The Grim Company

By: Luke Scull

Narrated by: Gerard Doyle

Length: 15 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

The Gods are dead. The Magelord Salazar and his magically enhanced troops, the Augmentors, crush any dissent they find in the minds of the populace. On the other side of the Broken Sea, the White Lady plots the liberation of Dorminia, with her spymistresses, the Pale Women. Demons and abominations plague the Highlands. The world is desperately in need of heroes. But what they get instead are a ragtag band of old warriors, a crippled Halfmage, two orphans and an oddly capable manservant: the Grim Company.

©2013 Luke Scull (P)2013 Recorded Books

good read

Took me a while to get hooked. But it finally did toward the end. It isn't Abercrombie, but perhaps the next best thing. It had a more dnd vibe which was refreshing. Super fantasy mixed with grimdark. pretty cool. I recommend it to any fantasy readers.

Uncommon book

Would you consider the audio edition of The Grim Company to be better than the print version?

I think some of the voices given to certain characters are priceless, so yes.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Cole, the true born hero. I laughed so hard so many times hearing him boosting his own deluded hero image.

What does Gerard Doyle bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

he did a find job, read above.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

the barbarians.

Any additional comments?

This book needs your attention, heard it almost halfway through while doing other stuff, gaming, working etc. Didn't get me, then I decided I should give it proper attention else the story is a bit hard to follow with the unconventional storytelling. I loved it when I did:D

Great Except For One Thing

Overall, this was a great book and a great performance. My only issue was the the narrator kept switching the name of a magical weapon! Half the time it would be correct and the other half incorrect. It took my half the book to figure out what the correct name was. However, that's my only complaint!

Better than some give it credit for, but not great.

I probably started this three times before listening through. The narrator does a fair job, but without much difference in his characters I found it somewhat droll. The story is not full of surprises, but I do think Scull built a cool fantasy world. A lot of the likable things are very Glen Cook like, but there are worse things to be compared to. The first two thirds of the story are unremarkable, but if you can stick with it, the final third is engaging. I will wait for a sale to pick up the next title in the series. I probably would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't read Abercrombie's work first.

Not bad, not great.

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

It was not a waste of time.

If you’ve listened to books by Luke Scull before, how does this one compare?

No. I thought he did very well.

Which character – as performed by Gerard Doyle – was your favorite?

Brodar Kayne, Jerek, and Eremul.

Do you think The Grim Company needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Yes, Kayne has a new, and very important, focus. I am hoping the next book is 90% his story,

Any additional comments?

The premise follows the fantasy recipe. There are some unique aspects to the world. It would have been a better book for me if it would have centered around Kayne, Jerek, Emerul, and Cole. The rest of the characters were just not interesting. I would read any book that was focused solely on Kayne and Jerek with Emerul as a secondary character,

Okay. Forgettable, but worth the time as a filler

The story was okay. The narrator was okay. I will probably forget all about this book in a few months, but it was fine for what it is.

Decent Grim Dark Fantasy, Excellent Narrator

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Yes, it was entertaining. Average fantasy, but still worth the credit and time if you like GrimDark

Would you recommend The Grim Company to your friends? Why or why not?

Yes, but only if the person has read this type of genre before. It has lots of graphic violence, 'good' characters die, lots of swearing, all the while having no true hero. There's evil (demons), very bad people (the magelords), and the rest have questionable motives and integrity.

Which scene was your favorite?

The fight in the north that pits most of the Grim Company against something unexpected. Probably the only holy @#%$ moment in the book.

Did The Grim Company inspire you to do anything?

No, but I will be getting book 2. It's my hope that the story and writing gets more interesting.

tries to be Abercrombie but falls well short

pretty bland. I ended up skipping the PoV of the "main" character most of the time and it greatly improved the book.

it's a good story and well read.

I really enjoyed the story and can't wait to finish the rest of the stories.

A very good and surprising first novel

I have always been a huge fan of grimdark fantasy novels and I had heard Luke Scull's debut was an excellent new entry into the genre. For the first three quarters of the novel I was mildly disappointed because the novel seemed very generic to me. There was a band of heroes trying to overthrow an all powerful mage, and I know we have all heard this story before. However, the final quarter of this novel changed my opinion completely and made the whole wait worth it. SCull took all of the usual fantasy hero tropes and flipped them upside down and tore them apart. I met shock after shock in the last few hours of this book, and I couldn't have been happier. Another note about this novel is Scull writes very well detailed fight scenes with plenty of gore, whitch is very typical of a grimdark novel. There is a fair amount of bad language, but not too much, and little to no sex. The one serious downside to this listening experience is the fact that the narrator is very average and does not do a very good job differentiating characters. Overall, this was a very good debut by a talented author and I look forward to the next book.