Ogres

November 15, 2021
Tchaikovsky (Elder Race) takes a sharp look in this twisty social satire at a world in which, due to genetic modification, the 1%, now called ogres, literally tower over the 99%. At over six feet tall, Torquell, mischievous human son of a village headman, stands above his fellow non-ogres both in height and temper, which leads to trouble with 10-foot-tall ogre and village master Sir Peter and his son, Gerald, a lout given to taunting the diminutive lower class. Turned fugitive, Torquell flees his depopulated village and explores the wider world, which is ruled by ogres and filled with teeming urban slums and churned-up battlefields for mock wars that inflict real wounds. Eventually adopted by the inquisitive ogre Lady Isadora, Torquell learns of the ecological crises that took the world from humans and gave it to the ogres, a situation he resolves to reverse. Tchaikovsky’s second-person narration neatly reveals his protagonist while masking just how his destiny will play out. Readers with a bent for social commentary and solving puzzles will be doubly pleased. Agent: Simon Kavanagh, Mic Cheetham Agency.

Starred review from January 1, 2022
The new short novel by the author of the Shadows of the Apt series (and, more recently, Shards of the Earth, 2021) is a delight. Set in a feudal-like world of ogres and humans--ogres being the masters, humans the serfs--it's the thrilling story of a hero in the making. Young Torquell, a human, lashes out in anger at the son of a prominent ogre. He flees the village, beginning a journey that takes him into a world he's only ever imagined: a place of bounty hunters, trains, cities, and machines that fly; a place full of surprises that will shock the reader as much as they shock Torquell. The book is written in the rarely used second person, with the narrator speaking directly to the main character ("Look at you then, Torquell, the miscreant"). This technique gives the narrative a unique flavor, as do the numerous parallels between the world of the ogres and our contemporary society. Special mention, too, for the way the author reveals the origins of this curious yet strangely familiar place--once again, Tchaikovsky demonstrates his mastery of the art of world-building. Simply brilliant.

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