Rating: 
Summary: I envy those reading this for the first time.
Review: This book has a long, intricate plot, with as many characters as a Dickens novel. Basically, the Orcs, fighting for the Dark Lord under the leadership of the nameless necromancer, discover a dragon's horde, with a curse upon it...if you take the treasure, you'll become what you steal. In this case, the treasure is modern military weaponry, and after stealing it, the rather dim Orcs become Marines, with all the 'tude and fighting ability of cinema soldiers.At the end, the Orcs are apparently about to invade earth via the same conduits through which the dragon stole the weapons and technology in the first place. And in between, every cliche of the fantasy novel (especially the sexlessness), PLUS modern politicking, PLUS military movies, come in for some heavy, witty, at times acidulous satire.Here's the quote that sums it up: p.451 "That does it!" Oderic said, puffing smoke-rings that lurched, lopsided, into the air." I'm going to tell the REAL story about halflings,orcs, the Dark Lord, and the final victory. The halflings are going to be cheery and moral and know their place; the orcs will be cowardly, and they'll lose; there won't be ANY mention of arms trading, and at the end, the Dark Lord will be male, and VERY, VERY dead!" If you enjoy Tolkien, but find some of his attitudes towards women and the 'lower classes' offputting, and if you find the unthinking repetition of these attitudes in every Tolkien imitator annoying, this is the book for you. Two caveats: 1.)These are more warhammer orcs than Tolkien's . If you play the games, you'll have a much better chance of keeping all the orc characters straight in your mind. There's enough characters here to do justice to a Dickens novel, as I said, but not being human, they might be harder to visualize, at least at first. 2.) There are no good guys here. The orcs are cannibalistic rapists(but the halflings are even worse), the elfs and men are hypocrites. Would the book be better if one could empathize more with the 'heroes'? I dunno.
Rating: 
Summary: A breath of fresh air in a stale genre
Review: Starting with the standard Lord of the Rings story template, Mary Gentle proceeds to turn the world of 'Grunts' on its ear by 'cursing' a group of orcs with modern weaponry and US Marine Corps training and attitudes. What happens next is amusing, if at times a little 'out there'. And when you have orcs with guns, and parts of it are still 'out there' - well, it gets very wierd indeed. The characters and situations are amusing - mostly breathing new air into stale scenarios such as the Dark Lord deciding that combat is dull, and elections are the thing; a S&M bondage queen turning out to be the long lost Duchess of a realm; or a USMC trooper facing off with a Bug/Alien and running for the hills in terror. The book is fun to read, flowing smoothly - though the sheer amount of characters can get a bit confusing every now and again. But for those of you tired of the fantasy genre and its inherent cliches (and Tolkien knock-offs) - this book could well provide a refreshing break.
Rating: 
Summary: Not for the prissy....but a great read!
Review: This is *not* a book for those of liberal convictions, or gentle sensitivities. On the other hand, if you've learned to laugh at horror and cheer for even some rather grimey underdogs this is the book for you.
Rating:
Summary: Grunts
Review: Humour with attitutude, it does exactly what it says on the cover and turns your view of established fantasy fiction upside down. Like most Mary Gentle books this one veers slightly to the dark and grotesque, if you like Evil Dead or one of it's sequels and you're not afraid of reading you should love it....if you loved Tolkien and wanted to know more about orcs you'll find out more in this book but be wary, it isn't really one for the kids, or less broad minded adults. Read this book, it's the most fun you'll ever have for less than seven bucks.
Rating:
Summary: Heres Hoping for a Sequel!
Review: FINALY!! - We get to see the world from grunts point of view, fantasy meets futuretech, this book is Unique!!
Rating: 
Summary: Don't waste your Time or $$$
Review: The funniest part of this book is it's cover. The plot and twists have potential for humor, but the author missed some pretty good opportunities, and the result missed the mark. The little humor that's present is completely marred by unnecessary, gratuitous, explicitly pornographic violence. For example, a Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid pair have a potential for a lot of fun, but early on rob a family dwelling for some spare cash, and in passing paint the walls with the blood of the victim family in excruciating detail. The main protagonist could be a comic antihero, except for casually raping a prisoner to death, again in detail. If this is what passes for humor to the author, I recommend intensive therapy.
Rating:
Summary: What a world
Review: I would have to say that this book seemed only mildly funny when it was first described to me. I mean, who in their right mind would make a marine out of sniveling, half-witted orcs. Then I read it. This is when I realized that orcs are the perfect marines for this book. I mean, being an evil sorcerer, who would you send in to kill off a dragon? It sure wouldn't be your most prized possessions, but the lowliest of your henchman, and usually your most prolific ones as well. Come on, we all know that orcs breed like rabbits, so that's got to be the first choice of henchman. All the bad guys use cannon fodder, so it only makes sense that we would see the orcs in charge. Well, all in all, I loved this book, from the first paragraph to the last. I would recommend this to any fantasy reader out there. Actually, I think I just did.
Rating:
Summary: Twisted Humor for the Modern Age
Review: This books rocks! I started reading it because I wanted something to read on my long flight to Europe. And I'm glad that I did. It's funny. What other book would call someplace "The Dancing Orc" and use the wording "dancing" to talk about someone hanging? NO ONE!!!! I highly recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Bored Now
Review: I borrowed this from my cousin, along with the warning that he'd only made it half way through the book. I didn't believe him when he said that I wouldn't be able to finish it, but I too only managed to get halfway through before I stopped and realized that I was incredibly bored. I found myself wondering exactly what the point of the book was, and exactly when it was going to be made. Generally, I always try to finish what I am reading, even if I don't like it. There are only a few that I've had to give up on. This happens to be one of them.
Rating:
Summary: A satire
Review: If you like fantasy you will enjoy Grunts' irreverent look at the genre. If you love fantasy however you will hate this book for making fun of the genre. There is not much to the plot. The characters are humerous and it makes fun of desk jockey marines. Pick it up for a laugh, don't expect a story.
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