Jonathan French

***THE NUMBER ONE EBOOK BESTSELLER*** 'AN ADDICTIVELY READABLE - AND UNDENIABLY COOL - FANTASY MASTERWORK' Kirkus 'FILTHY, CHARISMATIC AND FRANKLY EXCELLENT' Mark Lawrence BRING ON THE ORCS . . . Jackal is proud to be a Grey Bastard, 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's-land called the Lots, protecting frail and noble human civilization from invading bands of vicious full-blooded orcs. But as Jackal is soon to learn, his pride may be misplaced. Because a dark secret lies at the heart of the Bastards' existence - one that reveals a horrifying truth behind humanity's tenuous peace with the orcs, and exposes a grave danger on the horizon. On the heels of the ultimate betrayal, Jackal must scramble to stop a devastating invasion - even as he wonders where his true loyalties lie. A standout adventure fantasy debut that's down, dirty and damn good fun - perfect for fans of Joe Abercombie, Mark Lawrence, Markus Heitz's Dwarves series and Stan Nicholl's Orcs series. 'A gritty adventure with a fantastic, foul-mouthed voice . . . Fans of Abercrombie's The First Law . . . will like this a lot' Django Wexler 'A bloody good tale of battle, betrayal and war pigs' Brian McClellan 'Jonathan French has to be lauded for his plot ingenuity, bawdry charm and vicious characters. The Grey Bastards has instantaneously catapulted him into my must-read list' Fantasy Book Critic 'I'd like to raise a tankard to The Grey Bastards' brilliance' Fantasy Faction For more Bastards action, check out the sequel: THE TRUE BASTARDS

The Grey Bastards

The grey bastards

The Free Bastards

The long-awaited war has come in the sweeping conclusion to the Lot Lands trilogy--another irresistibly swashbuckling, swaggering, foul-mouthed fantasy from the author of The Grey Bastards. "[A] rip-roaring, shelf-bending conclusion . . . nothing short of an adventure fantasy masterwork."--Kirkus Reviews (Best Books of the Year) War has come to the Lot Lands--and Oats stands upon the frontline. The Hisparthan armies on the horizon are mighty, bolstered by divine champions, dread sorcerers, and gunpowder. It's almost more than the half-orc rebellion can hope to repel. But Oats has won impossible fights before. He's a thriceblood, after all, more orc than man. And he hasn't forgotten how to kill. He'll stack the bodies high for his chief and his brethren, if that's the price of freeing the Lots from human tyranny. Besides, the invading forces are getting a damned sight more than they bargained for. They're not facing a handful of half-orc hoofs, but a true army--one forged from all the peoples of the Lots. At its head are Fetching, in full command of the ruinous power that runs through her veins, and Jackal, armed with the blessings of a dead god. Yet Oats can't help but find his faith wavering. Once the strongest Bastard, he soon realizes that in this battle, even the strength of a thriceblood is easily conquered. And after a grievous loss strikes, he begins to fear that this war will lead the Lots not to freedom but to ruin. So when another path to peace beckons, he has no choice but to walk it. Even if it means betting the Lots' fate, and his own, on the promises of the Bastards' wiliest adversary--and making a perilous journey into the heart of Hispartha itself. Brimming with all the epic battles, surprising sorcery, and fiendish twists a Bastards fan could wish for, alongside unforgettable moments for characters old and new, The Free Bastards builds a new future for the Lots--even as it gives our beloved trio of Jackal, Fetching, and Oats the rousing, blood-soaked sendoff they deserve.

A Novel

The Coburn. Rooster-Men of the Tin Isles. Proud and combative by nature, the coburn are an imposing race. The males, ever protective of their mates, fight to the death if threatened, especially against their own kind. Some, however, pursue a chaste life of chivalry and join the Valiant Spur, an order of coburn knights. Hopeful recruits must replace their drive to breed and covet with a will to serve, allowing only the most resolute to join the ranks of the Knights Errant. Bantam Flyn, hot-headed squire and wielder of the renowned sword Coalspur, yearns to be one of them. When Flyn returns to the ancestral stronghold of the Valiant Spur, he finds the castle under siege from within. Malevolent skin-changers, the gruagach, ruthlessly hunt a secret Flyn would die to keep. The swaggering warrior seeks unlikely allies, reinforcing his sharp steel with the keen mind of the castle's awkward chronicler, Ingelbert Crane, and the incisive tongue of gnome herbalist, Deglan Loamtoes. Fleeing the reach of the gruagach, the trio become ensnared by a dwarven prophet who believes Flyn to be the foretold slayer of a primordial evil known as the Corpse Eater. Venturing into the unforgiving cold of Middangeard, the companions find themselves far from the Tin Isles and close to the history that shaped the very world. Hindered by giants, trolls, bands of berserkers, throngs of restless dead, and haunted by the howling phantoms of his own barbaric past, Flyn must face an ancient horror that threatens not only his life, but the fate of his entire race.

Autumn's Fall Saga: Book 2

The Errantry of Bantam Flyn

Airlann. The Source Isle of Magic. It is the Age of Autumn, the island locked in slow, beautiful death. Nine hundred years have passed since Jerrod II, last of the Goblin Kings, was assassinated by a child. After centuries of tyranny, the bloody days of human rule still haunt the long memories of the Fae. Their resplendent bastions have dwindled despite the peace, all but replaced by the superstitious squalor of mortal Man. The human peasantry cowers in remote villages, defending themselves with weapons of iron. The Red Caps, a fanatical army of goblins, have marshaled once more, intent on returning Jerrod's tyrannical bloodline to power. Padric, a human farmhand and friend to the Fae, finds himself in the midst of the growing war. Rosheen, an alluring piskie and Padric's lifelong friend, struggles to help him survive. They ally themselves with Deglan Loamtoes, a bigoted gnome herbalist, and Pocket, a changeling orphan fostered by the avian Knights of the Valiant Spur. Beset from all sides by vengeful skin-changers, bloodthirsty marauders and fire-crazed fanatics, these four wayfarers must discover the true identity of Jerrod's long lost progeny before the goblins reawaken the genocidal soldiers of living iron known as the Forge Born. Can they lay aside their individual prejudices, reveal their long-held secrets, and work with those they distrust to prevent Airlann's annihilation? Can they stand together to find and destroy the last scion of the Goblin Kings?

The Exiled Heir: Book One of the Autumn's Fall Saga

Raw, unbridled fantasy about a gang of hog-riding half-orcs surviving in a harsh world filled with living plagues, marauding centaurs, and manipulative gods. From the author of the Autumn's Fall Saga!

Half orc. All badass. A female chieftain in a brutal wasteland society fights to take what is hers in an action-packed, foul-mouthed fantasy adventure from the author of The Grey Bastards (“Nonstop action, though not for faint hearts.”—The Wall Street Journal). Fetching was once the only female rider in the Lot Lands. Now she is the proud leader of her own hoof, a band of loyal half-orcs sworn to her command. But in the year since she became chief, the Lots have tested her strength to the breaking point. The Bastards are scattered, desperate, their ranks weakened by a mysterious famine, their fortress reduced to smoldering slag. And their troubles are only growing. A pack of ravening beasts circles their camp, while grasping human nobles hatch a plan that will shift the balance of power in the Lots. Fetch and her comrades are still standing defiant—they’re Bastards, after all—but even the toughest half-orc can take only so much; and Fetch knows they’re on the verge of ruin. As she strives to lead her hoof to safety and unravel the plots set against them, Fetching must journey through forbidden elven lands, overcome long-standing hatreds, battle a monstrous wizard of terrifying power—and, worst of all, delve into the dark truths of her own existence. She’s no stranger to fighting the world, but on this journey, sharp steel and a strong hog won’t be enough. To survive these trials, she’ll have to defy not just her foes but the very nature of the Lots. The True Bastards is the sweeping, ambitious second entry in the Lot Lands series, an irresistibly thrilling, gritty, foul-mouthed adventure that deepens, expands—and again upends—the Bastards’ unforgettable world. Advance praise for The True Bastards “[An] action-packed sequel . . . the story is filled with relentless action and powered by a cast of adeptly developed and emotionally appealing characters. . . . 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.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

The True Bastards

Containing the Inaugural Addresses, Together with the First Annual Addresses and Messages of All the Presidents of the United States, from 1789-1841; with Their Farewell Addresses, and Illustrated with the Portraits of Each of the Presidents. To which is Annexed the Declaration of Independence and Constitution of the United States ... Also, the Constitutions of Many of the Most Important States in the Union

The True Republican

The long-awaited war has come in the sweeping conclusion to the Lot Lands trilogy—another irresistibly swashbuckling, swaggering, foul-mouthed fantasy from the author of The Grey Bastards (“Nonstop action, though not for faint hearts.”—The Wall Street Journal). War has come to the Lot Lands—and Oats stands upon the frontline. The Hisparthan armies on the horizon are mighty, bolstered by divine champions, dread sorcerers, and gunpowder. It’s almost more than the half-orc rebellion can hope to repel. But Oats has won impossible fights before. He’s a thriceblood, after all, more orc than man. And he hasn’t forgotten how to kill. He’ll stack the bodies high for his chief and his brethren, if that’s the price of freeing the Lots from human tyranny. Besides, the invading forces are getting a damned sight more than they bargained for. They’re not facing a handful of half-orc hoofs, but a true army—one forged from all the peoples of the Lots. At its head are Fetching, in full command of the ruinous power that runs through her veins, and Jackal, armed with the blessings of a dead god. Yet Oats can’t help but find his faith wavering. Once the strongest Bastard, he soon realizes that in this battle, even the strength of a thriceblood is easily conquered. And after a grievous loss strikes, he begins to fear that this war will lead the Lots not to freedom but to ruin. So when another path to peace beckons, he has no choice but to walk it. Even if it means betting the Lots’ fate, and his own, on the promises of the Bastards’ wiliest adversary—and making a perilous journey into the heart of Hispartha itself. Brimming with all the epic battles, surprising sorcery, and fiendish twists a Bastards fan could wish for, alongside unforgettable moments for characters old and new, The Free Bastards builds a new future for the Lots—even as it gives our beloved trio of Jackal, Fetching, and Oats the rousing, blood-soaked sendoff they deserve.

Being Twenty Years from the Author's Settlement in the Christian Ministry in that Place. ...

A Discourse Delivered at Northampton, N.H. Nov. 18, 1821

Krví nasáklé fantasy plné sarkasmu a temnoty Žít v sedle! Zemřít na mazlovi! Takové je krédo poloorků obývajících Souzené země. Tito bývalí otroci střeží svůj neutěšený kraj na hřbetech obřích divokých prasat, jimž přezdívají mazlové. Jsou tím jediným, co stojí mezi honosným a bohatým královstvím lidí, Hispartou, a divokými tlupami čistokrevných orků. Šakal střeží svůj kraj coby člen Šedých bastardů, jednoho z osmi bratrstev, která přežila kruté obléhání Souzených. Mladý a ctižádostivý kříženec již dlouho nesouhlasí s rozhodnutími vůdce a zakladatele Bastardů, válečníka zvaného Jílmistr, a usiluje o jeho sesazení. Na své straně má věrného trojkrevného přítele Kaňoura a Nádhernou, jedinou jezdkyni v kopytu. Když do pevnosti Šedých bastardů zavítá cizí čaroděj, plány na svržení šéfa jsou prozrazeny a Šakal se musí vydat na cestu. Během svého putování se utká s nebezpečnými protivníky: magickými kalňáky, hispartskými třasořitky, siláčími hordami i hrozivými kentaury, kteří za Zrádcova měsíce vyjíždějí vykonávat své krvavé rituály. Při hledání pravdy se Šakal musí rozhodnout, komu zůstane věrný, a najít si své místo ve světě, který odměňuje jen zlovolné. Špinavý, krví nasáklý skvost, který působí jako Šílený Max odehrávající se v Tolkienově Středozemi. – Kirkus Reviews Román, který osvěžuje tradiční žánr velice živým a zábavným způsobem. Fantasy verze Zákonu gangu se může zdát jako nepravděpodobný výchozí bod pro vynikající román, ale Jonathan French to zvládl bravurně. – Anthony Ryan, autor trilogie Stín krkavce Tohle je rozhodně nejšpinavější fantasy, jaké jsem kdy četl, poráží dokonce i Temné bratrstvo — asi tak o faktor deset… možná i sto. Tato kniha se mi vážně líbila. Má charisma. Je velmi zábavná, směřuje k vzrušujícímu závěru a nutí mě těšit se na další díly. – Mark Lawrence, autor trilogie Roztříštěná říše

Jonathan French

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