Published by Orbit on September 10, 2019

An Orc on the Wild Side is a sequel to, or at least set in the same multiverse as, Doughnut and When It’s a Jar. Utilizing the pathway to the multiverse that was discovered in Doughnut, an entrepreneur sells real estate in the Hidden Realms to snooty Brits who can no longer afford to buy vacation properties in the south of France. The Hidden Realms have a primitive human population, but the more interesting residents are goblins, Elves, dwarves, halflings, trolls, and wraiths. Not to mention the Eye.

King Mordak is the new ruler of the goblins. His New Evil platform of reform has met with resistance, but liberal change is always resisted by traditionalists. Mordak understands that Evil always loses and, in fact, that is Evil’s fate in the long run, so maybe a new game plan is in order. Mordak’s latest problem is his successful attempt to create a female goblin. There has never been one before, and since females are stronger and better problem solvers than males, the goblins aren’t sure they are ready for one.

The strongest of the seven dwarf-lords is King Drain. He is preoccupied, however, by the discovery of eggbeaters and can openers, contraptions (he is told) that are made in a place called China. The gadgets speak to a sophisticated level of machining that dwarves have never managed. While Drain is worried that cheap Chinese goods will put dwarves out of work (at least if this place called China decides to market its wares in the Hidden Realms), a human who calls herself Snow White sees the opportunity to make some cash — the very reason she traveled to the Hidden Realms.

Other complications arise when the humans back in our universe vote in favor of Rexit, a reality exit referendum to seal off our universe from the rest of the multiverse for fear that immigrants from other universes will come to ours and take our jobs. That’s the kind of priceless humor that Tom Holt serves in abundance. I also appreciated the Eye’s definition of authority as “there’s more of us and we have all the weapons, so we can do what we like to you.”

Even with the reforms inspired by the New Evil, goblins are pretty awful, as are the other dwellers in the Hidden Realms, especially wraiths. ‘The wraith who’s tired of killing is tired of life.” But are humans really any better? Goblins and dwarves are at least honest about their nature. “Humans, alone of the Races, have a unique ability to believe things that are patently untrue, even when the facts are pulling their heads back by the hair and yelling in their faces.”

The humans in the story include Snow White, a lawyer (but not a very good one) who tires of serving Elves, the property owners who are having buyer’s regret, and Theo Bernstein, the fellow in an earlier novel who blew up the Very Very Large Hadron Collider. They all illustrate the folly of being human.

I’m not usually a big fan of fantasy, but the multiverse theory holds that everything is happening somewhere, blurring the distinction between fantasy and reality-based fiction. I am a big fan of Tom Holt. I grin my way through his novels and frequently laugh out loud. I love the way he mixes imagined absurdity with the absurdity of the world we inhabit. An Orc on the Wild Side is perfect for readers who don’t take fantasy, or for that matter humanity, too seriously. "It's better to laugh than to cry" is the message I take from Holt's inventive books.

RECOMMENDED

An Orc on the Wild Side pairs classic fantasy with day-in-the-life humor, providing loads of laughs and a hilarious reinvention of fantasy tropes and stock characters. The book essentially brings Lord of the Rings into modern day, giving us insight into scenarios such as reforms in a goblin kingdom where eating your fellow goblin is preferable to honest healthcare. I marveled at the originality throughout and couldn’t get enough of the deadpan humor built into every page. The characters are hilarious, filled with their own quirks and agendas that take a while to be revealed.

I love the concept of taking such a well-defined genre and blowing it out of the water to look at the actual personalities and inner-workings of these character types. To be honest, I’ve never thought about Dwarven eating habits and how they keep their cholesterol at a healthy level. I didn’t think twice about the horrors of daily Goblin life and what it would be like if sweeping reforms were put in place. Would they actually stop killing each other and learn to be more civilized? Would they stop starting century-long wars over mere dirty looks? Would they accept a King who wants to modernize their ancient ways of thinking? You’ll have to read to find out.

Above all, An Orc on the Wild Side is a hilarious read for anybody with a soft spot for classic fantasy. This isn’t your typical fantasy novel, but a retelling of those stories we know and love. I found myself laughing repeatedly and shaking my head at the many little things I never knew I’d find fascinating in the fantasy realms.

NOTE: I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest, unbiased review.

This is the second book by this author I have struggled with and I think it's a sign his writing just isn't for me. I just really no longer want to force things. I only have energy for things that manage to seize my interest in a tight grip. Sadly, it wasn't all too difficult to squirm out of An Orc on the Wild Side's grasp. With that being said, I think this is a Your Mileage May Vary kind of book, so all I can do is tell you what I felt and why.

My initial excitment at this books premise (a quirky Orc story with an almost modern day spin) quickly dissolved in a haze of total indifference within the few first chapters. I couldn't fully immerse myself in the story due to its slow build, lack of major plot movement and insufficiency in characterization, its struggle to carry an large web of interpersonal relationships and long, lonely stretches of thin motivations and unintriguing narrative details.

I don't think it's a bad book at all. I just wish I was all-consumingly passionate about it.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Synopsis

An Orc on the Wild Side is the latest comic masterpiece from one of the funniest writers in fantasy.

Winter is coming, so why not get away from it all?

Being the Dark Lord and Prince of Evil is not as much fun as it sounds, particularly if you are a basically decent person. King Mordak is just such a person. Technically he’s more goblin than person, but the point is that he is really keen to be a lot less despicable than his predecessors.

Not that the other goblins appreciate Mordak’s attempts to redefine the role. Why should they when his new healthcare program seems designed to actually extend life expectancy, and his efforts to end a perfectly reasonable war with the dwarves appear to have become an obsession?

With confidence in his leadership crumbling, what Mordak desperately needs is a distraction. Perhaps some of these humans moving to the Realm in search of great homes at an affordable price will be able to help?

Review

Thanks to the publisher and author for a finished copy of An Orc on the Wild Side in exchange for an honest review. Receiving a copy of the novel did not influence my thoughts or opinions.

Holt’s An Orc on the Wild Side is Douglas Adams taking on Tolkien’s Middle-earth with today’s modern conveniences, inconveniences, and overall ridiculousness. Highly enjoyable and oft times sidesplitting, Holt’s newest release is exactly what a reader of the genre needs to break up the seriousness of modern day high and low fantasy, and everything in between.

If neither the title nor the synopsis got the point across, I’ll go ahead and lay it here plain as day: An Orc on the Wild Side is not epic fantasy. It isn’t grimdark fantasy. It isn’t even low fantasy. There are no huge battles or wars, magic systems to learn, or redeemable heroes to root for. To be honest, there is barely a smattering of blood or gore on the ground, no swords being swung at shields in sight, and is as far away from a coming of age tale as you can get (which is probably a relief for most of us that read fantasy religiously).

This book is simply satire.

Fantasy tropes. Race relations between orcs, goblins, elves, dwarves, wraiths, humans, and the like. Modern day technology brought over to Holt’s Middle-earthish world via multi-verse jumping, ring-shaped objects like donuts and Cheerios. Brits buying up investment properties like towers and cavernous mines that have been vacated by their previous owners of wizard and dwarfish descent. As you can tell, this has all the makings to be a hilarious romp through and on top of the fantasy genre as a whole and Holt does a fantastic job of keeping the laughs going throughout the entire novel.

The first half of the book is a series of separate threads that eventually weave together and culminate into a cohesive storyline, giving the reader time to chuckle at each character’s current predicament and the overall hilarity that the author has infused into the world. This was a very enjoyable read throughout and I can’t remember a point in time where I wasn’t fully invested.

Fans of Terry Pratchett and Christopher Moore will find tons to love here, but I believe anyone who likes a side of humor with their fantasy needs to give this one a shot.

Tom Holt has written a very funny book. Using a smattering of characters, he satirizes countless absurdities of our modern life.

*Barry and Patty are a retired human couple who have moved to a tower in The Realms. After a way across the multiverses is found, many humans have crossed over to live amongst the interesting natives. They struggle with adjustments to their life outside of the UK…

*The Dwarven king and his human cook who enter into an interesting import business bringing in miscellaneous human gadgets to stimulate the economy.

*And most importantly, the King of Evil, Mordak the Orc. He rules over the goblin horde and in his reign he has tried to rebrand the nature of his evil to ‘opposite of good.’ It’s a ‘New Evil’ ‘Tough on Good. Tough on Causes of Good!’ Yet, he is experiences a bit of frustration in implementing his policies. In one particular scene, his peons come to him with an execution list of goblins who are not making a ‘living wage.’ The conversation that ensues is hilarious. There are lots of other fun character throw in also. The wraith who wants to be a model is pretty darn funny.

The threads move forward fairly separately and it isn’t until about half way through that they start to connect. Holt gives the characters time to stand on their own and for the readers to really get to know them. The plot is low key, no bashing about or large scale sieges… the focus is the two-way mirror between the fantasy realm and the humanity. The result is a series of hilarious and telling scenes that hit hard on our contemporary trials of life.

If you are a fan of comic fantasy, this is one you need to get on your radar.

4 out of 5 stars.