Dancing with Orcs

This is a fairly brave attempt at something a little off the beaten track, hence why I was attracted to it when Audiobook Boom listed their latest offerings. The story follows one of the last great Orc tribes of the ancient races as they struggle for survival against the races of men, dwarves and elves. So these are not your basic orcs, they are just a bit out of the ordinary. They’re intelligent, have magic and despite being very susceptible to battle rage they have pride, custom and history.

It actually works pretty well overall, I found myself rooting for these orcs as they fought hard and with deadly intent. They certainly aren’t exactly lovable rogues but it’s an interesting take on one of fantasy’s very traditional monsters. There is lots of action and despite the book’s brevity the author manages to pack in a decent amount of background into his story fleshing out the motivations and social structure of his version of Orc-kind He has a brusque style which means that there are no slow sections or points of drag.

Philip J Mather’s voice is a richly deep gravelly rumble and hugely cultured. When I first heard the audio sample I really wasn’t sure but it is a fabulous voice and I genuinely enjoyed listening to it despite my initial reservations – take a listen though to the audio sample and you’ll see what I mean. The only problem, and I hope he’ll forgive me for saying it, is that his very cultured tones made the monsters just sound too “posh” to me. Of course this book gives them pride and dignity but ideally I would have liked to have had my orcs, goblins and trolls just a bit more visceral as they spat their hatred. In any case though, it remains a great voice to listen to.

So a valid effort that’s worth considering for anyone fed up of seeing orcs just used as so much sword-fodder and wants them to have their own moment in history.

This audiobook was provided to me free via Audiobook Boom by the author or narrator in exchange for an unbiased review.

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