Amarante: A Tale of Old Tharduin

by Scott Oden

Siphäis -- the Jewel of Pelassia. Once, the city boasted a population of well over five-hundred thousand, sprawling as it did over the east and west banks of the sluggish Aornus River. Then came the Orcs of the Zhrokari Mountains, led by the Butcher, Fakh-Thal.

Half the city died in the siege, of starvation, disease, or the relentless hail of stone, arrow, fire, and spear. Siphäis became a city of ghosts, a battleground between Human insurgents and the Butcher's horde.

When his patrol is ambushed and destroyed by foul magick, the Orc-captain, Kraibag, joins forces with Muzgaash, a solitary Witch Hound, to exact revenge against a sorceress and her eerie minions.

"Oden's action scenes are rich with crackling vitality and his pacing is top-notch. One of the best adventure writers working today." -- Howard Andrew Jones, author of Desert of Souls

It’s an Orc story, set in the shared world of Tharduin — a little over 6000 words (20 pages).

Genres: Fantasy

29 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 13, 2012

About the author

Scott Oden is a liar. He is a forger and a thief; a scoundrel and a spreader of gossip . . . which is all just a fancy way of saying Scott Oden is a writer. He is perhaps best known for his ability to mimic Robert E. Howard's style of prose -- though he does a passably good A.A. Milne, as well. His books have received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist, earned him recognition as an Amazon Editor's Pick, and garnered a Gemmell Award nomination. Or so he says. Who can believe him, really? For all we know, he's just a triumvirate of raccoons with a trench coat and access to Chat GPT.

His notable works include Men of Bronze, Memnon, The Lion of Cairo, and the Grimnir Saga. His less notable works include Claude Moreau's Garden: dozens of cozy short stories about a magical village of mice living in a Provencal garden at the turn of the last century, and long, incendiary posts on Discord about why Cimmerians and Picts should never "get together".

The author lives in rural North Alabama, where he sometimes talks to trees and tries to befriend all the neighborhood dogs. The neighborhood cats can piss right off . . .

Reviews

[Shreyas Adhikari · Rating 5 out of 5]

This short story was provided to me by the author in exchange for an honest review. Amarante is another blood soaked tale of orcs, human rebels and fell sorcery written in the manner of good old fashioned sword and sorcery. It follows the exploits of orc-captain Kraibag, after most of his famed company is torn to shreds by a cabal of rebel cultists. He and a brutish Witch Hound named Muzgaash chase the culprit through the dark, plague stricken streets of Siphäis only to find things a bit...complicated.

Giving away anything more would be a spoiler. Excellent story, give it a read.

P.S.- I thought Amarante was some beautiful goddess. Or a maiden, at least. Damn you, Mr. Oden.

[Periklis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This short Sword & Sorcery tale reads like an appetizer for a longer work. The setting and characters are fully realised, despite its short length.

I bought it from DriveThruFiction as a PDF, where it seems to be available for free, along with another great short story, this one set in ancient Sparta, titled Sanctuary.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exciting tale of Orcs and sorcery. I really enjoyed the writing in this one. It definitely helps if you know some things about the Orc background for this story as well.

[Ashe Armstrong · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very quick story, i was left curious and wanting more.

[Shawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A different approach than what I'm used to -- focusing the story on what would normally be considered the antagonist. Taking a look from the opposite end of the wars and the struggles gives one hope that the bad guy will come out victorious.
I loved it, and look forward to Scott continuing on with this series.

[Vincent Darlage · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always liked short stories, and this one is very enjoyable. I haven't read much Orc fiction (outside of Tolkien)... actually, outside of Tolkien, this is the only Orc fiction I think I've ever read. Anyway, I really liked it.

[Paul McNamee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good interplay between the Orcs. And, very well crafted viewpoint from the Orcs. They're bastards, you don't exactly want them to win, but they are doing what they do because.. it's what they do. There is enough tension created that you want to follow them through it, regardless of outcome.