Orconomics: A Satire by J. Zachary PikeMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Since it's right in the title, it's no surprise that Orconomics: A Satire pokes fun at the high fantasy genre. It's more than just a parody, though, with some interesting extrapolation of what could happen when such a world runs into some of the more sophisticated and manipulative ideas of the modern world.
The world that Pike has built in this novel has all the familiar underpinnings of high fantasy. Many races - Elves, Dwarves, Goblins, and so on - roam the land. Wizards throw fireballs and delve into forbidden magic. Kings and queens and various heirs to thrones are (at least nominally) in charge. Heroes of all stripes go on quests of all kinds. A pantheon of gods, some modern and active, others ancient but never totally forgotten, are served by temples and priests. The author makes quite a few references to other such worlds - Tolkien's Middle-Earth, role-playing games like D&D - so there's no doubt of the foundations.
This world, though, has progressed further than the typical high fantasy setting. Technology is mostly the same, largely in the medieval era, but other areas of society have innovated. The hero profession has been institutionalized and drives the economy. Powerful financial houses invest in heroic quests and wield great economic and political power. Manufacturing of magical items is done at scale with assembly-line techniques. Traditionally evil races (orcs, goblins, etc) have begun to integrate into society.
The story follows a small company of largely disgraced heroes, who are forced together by circumstance to join the followers of a mad goddess. Motivated by the opportunity to regain their status in society, the group takes on a quest and stumbles through repeated danger. Interpersonal relations in the party are tense at best, but improve over time, and eventually the group works together well enough to complete their task. At which point it all falls apart, setting our heroes against pretty much all of society.
I liked pretty much all of the main characters, who start largely as fantasy stereotypes and then develop more depth. I thought Pike did a fine job capturing the feel of a misfit adventuring party, and then giving the reader reason to care about each of the less-than-perfect characters. Even the least likeable (for me, the "bard") have redeeming moments.
Pike's writing style fits nicely into the story and setting. There are a few awkward placements of jokes that fall flat (at least for me), but that could just be differences in sense of humor. On the whole, I found the book to move along at a good pace with plenty of interesting happenings along the way.
Orconomics was a fun read, though I suspect anyone not familiar with high fantasy worlds might feel a bit lost at some of the references. Pike is writing a sequel, which I'm certainly interested in taking a look at once it's finished.
