In the Company of Ogres

In the Company of Ogres by A. Lee Martinez

I am usually not one for humorous fantasy, but I trust Martinez.  Last year, his The Automatic Detective became an instant favorite when I read it.

Never Dead Ned can't get a break, and he can't stay dead. Oh, he dies, but he keeps getting resurrected. A guy like that could be handy as the leader of Ogre Company - it's too bad he's really just a military accountant with a lack of ambition.  Too bad his top three officers--a blonde Amazon, an ogre and an orc who insists he's an orc though he looks suspiciously like a goblin--would rather he stay dead. Ned wouldn't mind that at all, really.

Along the way Ned tangles with - and tries to avoid - sorcerers, witches, demons, goblins, orcs, ogres, seductive sirens, bad-tempered rocs, hungry vultures and other fantasy races & creatures that are slightly off-kilter in Martinez's vision.

I enjoyed this one, a lot.  Funny fantasy stuff without being snide satire or parody.  Really fun - something like Douglas Adams writing Catch-22 meets (Glen Cook's) The Black Company.

Martinez deserves a wider audience.  I'm not sure why he hasn't caught on.  To date, he hasn't written a series or even a sequel novel.  Each one is standalone.  Maybe this works against him.  He has enough requests from fans that he Kickstarted a short story collection - one tale per novel world.  It's the first Kickstarter I contributed to, and it's nearly ready.  Maybe the sampler will help, though it's really aimed at fans he already has.
  

Martinez has moved up my reading list for next year.  You should check him out.

recent read; The Automatic Detective

The Automatic Detective by A. Lee Martinez

From the blurb; Even in Empire City, a town where weird science is the hope for tomorrow, it’s hard for a robot to make his way. It’s even harder for a robot named Mack Megaton, a hulking machine designed to bring mankind to its knees. But Mack’s not interested in world domination. He’s just a bot trying to get by....and to earn his citizenship in the process....but some bots just can’t catch a break.

When Mack’s neighbors are kidnapped, Mack sets off on a journey through the dark alleys and gleaming skyscrapers of Empire City...What started out as one missing family becomes a battle for the future of Empire and every citizen that calls her home.

I have a friend whose lists this as one of his favorite novels.  I finally got around to reading it, and I'm glad I did.  This was a fun romp and a quirky story.

You might say it's Blade Runner meets The Iron Giant, or any other number of mash-up descriptions, but The Automatic Detective is very much its own style and story.

The blurb describes what you get.  Along the way Mack gains some humanity, makes friends, and earns the wrath of enemies.  Empire City is a quirky place of golden age scifi stories gone wrong, while its citizens try to do right (most of them, anyway.)  There is some light philosophizing on what makes a sentient machine a man, as it were.  Nothing heavy, it's just nicely sprinkled over a ripping yarn.

This one is worth the read, and I will be reading more of Martinez in the near future.