I read this book in three days (and it would have been less, if I hadn’t had other stuff to do in those three days). From the beginning, I was hooked. I’m a big fan of lighter weight games, especially ones that come in between the 30 and 60 minute mark. There’s just enough time to work up a strategy and get good at the game, without feeling like Orconomics is overstaying its welcome. Should you pay the gold price for Orconomics, or the iron price? The good news is that you should pay the gold price, unless you really want to embody your inner Orc and steal a copy from a friend. But in either case you’ll definitely want to play this one.

The series has a number of shout-outs to Real Life companies, such as Lamia Sisters (Lehman Brothers), Citistate (Citibank), and J.P. Gorgon (J.P. Morgan). During a conversation between Kaitha and Gorm about the dangers of heroes doing stupid things for glory, Gorm recalls a story about a well-known and highly-skilled group of heroes that were killed to a man when an inexperienced member of the crew charged into a drake roost and angered all the Acid Drakes inside. Our Kobolds Are Different: Dog-like kobolds exist as a sub-clan of gnolls. There's a bit of a fashion among elven ladies for "purse kobolds", and it's considered a cushy job for NPCs (Non-Combatant Paper Carriers) to take. Great Offscreen War: The War of Betrayal happened long ago in Arth's history. It started, when Al'Thadan (the All Father), the king of the gods, betrayed his lover Al'Matra (the All Mother), revealing himself and the Sten (humanoid giants with great raw magical power) to be agents of Mannon. They unleashed Trolls on the races of Man, who slaughtered them left and right, until Tandos, one of Al'Matra and Al'Thadan's sons, rallied mankind against the forces of Mannon. The war ended, when Tandos's armies wiped out the Sten and he personally killed Al'Thadan. The war had far-reaching consequences for the world of Arth, with Mannon and some of the other gods on his side creating the Shadowkin and the monster races to fight the Children of the Light. It also reshaped the world's Fantasy Pantheon, with the traitor gods being cast aside, and Tandos becoming the regent, as Al'Matra has gone mad after Al'Thadan's betrayal and is in no condition to rule.Dimensional Thinking: Stone drakes, being massive ravenous beasts made of stone, don't tend to turn very well. Experienced adventurers know to leap out of its path when a stone drake is charging them. Most novices instead make the mistake of trying to outrun a stone drake though, which never works since stone drakes can actually move pretty fast in a straight line. Loophole Abuse: In the second book, Gorm figures out a way to stop the undead army, while also keeping Johan from profiting from it. He convinces the king of the Old Dwarven Kingdom to give the Red Horde Dwarven citizenship, as well as membership in the Dwarven branch of the Heroes' Guild. After the combined Dwarf-Shadowkin army helps to drive the undead away from Andarun, the Dwarven king tells Johan that the Freedlands has no claim on the recovered loot. Why? Because the Dwarven Heroes were fulfilling a quest originally submitted by the Ruskans, not the nearly identical quest submitted by the Freedlands. Saving the capital of the Freedlands was just a side benefit. Thus, the only parties with a claim on the loot are the Dwarves and Ruskan.

Fantasy Counterpart Culture: There's some indication that the nation of Ruskan is a fantasy stand-in for Russia, given that it's located to the east of the Freedlands, and a key Ruskan character is a werebear, who speaks in a characteristic Russian manner (e.g. dropping articles, saying phrases like "is good idea"). Other Ruskan characters don't speak the same way, possibly implying a regional dialect. There's also the Ruskan name for Wood Gnomes - "Domovoy" (supposedly means "rat men"). In Russian tradition, Domovoy are household gods/spirits. The audio was performed by a reader who really felt invested in the story, who cared about making each character memorable without overshadowing the others in any scene. And of making even the most garbled of dialects understandable and fun. Though other minor characters get the occasional point of view scenes, we ride mostly with Gorm, a disgraced dwarven adventurer who we meet fallen not so much on hard times as fallen in a ditch. Demon drink leaves Gorm reflecting in an early bookmarked line: Ragged chipmunks and venomous snakes alike followed in Kaitha's footsteps, swaying with the melody of her song. She gently patted the nose of a savage-looking deer, the kind of grizzled doe that a soft puma from the foothills wouldn't stand a chance against. In this story, the word “hero” goes no further than your job description. Professional heroics is a finance-driven business, and not a romantic morality play on ‘doing the right thing.’ In this world, everyone wants a piece of the pie: shares of loot are sold to investors in advance, agents and guilds vie to increase their cuts, and adventurers are treated as commodities. Some people, such as the Shadowkin -- classic fantasy monsters like dragons, goblins, and orcs – are targeted simply because they’re seen as pests, or keepers of a valuable treasure. Yet many of the Shadowkin are harmless, and just want a chance to survive on the fringes of civil society. But why should we pay any mind to the plight of these lower-class citizens if they are swept aside in the name of profit? Won’t the investment firm executives utilize their unregulated power to continue to influence the market to their liking? Is this all starting to sound a bit familiar?His new team includes colourful and fun cast of characters – a goblin squire (who brings a lot of comic relief), clumsy and naïve prophet of a mad goddess, an elf warrior addicted to alcohol and drugs (healing potions in the book), two mages who are at each other's throats, a thief who claims to be a bard (even though he can’t really sing) and a warrior seeking his own death. They start the quest to find Elven Marbles. As we follow the story, the plot gets a little more complicated and nuanced. There are many other features where Pike shines a light to illuminate an old trope from a fresh angle. Long-lived elves? How would they handle the plethora of memories and keep a sense of identity? Human cells renew in their entirety over a seven-year period; so too do Pike’s elven personas refresh and reset over a few centuries or so. And what of healing potions? The opiate-induced haze that turned many an eighteenth-century invalid into a laudanum addict is here echoed by heroes succumbing to a grim addiction to self-harm and magical healing. Our Liches Are Different: After being slain by the great Hero Johan decades prior, the noctomancer/necromancer Detarr Ur'Mayan makes his return as an undead liche, using the Crown of Iron Thorns to raise and control a Cavalry of the Dead. Then, looking at the active industry AND the two on either side, each player with a business in any of those three industries will pay out profits & losses: either losing or receiving silver based on the value displayed in the bottom left corner of the industry tile. If the crisis token is on that industry, any business on that industry tile will pay out 2 silver (more on the crisis token later).

Kaitha used to be legendary as the Jade Wind, then her performance started to slide, as she started to heavily drink booze and abuse healing salves. Apparently, she hasn't completed a quest in 40 years.An unusual printed variant involving Detarr Ur'Mayan and a possessed rat. It can be found after the Fantasy World Map, the glossary, and the author's thanks in the first book. J. Zachary Pike I felt the explanation of why Mages' robes transform was appropriate because I didn't think clothing growing buttons or changing decoration on its own …more I felt the explanation of why Mages' robes transform was appropriate because I didn't think clothing growing buttons or changing decoration on its own happens often enough in fantasy to go without explanation, and because Laruna's robes transforming foreshadows a more significant change in a mage's attire later in the series. Beast Man: Most breeds of Gnoll look like canine halflings, Fennekin are a Demi-gnoll breed with more fox-like features and large ears, while Kobolds are Demi-gnolls small enough to fit in a rich elven lady's purse.