THE BLACK CROWN by John A. Douglas - REVIEW

It is the dying days of the Age of Adventures and the Orc Wars have ended.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD: YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

INTRODUCTION

The Black Crown is a coming-of-age story involving an Orcborn thrust into a world that utterly despises him for what has occurred in the past. If the sins of a father had any application it would here, as Rags is forced to contend with unending hatred from everyone that isn’t like him, be they human, elf, dwarf, or anything else. The reasoning relates to an event in the past that he isn’t aware of, and he learns about it across his journey of the Allspire. This event is the Orc Wars and all that came with it. The story takes place at the tail end of the Orc Wars at a time when the age of adventuring is beginning to run dry on dungeons to delve into. Think of it like what occurred between Fable 1 and 2 or 2 and 3. As the world moves forward and everywhere is marked, there comes a time when there is no more need for heroes or adventurers. You either die in the wilds or succumb to a mercenary’s life. 

PLOT

I will find myself echoing some other reviews saying that the opening prologue doesn’t do this story justice and if it were cut, it would improve the story a lot, especially towards the backend when we come across the city that was besieged by the collective force of the Crown Pantheon. Seeing the city in its state as a graveyard is a far stronger image than what we got at the start. It serves a similar purpose to many prologues in that it introduces the world and in the following chapters, we are introduced to Ragoth, a bastard son born to a human woman and Orc warlord. What the plot does particularly well is its red herrings. As for much of the story, Rags is in exile, unsure of who he can truly trust as he believes his fate to be decided in Dreadmour. He ends up forming a ragtag party to get there and it’s by no means an easy feat as all of them are pushed to near breaking point to chase what the prince believes to be a prophecy that will see him cut down a lord of darkness. Without spoiling too much, the plot has a nice pace and we learn not just about each character, but what ultimately drives them, and that like with anything. They all carry some secret or other. 

CHARACTER

There are some very interesting characters in this story, Rags, himself is very well educated but that comes at the cost of him being scrawny for an Orc. A drawback he slowly overcomes as he becomes in many ways more comfortable in his own skin. He learns about the Orc War and becomes determined not to make the same mistakes as those before him. The other members of the party, are plenty memorable and impact whatever wisdom they can on to the young boy whether it's to toughen him up physically or mentally. Cortland for instance has aspirations of being a knight but is shown to be reckless, arrogant and self-destructive. While his personality is difficult to begin with he becomes like a true brother and shield to protect Rags from all that tries to hinder the boy in his journey. There is a point in the middle where after narrowly surviving a dragon, Cort must find his way back to Rags and through sheer will alone he pulls it off. His fury alone is that of an Orc seemingly trapped in a human’s body. His banter with Rags never gets old. Mora is a tough, well-weathered former adventurer who goes wherever there is money to earn. She’s not one for causes but it’s her worldly knowledge that gets them out of many a tricky spot. It also helps that she’s a minotaur and her toughness allows her to be the ideal training partner for Rags, Denith I won’t say much about them except that if you’ve played Dragon Age: Inquisition then you know elves are very much tricky bastards and if they say they aren’t that powerful, then they are speaking a load of bollocks. While not the Dreadwolf, Denith’s loyalty to Rags is something to be commended. He goes through hell and back for the boy’s mission, even subjecting himself to being enslaved by other Orcs as Rags works to be accepted by them. 

WORLD BUILDING

The world-building starts off very strong, and the world is well-rounded and developed. Each chapter begins with a short extract from a guidebook that relates to the chapter ahead. The book takes us to many cities or towns and none of them are alike, they each hold their own unique culture and I look forward to seeing what comes next regarding the gods of this world even if they aren’t as active, their legacy remains scattered across the world. 

FINAL THOUGHTS - 4/5

Overall the Black Crown is a fun read for any fan of epic fantasy, taking place across a world full of history. It has plenty of twists and turns that have some really amusing payoffs and potential major conflicts in the sequel. The characters each stand out in their own unique way and have some interesting personalities. Even the minor characters like a motherly Kobold towards Rags are a nice way to showcase fantasy races that let’s be honest have a bad rep. Either due to the nature of their birth, their relationship to their god, or simply because they are abandoned. It’s funny to realise that the Rags family line involves humans, orcs, and to some degree goblins too. Despite his own faults, Rags’ end goal is to unite his people be they orc or otherwise under a banner, and for better or worse, some in the Crown Pantheon will not be blessed with his mercy. 

The book can be found here.