# Black Library and Orks



## Skull Harvester (Mar 7, 2010)

So I was wondering if there were any books that dug into some of the Ork fluff. I JUST started Rynn's World today so I'm not sure if that does other than them leveling stuff. I noticed most of the books are SM or even IG stories, without much else. 

Granted an Ork novel may be a bit ridiculous with the "We smash da gitz." speak all the time. But still, I love my Orks.


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## Unknown Primarch (Feb 25, 2008)

ive never seen a ork book from their perspective and i heared that BL dont wanna do it because they feel you cant portray aliens as they are well...... alien.

personally i think a book from the ork perspective would be great. plenty of action, brutality and plenty of laughs from snotling bashing etc etc etc.

its ripe for a giggle or two plus with alittle bit of imagination and abit of thought into the pyschology of a ork you could quite easily portray them.

hell if they can do eldar books then they could do anything...... even nids and necrons lol


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## Anomagnus (May 24, 2010)

Orks would be tricky to write, i imagine. 

Funny to begin with, but without goals, or aims, the mindless brutality of the orks could be grating. You could maybe write about Ghazkull Mag Uruk Thraka, but i sometimes wonder, how much of what he does is due to him, his inbuilt genetic drives to make war, and the eldar.

It would take a superb writer to create a story that managed to capture the orks, and there sitution.


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## bobss (May 18, 2008)

Abnett discusses something similar around a minute-into the video...

... The video clip, *does contain spoilers* regarding the Gaunt`s Ghosts series (As in character`s deaths, if you have only read as far as The Founding... like me... )


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## Skull Harvester (Mar 7, 2010)

i think a story regarding the iconic ork characters like thraka, zogwort, or wazdakka would be neat.


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## 18827 (Oct 23, 2009)

the first ork book would probable go a bit like this.

me and da boyz iz been finkin dem oomies awayz got a plan seez and i be finkin i got da best plan.
i grab da oomie wit da most shiny bitz and smash em, den i smash da nex git wit most shiny bitz and da jobz a good un
nuff said


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## donskar (Apr 8, 2010)

jimmy gunn said:


> the first ork book would probable go a bit like this.
> 
> me and da boyz iz been finkin dem oomies awayz got a plan seez and i be finkin i got da best plan.
> i grab da oomie wit da most shiny bitz and smash em, den i smash da nex git wit most shiny bitz and da jobz a good un
> nuff said


Well done! LOL.

Seriously, _with the diction made understandable_, an ork novel should be do-able so long as it was told first-person through an ork _leader _OR third person by an omniscient observer. There have been occasions in BL novels where it was admitted that orks seemed to possess SOME degree of ability to plan and execute plans. And they certainly have a modicum of rather madcap technology. They are more than a constant It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World skit.

Who should write it? Kafka? Monty Python? James Joyce?


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## Skull Harvester (Mar 7, 2010)

donskar said:


> Well done! LOL.
> 
> Seriously, _with the diction made understandable_, an ork novel should be do-able so long as it was told first-person through an ork _leader _OR third person by an omniscient observer. There have been occasions in BL novels where it was admitted that orks seemed to possess SOME degree of ability to plan and execute plans. And they certainly have a modicum of rather madcap technology. They are more than a constant It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World skit.
> 
> Who should write it? Kafka? Monty Python? James Joyce?


Well you could do a Blood Axes book, considering they could work with humans and generally show the most "planning" of all the clans.


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## deathbringer (Feb 19, 2009)

I think that is the problem with doing it from an ork perspective. The language, they'd have to have a glossary the size of the novel just in case someone didn't understand the language. I mean most people would but some foreigners not as fluent in english would definitely struggle.

Also i dont know if the black library translates its novels? but how would you translate that?

Also most books are written from an imperial standpoint, however with the presence of soul hunter i can see a more varied perspective in future works


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## Skull Harvester (Mar 7, 2010)

deathbringer said:


> I think that is the problem with doing it from an ork perspective. The language, they'd have to have a glossary the size of the novel just in case someone didn't understand the language. I mean most people would but some foreigners not as fluent in english would definitely struggle.
> 
> Also i dont know if the black library translates its novels? but how would you translate that?
> 
> Also most books are written from an imperial standpoint, however with the presence of soul hunter i can see a more varied perspective in future works


I think if they "dumbed down" the way the ork language is (irony?) and made it more legible they could pull it off easy. Keep terms like 'oomies and such.


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## dark angel (Jun 11, 2008)

Many novels have parts from the perspective of Orks, the main ones I can think of is the Dawn of War novels by Goto. I loathed these however, and I will always despise the Orks in fluff. I wouldn't enjoy a novel for the Orks if I am honest, it would be rather pointless, what else could it revolve around other than war?


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## bobss (May 18, 2008)

dark angel said:


> Many novels have parts from the perspective of Orks, the main ones I can think of is the Dawn of War novels by Goto. I loathed these however, and I will always despise the Orks in fluff. I wouldn't enjoy a novel for the Orks if I am honest, it would be rather pointless, what else could it revolve around other than war?


_Hammer of Daemons _by Ben Counter has many perspectives and narratives by various Khornate Daemons as well as Dark Eldar, Traitor Astartes, Grey Knights etc and Daemons are even more alien than Orks... but the point is, if handled with care, and balanced by various Astartes/Guardsmen perspectives, it may work. I know Abnett is interested in such, and who are we to deny him?


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## deathbringer (Feb 19, 2009)

Well there is plenty of parts to ork society

Religion to gork and mork outside of battle, the whole of there infrastructure, speed racing, technology, infighting between tribes even during a waagh.

i dont think a full ork novel will ever occur, however I dont mind the little bits from other perspectives.

I might have to have a look at Hammer of Daemons as much as i abhor Ben counters writing


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## Phil73805 (Feb 28, 2010)

Let's face it. Orks are the lager louts of the 40K universe. 

Lager louts, generally speaking, do not make for sympathetic characters nor a story that'll keep the reader engaged beyond the first pub punch-up. 

Eldar, alien though they are have some values or ideals that a human can wrap his/her mind around. The same can be said for Daemons. What are Daemons after all? They are a reflection, or more to the point a manifestation, of our baser desires and drives.


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## Shadow Walker (Jun 10, 2010)

I think that it could be a novel describing Orks and their society written from human slave perspective [for example some Administratum clerk kept by Warboss as pet]that was later rescued by some imperial forces. it could include some orkish lenguage but mainly it would be written in 'normal' lenguage for obvious reasons.


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## Phil73805 (Feb 28, 2010)

Shadow Walker said:


> I think that it could be a novel describing Orks and their society written from human slave perspective [for example some Administratum clerk kept by Warboss as pet]that was later rescued by some imperial forces. it could include some orkish lenguage but mainly it would be written in 'normal' lenguage for obvious reasons.


That's a really good idea, not sure it can be stretched to novel length but it would make a really good short story in the right hands.


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## Toten (Dec 26, 2008)

The Imperial Armor V. 8 Got alot of orky fluffy pufffy battlescenes, and Ciaphas Cain´s Death or Glory (I think it is..), is also focused abit on orks.

Sadly I dont think there´s the possibility to write a good Ork book, simply because it is as they said. "I hit wiv gubbinz, blood."
Theyre too stupid to make anything but a blabbertext.


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## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

Im not 100% sure because its just an extract but in the upcoming _Fear the Alien_ anthology there is a story by C.L Werner called _Iron Inferno_. It appears to be written from an Orks point of view, specifically an Ork Kommando Kaptain called Grimruk Badtoof. Its actually pretty good, well written and very orky.

http://www.blacklibrary.com/Downloads/Product/PDF/F/fear-the-alien.pdf


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## Black Consuls (Jul 14, 2010)

Just have a drunk aussie write it. sorry my mate jim from sydney plays them, lives them, want freakin be one so i'd say get a drunk aussie named jim to write no questions asked.


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## World Eater XII (Dec 12, 2008)

Jim swallow isnt aussie is he? lol


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## buckythefly (Mar 16, 2009)

dark angel said:


> Many novels have parts from the perspective of Orks, the main ones I can think of is the Dawn of War novels by Goto. I loathed these however, and I will always despise the Orks in fluff. I wouldn't enjoy a novel for the Orks if I am honest, it would be rather pointless, what else could it revolve around other than war?



What does the whole 40k universe revolve around...?


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## bobss (May 18, 2008)

buckythefly said:


> What does the whole 40k universe revolve around...?


Yes, the singluar-dimensional putrid fiction Black Library`s less talented authors squeeze from the mold. Those with more talent can take this shallow, barbaric setting, envelop it within morals, emotions and depthful characters, and intertwine my interesting themes with the main factor of war, slaughter and killing.

Orks allow for little development. They bash heads and will do until the Void Dragon harvests the Galaxy. At least Astartes, the workhorse of Black Library have more complex attitudes to varying problems, hence the great works of literature spawned during the Horus Heresy series.


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## buckythefly (Mar 16, 2009)

Eh, There're plenty of ork stories to be told. The start of their whole existence for one, because while as its been said their little more then a bunch of hooligans, their a bunch of hooligans genetically engineered to destroy the forces of chaos. Who can stand toe to toe with the best trained military forces in the galaxy without a lick of training, and rudimentary equipment and win. Hell, an ork choked the damn emperor.

You can't tell me, that who created them and how they degenerated to where they are wouldn't make a pretty good story. specially compared to yet more dribble about "hone thy zeal brother for we are the emperors sword"


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