The True Bastards cover art

The True Bastards

The Lot Lands, Book 2

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The True Bastards

By: Jonathan French
Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan
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About this listen

Following the runaway success of Jonathan French's critically acclaimed fantasy adventure The Grey Bastards comes book two in the Lot Lands series - The True Bastards.

Lead from the saddle. Dare to survive.

Fetching was once the only female rider in the Lot Lands. Now she is the leader of her own hoof, a band of loyal half-orcs sworn to her command. But in the year since she took power, the True Bastards have struggled to survive. Tested to the breaking point by the burdens of leadership, Fetching battles desperately to stave off famine, desertion and the scorn of the other half-orc chieftains, even as orcs and humans alike threaten the Lots' very existence. Then an old enemy finds a way to strike at her from beyond the grave - and suddenly only one faint hope for salvation remains.

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.

©2019 Jonathan French (P)2019 Hachette Audio UK Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Adventure

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All stars
Most relevant  
Great book I couldn't put it down. started the third book in the trilogy straight away

Great book

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A follow-up from the Grey bastards book, 2nd in the trilogy. OK, I'll admit it, I really enjoy a bit of throw away, sword an sorcery nonsense... and this hits all the right notes on that front. I really liked the first book "the grey bastards" so I immediately bought this one straight after and I wasn't disappointed. I would go as far to say it is even more enjoyable and definitely better written than the original.

The story follows on from the 1st novel but mostly follows the trials and tribulations of the new female leader, Fetching. The story is really well put together and ties up some loose ends from the 1st book. It even has you wondering how far in advance French's mind was when penning the original as he links things from the first book into this story that you never would have thought of. It is also nice to see things from the perspective of a female character that was not much more than a hollow side kick in the first.

The narrator does a good job and has a decent enough range for the different characters. Nice to see they used a woman to narrate the 2nd book as it is mostly from a female perspective.

If you enjoy a bit of mindless fantasy fun, this will suit you down to a T. It's no lord of the rings... but it is fun.

Incredibly enjoyable nonsense

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bit of a struggle at first but stuck with it and glad i did theres a few frustrating moments but thats what makes a story excellent books

great book hopefull there will be more

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Good sequel. looking forward to the next installment. Well read, had no trouble distinguishing the characters.

can't wait for the next one.

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Swapping from male to female at the start was a bit weird but Lisa did an amazing job! I loved this book and I am excited to see the series grow more and really hoping for the 3rd to arrive soon!

Live in the saddle, die on the hog!

Amazing.

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A book about half-orcs narrated by a woman didn't sound like it could work. I listened to this book because the first was so good and I understood the change of author as a female character became the principal person in the second book.

Lisa Flanagan had a huge job on her hands, up until now I had only listened to male authors, not for any other reason that the fact that they over populate the fantasy science-fiction genre. Which, based on Lisa Flanagan's performance is a HUGE mistake!!

The biggest obstacle that Lisa Flanagan had to breach was my dislike for American narrators. I have only completed on fiction book read by an American author, of which he did an amazing job, all the others have been non-fiction, so I am not expecting fiction books to come alive and characters to be identifiable by their voice alone.

Lisa Flanagan is an absolutely awesome narrator and I have searched the books she has narrated and chosen four book series to try out. She is in a handful of five authors that I would not want to choose whose best because they all have different qualities and excel at narrating fiction books, they can even make non-fiction books sound exiting.

Lisa Flanagan is capable of an incredible range of voices and delivers a male orcish sounding voice better than many male narrators I have listened to.

The author is also superb, his ability to capture subtle nuances of body language in a sentence is remarkable. I highly recommend both the narrator and the author. What a pairing!!

If you've listened to the first book in the series, this book is a must, you will not be disappointed. If you haven't listened to the first book, start there and you'll know you have another great book to listen to after you've finished the first.

Absolutely fantastic...

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An absolute fantastic follow up to the first book The Grey Bastards, The True Bastards has just brought The Lot Lands series to the next level. Half Orcs riding big ass hogs known as the hoof with loaded stock bows is just bloody epic. A fun hilarious vulgar tale that you just won't be able to put down, great plot and setting and the characters are so good. Orcs are one of my favourite subspecies in fantasy and with this series you get the good guys and bad guys. In the story so far, the Grey Bastards home the Kiln has fallen and Fetch is now chief to the True Bastards. But with being chief and being a female leader of a hoof it isn't easy, Fetch faces massive challenges ahead, trying too build a new Lot and keep everyone and from starving. But when a new enemy turns up threatening to destroy everything she has built so far, she must do everything she can stop it or die trying. An excellent read for all you Orc lovers out there, I truly and highly recommend. Live in the Saddle, Die on the Hog....🐗🐗🐗💥😁

Epically Orcish.

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I enjoyed this book, and the narration was excellent, possibly the best that I’ve heard.

Enjoyable read

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Great follow-up to the first book, The Grey Bastards.
Great, unique concept.
Truly immersive world.
Complex, well-developed characters.
Brilliant storyline that keeps you guessing, with incredible action.

Just, brilliant.

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There are good points, bad points and really bad points.

The change of the narrator makes sense as the main character is female, even if I liked the old narrator more. The story develops nicely, with unexpected twists and turns.

Things that are bad :
Neglected crucial details, very little explained, if anything, often rushed forward or just stuck in the middle of something else.
Endless, meaningless conversations with 80% of swearing. I don't mind vulgar if it makes sense, but here at places, it was just forced in, no reason at all.
Neglected characters, like (spoiler alert!) guy who earned his living performing sexual favours suddenly lost his scalp and "fruits", then laughs it off like he lost a sock. Why not just kill him? Maybe he plays a role in the next book, in that case, the writer just did it poorly.
Description of the sexual act like in the cheap erotic novel. Actually made me laugh. Seriously?! Luckily there was only one, so it can be forgiven.
All in all, ood enough for me to listen to the third one.

Well...

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