Rating: 
Summary: orcs-lets not get serious
Review: this is an excellent lighthearted look at oh so serious world of
the of d&d,tolken,or any other generic "myths and monsters" you
may favor. this story turns the story upside down! it begins near
the end of most of the normal stories, just before the final
showdown between good and evil and is told from the viewpoint or
the orcs. if you are not into such the orc is the dumb,nasy, evil, frontline cannonfodder for the important evil characters. but
in this story the orcs have aquired from a dragon a shipment of
marine weapons and a curse on said weapons eventually turns the
orcs into orc-marines! sort of smart,fighting marine style, and
looking for their future after the good guys have won. their
adventures are as improbable as they are entertaining-just dont
take any of their still evilness seriously!
Rating: 
Summary: Nowhere near as good as the Ash series
Review: I was reasonably impressed with Mary Gentle's Ash series, and upon reading some glowing reviews of Grunts, decided it was worth a try. Unfortunately, this is one of the very few books I've ever read where I wish I could un-read it.To summarize, the plot was weak, the characters flat, the descriptions mostly worthless, and the conclusion uninteresting. The only good parts of the book at all were Gentle's writing style, which was still engaging, and the somewhat uncommon perspective on race interactions in a fantasy realm. I understand that the casual violence in the book was intended to reflect orcish culture, but after about 50 pages it was redundant and boring. The only parallel I can see for this is Neal Stephenson's The Big U. It is the only other situation in which I've read several books by an author, been fairly impressed, then found a book that was so bad it tempted me to write the other books off as dumb luck. Big U and Grunts were both weak on plot but stuffed full of random violence that did nothing to enhance the story or bolster the flailing plot. If you like random, stupid violence, [dumb]attempts at humor, and stereotyped, two-dimensional characters, this is the book for you. If not, well, save yourself the trouble and don't read this book.
Rating: 
Summary: A Very Original Book!
Review: I thought this book was very unique. It was action-packed, and kept me riveted to its pages. Mary Gentle created characters that most people wouldn't have thought to use. For example, the two thieves who are supposed to be good guys do rather sick things to those they rob. I also found the orcs to be quite hilarious, especially Verimnak. To combine modern weaponry with magic was simply genius. I highly reccommend this book for anyone who is into fantasy and is sick of the typical fantasy storyline. Thanks, Mary!
Rating:
Summary: A Stake Through the Heart
Review: Anyone who has read sci-fi and fantasy has run into one (or one hundred) too many bad Tolkien knock-offs. Usually the ones that have reviews on the back along the lines of "A bold new fantasy in the tradition of The Lord of the Rings". This shambling undead corpus of lousy fantasy deserved a stake through the heart and garlic stuffing. Terry Pratchett provided this service to the quasi-McCaffery and pseudo-Lieber genre in the first two Discworld books. Mary Gentle does much the same to crappy Tolkien knock-offs with "Grunts". It dismembers the cliches, worries the carcass for a while, and buries what's left. The language is bawdy. The humor is often coarse. But it's funny as hell.
Rating:
Summary: eh...
Review: This isn't a particularly good book, nor is it the complete abomination some reviewers describe. It's merely a typical fantasy book, rife with Orcs, Halflings, Elves, and Wizards, tossed together with some modern, "Earthly" weapons and a bizarre, feeble attempt at humor.
In all honesty, I've not enjoyed fantasy since reading Tolkien. All other books seemed far too derivative, too similar to Joseph Campbell's description of the "hero" myth. This is more of the same. It's readable, but barely. As in most other books of fantasy, you won't care for the characters, the plot is forced and full of device, the ending dissatisfying.
Bright points are few: the totally pure character of Amarynth Firehand - a windy, religious kook, the nostalgic Orcs' reminiscence of the "pits" in which they were raised, the impotent, half-mad king. Mary Gentle pokes about good ideas, but never quite fulfills your hopes and expectations. Instead, the reader is overwhelmed by the incoherence of the lot.
Overall, not a bad beach read, but not a particularly good book. Pick it up used or free, and expect little comedy or real pleasure. Content yourself with the glimmers of what this book COULD have been.
Rating:
Summary: A look inside the Marines, With a twist!
Review: This is probably my favorite book. I have read it at least 5 times. The level of humor, though dark, is excellent. If you are expecting the usual high fantasy, you will get it, but you will see it from the other side. All around great book! Not for kids as the language is typical marine and there really aren't any heros you would want your kids to emulate. Excellent stuff. It is compared to Harry Harrison's "Bill the Galatic Hero". Well, sort of except this isn't as silly and is much, MUCH better!
Rating:
Summary: The REAL story of the war
Review: I'm sure a lot of people didn't like the flip nature of the book, the utter devaluation of Orcish life, etc, but the book is a splendid lampoon of all the bad guys who get short shrift, and no characterization, in most books of the fantasy sort.
Rating:
Summary: A new twist on old tales...
Review: I purchased this book for lack of anything else looking interesting on the shelf to read. I was hoping for a book that wouldn't dissapoint me too much. Well, heck. I got the complete opposite. Mary Gentle mixed Fantasy with present, being a hardcore pen & paper D&Der, would have normally insulted the genre in my opinion. Gentle did so brilliantly, not pushing too much one way or the other, just nicely balanced. I am amazed at how it was pulled off. If you like fantasy and have anything to do with the US Marine Corpse... Well, just read it. You will not be dissapointed.
Rating:
Summary: How to destroy convetional fantasy in 5 easy steps.
Review: I stumbled on this book in my library, and got confused because I skipped back and forth throughout the book. What are orcs doing acting like marines? The forces of Light and Dark are holding an election? The ruler of a hafling duchy is an S&M Queen? And she's married to an orc? This isn't right. Well after deciding to read forwards to back, like it is supposed to be, I really did like it. Mary Friend is obviously an academician, because at times you feel like your reading a textbook, but then you get so delighted by the twists and turns she throws into the normal fantasy formula that you have to forgive her. It is broken up into 4 'books' and these books, like short stories, do stand in their own right, but like most serial novels, read it front to back, its less confusing that way. If you like politics and economics, as well military works, you will especially love this novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Grunts
Review: This has to be the worst book I have tried to read. Murderous, foul-mouthed, disgusting and cannibalistic characters did not make this enjoyable in the least. I found nothing humorous in this book. Stay away! If I could I would rate this -10.
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