The mercenary wonderist Cade, a great term for various forms of magician, and his friend, frenemies, as well as a few random add-ons stepped up to prevent an extra-planar invasion of their world. Too bad they were being used and now instead of a simple invasion the Celestine Plane and Infernal Plane have access to Cade's world and angels and demons are wreaking havoc using mortal lives to keep score. Angry at being tricked, and just angry with everyone in general, the Malevolent Seven have sworn to kick out the celestines and infernals with their newly coined motto "Peace at any price, no matter how many people we have to kill". Does this sequel live up to dark irreverent humor of the original?

If you're looking for a fast paced action or uplifting heroics in you fantasy this isn't the book for you. One of the current trends in the fantasy genre is the necessary evil or heroic villain, but de Castell is definitely pushing it one step further with this series. Each of the Seven are carrying enough insane mental baggage that the true "wonder" is them simply moving forward, and them moving in the same direction is simply miraculous. This means there are ten pages of dark irreverent, and often pointless, bickering for every page of action. The humor is dry, sarcastic, and grim and Cade's philosophy is cynical, irreverent, and also grim. The action passes through bloody and disgusting on its way to parody. Why tip toe through the horror when you can make the most of it?

If you enjoyed The Malevolent Seven you will definitely like The Malevolent Eight but there isn't anything new and exciting about it compared to Seven.