Students of the Order,

The Order #1

by Edward W. Robertson, Sam Lang

In the realm of Isodoro, just two things stand between Alliance lands and the spears and muskets of the orcish the wizards of the Order, and constant infighting amongst the orcs themselves. In the Alliance capital, young Wit has just been promoted from apprentice to full wizard—and saddled with the very unglamorous task of traveling to a distant iron mine to inspect it for fraud. Worse yet, he's partnered with Wa'llach, a drunken dwarven prisoner who's killed more people than most plagues. Yet those skills are about to become very handy. For the lord who runs the mine doesn't intend to let Wit get anywhere near it. And across the border, orcs who've hated each other for ages are starting to work together—and to strike into Alliance territory. It looks like a conspiracy. Smells like one, too. And if it isn't stopped—either by Wit, or by the mysterious clan of orcish rangers that patrols the frontier—the entire Alliance will blow apart like an orcish death-stick. ~ A Western-infused epic of outlaws, treachery, treasure, and the frontier, STUDENTS OF THE ORDER is the first in a new series from a USA Today bestselling author and Audie nominee for Best Fantasy Novel.

Genres: Fantasy, Audiobook

690 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 17, 2020

About the author

Ed is the author of the post-apocalyptic Breakers series and the epic fantasy series The Cycle of Arawn. A former New Yorker and Idaho-guy, he currently lives in the LA area. His short fiction has appeared in a whole bunch of magazines and anthologies.

Reviews

[Nikki · Rating 2 out of 5]

As much as I've loved Robertson's other books, I am sad to say I didn't love this one. The story isn't complicated, but I still found it hard to follow in audiobook format. That's not a problem I usually have, and I've listened to some pretty complicated stories (like Malazan Book of the Fallen). I think Students of the Order had too much exposition, and not enough heart to make it worth the slog. I liked Joti's story the best despite him turning into a petulant little brat partway through. But his story is also derivative of a lot of other books featuring wizard or warrior schools. The wizards were less likeable. The magic style was interesting, but the Order was morally repugnant, and it took too long to learn that Wit and his fellow adepts weren't necessarily down with that. By the end, I was somewhat interested in what happens next, but only if there isn't a long wait for the next volume. Because I don't want to read or listen to this one a second time.

[Hayden True · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've never played Dungeons and Dragons. But I know people who have. They are very happy to share all the exciting things that happened during this one epic game with their high school friends that occurred in their parent's basement after prom. It was crazy because this one dungeon master was really good and he made a new boss-level monster to defeat. And they almost didn't defeat it. BUT THEN, I pulled out this little spell that everyone forgot about. And THEN I rolled a seven, which was crazy because what are the odds, right?? But we did it! But turns out that there was more in the lair than everyone thought. They never would have figured it out except for this one Thief rolled an 11. Etc etc....

This book is kinda like listening to that person.

[Lee Dunning · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since I love Mr. Robertson's work, I grabbed this as soon as I learned of its arrival on Amazon's virtual shelves. Overall, I liked it quite a lot, but with three different story lines ultimately converging into one, things are a bit hard to follow at times. For the most part I had little trouble following the two plotlines involving Wit and Joti. I'm especially taken with Joti and the other orcs. As for the wizards, of which Wit is one, I had trouble liking any of them, even Wit a lot of the time (though now that Wit knows the truth about his origins, I think he may grow on me). Their culture is highly interesting but ultimately so steeped in logic and money that quite often "what is right" falls through the cracks.

The third storyline is convoluted and too often assumes knowledge on the reader's part even though we've just been introduced to this world. As I'm not familiar with Sam Lang, I'm assuming this writing style is his as I've never run across anything so tangled in Mr. Robertson's stories up to this point.

Overall, the magic system is terrifying, and quite different from anything I've read before. It's more like a school of psionics rather than the throwing of fireballs or raising of the dead. There's some new and interesting races, one of which reminds of a a combination of kobolds and gnomes. The orcs are especially interesting, and the sort of wild west feel combined with medieval era weapons is entertaining.

I will definitely check out the sequel though I hope by then the obtuse presentation of the young adepts/wizards is straightened out.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good lord this book took me forever to read. I decided to stop wasting time and buckle down about a week or two (?) ago and its 1am and I did it! I only realised at about 80% that this story was not going to be finished at the end of the book. Colour me annoyed, but not too much. You had better finish this story or else I'll be very cross! If you're going to make me care about an Orc of all the blasted creatures, you had better end this well.

Enough threats. I digress.

This was a surprising gem in the rough. It took an age to trawl through the first 1/3 of the book, and I was very confused by the elaborate order system and thoroughly bored by what I misunderstood as a dispute over a retaining wall. Boy, am I glad I was completely wrong. I think having to follow too many in-depth storylines at the beginning is what made it difficult for me to follow what was happening for the different groups. I understand not wanting to infodump about a very complicated world, and once I was able to place everyone by about 40% through, I was able to start to enjoy reading about the characters, and caring about what happened to them.

All in all, a very slow start, but I am now invested and glad I persisted.

[Jason L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let's get this in the open: I rather like Robertson's fantasy, having read all of the Cycle of Arawn, Cycle of Galand, and Cycle of the Scour published so far, so I probably forgive or ignore any shortcomings. The most notable shortcoming is a rather generic world build at the macro-level, but that's fine; Robertson and Lang make up for it with some interesting micro details that influence and move the story forward in compelling ways (as opposed to takes us down explorations of Clarke's Third Law, Brandon Sanderson).

Consistent with other works by Robertson, it's really the character development that moves the story forward in surprising and interesting ways and here the authors deliver.

So, Edward and Sam, start work on the next one would you. Actually, Sam, you start. Ed needs to keep working on the Cycles .

[Rain Külm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starts off a bit slow, giving off the vibe of a coming-of-age story or hero’s journey. But don't let that fool you—it quickly turns bloody and dark, with time itself becoming an unpredictable force. The magic system is intriguing, and I especially loved the dynamic between magic and technology, which is always a fascinating mix. Sadly, the second book hasn’t been released yet, and it’s unclear when (or if) it will be. Still, this first installment has enough to hook readers, and I’m curious to see where it leads.
And some mages are real wicked pervs...

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chaotic

Sadly, not Robertson's best work, and definitely not up to his usual high standards. The story lines are jumbled, the transitions are abrupt, and the descriptions are lacking--after finishing the book, I have no clear idea of how any of the characters look. However, his other books are awesome, so I'm willing to chalk it up to 2020 and hope for clarity in the next book.

[Colin Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid fantasy romp

Engrossing fantasy story with compelling characters. The looks at orcish society and traditions were especially interesting. The writing felt a little more utilitarian than some of Robertson’s other stuff, and at times just a bit stiff.

But, overall very solid. Not quite as hilarious or charming as the Cycle of Arawn, but absolutely worth a read. I was very engrossed and can’t wait for the next book.

[Andrej · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinatingly different kind of book. Complex characters that make choices without the trappings of being “good” or “evil.” The themes, despite being fantasy are fairly mature in nature.

As its the first book in a new series there is a lot of world building, but it’s all handled really well and always with real relevance to the situation.

[Katie Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book since I love Robertson's Cycle series and love orcs in general, but it was so hard to get through. I did like the orc characters and story but the Alliance/Order characters and storylines are boring and confusing. Definitely not going to bother with future installments.

[Quillem McBreen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess I wanted to enjoy this more than I did. On the whole, it's a fine read with an interesting premise, but it didn't quite deliver on the potential, and I found myself wanting so much more. That said, there is always bonus points for anything that references The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

[Scottie Pouliot · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this new series. I cannot wait for the next one!

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story but a little hard to follow the plot at times.

[Idward · Rating 5 out of 5]

Edward W. Robertson wrote a really interesting magic system. I really enjoyed his "Cycle of" books and I am glad to have two great series from one author.

[Daniel Kafka · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book can be quite clever. I enjoyed the story overall. Sometimes I found myself looking towards one aspect of the split storyline over the others. Quite a good book.

[Mathew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great world building and characters. I also really enjoyed the fresh take on magic and wizards. I'll gladly continue the series.

[Cierra · Rating 3 out of 5]

DNF but just kinda boring. Interesting ideas

[Paul Henderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty uneven for being as long as it was. Set up clearly as the first in a series of books it sets up three plots that are pretty unequally treated and unequally engaging. By far the most time is spent with Joti the Orc who grows into a warrior/mage. Wit, the lost prince of a magical tribe of people grows into his training as a mage. and finally, the brat pack of adepts back in the capital who go through a somewhat tedious set of urban adventures. The plot lines do not intersect in any meaningful way, and while two are engrossing, one was more confusing than satisfying

[Mike Swisher · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring. It started off with lots of promise. But it got boring. I returned it for my audible credit back about half way through. It just wasn't worth it to finish the book. Maybe it got great in the end but half way through a fantasy book needs to badge my attention. If it wasn't for the strong beginning I would have quit a long time ago.