The Grim Company by Luke Scull
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

THE GRIM COMPANY certainly lives up to its name. There are moments of levity, but the brutality and depression in this medieval second world fantasy can be crushing. It’s very realistic, though, and the characters have reason for being as cynical as they are. They live and love and survive in this world, and some of them have to do very nasty things to continue. The author does not shy away from the reality of war and poverty. Cole is a character you love to hate. It seems like the author set out to deliberately make Cole laughable at the beginning, setting him up for a transformation, and indeed, he does grow as a person. Most of the characters shade toward the anti-hero mode, with nearly every one having some secret or idiosyncrasy that keeps them from being completely likable. The magic system in this book is interesting; magic is fading from most places, carefully guarded where it is available, and everyone on the (usually dangerous) search for more. There is a sense of history here; the author did a good job of worldbuilding. All characters have understandable ambition, if sometimes misdirected. The action moves somewhat slowly in the beginning but really ramps up for the climax; the last few chapters are one giant battle. No happy endings here, and there is more to be told. Despite the grimness of this title, I’d be interested in seeing more of this world.

Received as a digital ARC via the First to Read program.

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