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Another Stupid Trilogy #1
Another Stupid Spell
Another Stupid Spell is a first person high fantasy novel, the likes of which hasn't been seen in 60 years. The tone and vocabulary of the story shifts as our narrator, Sorch the orc, finds ways to enhance his intelligence. You get to grow as Sorch grows, learn as he learns, and share his most intimate thoughts.
Sorch is an orc mage in a world where orcs are cursed with stupidity every time they cast a spell. The only spell he can safely cast is Enhance Intelligence, which boosts his IQ for a fraction of a second before the curse drains it all away again.
Normally casting such a spell would be pointless, but Sorch's tribe has found a way to benefit. Magic that is cast near a mysterious artefact called the ‘Voodoo Engine’ causes invisible hands to appear, and these hands get work done for his tribe. Sorch is a slave to the Voodoo Engine, casting a single spell over and over again to avoid being beaten by the chief’s warrior caste.
While foraging for food on one fateful night, our hero happens upon two human mages who are in big trouble. He saves their lives, and in return they give him an amulet that will make his life easier. Unbeknownst to the humans, their gift grants Sorch the power to break the cycle of intelligence drain and physical abuse. With the help of his friend and mentor, Shaman, Sorch becomes a real mage.
Sorch leaves his swamp and embarks on a series of incredibly exciting and dangerous adventures. During his travels he encounters horrible injury, magical treasures, love, snow, university admissions tests, a plot against the Kingdom, and then of course he saves the world. Or does he?
Be prepared to rethink everything you know about thinking. If your own intelligence was the fuel that your magic ran on, how brightly would you dare to burn?
Sorch is an orc mage in a world where orcs are cursed with stupidity every time they cast a spell. The only spell he can safely cast is Enhance Intelligence, which boosts his IQ for a fraction of a second before the curse drains it all away again.
Normally casting such a spell would be pointless, but Sorch's tribe has found a way to benefit. Magic that is cast near a mysterious artefact called the ‘Voodoo Engine’ causes invisible hands to appear, and these hands get work done for his tribe. Sorch is a slave to the Voodoo Engine, casting a single spell over and over again to avoid being beaten by the chief’s warrior caste.
While foraging for food on one fateful night, our hero happens upon two human mages who are in big trouble. He saves their lives, and in return they give him an amulet that will make his life easier. Unbeknownst to the humans, their gift grants Sorch the power to break the cycle of intelligence drain and physical abuse. With the help of his friend and mentor, Shaman, Sorch becomes a real mage.
Sorch leaves his swamp and embarks on a series of incredibly exciting and dangerous adventures. During his travels he encounters horrible injury, magical treasures, love, snow, university admissions tests, a plot against the Kingdom, and then of course he saves the world. Or does he?
Be prepared to rethink everything you know about thinking. If your own intelligence was the fuel that your magic ran on, how brightly would you dare to burn?
253 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 16, 2017
422 people are currently reading
439 people want to read
About the author
Bill Ricardi
15 books51 followersBill Ricardi is a fantasy author from Belfast in the U.K. He has a bent for writing the unusual.
In addition to Another Stupid Trilogy, which is his fantasy series centred around the magic of orcs, Bill is working on a young adult series that involves becoming the avatar of the Egyptian god of music in the modern world.
Bill has a wonderful life partner, and a giant cat named Loki. Both enjoy tormenting him.
In addition to Another Stupid Trilogy, which is his fantasy series centred around the magic of orcs, Bill is working on a young adult series that involves becoming the avatar of the Egyptian god of music in the modern world.
Bill has a wonderful life partner, and a giant cat named Loki. Both enjoy tormenting him.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 101 reviews
September 28, 2017
Cute but weak
The premise is interesting but overall the story is weak. It feels very much like the author took a D&D session he had and put it in a book. The only hardships the characters face are from injuries sustained in combat encounters. All of the rest is a repeat of go here talk to X get information about villains easily and go fight villains till injured repeat. The only character we learn anything about other than a very basic backstory is the main character sorch. The rest of the characters are barely veiled plot hooks just to move the adventure forward. You feel no real connection with any of them. We never learn any of their motivations or fears or what drives them beyond the simple money or im a paladin so my god in the case of toby.
The premise is interesting but overall the story is weak. It feels very much like the author took a D&D session he had and put it in a book. The only hardships the characters face are from injuries sustained in combat encounters. All of the rest is a repeat of go here talk to X get information about villains easily and go fight villains till injured repeat. The only character we learn anything about other than a very basic backstory is the main character sorch. The rest of the characters are barely veiled plot hooks just to move the adventure forward. You feel no real connection with any of them. We never learn any of their motivations or fears or what drives them beyond the simple money or im a paladin so my god in the case of toby.
December 1, 2017
Fresh and Professional
It’s a fascinating premise to treat intellect itself as a resource pool. Even better when the author handles it maturely, professionally, and with flair. It would’ve been easy to go the comedy route, but the premise was treated seriously. The resulting character, behavior, action, drama (and some humor) all stem from that and make this a very interesting and enjoyable read. Me want more. Definitely recommended.
It’s a fascinating premise to treat intellect itself as a resource pool. Even better when the author handles it maturely, professionally, and with flair. It would’ve been easy to go the comedy route, but the premise was treated seriously. The resulting character, behavior, action, drama (and some humor) all stem from that and make this a very interesting and enjoyable read. Me want more. Definitely recommended.
June 10, 2019
This is a delightful story. I like Orcs, but Sorch is the greatest. Sorch is an Orc mage that only has one purpose in life and that is to keep an arcane machine running. Sometime in the past, an Orc God insulted an Elven Goddess and she cursed the Orcs to become and remain stupid. Sorch works under that curse and lives a life of slavery. Magic spells drain his intelligence. Food and rest recharge his magic just enough to perform the same spells again the next day, on and on, in an endless cycle. Sorch understands the problem, but can't retain enough smarts to do something about it. That is, until one night he commits a selfless act. Two human mages reward him by giving him an amulet to help him fight against the drain of his intelligence. From there, it's all systems go! I'm not going to write any more, read the book and enjoy it. I would recommend this to any reader, whether a fantasy fan or not.
February 22, 2019
This book scratched my D&D itch... i wasn't a fan at first, but by the end, i had decided to spend $5 on the second one... more than likely i'll buy the third too, but... i'll burn that bridge when i get there... THREE thumbs up!
Nope, all that up there? That was the review... sorry. I need ten more words, so... here they are. Word
Nope, all that up there? That was the review... sorry. I need ten more words, so... here they are. Word
August 10, 2020
Fantastic writing. It's been quite a while since a book gave me such a laughter. Eloquent, brilliant!
November 27, 2017
Another Stupid Spell is a fantasy novel written about an Orc named, Sorch. The Orcs are cursed, and every time they cast a spell, they become more stupid. Sorch is a slave, and all he has to do is cast a spell every day over and over again or else, he will receive the wrath of his Chief. As things become really hard for Sorch, he manages to cast a spell that Enhances his intelligence, allowing him to break this cycle of slavery. That is when the story takes a sweet turn on Sorch’s adventure away from his swamp.
The story is written in the first narrative and therefore, allows you to see and experience everything in Sorch’s perspective. I think that added a substantial amount of positive influence towards the reader as it made it more personal.
I felt that the world setting created a really nice effect on the storyline. The reader was able to easily feel the Orcs and the situation they were under. I found the story to have a nice flow to it, and the literature had a sweet style of writing that only made you bond with the characters even more. The journey was also exciting. It was all about liberation but also, pain, love and more.
I recommend this story to people that like to read science fiction stories.
The story is written in the first narrative and therefore, allows you to see and experience everything in Sorch’s perspective. I think that added a substantial amount of positive influence towards the reader as it made it more personal.
I felt that the world setting created a really nice effect on the storyline. The reader was able to easily feel the Orcs and the situation they were under. I found the story to have a nice flow to it, and the literature had a sweet style of writing that only made you bond with the characters even more. The journey was also exciting. It was all about liberation but also, pain, love and more.
I recommend this story to people that like to read science fiction stories.
September 3, 2021
Orc Mage
That's was so different and yet so good, the story is told from the main protagonist Sorches point of view, Sorch is an orc mage, but orcs have been cursed when it comes to using magic, when they cast spells it makes them even more stupid, When Sorch is out foraging for food, he comes across two human mages being attacked and comes to their rescue and saves their lives, surprised they've been saved by an orc, they present him with an amulet to help him with his magic and makes his life much easier, When the chief of the tribe feels threatened with his new powers, before he is killed, he sets out on a new and exciting new adventure full of danger and to enhance his knowledge and his magic in joining the arcane university, Scorch will make new friendships and see places he never thought he would ever see after living in a swamp, quite enjoyable and very humorous, great characters, fantastic plot and setting, the narration by James Patrick Cronin is just class, highly recommend...😁⚡
That's was so different and yet so good, the story is told from the main protagonist Sorches point of view, Sorch is an orc mage, but orcs have been cursed when it comes to using magic, when they cast spells it makes them even more stupid, When Sorch is out foraging for food, he comes across two human mages being attacked and comes to their rescue and saves their lives, surprised they've been saved by an orc, they present him with an amulet to help him with his magic and makes his life much easier, When the chief of the tribe feels threatened with his new powers, before he is killed, he sets out on a new and exciting new adventure full of danger and to enhance his knowledge and his magic in joining the arcane university, Scorch will make new friendships and see places he never thought he would ever see after living in a swamp, quite enjoyable and very humorous, great characters, fantastic plot and setting, the narration by James Patrick Cronin is just class, highly recommend...😁⚡
September 12, 2017
Very good engaging story .
This book is litrpg style book without respawn or game mechanics details. The main character is a loveable underdog Orc. Story is a humorous action adventure similar to Drew Hayes NPCs and just as well written. The one annoying feature was the computer editors insertion of plural articles when referring to the female love interest because her name ended in s . A very good read!! Please sir may I have another?!!😀
This book is litrpg style book without respawn or game mechanics details. The main character is a loveable underdog Orc. Story is a humorous action adventure similar to Drew Hayes NPCs and just as well written. The one annoying feature was the computer editors insertion of plural articles when referring to the female love interest because her name ended in s . A very good read!! Please sir may I have another?!!😀
December 20, 2017
Unique.
Id be willing to give this one a Must Read review for the uniqueness alone. More or less set in a very DnD like world without the over-obvious mechanical explanations, it is a refreshing tale of overcoming steep challenges and making decisions in the face of ultimate risk. Stories like these are the best kinds of stories. Stories like these are the stories that describe the best and worst of people and inner natures... and are most fulfilling.
Worth your time. Enjoy!
Id be willing to give this one a Must Read review for the uniqueness alone. More or less set in a very DnD like world without the over-obvious mechanical explanations, it is a refreshing tale of overcoming steep challenges and making decisions in the face of ultimate risk. Stories like these are the best kinds of stories. Stories like these are the stories that describe the best and worst of people and inner natures... and are most fulfilling.
Worth your time. Enjoy!
August 21, 2017
Excellent read! I want more!
What sells this book are the characters. You really grow to care about Sorch and his friends. Ricardi has created a unique hero in Sorch with some unique strengths and weaknesses. Even though I am not a fan of fantasy novels, I am definitely a fan of this one and looking forward to the next installment.... and things!
What sells this book are the characters. You really grow to care about Sorch and his friends. Ricardi has created a unique hero in Sorch with some unique strengths and weaknesses. Even though I am not a fan of fantasy novels, I am definitely a fan of this one and looking forward to the next installment.... and things!
September 6, 2017
Awesome Original Story
This story about a smart orc (orc mages)who are cursed to lose IQ every time they cast a spell. Our hero gets helped into learning how to keep his IQ up enough to cast a few spells. This story is told in his varied states of intelligence.
One of the coolest thing in this book is the origin story of Minotaurs.
This story about a smart orc (orc mages)who are cursed to lose IQ every time they cast a spell. Our hero gets helped into learning how to keep his IQ up enough to cast a few spells. This story is told in his varied states of intelligence.
One of the coolest thing in this book is the origin story of Minotaurs.
September 16, 2017
Innovative
Wow! A Unique world, fantastic characters and story. I couldn't put it down. Well worth your reading time.
Just a fun blast of fantastic
Wow! A Unique world, fantastic characters and story. I couldn't put it down. Well worth your reading time.
Just a fun blast of fantastic
July 29, 2018
This was quite fun. Definitely plan on getting the rest of the trilogy.
March 27, 2019
The book wasn’t bad but I didn’t finish it. After three days of finding reasons to do other things I realized I didn’t care to finish it so on to another book.
August 19, 2025
this is such a interesting view on different magics and I literally love it I'm excited to read more
August 9, 2019
Stayed up 9 hours past my bedtime to finish this. Now I need to get the next one. And maybe some sleep.
July 4, 2018
Great
Very good book.Going for the second one.This is a very good story. Who knew that works could be so enjoyed
Very good book.Going for the second one.This is a very good story. Who knew that works could be so enjoyed
August 2, 2019
A really engaging book
The beginning was a little slow and I wondered if I would finish the book. I’m glad I stuck with it. The story draws you in and doesn’t let you go until you’ve read the last page. Most modern fantasy books have been a disappointment to me. This book was a pleasant surprise.
The beginning was a little slow and I wondered if I would finish the book. I’m glad I stuck with it. The story draws you in and doesn’t let you go until you’ve read the last page. Most modern fantasy books have been a disappointment to me. This book was a pleasant surprise.
September 1, 2019
Despite my minor enjoyment of this novel being all but a foregone conclusion, and the first couple of chapters being a strongly positive indicator.
The reason all boils down to one thing: Economy of words. The greatly simplified premise of this story is that an Orc becomes dumber when he uses magic, and smarter when he uses his "smartening spell" to increase his intelligence. The "gimmick" is that when he becomes smarter, the actual prose becomes more intelligent, too. Herein lies the problem.
When the Orc is dumb, the story is fast-paced, focused, and interesting. Sorch, the main character, has a strong personality; he speaks with the terse gruffness of a person living under constant hardship to survive, and therefore without the time for superfluous niceties; but he acts with the compassion of a person with a good heart. This combination of elements might call to mind the Dresden Files, when Harry is speaking to the pompous council; it may also remind of Wolverine, who is tough as nails and as caring as a father.
Every action in the first few chapters is colored by this personality. How he acts, how he thinks, how he describes things, are all fascinating because they are all very much a product of a specific character. Furthermore, because the "dumb" writing wastes no time with extraneous details, this actually results in a quick pace, a focused story, and all of the details ensconced comfortably within the personality of the character.
Every bit of praise I've just given can be revoked in totality almost the instant Sorch becomes intelligent enough for the writing style to change. The quick pace is gone, replaced with a meandering series of side-quests, the first of which is almost interesting but goes nowhere, and the second of which never even makes the reader a promise.
The focus on important details is gone. In every scene, the author tells you things you already know, tramples his own subtext, and spews irrelevant details again and again.
The personality, which I lauded so exuberantly before, is replaced with a generic "intelligent nice individual person guy." The text isn't colored with his personality, what little personality he has. When he does something daring, intelligent or surprising, it's just as uninteresting as when he's walking across a street or standing idly.
The biggest offense is the character interactions. These instances are littered with the aforementioned subtext-trampling, obvious tropes with no depth, and embarrassingly exhaustive descriptions of feelings that don't seem congruent with the situation. Case in point: Minor Spoiler: He meets a Minotaur at one point and the entire conversation feels contrived -- That is, it feels forced. -- containing no depth of character, but just shallow platitudes. The Minotaur is jovial, friendly and possessing of no prejudice. If that description was emotionally evocative to you, then you'll be thrilled by the scene, but if it seemed like just a bland list of character traits, then you know exactly how I felt when reading it.
I put the book down, and two or three days later I picked it up again, thinking, "Even if it's not great, I'm still pretty interested in what's happening and, hey, I like a good adventure." I read about one more chapter before I couldn't continue. It's conceptually exactly what I want in a story, but the execution is tedious and meandering.
All of that said, I want to emphasize that this is only my opinion, as both a writer and a reader, and I would not discourage anyone from purchasing the book if nothing I wrote here dissuades you whatsoever. I would, however, question how many persons would have praised this book if it started 80 pages in, rather than at the excellent high point of page 1.
Here's to the author's future projects!
The reason all boils down to one thing: Economy of words. The greatly simplified premise of this story is that an Orc becomes dumber when he uses magic, and smarter when he uses his "smartening spell" to increase his intelligence. The "gimmick" is that when he becomes smarter, the actual prose becomes more intelligent, too. Herein lies the problem.
When the Orc is dumb, the story is fast-paced, focused, and interesting. Sorch, the main character, has a strong personality; he speaks with the terse gruffness of a person living under constant hardship to survive, and therefore without the time for superfluous niceties; but he acts with the compassion of a person with a good heart. This combination of elements might call to mind the Dresden Files, when Harry is speaking to the pompous council; it may also remind of Wolverine, who is tough as nails and as caring as a father.
Every action in the first few chapters is colored by this personality. How he acts, how he thinks, how he describes things, are all fascinating because they are all very much a product of a specific character. Furthermore, because the "dumb" writing wastes no time with extraneous details, this actually results in a quick pace, a focused story, and all of the details ensconced comfortably within the personality of the character.
Every bit of praise I've just given can be revoked in totality almost the instant Sorch becomes intelligent enough for the writing style to change. The quick pace is gone, replaced with a meandering series of side-quests, the first of which is almost interesting but goes nowhere, and the second of which never even makes the reader a promise.
The focus on important details is gone. In every scene, the author tells you things you already know, tramples his own subtext, and spews irrelevant details again and again.
The personality, which I lauded so exuberantly before, is replaced with a generic "intelligent nice individual person guy." The text isn't colored with his personality, what little personality he has. When he does something daring, intelligent or surprising, it's just as uninteresting as when he's walking across a street or standing idly.
The biggest offense is the character interactions. These instances are littered with the aforementioned subtext-trampling, obvious tropes with no depth, and embarrassingly exhaustive descriptions of feelings that don't seem congruent with the situation. Case in point: Minor Spoiler: He meets a Minotaur at one point and the entire conversation feels contrived -- That is, it feels forced. -- containing no depth of character, but just shallow platitudes. The Minotaur is jovial, friendly and possessing of no prejudice. If that description was emotionally evocative to you, then you'll be thrilled by the scene, but if it seemed like just a bland list of character traits, then you know exactly how I felt when reading it.
I put the book down, and two or three days later I picked it up again, thinking, "Even if it's not great, I'm still pretty interested in what's happening and, hey, I like a good adventure." I read about one more chapter before I couldn't continue. It's conceptually exactly what I want in a story, but the execution is tedious and meandering.
All of that said, I want to emphasize that this is only my opinion, as both a writer and a reader, and I would not discourage anyone from purchasing the book if nothing I wrote here dissuades you whatsoever. I would, however, question how many persons would have praised this book if it started 80 pages in, rather than at the excellent high point of page 1.
Here's to the author's future projects!
December 30, 2019
An interesting story of Sorch, an orc, who is given an amulet when he saves 2 humans, Will and Rick. This amulet helps to reduce the loss of intelligent that happens when an orc casts a spell and allows Sorch to learn magic. They become fast friends along the way as Sorch grows his knowledge as a mage and moves into his role to help save their world from evil.
November 24, 2019
This book took me quite awhile to finish. I just never really got into it. It had a lot of interesting scenes, but a few things that distracted me also. The phrase "as if" was used a LOT in this story, but for some reason it was printed as "as in if" every single time. Is this some new, acceptable phrase that I haven't heard about? For as many times as it was used, not even just a cursory edit would have missed all of them. Also, I am an older reader and I do not understand all the letters and labels that the LBGT group uses. It is my fault that I am so uneducated in this. As far as reading goes; when a cat-creature, and all the other characters, refers to itself as "they", it's very confusing to read.
Overall, this was a fairly well written book. The early fight scenes were very well written, the last one just seemed to drag on forever.
From the description, I was very interested in this story. I am really sorry I didn't enjoy it more.
I received a free copy of this e-book from the author, but this is a totally voluntary review.
Overall, this was a fairly well written book. The early fight scenes were very well written, the last one just seemed to drag on forever.
From the description, I was very interested in this story. I am really sorry I didn't enjoy it more.
I received a free copy of this e-book from the author, but this is a totally voluntary review.
October 27, 2019
Sorch is an Orc but not your everyday, run-of-the-mill Orc. Sorch is an Orc mage with a very big heart. You will never look at Orcs in the same way again.
After saving the lives of two humans, Sorch is given an amulet which allows him to get smarter, instead of losing his 'smarts' each time he casts a spell. After his best friend and mentor, Shaman, makes him leave the village for his own safety, he eventually teams up with the two human mages he saved, a Werecat and a Minitor to help save Panos from the evil cult wanting to let demons back into their world.
Loads of adventure, magic and on occasion, laughs. A great book and I look forward to reading the rest of the series. Happy reading. Annemarie
After saving the lives of two humans, Sorch is given an amulet which allows him to get smarter, instead of losing his 'smarts' each time he casts a spell. After his best friend and mentor, Shaman, makes him leave the village for his own safety, he eventually teams up with the two human mages he saved, a Werecat and a Minitor to help save Panos from the evil cult wanting to let demons back into their world.
Loads of adventure, magic and on occasion, laughs. A great book and I look forward to reading the rest of the series. Happy reading. Annemarie
December 20, 2018
Now that is how to write a good book. I almost stopped reading because I struggled with Sorch's word before the intelligence spell. Character development was good and the plot was not wishy-washy.
The first person perspective the book is written in pulls you in quickly, I'm not sure I would have enjoyed it if was in third person.
I was impressed with Sorch's progress and growth, you could see his intelligence increase on every page. Every supporting character brought something valuable to the table.
I do have one question though, how many Werecats were there? she was referred to in the plural multiple times.
The first person perspective the book is written in pulls you in quickly, I'm not sure I would have enjoyed it if was in third person.
I was impressed with Sorch's progress and growth, you could see his intelligence increase on every page. Every supporting character brought something valuable to the table.
I do have one question though, how many Werecats were there? she was referred to in the plural multiple times.
November 26, 2019
Ten stars n more.
This book is epic, i loved it from start to finish, and can't wait to read the next one. At first i wasn't sure i was going to like it because of Sorch speech pattern, but after a few pages it was actually good how his simple speech and how his character progressed throughout the book. Its a fantasy sword swinging magical adventure, that builds and builds, the plot and characters are brilliant.
This book is epic, i loved it from start to finish, and can't wait to read the next one. At first i wasn't sure i was going to like it because of Sorch speech pattern, but after a few pages it was actually good how his simple speech and how his character progressed throughout the book. Its a fantasy sword swinging magical adventure, that builds and builds, the plot and characters are brilliant.
July 4, 2018
Okay
This is for all three books. Stretched out. Should of been one long book. Makes for some long, boring, sequences. Lots of grammatical errors, especially improper use of prepositions. For the life of me I can't see how you can have sexual intercourse with a being, especially to the point of making them your "mate" and never know their sex.
This is for all three books. Stretched out. Should of been one long book. Makes for some long, boring, sequences. Lots of grammatical errors, especially improper use of prepositions. For the life of me I can't see how you can have sexual intercourse with a being, especially to the point of making them your "mate" and never know their sex.
April 5, 2019
If you are an accountant you may like this book. Or it might remind you of work too much and you are going to hate it. For some reason the author decided to mention all expenses that the protagonist does on daily basis and his plans and savings for the future. I managed to survive a few chapters of this slog.
October 17, 2019
The premise is intriguing if not very good.
The execution is done badly in every sense of the word.
The beginning slogs on as we get the world and reason for the plot set up.
The story drones on for much longer than is necessary once that is past on the issues the protagonist faces.
Finished it reluctantly and will not be picking up the sequels.
The execution is done badly in every sense of the word.
The beginning slogs on as we get the world and reason for the plot set up.
The story drones on for much longer than is necessary once that is past on the issues the protagonist faces.
Finished it reluctantly and will not be picking up the sequels.
November 24, 2019
The Good 'Stuff and Things':
- The book is devoid of any kind of palace intrigue, Machiavellian schemes, red herrings, or other kinds character-driven drama. I didn't realize how much anxiety I tend to accrue from plots which do feature psychological drama of that caliber until I started reading this book and found it a welcome breath of fresh air.
- Ricardi does a great job with Sorch's voice and his journey from dumb to smart, as well as how he perceives this new world that he is now adventuring through.
- The world-building and the discovery/exploration of it was awesome! To accurately describe without spoiling - I felt like I've stepped into the wardrobe and ended up in Diagon Alley.
- The plot moves quick enough so that you don't feel like you're mired in a swamp, but still offers an appropriate amount of side-quest detours which are entertaining and informative in terms of character- and world-building.
The Did-Not-Finish-Because...:
- The protagonist and especially the support cast feel like they're missing a dimension or two, which was fine, UNTIL THINGS GOT FURRY!
The rest of this review is a furry spoiler:
- The book is devoid of any kind of palace intrigue, Machiavellian schemes, red herrings, or other kinds character-driven drama. I didn't realize how much anxiety I tend to accrue from plots which do feature psychological drama of that caliber until I started reading this book and found it a welcome breath of fresh air.
- Ricardi does a great job with Sorch's voice and his journey from dumb to smart, as well as how he perceives this new world that he is now adventuring through.
- The world-building and the discovery/exploration of it was awesome! To accurately describe without spoiling - I felt like I've stepped into the wardrobe and ended up in Diagon Alley.
- The plot moves quick enough so that you don't feel like you're mired in a swamp, but still offers an appropriate amount of side-quest detours which are entertaining and informative in terms of character- and world-building.
The Did-Not-Finish-Because...:
- The protagonist and especially the support cast feel like they're missing a dimension or two, which was fine, UNTIL THINGS GOT FURRY!
The rest of this review is a furry spoiler:
September 6, 2020
This book is really enchanting. Magical, fantastical, and mythical creatures roam through its pages.
This endearing tale had me smiling and occasionally laughing at the orc who tries so hard to be more than he is. I love how the author takes us through Sorch's changes in mental acuity, and how he shows us the high and the low points of Sorch's journey.
At the start of the book, we read Sorch Stonebender's thoughts and dialogue, which is naturally verysimple and basic, just as one would imagine that it would be, considering the race and background of the main character. However, later on, the dialogue increases in fluidity and 'normalises' as the chapter progresses, until Sorch is thinking and talking just as we ourselves do in the modern age.
As we read on, we discover that Sorch Stonebender is a traditional orc at heart in his life, but he is a bit smarter than other orcs and he longs for something more in life. Eventually he gets his wish. He gets help from his good friend, the orc shaman who helps him learn magic, and how to wield basic magic.
One day, whilst out hunting, he helps to save the lives of two humans who were about to be eaten by wild animals out in the forest; the two men, who are mages, are so grateful to be alive that they give Sorch a special gift that turns his world completely upside down. They give him an amulet that helps him regain his intelligence every day if he says a special spell whilst wearing it. He uses it and suddenly the whole world opens up to him in a way that he never could have imagined before. He becomes more intelligent.
The book goes on to explain a little of the orcs history. It explains that after a tiff between two of the gods of Panos goes horribly wrong, the orcs are left with a curse that states that every time they cast a magic spell, it costs them a piece of their mind; their mental acruity. Therefore practicing magic can present great difficulties for orcs. Casting magic spells also require prescious metals as magic consumes the coin.
But for Sorch, doing magic regularly will be finincially expensive because of how much of differing coins are consumed by the magic at the time of casting the spells. So after training for some time with the shaman in his village, it is decided that Sorch should become an adventurer, one who was like a type of bounty hunter. This he does and that is when the really exciting part of the book begins!
I have to say that this is one of my favourite orc stories. It's heart-warming and entertaining. Plus it's full of magic, so it's a win, win! What's not to like?
Yeah, I really enjoyed reading this and it ended on quite a gripping cliff-hanger too, so I look forward to the next book with excitement and great anticipation.
This endearing tale had me smiling and occasionally laughing at the orc who tries so hard to be more than he is. I love how the author takes us through Sorch's changes in mental acuity, and how he shows us the high and the low points of Sorch's journey.
At the start of the book, we read Sorch Stonebender's thoughts and dialogue, which is naturally verysimple and basic, just as one would imagine that it would be, considering the race and background of the main character. However, later on, the dialogue increases in fluidity and 'normalises' as the chapter progresses, until Sorch is thinking and talking just as we ourselves do in the modern age.
As we read on, we discover that Sorch Stonebender is a traditional orc at heart in his life, but he is a bit smarter than other orcs and he longs for something more in life. Eventually he gets his wish. He gets help from his good friend, the orc shaman who helps him learn magic, and how to wield basic magic.
One day, whilst out hunting, he helps to save the lives of two humans who were about to be eaten by wild animals out in the forest; the two men, who are mages, are so grateful to be alive that they give Sorch a special gift that turns his world completely upside down. They give him an amulet that helps him regain his intelligence every day if he says a special spell whilst wearing it. He uses it and suddenly the whole world opens up to him in a way that he never could have imagined before. He becomes more intelligent.
The book goes on to explain a little of the orcs history. It explains that after a tiff between two of the gods of Panos goes horribly wrong, the orcs are left with a curse that states that every time they cast a magic spell, it costs them a piece of their mind; their mental acruity. Therefore practicing magic can present great difficulties for orcs. Casting magic spells also require prescious metals as magic consumes the coin.
But for Sorch, doing magic regularly will be finincially expensive because of how much of differing coins are consumed by the magic at the time of casting the spells. So after training for some time with the shaman in his village, it is decided that Sorch should become an adventurer, one who was like a type of bounty hunter. This he does and that is when the really exciting part of the book begins!
I have to say that this is one of my favourite orc stories. It's heart-warming and entertaining. Plus it's full of magic, so it's a win, win! What's not to like?
Yeah, I really enjoyed reading this and it ended on quite a gripping cliff-hanger too, so I look forward to the next book with excitement and great anticipation.
June 11, 2021
Overall, it was okay. It seemed extremely D&D inspired.
I do have one major bone to pick with it though. There's a little bit of a spoiler in this, so be warned.
******SPOILER AHEAD******
The main character is revealed to be something other than heterosexual quite a ways into the book. It's sprung on the reader as a surprise. There's no foreshadowing. There's nothing in the book description or early chapters to give it away. This is the third time I've encountered this tactic in various books and it's very annoying. I think some writers think this is a clever thing to do, but it's really jarring to the reader. I build up a mental picture of who/what the main character is and then to have it suddenly revealed that he's completely different just jolts me out of my immersion. The surprise serves no plot purpose whatsoever. It's just there.
I'm not sure what you'd call the MC's orientation. It might be bisexual or pansexual. I don't want to spoil it anymore than I already have. I'll just call it pansexual for the time being. I could be wrong.
While the non-heterosexuality isn't crude or pornographic (in book 1 - haven't read the rest), it's still a major plot point that the book goes back to repeatedly. So it's not a book about an orc who just happens be pansexual or whatever - it's at least partly the pansexual adventures of a pansexual orc.
This can potentially be quite the challenge for the reader who likes to mentally picture himself/herself as the main character if the character's sexuality contrasts too much with their own.
There is also the repeated use of a modern non-heterosexual gender pronoun for a certain character and it's kind of irritating to my inner grammar-nazi.
Anyhow, I think something should be put in the synopsis for stories like this before someone spends their money on a book they might not otherwise buy. The first book was free on Amazon, but I just went ahead and bought the whole trilogy after reading the first chapter of book 1 being unaware of the future plot development. Now I'm not particularly inclined to finish the series. The book was okay, but not good enough for me to get over my annoyance enough to read the next book.
I do have one major bone to pick with it though. There's a little bit of a spoiler in this, so be warned.
******SPOILER AHEAD******
The main character is revealed to be something other than heterosexual quite a ways into the book. It's sprung on the reader as a surprise. There's no foreshadowing. There's nothing in the book description or early chapters to give it away. This is the third time I've encountered this tactic in various books and it's very annoying. I think some writers think this is a clever thing to do, but it's really jarring to the reader. I build up a mental picture of who/what the main character is and then to have it suddenly revealed that he's completely different just jolts me out of my immersion. The surprise serves no plot purpose whatsoever. It's just there.
I'm not sure what you'd call the MC's orientation. It might be bisexual or pansexual. I don't want to spoil it anymore than I already have. I'll just call it pansexual for the time being. I could be wrong.
While the non-heterosexuality isn't crude or pornographic (in book 1 - haven't read the rest), it's still a major plot point that the book goes back to repeatedly. So it's not a book about an orc who just happens be pansexual or whatever - it's at least partly the pansexual adventures of a pansexual orc.
This can potentially be quite the challenge for the reader who likes to mentally picture himself/herself as the main character if the character's sexuality contrasts too much with their own.
There is also the repeated use of a modern non-heterosexual gender pronoun for a certain character and it's kind of irritating to my inner grammar-nazi.
Anyhow, I think something should be put in the synopsis for stories like this before someone spends their money on a book they might not otherwise buy. The first book was free on Amazon, but I just went ahead and bought the whole trilogy after reading the first chapter of book 1 being unaware of the future plot development. Now I'm not particularly inclined to finish the series. The book was okay, but not good enough for me to get over my annoyance enough to read the next book.
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