The Bastard: Book 1 Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Mordie, the main character, is charming but unlikeable, amoral and not too bright. He's a thief and a general scumbag, at the bottom of the social order, and is almost hanged, mostly deserved. The background is a distorted Camelot, of all things, with the King, Lancelot, and a maiden in distress. Besides thievery, his main success in life is that he has sex with almost every female in town, mostly barmaids, the quantity of which I found difficult to swallow. The plot changes and takes direction after his hanging, with revenge on his enemies foremost. His revenge eventually succeeds, with the significant help of a mysterious, sexy, enchantress - before the big reveal at the end. The story is well written and edited, with strong characterizations. However, I have one significant complaint. In the first two thirds of the story, the many unnecessarily pornographic sex scenes add nothing to the progress of the plot. Reduction of the number of such scenes, and the detail therein would result in an overall improvement - unless the reader is looking for such.

[This review covers the whole series, which I wish I had not felt compelled to finish. Some spoilers probably]Mordie lives on the fringes of his medieval society, picking pocketsand spending the nights with the women his silver tongue and practicedways bring across his path. From time to time he runs cons for alocal hood boss, someone he thinks of as a friend, though it is notat all clear that estimation is reciprocated. Really he's a bitaimless and happy enough to go along to get along while his bellyis full and his beds occupied.Then one day his "friend" has him set up a con on a startlingly beautifulwoman that ends with her kidnapped and Mordie feeling reasonably (butuncharacteristically) responsible and his life suddenly starts to change.If I say the setting is a twisted Camelot, with Arthur evil-overlording itover all, then perhaps Mordie's name and the title of the series suggestswhere things are going.Unfortunately, it doesn't go there all that well. Even afterMordie's turn, he's still a somewhat aimless character, even thoughhe explicitly decides he needs to set goals. In particular, hekind of slips sideways into the whole 'leading the revolt' thingand it's never clear what he's trying to accomplish other thanArthur gone. Along the way his accumulating women cause him bigtrouble, and in the end, the impetus for the whole series comes tonaught. I guess I could give Porter a few points for somewhatsubverting the underpinnings of the whole fantasy-harem-adventuregenre by pointing out that not all women are down with that, butreally it just leads to a very unsatisfying conclusion, and I ratherwish I had not started the series.

Mordie was just another guy trying to get by in a tough world. Okay, maybe there was a little something different but he could never say what it was until the day he took a stand against the way things always worked and was hung for his good deed. But failing to make sure he was dead was their first and biggest mistake because now he's found the one thing he never had. A Purpose. Excellent story, lots of action, and heat. This may be one time when it's not good to be the king. Reminded me a bit of Ambercrombie with a touch more hope

good on descriptions an characters are appropriate for the setting. There are a lot of left out words like (the, and or other small words ) it does not distract too much from the story but at times I had to reread the sentence to make sure I understood what was happening or what was said.

this is another way of looking at a legend and I love it, will read the other book(s) too. Well written and compelling, you want to know what happens next.

I fun and unique twist to the tales of King Arthur. I enjoyed it a lot. Highly recommended.

This was an interesting, and surprisingly good twist on a familiar story. Well written, keep the reader engaged in the story line. Looking forward to the next book.

A little slow on the uptake, but worth the effort. Hooks you about a third of the way through and easily carries you through the rest of book 1. You will want to immediately want to start book 2

A nice twist on an old tale with a interesting setting and a whole world of possiblities on where to go in a sequel