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A review by rogue_runner
Orcs by Stan Nicholls
2.0
This was pretty good to start with, but just kept tailing off and tailing off as it went on. At just over 700 pages, it was just /too/ long. The characters were passable- Coilla I think was the best of the bunch, but Haskeer, Stryke, Jennesta especially... really very very basic stock characters that were completely stereotypical fantasty protagonists/antagonists. Jennesta actually irritated me quite a lot, because she was so completely stereotypical evil fairy queen. As were her sisters, Sanara even more so predictable.
The writing I think was what saved it, as the plot was languid in places and very repetitive- go and find this star, oh, k we got it, next one... next one... with many interspersed fighting scenes littered at least once a chapter (and there were a lot of chapters). The dream sequency stuff leading to the end was okay, but again, a bit annoying.
The bit that confused me the most was the extra little couple of chapters right at the end of the book, that returned to the very start of the story. Why was it added? Why was it needed? It felt very tacked-on and unnecessary, as if it was a part of the story that didn't make final edit cuts at the start, but was so 'important' (but not really) that the author couldn't help but shove it in messily at the end just because he could.
I think this could have been good, but he didn't do quite enough to make the orc culture /different/ or new or enough that it stood out from human culture, without literally just being "oh they're slimy and green and warlike". At many points I could easily have seen a human war band acting the same way, but because it was orcs (apparently) it was all really different?
The writing I think was what saved it, as the plot was languid in places and very repetitive- go and find this star, oh, k we got it, next one... next one... with many interspersed fighting scenes littered at least once a chapter (and there were a lot of chapters). The dream sequency stuff leading to the end
Spoiler
parallel universes?!The bit that confused me the most was the extra little couple of chapters right at the end of the book, that returned to the very start of the story. Why was it added? Why was it needed? It felt very tacked-on and unnecessary, as if it was a part of the story that didn't make final edit cuts at the start, but was so 'important' (but not really) that the author couldn't help but shove it in messily at the end just because he could.
I think this could have been good, but he didn't do quite enough to make the orc culture /different/ or new or enough that it stood out from human culture, without literally just being "oh they're slimy and green and warlike". At many points I could easily have seen a human war band acting the same way, but because it was orcs (apparently) it was all really different?