Orconomics

Read Time: 2 Minutes

Orconomics: A Satire, written by J. Zachary Pike, lives up to its title! A humorous satire of orc, dwarves, elves and other fantasy folks in a world where the world of heroes and monsters is being run into the ground by large corporations.

I struggled, initially, to get into this book, but the longer I listened, the more it sucked me in, to the point I was fully engrossed by the end. Seriously, this was a bit of a slog to get started, and early on started to consider if the credit I spent was the best choice.

The story is solid though, and the satire is everywhere. From the investment firm Goldman Sachs…er Goldman Bags, running plunder funds and generally doing under-handed dealings, to the poking good-natured fun at the hero archetypes and tropes common to this style of fantasy world.

There are some… odd production choices. A piece in particular where orcs are talking to a goblin, not in English. Their made-up language is played behind the narrator’s translation, making a good few minutes of infuriatingly annoying narration. I found that hard to listen to and follow what is being said because half the time, all I could hear was the gobbledegook in the background.

Doug Tisdale Jr’s narration was decent, with plenty of accents and characterisations to keep everyone separate. Some minor background noises but nothing too bad that it pulled me out of the moment.

The inclusion of a glossary at the end was a weird choice to keep in for an audiobook. I can see how it works in a printed book, but it ends up like someone reading a dictionary. Fortunately, it was after the story had finished because I lost interest at this point.

Ultimately, I will continue to book 2 in the series, since even though I had a hard time getting into it, by the end, I was fully invested in the characters and where their story was heading next.