"Look at me. Look at the Orc."
"There is fear and hatred in your eyes. To you I am a monster, a skulker in the shadows, a fiend to scare your children with. A creature to be hunted down and slaughtered like a beast in the fields.
It is time you pay heed to the beast. And see the beast in yourself. I have your fear. But I have earned your respect."
First, a disclaimer: Fantasy novels which read like a narration of a D&D campaign (aka "quest literature") are a guilty pleasure of mine. If protagonists are herded from quest to the next quest via some totally improbable deus ex machina, that is also fine. Moreover, I like fantasy written from bad guys' point of view; I like explorations of what it's like to be evil, to serve evil, and/or to choose the above two. As an aside, "The Goblin Corps" by Ari Marmell is an excellent example of quest literature from the bad guys' point of view.
So when I read the chilling self-introduction above and skimmed first few pages, full of exactly the kind of bloodlust and slaughter one would expect from orcs, I thought this was a book for me. Alas, it failed completely.
After the first chapter, there is absolutely nothing "evil" about Stan Nicholls' orcs. In fact, the protagonists (the orc band named Wolverines) are probably the most honorable individuals in the entire book. And while I can deal with humans being the enemy (to orcs, they are, almost by definition), I can't stand the "human guilt" message which permeates "Orcs". Humans are blatantly European colonizers complete with environmental despoiling through ignorance*, and all "elder races" -- orcs, elves, nyadds, gremlins, etc. -- are Native Americans, complete with vulnerability to human-born diseases. Basically it is "Dancing With The Wolves" with magic. Oh, and there are two human factions -- polytheistic Manis and monotheistic Unis, and Unis are so over the top, the word "absurd" does not even come close. "Genocidal Mennonites" is about the best description. I made it past Book 1, "Bodyguards of Lightning", and could not stand it any more.
Oh, and what I mentioned about quest literature? I am okay with "hand of author/gamemaster" giving protagonists the clue to their next step; I am not okay with them coming with barely scratches out of fight after fight after fight against superior odds. The Wolverines have the worst example of "plot armor" I had ever seen.
The only reason I am giving this book 2 stars is because of variety and detail Nicholls put into many elder races. Even so, what little we see of their backstory makes no sense. If before arrival of humans the continent of Maras-Dantia was as peaceful as they claim, there would be no reason for orcs -- a race of hereditary mercenaries, -- to exist at all. Granted, this could be a nod to modern romanticizing of Native Americans (meaning elder races were never as harmonious as they now claim), and given what we see of nyadds and especially of half-nyadd queen Jennesta, that's probably the case. Maybe nyadds are Maras-Dantia's equivalent of Aztecs.
*Ignorance yes, but Unis at least would enthusiastically double their efforts if they realized what they've been doing inadvertently
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