Stan Nicholls - Orcs: Army of Shadows

Copyright 2009 by Stan Nicholls

Excerpt from The Last Wish copyright 1993 by Andrzej Sapkowski

English translation copyright 2007 by Danusia Stok

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Orbit

Hachette Book Group

237 Park Avenue,

New York, NY 10017

Visit our website at www.HachetteBookGroup.com

www.twitter.com/orbitbooks

First eBook Edition: October 2009

Orbit is an imprint of Hachette Book Group, Inc. The Orbit name and logo are trademarksof Little, Brown Book Group Limited.

The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons,living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

ISBN: 978-0-316-07240-3

With grand-scale world building, labyrinthine plotlines, extensive backstory, and pedal-to-the-metal action, Nicholls captures adventure fantasy at its very best.

Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Stan Nicholls takes his well-deserved place beside Robert Jordan and George R. R. Martin as a modern star of fantasy.

The Independent

Incorporating wall-to-wall action with undercurrents of dark humor, Bodyguard of Lightning is a gritty, fast-paced novel with a neat twist. The heroes are orcs though you wouldnt want to meet any of them on a dark night!

David Gemmell

Weirdly charming, fast-moving and freaky, Bodyguard of Lightning is the most fun youre ever likely to have with a warband of orcs. Remember, buy now or beg for mercy later.

Tad Williams

A neat idea and Stan Nicholls pulls it off with great panache. Enough weird sex to keep the tabloids outraged for weeks. Youll never feel the same about Lord of the Rings.

Jon Courtenay Grimwood, SFX

A warning: if you dont wish to become addicted to the most impressive new fantasy sequence in many a moon, you should avoid Bodyguard of Lightning.

Genre Hotline/LineOne Science Fiction Zone

Stan Nicholls tries to correct the bad press authors such as Tolkien have given to orcs. Nicholls tells his tale briskly and entertainingly. If you like lots of hacking and slashing, Bodyguard of Lightning is for you!

Starburst

Bodyguard of Lightning is naturally full of fighting, blood-letting and double-crossing. Nicholls has created a fast-paced adventure.

The Mentor

In the fantasy field, Stan Nichollss Legion of Thunder demonstrates a truly coruscating imagination in its outrageous narrative.

Publishing News Books of the Year 1999

Nicholls knows how to describe a battle in gritty detail, in such a way that it grabs your interest and yet still appears as unglamorous and unromantic as it should. A strange tale of magic, fantastic creatures, and mythical elder races that warps your expectations.

The SF Site

Warriors of the Tempest is, above all, a wonderful piece of storytelling: fast-paced with plenty of hairpin twists, crammed with loads of juicy battles and properly bad baddies, racing towards a carefully set-up conclusion thats both exciting and genuinely moving. Underlying all the fun and games are a core of skillfully drawn, fully realized characters who engage your sympathy from the start and never let go. Sweet and sour orc, a feast for the most jaded fantasy-lovers palate.

Tom Holt, SFX magazine

The prose flows smoothly and the story is exciting.

Science Fiction Chronicle

Breathless and ruthless, menacing and fun. Easy to read and totally engaging.

The Alien Online

Stan Nichollss excellent Orcs sequence is a welcome counterblast to the anti-orc onslaught due with the film launch of The Lord of the Rings.

The Guardian

Nows your chance to catch up with one of the most unusual writers in the genre. And its particularly wonderful not to have to put your brain to bed while reading Nicholls unlike many of his writing peers, theres a real intelligence always at work here. Not that we dont get the requisite rip-roaring action and colorful worldbuilding along with some cutting humor.

Tiscali SF Zone

It is an excellent adventure read. A good adventure story with plenty of action, humorous and well-crafted. Thoroughly recommended.

SF Crowsnest

Gladiators Game Book No. 1

Tom and Jerry: The Movie

Cool Zool

Strange Invaders

Spider-Man: The Hobgoblin

The Nightshade Chronicles

The Book of Shadows

Shadow of the Sorcerer

A Gathering of Shadows

Fade to Black

Dark Skies: The Awakening

Orcs

Orcs: Bad Blood

Orcs: Army of Shadows

The Dreamtime Trilogy

The Covenant Rising

The Righteous Blade

The Diamond Isle

Nonfiction

Wordsmiths of Wonder: Fifty Interviews with Writers of the Fantastic

Ken and Me

Gerry Anderson: The Authorized Biography

Graphic novels (as adaptor)

David Gemmells Legend

David Gemmells Wolf in Shadow

This Wolverines adventure is dedicated to Elaine & Sam Clarke and Anna & Rod Fry, with love and best wishes for the even greater escapade theyve embarked upon.

After escaping Maras-Dantia, their chaotic birthplace, the survivors of the orc warband the Wolverines settled in Ceragan, a world populated solely by their own kind. Stryke, the bands leader, took native female Thirzarr as his mate, siring two male hatchlings. But by the time the oldest of Strykes offspring was four, the band had grown restless with their bucolic life.

While hunting, Stryke and Wolverine sergeant Haskeer found themselves near the cave where the warband had arrived in Ceragan, and were shocked when an unknown human emerged. But the man was mortally wounded, a dagger jutting from his back.

A search of the corpse turned up an amulet bearing strange markings, and a gemstone.

The magical stone issued a message from Tentarr Arngrim, known to the Wolverines as Serapheim, the wizard who had made possible their escape from Maras-Dantia. It included images of orcs in another world being cruelly subjugated by humans, and to Strykes and Haskeers dismay they appeared not to be fighting back. Even more shocking, the architect of their oppression was shown to be Serapheims malevolent daughter, sorceress queen Jennesta, the warbands old enemy and once their ruler.

Arngrims likeness asserted that it was in the Wolverines power to help these fellow orcs and exact revenge on Jennesta. To do so they would have to use the five mysterious artefacts called instrumentalities known to the orcs as stars which Serapheim had created and the warband still possessed. The instrumentalities allowed dimension-hopping, and perhaps more, and were the means by which the Wolverines had been transported to Ceragan. Had someone not murdered him, Serapheims messenger would have acted as the bands guide.

Wanting to accept the challenge, despite his suspicion of Arngrims motives, Stryke guessed that the symbols on the amulet showed how the stars should be fitted together in order to enable travel to other worlds. Gathering the scattered members of the Wolverines, he found they were as keen on the mission as he was.

Stryke stood at the warbands head, as captain. Below him were two sergeants, one of whom was Haskeer. The other would have been the bands only dwarf, Jup, had he not elected to stay in Maras-Dantia. Under them came two corporals. Again, one was missing; but it was death, not the gulf between worlds, that had separated Alfray from the Wolverines. The other corporal was Coilla, the sole female member, and their mistress of strategy. Beneath the officers were thirty privates. Or would have been if six hadnt fallen along the way.