Published: November 22, 2014
Publisher: Gnomish Press LLC
Series: The Dark Profit Saga #1
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 362 (Paperback)
My Rating: 4.5/5.0
Synopsis:
Brimming with swords, sorcery, and wit, Orconomics: A Satire introduces Arth, a world much like our own but with more magic and fewer vowels. For the licensed wizards and warriors of Arth, slaying and looting the forces of evil is just a job. The Heroes’ Guild has turned adventuring into a career, selling the rights to monsters’ hoards of treasure as investment opportunities. Corporations spend immense sums sponsoring heroes to undertake quests, betting they’ll reap the profits in plunder funds when the loot is divvied up.
Questing was all business for famous Dwarven berserker Gorm Ingerson, until a botched expedition wiped out his party, disgraced his name, and reduced him to a thieving vagabond. Twenty years later, a chance encounter sees Gorm forcibly recruited by a priest of a mad goddess to undertake a quest that has a reputation for getting heroes killed. But there’s more to Gorm’s new job than an insane prophecy; powerful corporations and governments have shown an unusual interest in the job. Gorm might be able to turn a bad deal into a golden opportunity and win back the fame and fortune he lost so long ago.
Promising fun, fantasy, and financial calamity, Orconomics: A Satire is the first book in The Dark Profit Saga, an economically epic trilogy.
Orconomics is yet another self published success story that came to my attention during the Self Published Fantasy Blog Off (SPFBO). Now, I’m a little slow to get around to some fantastic titles, and this is another example of me waiting FOREVER to finally pick up a book that everyone has been raving about. The benefit of that is I can usually binge read a few books in a row (or at least close together) because there’s more than one book out.
This book reminded me of a comical D&D campaign and who knows, maybe that’s what it was based off. Needless to say, it was darkly amusing and the satirical commentary of modern economics was interesting. Admittedly I know very little about economics and stock trading aside from what I googled when the whole GME stock craze was happening a few months ago, so I did end up googling more stuff. I learned things because this book made me curious. But let’s be real, this was something I read purely for the entertainment factor and I LOVED it!
In the world of Arth being a hero is an actual job title. There’s a guild, regulations, and all kinds of other bureaucratic things associated with actual jobs. Gorm Ingersson is a disgraced hero – a renowned berserker who ran from a job – and now he makes his living robbing other heroes for loot. He gets offered a job he simply can’t refuse (and I mean that literally – it would be his end if he refused) and along with his goblin squire and a group of other disgraced heroes he sets off on a quest for a mad god. Historically, these quests usually end in the deaths of everyone in the party along with the falsely prophesied hero of legend.
The group of heroes couldn’t possibly get more dysfunctional if they tried… or could they? Short answer – of course they could! They’ve also got heart, bravery, love, and more. This is a humorous book, (hilarious actually) but there is a serious side that is surprisingly moving. I thought Orconomics was fabulous and can’t wait to see what Son of A Liche holds in store. This would be a perfect vacation read since it has such a good balance of humor, action, and serious plot and great pacing. This never once lost my interest!
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