More Orcs From Tom Doolan

"The Orc Way"
Tom Doolan
Kindle ebook $0.99

Tom Doolan returns with another short story about Orcs.  (His previous work is reviewed here, here, and here.)  This story is a sequel to "Pekra".  It's a worthy addition to the series.

The setup is basically simple, although the resolution turns out not to be.  Gortek, Pekra's mate, is part of a group of Orcs dispatched to kidnap a Dwarf.  The problem is that Kagan is in charge rather than Gortek, and Kagan is just stupid enough to be dangerous.  And that can get them killed. 

Things don't go according to plan.  This is both bad and good and sets up a number of potential storylines for future installments in the series.  This is a short story, so I don't want to give too many details away.

One of the things I liked best about this tale is that Doolan didn't confine himself to a single viewpoint.  Instead we see things from multiple viewpoints, including some of the Dwarves.  This added a layer of depth to the story because it gave us a glimpse of Dwarven society.  There are some intriguing thins going on there.

As I've come to expect from one of Doolan's stories, there is plenty of well choreographed action, the pacing is good, and the characters are more than cardboard cutouts.  With this installment, Doolan appears to be laying the groundwork for a strong and interesting series.  Check it out.

Long Looks at Short Fiction: "Amarante" by Scott Oden

"Amarante"
Scott Oden
ebook $0.99 Kindle Nook

Scott Oden is an outstanding writer of historical adventure fiction and fantasy.  I'll be looking at his novels over the coming months. For now, though, I want to take a look at this short piece, a tale of orcs.  I've reviewed several stories about orcs in the last few months, one by Charles Gramlich and three different stories by Tom Doolan. 

This latest is probably the darkest of the lot, which is by no means a bad thing.  It concerns a punitive raid on a temple.  The leader of the orcs is Kraibag, Captain of the 10th Zhrokari Brigade.  They've finished destroying the temple for spreading sedition.  Kraibag is about to kill the surviving priestess when he's stopped by Muzgaash, a Witch Hound.  Witch Hounds can sense magic, and he warns Kraibag of sorcery. 

Long Looks at Short Fiction: Pekra by Tom Doolan

Pekra
Tom Doolan
Kindle format, 0.99

If I didn't already know that he was, I would guess by reading this that Tom Doolan is the father of a teenage girl.  He seems to capture the viewpoint quite well.  At least I think he does, never having been a teenage girl myself.

"Pekra" is Tom's latest piece of short fiction.  Like the previous"Blackskull's Captive", reviewed here, this is an orc story, only this time it's not set in space.  It's also significantly shorter, making it the perfect thing to read while taking a quick lunch break.

This is also a little different than most orc stories.  It's a love story of sorts.  Pekra is a young orc whose parents are on her case because her sister has found a mate and is with child.  Why can't she do the same?  So she does, or at least tries to.  In orc society the females choose the mates.  If two females fight over a male, the male is stuck with the winner, like it or not.  As you might expect, Pekra is challenged when she tries to choose her mate (chosen in part because her choice will annoy her parents).  The result is a cat fight, orc style. 

This was a short tale, but thoroughly enjoyable.  Both Pekra and her choice of mate are well characterized, and the fight scene is a blast.  (Not literally, the two orcs don't have any explosives.)  As Tom said in his announcement on his blog, this one would have been hard to market.  I'm glad he published it himself.  It focused on an aspect of orc society that isn't usually shown, the mating ritual.  I wouldn't mind seeing more of these characters in a longer tale.  Check it out. 

Long Looks at Short Fiction: Blackskull's Captive by Tom Doolan

Blackskull's Captive
Tom Doolan
Kindle ebook format, 0.99

If this short story, the first publication by Tom Doolan, is any indication of what we can expect from him, then he's someone you will want to add to your list of must-read authors.

"Blackskull's Captive" is a delightful and thoroughly entertaining blend of fantasy, space opera, and old fashioned pirate adventure.  Written in part as an homage to Treasure Island, it's the story of Jack Munro, an orphan who is captured by Orcs and forced into being the cabin boy of the dreaded Captain Blackskull. 

Long Looks at Short Fiction: Harvest of War by Charles Allen Gramlich

"Harvest of War"
Charles Allen Gramlich
Razored Zen Press, 0.99

In the afterward to this story, the author mentions that it was written for an anthology about orcs Scott Oden was putting together which unfortunately didn't work out.   That's a shame, because if the other stories were as good as this one, we've missed out on some fine reading.

The point of the anthology was to present orcs as more three dimensional than what we see in Tolkien.  Gramlich succeeds.  This is a moving and intelligent tale.  Because it's a short story, I'm not going to discuss the plot much, but I will tell you why I liked it.