On orcs and what they mean to me

I have long been a fan of orcs. First as the perfect bad guy for D&D games, and later as heroes and anti-heroes in fiction and games. I readily admit that my preference is for the "Warcraft" model of orcs. They are alien and powerful, and the lore in that world makes them very cool in my eyes. However, that's just a preference, and I really enjoy most of their incarnations (though the early "pig-face" orcs from old-school D&D is bothersome).

IN an effort to expand my enjoyment of orcness, I have read a lot of fiction concerning them. recently, I read the first book of Morgan Howell's Orc Queen trilogy, King's Property. I have to say, no book has so engaged me in a long time. I read the 350+ page book in a matter of about four days. That's quite a feat for me. It was an amazing read, with engaging characters, fantastic lore and easy on the eyes prose. It was even further amazing when you realize that even after completing the book, the world is very slim in description. Unlike the overly fleshed out worlds of gaming fiction, or even Tolkien's Middle-Earth, the world this story takes place in seems very limited. Which works well, considering that the main character's experience in the world is extremely limited, so it really helps keep the story in the proper place. I am eagerly awaiting book 2 from the library.

It also inspired some creativity in me. I brushed off an old orc book of mine that was floundering at around 14,000 words. I deleted the last two pages of prose so that I could take the story in a completely different direction from where it was headed. I think what I have come up with now is much more interesting.

Additionally, I recently read a snippet in Writer magazine where an author suggested reading with a writer's eye. So, as I was reading this book, I took mental notes of what worked and why. What made the story and characters interesting. It was very enlightening. And every tidbit of knowledge seems to help.

Used Book Forays

Money is tight right now, but we like to afford ourselves little pleasures (and I mean "little" as in cheap ass) just to stay human. One of the few guilty pleasures my wife and I share is a love of books. So, we often peruse used book stores for good deals on books we may never read. A few days ago I got a copy of Death Dealer 4: Plague of Knives. I am now only missing book 3 Tooth and Claw and I will have all four of them again. I've read them all but they are so fantastic I want to have them to read again.

Yesterday Connor and I went to the store looking for some specific military sci-fi books (I'm in a mood). Unfortunately, they didn't have any volumes of Larry Niven's Man-Kzin Wars, or Jerry Pournelle's WarWorld series. And nothing else they had appealed to me. But I did pick up a couple of items. I got Tarnsman of Gor by John Norman, the first in a series. This series is always on peoples' lists of "Sword & Sorcery must reads" so I figured I'd give it a go.

I also picked up an old D&D based novel, Greyhawk Adventures 3: Master Wolf by Rose Estes. I had this book a long time ago, but never read it. The first two in the series were written by Gary Gygax, God rest his soul. But they weren't that good. This one seems a bit better, and it's nice and lite, which is what my brain tends to like. I get bored quickly with books if they blather on too much.

Lastly, I picked The Celts by Elona Malterre. It says on the cover "An Epic Novel of Ancient Ireland." How cool is that? I'm Irish and I love the Celts. So, I figured it was sure thing. Well, after I bought it, I decided to read the back cover. I suddenly got suspicious, and when I got home I researched some reviews of the book. Yep, it's basically an Historical Romance novel. Not sure why it was shoved into the Fantasy/Science Fiction section. Eh, my wife might read it. And it was less than $2, so screw it. Heck, I might even read it someday.

All told this addiction has cost me a whopping $6 this month. Not too shabby.