Title: Orcbrat
Author: The Lauderdale
Rating: M
Genre: Adventure/Fantasy
Status: In-Progress
Length: 122,171 words, 27 chapters
Summary: Orcs killed Maevyn's family and took her with them as a captive. It was never intended she survive. CHAPTER 27 UP: In which some clandestine conversations are had – and what's up with that forest, anyway?
Link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/1184601/1/Orcbrat

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This is a side story set in the wider world of Middle Earth. It has nothing to do with rings or dark lords or epic quests. A human girl survives an orc raid on her village, and is carried away as an appetiser for later. She proves amusing to the orcs by her savage determination to kill them and get revenge, and manages to make herself useful to them, so they keep her around. We see a fascinating slice of life of a roaming orc band, full of the visceral evil that is so typical of Tolkein's orcs. There's no attempt to recapture the idea of misunderstood noble barbarians, like the Warcraft orcs. These creatures are clearly the villains; we see them murder and rape and stand around laughing while spoiling the water in a well with corpses.

Although they are clearly minions of evil, they all have unique characteristics and idiosyncrasies which lead to interesting group dynamics - as an example, one orc likes to eat bread from time to time, and is mocked for being too human as a result. It's a fascinating look at the daily life of an orc in Middle Earth. As the story goes on, Maevyn begins to adopt more and more orcish characteristics in an attempt to fit in. I read this feeling both a mixture of glee at her becoming stronger and wilder, and a kind of horror at seeing an innocent be corrupted.

It might not have much to do with the plot of Lord of the Rings itself, but this is definitely one of my favourite stories in the fandom.

5/5

 

The writing is solid and I read a few chapters but I had to stop when the Orc raped the Elf. That's some fucked up shit and it wasn't my cup of tea so I won't give it a rating.

 

The orcs have distinct personalities. There atmosphere is clearly LotR, but with everything being more brutal, which makes the story feel genuine.

The only things that stick out (apart from the more sophisticated words) is the recurring usage of minutes and hours, as opposed to cruder and more blunt ways of describing time.

With the group being so prone to impulses, you never know if Maevyn will be maimed or worse at any situation. The suspense is real.

Such a shame there havnt been an update since 2014. EdIt: ...and within 24 it updates. Perfect!

 

So I'm about half way through what's up at present and I'm, well, enjoying it isn't the right word but something similar. I empathise with Scott in that I'm finding it somewhat difficult to read. I think that's a positive reflection on the quality of the story, stories with rape and murder are ten a penny and generally unfazing but here the horror is quite visceral and unrelenting. It's possibly because there's no heroic protagonist, we know this isn't a story that will feature an external rescue or a suitably cathartic Taken style rampage.

I appreciate the way that these orcs have in each of them unique characteristics that resemble positive traits but they're all twisted to evil ends and purposes: Kurbag's appreciation of nature and beauty, Grymawk's humility, Nazluk's introspection and Hrahagrh's patience - none of them link up to positive actions, in fact they seem to just accent and enhance the quality of their cruelty.

It also doesn't seem to offer them much in the way of possible redemption. When I get back to it after the weekend, I'll try and come back and rate and see if my thoughts on it have changed but it's definitely a very unique fanfiction and worth seeing if it suits.

 

Updated today after a four year hiatus. Highly suspicious. Bitches be lurking.