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A review by katnortonwriter
The Orc and the Innkeeper by Cora Crane
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? Yes
1.0
This would have been a boring and deeply cliched storyline if it weren't for the fantasy elements. But here's the thing: there is no worldbuilding whatsoever. So the fantasy flavor text could be stripped away with pretty much zero consequences.
I had many issues with this, from the lack of character development to the fact that everyone's gut is lurching/clenching/dropping every third paragraph (get that looked at, my guy) and emotions are crashing over and/or surging through them every minute of the day, it seems. My biggest problem was the lack of worldbuilding, though, and the uncomfortable implications thereof.
I think people are generally aware that monster romance often overlaps with some real uncomfortable fetishization of folks who aren't white. You know, a big primal creature who isn't quite human with giant... parts who can't resist the lure of a delicate helpless (white) woman? Certainly not every monster romance does this, but I'm not sure how else to read this story except as weird commentary on racial purity vs. no racial purity, and that was a big ick for me.
"Human culture" in this book is presented as current mainstream American monoculture. People have cars, cell phones, and even use dollars. If you've read C.M. Nacosta (Morning Glory Milking Farm) or Emily Antoinette (Monsters of Moonvale), you get the general idea. Except in Crane's world, "monsters" aren't living in secret. They've been historically relocated out of "human lands" and experienced prejudice from humans. Several times in this book, there are references to "human culture," which is set up as a (white) Western monoculture. Already I have problems.
I get the sense that Crane tried to mitigate this by making Thorak into Mariah's childhood bully, so "monsters" are prejudiced against humans in this scenario, too. Okay, this opens up some possibilities for nuance... but we're told that Thorak's childhood mindset is passed down from his parents, who want him to stay true to his racial bloodlines. Except, they're really into the idea of him marrying a giant. Even though their whole thing is that they want him to stay true to orc culture. What exactly, you may ask, is orc culture? All we know is that orcs like to brew beer. Thorak and his sister, who's an afterthought in this story, are rebels. We know this because they broke away from their family's big brewery to start their own smaller brewery (oh, you rebels) which they're now trying to expand. This is the only this we learn about "orc culture." But humans also drink beer in this world, so...?
So here we are, with Mariah who is a boring, emotionally stunted white lady, and a "counterculture" orc who has no real defining qualities either. They face different forms of prejudice from a human, who thinks all monsters are weird, and Thorak's parents who want Thorak to maintain racial purity with another monster who is NOT from their supposed culture. But they have no other discernable culture, because there is no worldbuilding. I'm left to conclude that this world is divided into a human monoculture in which we only meet white folks, and an "other" category that's considered exotic and strange because they don't look human enough to be allowed to live in "humans lands," despite having conformed to the social mainstream.
In the best case scenario, and the one to which I wall subscribe, I just put more thought into the topic of worldbuilding than the author did when writing the book. I don't mean to suggest that the author set out to write a racially uncomfortable work, just that the details needed to make this plot anything but cringey weren't present. If she'd focused less on the issue of prejudice and had some other external conflict, that would have been cool. If she was going to focus on a fantasy culture clash, then I'd have liked to see some worldbuilding that made the conflict specific and interesting.
Which leads me to my last point here: if you're going to set your book in a world with magic, MAKE THE MAGIC SIGNIFICANT. What little worldbuilding there was came across as flavortext. Thorak could have been a guy, his pig buddy could have been a dog, the pixie mites could have been mold or a leaky pipe, and this book would not have changed *at all.* The only element that would be impacted would be the issues of race, which is one reason I was so aware of the real-world parallels. There was nothing to transport me.
Thank you for coming to my TedTalk. I would like to (now awkwardly) thank NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this audiobook. My frustrations are being aired voluntarily.
I had many issues with this, from the lack of character development to the fact that everyone's gut is lurching/clenching/dropping every third paragraph (get that looked at, my guy) and emotions are crashing over and/or surging through them every minute of the day, it seems. My biggest problem was the lack of worldbuilding, though, and the uncomfortable implications thereof.
I think people are generally aware that monster romance often overlaps with some real uncomfortable fetishization of folks who aren't white. You know, a big primal creature who isn't quite human with giant... parts who can't resist the lure of a delicate helpless (white) woman? Certainly not every monster romance does this, but I'm not sure how else to read this story except as weird commentary on racial purity vs. no racial purity, and that was a big ick for me.
"Human culture" in this book is presented as current mainstream American monoculture. People have cars, cell phones, and even use dollars. If you've read C.M. Nacosta (Morning Glory Milking Farm) or Emily Antoinette (Monsters of Moonvale), you get the general idea. Except in Crane's world, "monsters" aren't living in secret. They've been historically relocated out of "human lands" and experienced prejudice from humans. Several times in this book, there are references to "human culture," which is set up as a (white) Western monoculture. Already I have problems.
I get the sense that Crane tried to mitigate this by making Thorak into Mariah's childhood bully, so "monsters" are prejudiced against humans in this scenario, too. Okay, this opens up some possibilities for nuance... but we're told that Thorak's childhood mindset is passed down from his parents, who want him to stay true to his racial bloodlines. Except, they're really into the idea of him marrying a giant. Even though their whole thing is that they want him to stay true to orc culture. What exactly, you may ask, is orc culture? All we know is that orcs like to brew beer. Thorak and his sister, who's an afterthought in this story, are rebels. We know this because they broke away from their family's big brewery to start their own smaller brewery (oh, you rebels) which they're now trying to expand. This is the only this we learn about "orc culture." But humans also drink beer in this world, so...?
So here we are, with Mariah who is a boring, emotionally stunted white lady, and a "counterculture" orc who has no real defining qualities either. They face different forms of prejudice from a human, who thinks all monsters are weird, and Thorak's parents who want Thorak to maintain racial purity with another monster who is NOT from their supposed culture. But they have no other discernable culture, because there is no worldbuilding. I'm left to conclude that this world is divided into a human monoculture in which we only meet white folks, and an "other" category that's considered exotic and strange because they don't look human enough to be allowed to live in "humans lands," despite having conformed to the social mainstream.
In the best case scenario, and the one to which I wall subscribe, I just put more thought into the topic of worldbuilding than the author did when writing the book. I don't mean to suggest that the author set out to write a racially uncomfortable work, just that the details needed to make this plot anything but cringey weren't present. If she'd focused less on the issue of prejudice and had some other external conflict, that would have been cool. If she was going to focus on a fantasy culture clash, then I'd have liked to see some worldbuilding that made the conflict specific and interesting.
Which leads me to my last point here: if you're going to set your book in a world with magic, MAKE THE MAGIC SIGNIFICANT. What little worldbuilding there was came across as flavortext. Thorak could have been a guy, his pig buddy could have been a dog, the pixie mites could have been mold or a leaky pipe, and this book would not have changed *at all.* The only element that would be impacted would be the issues of race, which is one reason I was so aware of the real-world parallels. There was nothing to transport me.
Thank you for coming to my TedTalk. I would like to (now awkwardly) thank NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this audiobook. My frustrations are being aired voluntarily.