The difference between a hero and a killer lies in the ability to justify dark deeds. But this is the Age of Ruin. And there are no heroes…

Five hundred years ago, the world was destroyed in the celestial Godswar. Seeking to throw off the shackles of the deities who created them, a cabal of mages rose up and made war upon the Gods. Though they won out, it was at a great cost: the ensuing cataclysm brought forth the Age of Ruin to the world.

Five hundred years later, the world limps on, seemingly winding down to an inevitable end. Dystopian city states have arisen, each presided over by one of the Magelords who first made war.

Corrupted, near-immortal, and far too powerful, those wizards who once sought to free the world now make war upon each other, while the helpless populace limp on from day to day.

Into this blighted world, steps Davarus Cole, a boy obsessed with notions of heroism and adventuring, who burns to do great deeds. One night, in a reckless act, Cole gets himself into a brawl with the authories. He quickly finds himself sent away from the city, where the world still groans from the ancient cataclysm, and the corpses of Gods lie deep beneath the bedrock, leaking wild, uncontrolled magic into the world. 

It’s been awhile since I started a completed fantasy trilogy (though if I’m not mistaken, I believe Luke Scull is working on more books set in this world), and The Grim Company has been sitting on my shelf staring back at me, all badass and bloody, just calling my name!! 

First off, the sheer scope of this story surprised the hell out of me…I’m not sure why, but I just went into this thinking there would be maybe one or two POVs, but there is quite a bit more than that! Much of the story takes place in the city of Dorminia, which is a wretched, foul place. It’s been taken over by the Magelord Salazar, a cruel wizard of sorts. One of our main characters, Davarus Cole (who fancies himself a bit more of a hero than he actually is) belongs to a group of rebels called The Shards. They are plotting to overthrow Salazar & liberate Dorminia. Cole has a chance encounter with Brodar Kayne, an aging warrior on the run. Kayne and his companion, the ever-miserable Jerek, are somewhat reluctantly recruited to help bring down Salazar. From here, the plot spirals outward & we are introduced to many new characters. 

It took me awhile to get into the rhythm of this one, but overall, I really enjoyed it. Same goes for many of the characters…they really grew on me over the course of this book, Sasha & Jerek in particular. I’m really looking forward to seeing where Scull takes all these characters as the trilogy progresses. 

This is a bleak world, and many of its inhabitants are weary & run down. It’s an amazingly violent book as well…Luke Scull writes some pretty fucking epic battles!! There’s also plenty of gore & borderline horror scenes, some of which gave me wicked Mark Lawrence/Broken Empire vibes! The Grim Company is really strong debut novel, and I’ve got even higher hopes for Sword of the North!!