A review by caughtbetweenpages
Orconomics: A Satire by J. Zachary Pike

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I did not expect to get got by the D&D/TTRPG satire book. I signed on for a silly, goofy time and apparently missed the fine print where the critique of late-stage capitalism, and the racism and ableism and etc that stem from it, overtake the fun acronyms (if a shadowkin gets their non-combatant paperwork they become an NPC! How fun!) and make you feel like an absolute fool for not looking at them more seriously in the first place (hey, isn’t it fucked up that there’s whole groups of people who need special papers to avoid being killed outright, and have their murders cause someone else’s career advancement?). Except it’s not fine print, it’s all the print, and it only begins to feel serious when you see the consequences of it taken to their greatest extreme. And isn’t that the most messed up bit, that you need to see someone
die who you care about
before it matters  enough for you to pay attention? 

So yeah. I got got by the D&D satire book. Which kind of mirrors the experience of starting to play D&D, where after having a good fun time with friends for a while, the story you’re telling together begins to Matter So Much Actually. 

And like with real D&D, the heart of the mattering lies with the characters. I really enjoyed following Gorm, washed up grizzled old adventurer that he was. Following a lead who’s been screwed by the system but also knows it inside out let Pike provide information on the world (and the way it takes both fantasy and RPG tropes and takes them to their furthest logical conclusion, rather than handwaving some less than savory elements) succinctly and with a humorous voice. Gorm’s desire to return to his people and to the role in society that he used to occupy is sensical, as is his desire not to be killed for breaking guild rules after being kicked out. His friendship with Gleebek
or rather, Tib’rin
the goblin and the rest of the reluctant Seven Heroes of al’Matra made for my quick fondness for the party, and I especially liked that even at the start of his character arc, he was recognizing the terrible conditions that shadowkin live under. 

The POV chapters we got for Kaitha the ranger, the two rival mages Laruna and Jynn, and Niln the cleric/prophet who brought them all together were also really neat insights into the internal journeys of other people in this world and married into the plot well. But my favorite chapters were the ones we got from the POV of Poldo, a high ranking accountant interacting with The Greak Players of this whole system (those in power, so literally The King, The Celebrity-Adventurer, The Bank, and The Adventurer’s Guild Leaders), where hints to the Real Story and reason behind the fetch-quest-turned
liche battle and cultural reparations adventure
were meted out just enough to be unsettling and add complexity to what would otherwise be an overly formulaic plot (though, of course, that’s also kind of the point!). 

Actually, that’s not true. I most loved being in the POV of the orc
chief, getting to see the quality of Tib’rin firsthand. When they’re all killed, I did cry. I was furious right alongside Gorm.


Did I see the end coming? Not really. Not to that extent. I really did think Pike would keep the satire easy to swallow and keep his violence cartoony and easy to overlook and… I don’t know, just easy. And then, it wasn’t easy, and things mattered, and this book jumped from a happy-but-forgettable 3 to sitting in my feelings as a solid 4 stars and being a book I’ll keep thinking about for quite some time. I thought this was a stand-alone when I picked it up, so I’m thrilled I have two whole volumes to go before finishing this story. 
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