Synopsis:
The Lords have fallen.
It was the war to end all wars.
Violence had plagued the Fractured Kingdoms since the fall of the Old Empire.
But as the generals and the lords died in the Valley of Torglen, the folk looked beyond their allegiances. Beyond their nations.
The bedraggled masses that survived the battle flocked to the nearest town with hopes of a new life.
One in which their rulers remained rotting in the mud.
Brigge led her company of sellswords to foreign lands.
Now she seeks to lead the dispossessed into a new life.
Ebar was forced into duty. Conscripted by the war machine of Volgsland.
Though the war is over, his service is not.
A killer stalks the streets of Bright Hollow. Tortured by their past and longing for vengeance.
Disparate tales intertwine as the lives of the survivors collide.
Bright Hollow is a small town, brimming with newcomers.
Review:
I listened to The Scroungers via audiobook with RJ Bayley’s sublime narration. He adds such depth to a book, and here his voice was perfect for The Scroungers which is both grim and very dark. The vast majority of this novella has a low fantasy tone that I appreciated, with most of the time spent in Bright Hollow – a town so far from its title that even the folk there find it hard to swallow. A dark place, filled with muddy, slime-laden hovels and alleyways, that heralds the Dripping Bucket tavern as its major port of call. However, let us start at the beginning.
Devens leads us through a tale of those at the sharp end of war. As the battle for the Fractured Kingdoms comes to a bloody, gore-filled end, the few nobles that survive abandon their soldiers to the unwelcome embrace of death. At that moment, the dregs of the battlefield are left to do as they will, and soldiers from both sides drag themselves to the nearest town to drink themselves into oblivion. Amongst these bedraggled revellers are the mercenaries that turned the tide of battle, only to shoot down their paymaster before leaving the rest to rot. This powder keg is lit by a killer stalking the streets, smashing the skulls of unbelievers on all sides.
Devens weaves his tale through multiple POVs interspersed with the history of the Fractured Kingdoms. Bayley brings them all to life masterfully, and the author’s succinct prose eases the switches, layering the story of the hunt for a killer between the agonies and aftermath of a war no one wearing the mud of the dank streets really wanted.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time with these characters, and would love to spend more time with those that survived. I highly recommend this grim novella, especially on audiobook.
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