work together to propagate a society that is inherently not sustainable. Only half of the population may reproduce and only rarely. Orcs, while preferable genetic material are not a practical choice due to their nature. Humans while more common will produce offspring with less combat capability and of equal intelligence.
This exaggerates the realities of medieval culture. Women are guarded to insure high birth rates, whether the women want them or not. Men fight and women are another resource to secure.
The author could not portray this any other way without introducing another variable into the formula to account for this.
One aspect of realism is Fetching’s adoption of a male aspect to be accepted. A tactic employed by Hatshepsut, Queen Elizabeth I and Maggie Thatcher. Early on, it is mentioned that Fetching encourages the idea she may be gay.
Jonathan French’s world is somewhat accurately medieval and thus offensive to us in the modern world, unless we view it objectively and as part of the backdrop.
I really appreciate your depiction of what the author has created. It’s brutal and oppressive….so is the world we live in in many areas even today. I struggled with the story on a couple of levels, but can see that the author has a real vision….and yes, he will offend a big portion of the audience who try to look for modern morals.
Woke SJW’s want even fiction to be woke garbage.
So this medieval highly “biker orientated” story encompasing a warrior class in a made up world in a book you do not need to read offends you… bikers are modern versions of abandoned warrior codes ethics and self governing standards. The hog riding gives us a modern context for an ancient cast. The equivalents of those “protesting” such works now are the modern equivalent of those that gave the Vietnam vets hell after protesting them be returned home in the first place. That society didnt want these young men around them who had been drafted trained for war and seen many horrors gave them cause to form bands and find others similarly treated making them easy recruits for the forming bike gangs of the time. Cause and effect. Is this book set to modern pc standards no. Is fighting in public over a spilt beer modernly pc no. No one is forcing you to read it. No one forced you to watch S.O.A of G.O.T both have many aspects not pc in there own rights both where very popular. I have yet to read it but like any book i read its easy for an avid reader to gloss over those bits we dont like or have a differing moral view. The review is good and thought out from there perspective which is what a review is. I was raised poor in a not great area where such language described was my childhood norm. Violence against those who couldnt fight back was normal man or women. Iwas raised that way but i am not that way. Books are escapes maybe before hating it read it. There might be a nugget or to of understanding yiu have yet to experience in life that may help you sympathize with others not raised as you were.