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gilliske's review against another edition
3.0
De insteek van het verhaal, waarbij alles vanuit het gezichtspunt van de orcs wordt verteld, leek mij vernieuwend en veelbelovend. Ik bleef qua uitwerking echter wat op mijn honger zitten. De Orcs werden gewoon té menselijk voorgesteld. Neem de letterlijke verwijzingen dat je met Orcs te maken hebt weg uit de tekst en je houdt eigenlijk een heel klassiek verhaal over.
Het verloop van het verhaal zelf was bovendien ook niet zo erg boeiend: heel veel gevecht scenes. Zoveel dat het verhaal zelf erin verdrinkt.
Pluspunt is wel dat de auteur echt wel weet hoe hij een goede gevecht scene moet schrijven. Deze zijn flitsend, beeldend en vol actie.
Voor de rest is het een verhaal van een groep zeer menselijke orcs die alles op alles zetten om een aantal mysterieuze objecten te pakken te krijgen waarvan niemand lijkt te weten wat ze precies zijn of doen. Ze reizen van hot naar her en slachten zo wat iedereen die op hun pad komt af.
Ik hoop dat het vervolg van het verhaal wat meer duidelijkheid zal brengen en een nieuwe impuls aan het verhaal zal geven
Het verloop van het verhaal zelf was bovendien ook niet zo erg boeiend: heel veel gevecht scenes. Zoveel dat het verhaal zelf erin verdrinkt.
Pluspunt is wel dat de auteur echt wel weet hoe hij een goede gevecht scene moet schrijven. Deze zijn flitsend, beeldend en vol actie.
Voor de rest is het een verhaal van een groep zeer menselijke orcs die alles op alles zetten om een aantal mysterieuze objecten te pakken te krijgen waarvan niemand lijkt te weten wat ze precies zijn of doen. Ze reizen van hot naar her en slachten zo wat iedereen die op hun pad komt af.
Ik hoop dat het vervolg van het verhaal wat meer duidelijkheid zal brengen en een nieuwe impuls aan het verhaal zal geven
cakesandtea's review against another edition
2.0
DNF. It’s not often books manage to both turn my stomach and bore me but this one definitely wasn’t for me. Really it lost me at the point of the rape then stabbing during climax but I kept going til about half way and thought….nah.
jmkemp's review against another edition
2.0
Slightly conflicted with this. There's a lot of interesting take on it, but also a lot more annoying language that breaks me out of my suspension of disbelief. So much so that even though I've got a two book volume and I read this really easily I didn't read the second book.
For example, all through it talks of firing bows. None of the examples involved flaming arrows. There was also the business of rank by tattoo, but the description of the tattoos doesn't work if you promote someone.
Overall there's a brilliant five star story in the making, but it needs a good development edit to get it there. No idea why the publisher didn't bother with that.
NB if anyone ever has a go at why self-published books lack quality I'd suggest referring them to this as a counterpoint that traditional publishing sometimes also lacks quality.
For example, all through it talks of firing bows. None of the examples involved flaming arrows. There was also the business of rank by tattoo, but the description of the tattoos doesn't work if you promote someone.
Overall there's a brilliant five star story in the making, but it needs a good development edit to get it there. No idea why the publisher didn't bother with that.
NB if anyone ever has a go at why self-published books lack quality I'd suggest referring them to this as a counterpoint that traditional publishing sometimes also lacks quality.
camillatralerighe's review against another edition
3.0
Lettura del mio ragazzo.
Sua review: 3.5. Bella l'idea di un libro completamente dal punto di vista degli orchi. Scrittura gradevole se non con qualche mancanza.
Sua review: 3.5. Bella l'idea di un libro completamente dal punto di vista degli orchi. Scrittura gradevole se non con qualche mancanza.
annahlee's review
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
silab's review against another edition
5.0
I enjoyed this book, I enjoyed the story being orc centric instead of the usual fodder for the 'hero' of the book. I didn't mind the ending, but then again I was bought the books as a set, so could just continue on.
wyrmbergmalcolm's review against another edition
3.0
This classic-style fantasy adventure has the interesting twist of having the main protagonists as Orcs (and a dwarf). It reads a bit like a TV series as it has a very episodal feel to it as the orcs move from one thing to the next. The evil queen is suitably evil and dispatches her underlings at a greater rate than Darth Vader and Blofeld combined. The battle scenes are intense and violent and the Queen gets up to some pretty gnarly stuff.
As the end of the book drew near it was clear that it was setting up for a cliffhanger ending. Yup, it did.
My main issue with this book was with the two rivalries that look to be going somewhere interesting and then just come to nothing at all.
There was enough in there to encourage me to read book 2. The dream sequences are clearly more than they appear and it'll be nice to know what the stars are all about. That I'm not bothered that much by leaving it on a cliffhanger shows how little invested I am in the characters. I think it's less to do with the fact that they non-human but more to do with that I still don't really know them. At least Jup had a couple of chapters almost to himself with his spy mission.
As the end of the book drew near it was clear that it was setting up for a cliffhanger ending. Yup, it did.
My main issue with this book was with the two rivalries that look to be going somewhere interesting and then just come to nothing at all.
There was enough in there to encourage me to read book 2. The dream sequences are clearly more than they appear and it'll be nice to know what the stars are all about. That I'm not bothered that much by leaving it on a cliffhanger shows how little invested I am in the characters. I think it's less to do with the fact that they non-human but more to do with that I still don't really know them. At least Jup had a couple of chapters almost to himself with his spy mission.
kieralesley's review against another edition
2.0
This reads like a fantasy of its era - it's a bit formulaic, characterisation and conflict are shallow (and in the matter of the main antagonist cartoonish) and the plot is spelled out by one of the characters at one point: "we have to have a purpose". But it's fun for all that. It flows well from one action scene to the next and the hijinks work for it once it gets going.
Not actively bad, but not enough to make the cliffhanger ending a draw for me to read the next book.
Not actively bad, but not enough to make the cliffhanger ending a draw for me to read the next book.
boseags's review
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0