What happens to the “lucky” few who survive the ravages of war? They scrounge their way forward, of course!
Thomas Devens regales us with standalone novellas in his Vermin of the Old Empire series to answer that question. The first standalone, The Scroungers follows a rag-tag bunch of survivors navigating the gritty aftermath of the final wars between the Fractured Kingdoms.
In The Scroungers, Devens channels the bloody, filthy, messily nonchalant aspect of warfare, where blades care not for blood nor status, and the only people who survive are those of skill, resolve, cunning, and just dumb luck, with his opening sequence giving a similar flavor to The Heroes (Joe Abercrombie).
There is no shortage of POV characters in The Scroungers, and those of us steeped in grimdark lore will identify many of the archetypes – the gruff and jaded Ebar, the honor-bound Captain Anasya, the steadfast Dag, the silent and shadowy Mor, the opportunistic Brigge, and others. When crowns fall, and the lords are killed, our gang must overcome their differences to work toward a different (daresay brighter?) future.
Where I assumed that Devens would scratch deeper into the central “war is hell” grimdark premise in The Scroungers, he decided instead to go down a different route, with the gritty gang attempting to solve a series of murders by a crazed zealot. This plot direction had reminisces of The Justice of Kings (Richard Swan) with the dark-fantasy noir aspect. The climactic chapters and action set-pieces delved into the supernatural with dark magic elements, toeing the line between low-magic grimdark and higher-magic dark fantasy. I would rather the plot have stayed grounded and the magical aspects be replaced by sheer blade-in-cheek badassery. Still, Devens does a serviceable job of keeping the magical elements vague enough without overstaying its welcome.
The novella length did not lend itself well to fleshing out the characters or developing the plot into something meaty enough that the reader could sink their teeth into. However, Devens does succeed in creating a familiar world with depth, filled with characters worth investing in, following a plot with a quick clip, and plenty of violence. All the things that us ravenous consumers of dark fantasy and grimdark need.
If you are a fan of gritty, a blood-under-your-nails fantasy, The Scroungers will scratch that itch. The next in the series, The Dregs continues to broaden the Vermin of the Old Empire series and that should be your next stop after this one. I look forward to Devens’ bloodier full-length entries!
