The orcs

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The Orks is originally a three-part fantasy novel series by the British writer Stan Nicholls , which has been combined into a book in the German translation. The titles of the original volumes are: Bodyguard of Lightning (literally: Bodyguard of Lightning ), Legion of Thunder (literally: Legion of Thunder ) and Warriors of the Tempest (literally: Warriors of the storm ). They were published in 1999, 2000 and 2001 under the collective title Orcs: First Blood in Great Britain. In Germany, Die Orks was published in 2002 by Heyne Verlag . The German translation is by Christian Jentzsch . Heyne Verlag published the sequels of the bestseller in December 2007 and August 2009under the titles Die Orks: Blood feud and Die Orks: Blutnacht . In October 2011, Die Orks: Blutjagd, the finale of the second trilogy, was released.

The German publication of Die Orks drew a number of ethnic-specific fantasy novels by German authors, which Heyne Verlag commissioned. Examples would be Die Zwerge by Markus Heitz (2003), Die Elfen by Bernhard Hennen (2004) and Die Trolle by Christoph Hardebusch (2006).

The novel The Return of the Orcs by the German author Michael Peinkofer and its sequels do not belong to the series.

action

The story, which takes place in the fictional world of Maras-Dantien, begins with Jennesta, the queen of the orcs, commissioning her best war party, the wolverines , to procure a mysterious top hat that is located in a university settlement (Uni = monotheism Manni =; more faith God is) and should be in the fight against enemies Jennestas helpful. Stryke, the leader of the Wolverines , doesn't know what it is, but he accepts the order and takes the top hat. On the way home, however, the strange artifact is stolen from the orcs by a group of goblins. When they fail to keep Jennesta's ultimatum, Jennesta's ultimatum believes they have deserted, declares officers Stryke, Coilla, Alfray, Haskeer and Jup, who is a dwarf, as well as their entire squad, to be outlawed, and they also hunt them down.

The wolverines manage to regain the cylinder. They learn from a scholar named Mobbs that there is one of five stars in the cylinder, called instrumentals, which promise great power. Since the orcs have already attracted Jennesta's wrath, Stryke decides - without knowing exactly what the stars are - to look for them. As soon as his search begins, Stryke gets dreams and visions of another world in which only orcs live in peace with one another. The closer the captain gets to the goal of his search, the more his dreams haunt him.

The orcs find the second star in a large university settlement. Because of their size, wolverines are unable to ambush them, so Stryke sends the dwarf Jup in to steal the star in secret. The plan succeeds, but from now on the troop is pursued by the angry people. Jup also learns that there is another star among the trolls who live in an underground labyrinth.

The wolverines can defeat the trolls with difficulty and take the third star from them, but Haskeer is overcome by the concentrated power of the three instrumentals, overpowers Coilla and rides away with the stars to bring them to Jennesta. But again the wolverines manage to save their skin by catching up with Haskeer and bringing them to their senses.

They learn from the troll king Tanar, whom they have taken hostage, that the fourth star is with the centaurs. You go to the forest of horse men and make a deal. If the wolverines were able to bring the chief of the centaurs a healing tear from Adpar, Jennesta's sister, to heal his leg, then they would get the star too. When they return from their successful mission, a trader who stops at the centaurs tells them that he has seen the last of the instrumentals in an orc-friendly Manni settlement.

Stryke and his men decide to ride there. You are welcome and even showered with people's hospitality. But then the stolen people attacked the university town. Since Jennesta also approaches, the people can be put to flight. The orc queen rides into the settlement, but the wolverines have previously made off with the five stars.

Now that they have all the instrumentals, Stryke manages to put them together like a puzzle. Immediately they are teleported to an inhospitable ice plain. You find an ice palace and enter it which is a big mistake because demons reside there. With their telepathic powers, they take four stars from the orcs and lock them in a prison. There they meet Sanara, Jennesta's sister and Adpars, who is also a prisoner. Seraphim, the father of Sanara, - who had already met the orcs disguised as a storyteller - comes unexpectedly and explains to them that they can only leave the palace safely through a portal. Stryke decides to use Seraphim's and Sanara's magical powers to take the demons by surprise and get the stars back, because only they can activate the portal.

When they arrive at the portal with the stars, Jennesta's troops are already storming the palace. Seraphim explains that there is a world for every race and that the orcs of the squad should take their last opportunity to leave the human world and go into their own world. It's the one that Stryke dreamed of so many times. But then Jennesta shows up to claim the power of the stars. She kills Alfray, who gives his life for the wolverines so that they can activate the portal. Seraphim steps in and pushes his daughter through the gate before a destination is set. Jennesta is decomposed by the portal.

Seraphim sets the destination of the orcs. Jup decides to stay with Sanara in the human world because he sees no place for himself in the dwarf world, which is strange to him. Seraphim thinks it would be safer for Stryke to take the stars. So Stryke, Coilla, Haskeer and the rest of the orcs go through the portal with the instrumentals without him to start a new life in the other world.

Characters

Stryke

Stryke is the captain and leader of the Wolverines . In this position he is always under pressure to make the right decisions for his people and to keep their trust. By orcish standards, Stryke is considered to be above average intelligent and seems to be able to sense magic (orcs are, as the only race of Maras-Dantiens, usually completely impervious to magic). This is also expressed in the fact that under the influence of the stars he receives visions of the homeworld of the orcs.

Yep

Jup is a sergeant in the Wolverines one of Strykes deputies and a dwarf the only non-orc of war squads. Due to the latter fact, many members of the wolverine , especially Haskeer, encounter him again and again with suspicion and hostility. The reason for this is that dwarves work as mercenaries for all warring parties (even the universities that despise and oppress non-humans), while orcs usually have to fight as serfs in foreign service. However, he gets along very well with Stryke, Coilla and Alfray. Jup is also able to use the dwarven magic of distant vision , which benefits the squad a lot.

Haskeer

Haskeer is the second sergeant of the Wolverines and how Jup, Strykes deputy. He is very quick-tempered, rude and often questions Stryke's decisions, but is a brave and loyal companion in battle. Haskeer repeatedly provokes Jup to quarrels, but at the end of the novel lets it be seen that he will miss Jup very much. Since he is also influenced by the magic of the stars, he is apparently also sensitive to magic, like Stryke, albeit to a much lesser extent.

Coilla

Coilla has the rank of a corporal held (which they, however, is under Stryke, Jup, and Haskeer over the remaining soldiers of the party) and is the only woman in the ranks of the Wolverines . She is one of the youngest members of the squad and dreams of escaping Jennesta's serfdom. Coilla is considered the team's strategist and is very good at handling throwing knives.

Alfray

Alfray is the second corporal the Wolverines . He is the squad's field doctor and also has the task of carrying the wolverine's banner . As the oldest member, Alfray mourns the old days, when life was even better for the orcs, and worries about the future of his people. Alfray is killed by Jennesta's General Mersadion towards the end of the novel. As he dies, he admonishes Stryke and the others to carry on the old customs and traditions of the orcs.

Jennesta

Jennesta is an exceedingly powerful sorceress of unsettling beauty who has allied herself with the Manni human party. She has also strengthened her armed forces with orc serfs and dwarven mercenaries. Jennesta is sadistic and cold hearted, and basically despises everyone but herself. She is obsessed with getting her hands on the stars and their power. Stryke and his troops therefore represent a serious nuisance in their plans. Towards the end of the novel, she is defeated in a magical battle by her father and sister Sanara and pushed into the portal before a destination is set. It remains unclear until the continuation whether it was torn apart by the forces of the portal or thrown into another world.

Seraphim

Seraphim is actually the legendary human magician Tentarr Arngrim and the father of Jennesta, Adpar and Sanara. He is responsible for creating the stars with the help of which the non-human races were brought to Maras-Dantien, which is actually the homeworld of humans. In the fight with his former lover and later enemy, the sorceress Vermegram, he lost almost all of his powers, and the stars were scattered to the wind. He then spent his life looking for the stars to help bring the non-human races in Maras-Dantien back to their homeworlds. Disguised as a simple storyteller, he helps the wolverines again and again. Towards the end of the novel, he reveals himself and sends the wolverines back to the home of the orcs. To prevent possible abuse of the stars, he gives them to Stryke.

particularities

With The Orks , a novel tells a story from the point of view of the "disgusting" fantasy people of the orcs , who, along with trolls and ogres, represent the most common darklings in the fantasy genre. While trolls and ogres are usually described as simple-minded and instinctively aggressive, but not as willfully evil, orcs are cunning and deliberately devious. The fact that wolverines still appear sympathetic is not achieved by Nicholls by portraying people as malicious, but by an even darker counterpart (namely Jennesta), giving the orcs a misunderstood, suppressed and therefore pathetic role, the role of the "good guys", take in.

Book editions

Original English-language editions

  • Orcs: Bad Blood :
    • Stan Nicholls: Weapons of Magical Destruction . Gollancz, 2008, ISBN.
    • Stan Nicholls: Army of Shadows . Gollancz, 2009, ISBN.
    • Stan Nicholls: Inferno . Gollancz, 2011, ISBN.

German-language editions

  • Stan Nicholls: The Orks ( Bodyguard of Lightning , Legion of Thunder and Warriors of the Tempest , 1999-2000). Heyne , Munich 2002, ISBN 3-453-86371-2 .
  • Stan Nicholls: The Orcs: Blood Vengeance ( Weapons of Magical Destruction , 2008). Heyne, Munich 2007, ISBN 3-453-53201-5 .
  • Stan Nicholls: The Orcs: Bloody Night ( Army of Shadows , 2009). Heyne, Munich 2009, ISBN 3-453-52494-2 .
  • Stan Nicholls: The Orcs: Blood Hunt ( Inferno , 2011). Heyne, Munich 2011, ISBN 978-3-453-52701-0 .

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