The Goblin Corps

If you enjoyed THE CONQUEROR'S SHADOW by Ari Marmell, then THE GOBLIN CORPS is more of the same. Only sillier. I know, I didn't believe it was possible, either, but just read the cover blurb: "The few. The proud. The obscene." Yes, yes he went there.



The source of said hilarity are the main characters, an "elite" group of goblinesque creatures formed by the evil Charnel King for a special mission: there's a troll, a kobold, an orc, a gremlin, a shapeshifter, an ogre, and a bugbear. Put them all together in their various levels of stupidity and prejudices, mix up a few stereotypes, drop them in the middle of a fabricated training mission with no defined leadership, and out pops a big, crazy mess. But then that's the point. They're supposed to be an elite military squad, but it's really just a bunch of bumbling around. It's funny. It's goofy. Eventually everything gets straightened out and they surpass all expectations. Yadda yadda. Until, at last, they learn the real mission they were assembled for.



THE GOBLIN CORPS has some of the same problems that CONQUEROR'S did, the least of which being the unnecessary adjectives cluttering the narrative. There's also the inconsistent PoV switching, which is usually the result of Marmell attempting to cram as many gags as he can into one scene. The characters of the demon squad sound a lot like humans with few cultural and physical details thrown in to differentiate them. The setting is your usual sword & sorcery world, the magic standard fare. The plot could have been pared down, the middle drags on, and the conclusion lacks real punch. As a result, this book bordered on a mediocre rating. However, despite these flaws, either Marmell is growing as a writer, or his new publisher (Pyr) provided him a good editor to help smooth out his storytelling. Whatever the reason, the result is a marked improvement.



Unlike the inconsistent characterization in CONQUEROR'S, THE GOBLIN CORPS has some characters you'll enjoy rooting for, whose motivations make sense. Sure they're the bad guys, and not only do they work for the Charnel King, they aren't very nice people, either. And yet, Marmell's characterization is consistent for most of them, and they progress over the course of novel with his signature campy style. It's kinda hard not to like someone who makes you laugh. Even if said goblin is a jerk.



By the time I got to the climax I looked back over the book and realized something. It feels like one, long dungeon crawl—and a really exhausting one at that. It includes quests for our adventurers to pick up and deliver magical items. Big, bad bosses who seem impossible to kill, who often require unconventional solutions. The group itself consists of a thief, a mage, an idiot with a club...you get the picture. And, of course, no dungeon crawl would be complete without mocking everyone in typical RPG fashion.



All of this could be stuff you've seen before, and therefore THE GOBLIN CORPS may sound like more of the same. And in some ways it is. Except Marmell really is clever. He comes up with some ingenious situations, locations, and some downright sinister bad guys. Of course, don't forget the twist: our "heroes" are not handsome elves, noble humans, or punt-worthy gnomes. So, maybe, this twisted version is another dungeon worth crawling through.



Recommended Age: 16+ for content

Language: Unlike his first book, which was pretty clean, this one has ubiquitous profanity, including many anatomically impossible threats

Violence: From simple knocking each other around, to a wizard's gruesome magical experiments, to battles with blood and gore, and lots of mean bugs

Sex: Referenced a couple of times

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Posted in Ari Marmell , Books We Like , Fantasy

The Conqueror's Shadow

Ari Marmell has been writing freelance for years, including short stories, co-authored shared-world fiction, and RPG manuals for Wizards of the Coast. THE CONQUEROR'S SHADOW is his first solo novel, and he attempts to shake things up, with a twist on the standard sword and sorcery.

Corvis Rebaine is happily married to a loving and clever wife, Tyannon. He's got two rascally kids. He's living a simple life among small-town villagers. Everything's all peachy keen.

But his sordid past catches up to him when bandits attempt to assault his daughter. However, this is no random attack, its very deliberateness to bring Corvis out of hiding, because he has something everyone would kill to get.

You see, almost twenty years ago Corvis built himself an army of witches, humans, ogres, goblins, et al, with the purpose of conquering Imphallion. But in order to actually succeed he needed a book of spells, hidden deep within the catacombs of one of Imphallion's largest cities. He assaults the city, barely able to hold it while his enemies gather to dig him out, his entire plan hinging on finding that book and using it to conquer Imphallion for good. He finds the book...but he can't use it. All his plans turn to ruin, so he takes a hostage, young noblewoman Tyannon (yep, the one he eventually marries), and escapes, only to abandon his army and any dreams of conquest.

Now, nearly twenty years later, a copycat warlord is tracing Corvis' steps, using his old plans to start a new campaign of destruction, and find the spell book for his own use. So Corvis does the only thing a former evil warlord can do when someone steals his plans and threatens his family: remake his own army and fight back.

The best thing CONQUEROR has going for it is its serious-goofy-dark sense of humor. In fact, this story wouldn't have worked without it. Why? Because no reader would ever believe that Corvis, the Terror of the East, who strung up bodies in his conquered cities, and laid waste to the countryside, would eventually become a sentimental family man. It defies all rational characterization. The entire plot is crazily contrived. Yet the humor allows readers to suspend belief--for the story anyway, characterization is something else, altogether.

CONQUEROR boasts a big cast, but it revolves around the main three: Corvis Rebaine, former warlord, now husband/father trying to protect his own; Davro, ogre, former lieutenant in Corvis' army; and Seilloah, witch. Marmell paints these stock characters with a few goofy twists and even goofier banter. In fact the dialogue between the main characters is often worthy of an eye-roll. Perhaps it's the humorous take on these supposed dark characters that makes them less believable. Perhaps it's the RPG quality to the set-up. Whatever the case, the result was that I wanted to like Corvis, but never really understood his motivations and behavior. It's a nice idea that he repents of his ways and ends up with a happy family life, but it was hard for me to take seriously considering the circumstances. It doesn't help either that I don't believe Tynannon's behavior. I mean, really, the guy marries the girl he kidnaps and Tynannon never contacts the brother she saved from death? Whose life hung in the balance in the first place because of Corvis? Perhaps they deserve each other. Davro's constant griping was like a violin with one string, his characterization about as deep. Seilloah...I still don't know what I was supposed to think of her.

Marmell tries to help us catch up on the history with brief chapter openers that show us scenes from the past--they aren't chronological, but still relevant to chapter events. Between those and the exciting prologue, it's almost too much information too early in the novel. The PoV switches between several characters, frequently within a scene or to a random character who's never used a second time. Marmell also jumps from scene to scene to keep the pacing quick, but it made the narrative hard to follow when it left out gaps of information and plot. And the ending is a contrived mish-mash of events. All of these problems hurts the forward momentum of the story, which is often rocky. And since I seem incapable of writing a review without a petty complaint, here's mine for this novel: Marmell likes his adjectives/adverbs way too much, which makes for unnecessary wordiness and affects the flow of the prose.

The setting is your standard fantasy landscape, but it doesn't get in the way of the storytelling. Marmell's prose carries the plot along well enough, describes the fights without being too flashy, and adds a handful of new ideas to keep readers interested. The magic isn't anything special, it's used inconsistently, and when it is used it's convenient for the plot. This is too bad because the demon-inhabited items could have been more integrated into the story and really added some spice. Also hinted at are the different levels of sorcery ability, which isn't explained in much detail, but at the same time trumped by the special spell book that would allow the use of even 'higher circle' spells independent of ability.

THE CONQUEROR'S SHADOW is fluffy fantasy reading, despite the author's attempts to explore the theme of justifying evil actions for the sake of good intentions. The best audience is probably your teenage son, who won't get stuck on the unbelievability of it, will laugh with the snappy dialogue, and will like the idea of the villain being the 'hero'--plus it's clean enough for parents who like to keep an eye on content.

Recommended Age: 14+
Language: It's relatively mild.
Violence: There's blood and gore and fighting. Nothing over-the-top, though.
Sex: Implied only, and not even much innuendo.

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Posted in Ari Marmell , Books that are Mediocre , Heroic Fantasy