Grotsnik: Da Mad Dok

[Roomsky]

 

Grotsnik: Da Mad Dok - Denny Flowers

 

"Is it possible to make a horror story from an ork POV?" is a question no one asked ever until the good Mr. Flowers began writing this book. Shockingly, against all odds, the answer is yes.

 

This book is a real treat. Flowers' orks are another distinct brand of the faction, with it's own identity compared to Brooks and Crowley. His orks are a little better-spoken, and while there's not shortage of buffoonery, generally more serious as well. With that comes genuine individual personalities, in contrast to most ork POVs where they're essentially all the same character. Valtun is probably my favourite ork character ever, he's just different enough from his fellows (and exasperated enough by Grotsnik) to make you unironically root for him. Ikor is also a fantastic little grot, not ground-breaking but amusing and sympathetic-ish, and of course Grotsnik himself is an entertaining menace.

 

Speaking of our title character, he's genuinely quite unsettling in this. In a culture of suicidally battle-hungry monsters, I can understand why they'd be creeped out by this guy. He's erratic, conniving, and sadistic towards his own kind in ways that sets him wholly apart from other orks. His unhinged obsession with his own genius is also off-putting, in a good way. While he's not the POV character, the book easily earns it's title, it's about Grotsnik ands his nature through-and-through. Dok's got some killer "mono"logues, in this.

 

This is probably the lowest concentration of humans in an ork book we've yet received. Captain Wesker's portions were totally fine, nothing special beyond the twist, which took me far too long to figure out.

 

My favourite part of the book is a double-edged sword. Much like our Mad Dok, the book feels a bit stitched together and clumsy at times, because it likes to answer "what do orks think about this?" "what would orks do in this situation?" "what is Grotsnik really thinking?" - often in ways that feel tailored to answering those questions, rather than preserving narrative integrity. I like why the book gets messy, because it's, without fail, interesting and fun. But messy it is.

 

This might end up being book of the year if we don't get any surprises later on. It's not perfect, but even it's flaws are a great time. If you have any hunger for an ork-centric book, I rate this a Must Read.

 

8/10 seems fair.

[caladancid]

I liked it so much I bought the hardcover after finishing the kindle edition. Denny Flowers is such a great author.

 

I thought Denny made the Orks seem horrible in a way that few others have done. Yes they are clowns, but they are like freakish murder clowns who also are dead serious about killing everyone else. 

[darkhorse0607]

Looks like I need to shift this up in my reading list

[grailkeeper]

I loved Dennys first book, and based on my interactions with him here he seems like a really decent guy.