Jackal and his fellow half-orcs patrol the barren wastes of the Lot Lands, spilling their own damned blood to keep civilized folk safe. A rabble of hard-talking, hog-riding, whore-mongering brawlers they may be, but the Grey Bastards are Jackal’s sworn brothers, fighting at his side in a land where there’s no room for softness.
And once Jackal’s in charge–as soon as he can unseat the Bastards’ tyrannical, seemingly unkillable founder–there’s a few things they’ll do different. Better.
Or at least, that’s the plan. Until the fallout from a deadly showdown makes Jackal start investigating the Lot Lands for himself. Soon, he’s wondering if his feelings have blinded him to ugly truths about this world, and the Bastards’ place in it.
In a quest for answers that takes him from decaying dungeons to the frontlines of an ancient feud, Jackal finds himself battling invading orcs, rampaging centaurs, and grubby human conspiracies alike–along with a host of dark magics so terrifying they’d give even the heartiest Bastard pause.
Finally, Jackal must ride to confront a threat that’s lain in wait for generations, even as he wonders whether the Bastards can–or should–survive.
For Phase 3 of the SPFBO X All-Stars round, our team revisited The Grey Bastards by Jonathan French, winner of SPFBO 2 and one of the most talked about entries in the competition’s history. Originally self-published, it was later picked up by a traditional publisher. Below, Julia, Adawia, Patrick, and Kerry share their thoughts on this gritty, blood-soaked tale of half-orcs, hogs, and hard choices.
As for the rating, this goes underneath Murder at Spindle Manor.
Julia:
This was my second ride through The Grey Bastards by Jonathan French, reread as part of Phase 3 of the SPFBO X All-Stars round, and it absolutely holds up!
If you’re looking for a gritty, blood-soaked, foul-mouthed fantasy that doesn’t flinch from violence, sex, or moral grayness, then saddle up. This one doesn’t hold back.
Set in a brutal, grimy world teetering on the edge of chaos, this story follows a gang of half-orcs, outcasts among outcasts, who patrol the edges of civilization on the backs of giant war hogs. Yes, you read that right: massive, farting, battle-ready hogs. And somehow, it works! The tone is raw and unapologetic, full of gallows humor and harsh realities, but beneath all the grime is a surprisingly thoughtful and layered narrative.
French does an excellent job building a world that feels lived-in and unique, with its own blend of cultures, politics, and long-simmering tensions. The story starts out wild and raucous, but as it unfolds, it dives deeper into loyalty, betrayal, identity, and belonging. The characters are flawed, rough around the edges, and often frustrating, but that’s part of their charm. They’re trying their best in a world that doesn’t reward goodness.
The pacing is tight, with well-written action scenes that are visceral and gripping. And while the book pulls no punches when it comes to sex and language, even the more explicit scenes are handled with enough narrative weight that they feel organic, not gratuitous. I usually skim these parts, but here, I actually read through them, which says a lot.
One of my favorite aspects is how the book handles its female characters. At first glance, they seem sidelined in a male-dominated world of swagger and violence. But as the story progresses, it becomes clear these women are far more capable, influential, and resilient than their surroundings acknowledge. That early discomfort turns into respect for how French subverts expectations and lets strength emerge in unexpected ways.
This book may not be for everyone—if you’re squeamish or prefer your fantasy on the cleaner, more noble side, this might not be your cup of tea. But if you’re up for something raw, chaotic, and unfiltered with real emotional weight beneath the grime, The Grey Bastards delivers in spades.
It’s a hell of a ride, and I’m once again kicking myself for not getting around to the sequel the first time around.
Adawia:
Where the orcs are literally grey, and almost everyone is metaphorically so (to some degree). The Grey Bastards has plenty of heart and is a properly great story that was easy to get into.
The prose was occasionally adjective-heavy (more so in the first few chapters) and though I would have preferred fewer descriptive words, the narrative overall isn’t excessively detailed so it really isn’t a drama.
There’s a lot of innuendo, outright crude humour, and sexualised insults (a little more than I usually enjoy in a book (I semi-cringed at least a few times)). Handled poorly, this aspect of the story would have come off as completely misogynistic – even in the context of the story. But the author applied a deft hand in balancing traits, attitudes, and actions (across all the characters) and narrowly avoids falling into that ditch. Some of the characters are definitely misogynists, but the book does not excuse, forgive or glorify this trait. At no point did I feel the characters reflect poorly on the author himself.
One of the pivoting scenes in the story didn’t quite make complete sense to me, so I struggled to reconcile everything that happened after as a result. This particular activity just felt a little out of character – even after the explanation/revelation – and that left a slightly sour taste in my mouth that I struggled to sweeten as the story progressed. Again, it’s not a huge drama, it just created a niggling thought that I couldn’t quite dislodge.
All that said, I really enjoyed this story overall. It’s fun, and has plenty of drama, action, and tension. It also has likeable characters and characters you’ll like to hate – or hate to like, perhaps.
Patrick:
The Grey Bastards, the winner of the second edition of SPFBO and still the holder of the joint-highest score in SPFBO history, is a grimdark(ish) fantasy that borrows very heavily from the Sons of Anarchy TV show. It’s not trying to hide that. The characters (half-orcs in the book) are borrowed — Jackson from the TV show becomes Jackal here, Clay becomes the Claymaster, and you’ll recognise other characters like Oats (Opie in the show) — and the setup is familiar. The rival biker gangs become rival “hoofs” who ride literal hogs rather than motorbikes.
So, that’s the set-up. The story itself is divided between the familiar to watchers of the show – Jackal’s desire to take control of the hoof from the Claymaster – and the more original fantasy elements of the book, the aftermath of a brutal war between orcs and humans that only ended when a magical plague devastated the orcs. Here we have magic and gods as well as the battles between the hoofs and humans and roving orcs.
The greatest strength of the book was the action, in my opinion. Jonathan French writes bloody, brutal action with an intensity that keeps you gripped and unable to put the book down, and there is plenty of that action. These are half-orcs, after all, and they act like it.
The weaker parts, for me, were in the worldbuilding, which I was unconvinced by in many places, and the plot which occasionally felt forced. The characters were decent, although it took about a quarter of the book for me to care about any of them, but I thought they suffered in terms of depth in comparison with the characters from Sons of Anarchy which were their inspiration. I thought the book was at its strongest when it was its own thing, rather than relying on what it lifted from the show. I also found the constant sexism and homophobic jokes by the characters a bit wearing after a while, even if it was true to their characterisation.
French deserves credit for doing something original with the grimdark genre and creating a setting quite different to what you will usually have read, even if it was lifted whole-cloth from a TV show.
For me, this was a solid fantasy with some strong elements, but not my favourite among the finalists.
Kerry:
I never watched Sons of Anarchy TV series, but going by other reviews, French has seemingly done a well executed pastiche of the series mixed in with elements of fantasy.
In The Grey Bastards, we follow the lives of a number of half-orcs, the biological get of rape from orc invasions, or those who have escaped the bonds of human slavery. As their society is primarily male dominated, they do tend to be a bunch of misogynistic pricks and unfortunately there aren’t many options for women, (as in the real world this tends to be either caregivers or prostitutes) but they’re all trying to survive in a world surrounded by races that hate them. However, the beginning of the book belies the role of the women in this story. The women are the backbone to the survival of the hoofs*, even though it takes time for others to realise this. Even whilst this all sounds quite dismal, there is beauty to be found in the ugly. There is found family here, the love and constant thought for the wellbeing of their hogs, and doing their best to protect the innocent and vulnerable.
hoofs – there are 9 groups of half-orcs throughout the Lot Lands. They are called hoofs as they ride giant hogs (big, smell, hairy hogs with massive tusks)
We primarily follow the character Jackal. He is unhappy with the current leadership, and though he is willing to challenge it, he is far too brash and naive. As Delia, one of the prostitutes says to him, “You find charging into unknown danger simple, perhaps even comforting. But I wonder, would you be so bold staring it full in the face?” But as the novel moves on, we see Jackal grow and mature. Of course, this never comes easy. It takes rescuing a young woman, “She could be a Tine. The elves don’t tattoo the members of their hoof, so I can’t be sure. What the fuck is she doing here?”, exile from his hoof, and discovering the real history of his home to finally mature. Delia again saw him for what he was, “She was right about him, too. He was a brave fool, living a lie within a land suitable only for the carrion eaters. The vultures and the jackals. We were the mongrel offspring of the frails’ enemy and their own ravaged women. Hated, we were used. Those of us not killed at birth were destined for mass graves after a short life of servitude.”
One of the things I really enjoyed in this novel was the inversion of high fantasy races. Rather than sexy centaurs and tree hugging elves, both races would kill you on sight. “Only the centaurs made war on them, and only during the Betrayer Moon, when all were prey. Every half-orc hoof sent a rider to stand with the Unyars against the centaurs during their unfathomable rampages.” “The elven hoof here in Ul-wundulas.. ‘we call them Tines because of the stags they ride.’”
When he finally gets his chance to lead the hoof, we get to see how much his experiences have made him a lot wiser. Instead, he passes leadership onto the one who truly deserves it, “You are the fiercest fighter we have. Fearless. Bold. Frightening. The Tines know you carry their blood. Our alliance with them will strengthen once they see your existence does not sully them, but honors them. And they will see it, because you will show them, as chief. You are not charmed by wizards nor cowed by Hispartha.”
I do have to say some of the writing is quite rough at the beginning (and with the same errors in both SP and Trad editions), but it did improve and I found some lovely bits of prose. Here are three of my favourite descriptions/quotes of The Lot Lands in which Jackal and the other half Orcs survive:
“…smears of their savage calligraphy stained the whitewash, boasts written in blood to their esurient gods.”
“Dusk came, holding court over the sky with beautiful brevity before yielding gracefully to night.”
“This land was forgiven and forgiving, resting imperiously above its oft-raped sister.”
