Grunts!: A Fantasy With Attitude

Rating:
Summary: Fun and light
Review: reading. A much needed different perspective in this genre. Cute kink among the female orcs. I don't want to meet them! I don't think this Ms. Gentle meant this book to be taken so seriously, but for her, maybe, a writing excercise that just happened to get published.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting! But...
Review: What is interesting about this book is that it is good and bad in one! By this I meen that this book is superbly well written, described and fulfilling; full of action and realism and at times extreemly intense! But that's just the point.... Some other parts of it are offensive and disgusting to the point of violent nausea (I am using an understatement here)written with the same care for detail that seems to characterise her work. After all... orc does as orc is, and we can't expect orcs not to do or be as they are but I guess we could have been spared some of the worse detials "Pass me another elf sargent" as one of them. Perhaps I could consider reading more of her woork in the future.

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Summary: A cool 20th century twist on a Tolkienesque fantasy
Review: I was in the infantry when I read this book. It was engaging, funny and remarkably accurate in a lot of ways. The only thing that seemed odd to me was that the marine sergeant seemed to promise a thicker plot without delivering. And the M-60 medium machine gun is belt-fed by the way.

Rating:
Summary: Loved it !! As a former Marine this is a breath of fresh air
Review: I've seen and read a lot of fantasy and science fiction. This is one of the best. Funny, very witty with a lot of well placed humor that will leave your sides aching from laughter. This novel is strikingly similar to what happens when a fantasy roleplaying gamemaster logs in great detail the events of a campaign. It has crude humor and some very subtle twists that make the novel unpredictable and exciting. As a former combat Marine, I can only wish that we had had that much leeway and creative liscence while at war. A lot of the characters are very realistically based on several types of personality that any marine would recognixe from recruit to gunnery sergeant. If ever I can send mail or email to Mary Gentle I would commend her fresh approach to fantasy. This is a MUST read for any soldier with a sense of humor and a taste for fantasy. I wish you well.

Rating:
Summary: Top-notch, puns-in-your-face, humor!
Review: For once, someone who refuses to dwell on fantasy stereotypes. This book was just ridiculous enough for the humor to really seep through. It is a true side-splitting rollercoaster ride. As a side note, anyone who plays Warhammer 40K or Gorka Morka will recognize these boyz!!!

Rating:
Summary: The good guys almost always win...
Review: But not in this book. At last a novel that puts an end to the stereo-type high fantasy heroes which are always victorious against the forces of evil. Here the orcs get what they deserve, character. They still are the cannonfodder, but who is to say that they are content with their role as dumb, stupid and expendable ? If you like weird stuff with an attitude, this novel is the right one for you. Actually, my facial muscles hurt when I finished reading Grunts, because of that constant grin on my face, and who is to expect hard swearing elf-marines commanded by an orc-sergeant ? This is what a good fantasy-crossover novel should be like.

Rating:
Summary: It's an Orcs life in the Marines
Review: Grunts is simply one of the funniest fantasy novels I've ever read. My copy has made it's way around at least a dozen of my friends, to equally high approval. Yes, it can be crude and vicious at times, but so are Orcs, remember. The story starts near the Final Battle between Good and Evil, only this time the point of view is from the side of Evil, and not some high and mighty hero, but the poor sword fodder in the front line... the Orcs. Sent to raid a Dragons lair for magic weapons to serve in the Final Battle, Ashnak and his orcs come away with more than they bargained for, especially given the Dragon's Curse. The story is well written, and there are quite a number of in-jokes scattered throughout. I would heartilly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fantasy, and has had an occasional want to see the bad guys win <G>. My only complaint is the cover, which makes the Orcs look somewhat stupid. My first copy was a European print, and was much better. Of the story itself I have no complaints. Now, when do we get a sequel ?

Rating:
Summary: Fantasy hits ya like a boot to the head.
Review: A book from the badguys point of view. But not the leaders. You got the grunts of the army telling their tale. Plus the "conversion" from fantasy to sci-fi is sweet.

Rating:
Summary: one of the worst I have ever attemted to read
Review: In all the years I have been reading ( around 25) I have only thrown away 5 books. This was one of them. I tried to finish this book, I really did, but I was unable to. I dont know what the rest of the people that have rated this book so high have read before, but Im sure we would never agree on any of them.

Rating:
Summary: This is not trying to be Tolkien, and that is Good News!
Review: I had given up on "epic fantasy," it was all just knock-offs on Tolkien. But, looked at from the view-point of the "bad" guys, it is fresh and new. Take modern weapons, add in a curse, and extrapolate what happens to a fantastical society. In addition to being coarsely funny, the characters remain true to themselves and the milieu. Buy this book, just remember, the Orcs are the headliners, and they ARE Orcs after all.