A estas alturas de la película no creo que sorprenda a nadie afirmando que Adrian Tchaikovsky es un autor extremadamente prolífico y que es difícil seguir su ritmo de publicación, así que si encima pretendemos ponernos al día también con las obras que por alguna razón se han ido quedando atrás, la lectura se convierte en una tarea titánica.


Afortunadamente, también se prodiga escribiendo obras más cortas, como esta Ogres, que ayudan a compensar un poco el atracón de páginas.

Ogres es una novela corta que utiliza la segunda persona para que nos metamos directamente en la piel del protagonista, lo cual tiene un efecto inmediato de inmersión en la historia muy acertado. Además, debido a la longitud de la obra, no pierde su magia a lo largo de todo el volumen. Muy acertada esta elección por parte del autor, que demuestra mucho oficio.

También se puede considerar que la novela corta mezcla géneros, empezando en un entorno fantástico-feudal, con referencia incluso a la leyenda de Robin Hood, pero que luego evoluciona hacia otro tipo de historia, con ciertos toques de miedo, o al menos de truculencia, que se añaden a la mezcla.

Estamos ante una versión muy simplificada de la eterna lucha de clases, esta vez propiciada por una diferencia aún más marcada entre pobres y ricos que la simple economía, pero aunque es ciertamente exagerada no deja de ser una referencia al sistema actual. ¿No es cierto acaso que los hijos de los más pudientes, por el simple hecho de serlo, tienen de partida muchas más oportunidades que los que no lo son? Pues Tchaikovsky parte de esa idea y la lleva hasta el extremo.

Tampoco falta un poco de crítica al belicismo en el libro, con una representación bastante acertada de las batallas en las que los generales enviaban a los soldados a morir casi como en una partida de ajedrez para su regocijo.

Ogres es un libro bastante accesible y recomendable, no es de las mejores obras del autor pero no porque sea mala, si no porque Tchaikovsky alguna vez raya la perfección.

"Ogres" is nothing short of a work of genius. I'm glad no one could see my facial expressions while reading, because I'm pretty sure I went through the whole spread of them! I did figure out a major part of the story, but I was given a feeling of triumph over that rather than disappointment. Fantastic story, excellent characters, and, of course, it's written brilliantly.

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.

Though I love Adrian,s books I'm not to keen on this but that's a personal taste. Story is well written

This was interesting and exciting. The premise though not the most original, had me hooked from the get-go and it kept me turning the pages up to the very clever ending. I would be more than interested to read a full novel in this world, but for the story that Tchaikovsky chose to tell the format of the novella was great. If he continues writing into this world, Ogres would serve as a perfect introduction.
The plot while describing our heroe's quest to find the truth about the Ogres that hold the humans their slaves, manages to raise some questions that resonate to todays age. I guarantee you, you'll stop and think at some points "hey that's not so different from today".
The prose of Tchaikovsky was what stood out for me the most. Beautiful and atmospheric it did a great job of transferring me to this dystopian world were ogres rule everything and humans exist strictly to serve. The prose was also the main reason I was able to overcome my main issue with this novella...
..The second person narration. Obviously I can't consider this a fault of the author, but it's just that for me the second person narration made me disconnect with the story and every time I picked it back up, it took me a few pages to adjust to it.
Great story, excellent prose and interesting and well developed characters (for a novella at least).

Thanks to NetGalley and Rebellion for providing me with this eARC.

A captivating little story, I couldn't put it down.

I have a hard time reviewing this book without revealing any spoilers. That's on the book, though! Even choosing tags or a shelf reveals some parts that are revealed layer by layer in the story.

Ogres dominate humanity, by being bigger and stronger, but also by ogre magic - guns, cars, helicopters.

So what starts out like a fantasy tale quickly transforms into urban fantasy and a dystopia shortly after that.

"Ogres" is beautifully constructed.

7.4/10; 4 stars.
A dystopian novella by Tchaikovsky with many twists and turns,

Tchaikovsky's "Ogres" deals with slavery and genetic engineering while showing horrific solutions to many issues of today's world. It's a good, tight story that takes the best from various genres and mixes them together into an entertaining, thought-provoking Horror-SciFi-Fantasy-Mashup, though some of the meta references and the second person narrator kept pulling me out of the story.
Booktube review to come closer to the release date.
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Dialogue 3
Setting 4
Characters 4
Prose 4
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Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free advanced reading copy in return for an honest review.

Over the course of a brisk 150-page book, Tchaikovsky pointedly outlines a dystopian, yet disturbingly familiar, social order. The ideas here would have comfortably filled out a much longer book, which is not to say that they felt at all short-changed. As I started reading, I was skeptical of the second-person narration (everything is addressed to "you'), but it grew on me. Whether or not you see the plot twists coming will not make that much difference in your enjoyment of the book, and the ending came together in a way I did not anticipate.

Before I start this feedback, I just wanted to pointed out that I didn't gel very much with this novella - it could be my new baby distracting me or just being busy in the new year but this book failed to engage me.

I enjoyed the idea of the ogres within the novel, being the rulers and then the humans being the servants. This created an interesting dynamic and there were a few twists along the way to give more depth to this part of the story. What ruined this novel in a sense was the style it was written in. I don't always enjoy first person story telling but I felt it was done in a clumsy way within this book. I never truly felt connected with the main character and so I didn't care hugely for his storytelling. I also feel like this book was too short to truly engage the reader especially your more casual readers.

Ogres by Adrian Tchaikovsky was a novella length book that was enjoyable to read for the most part. I have read no books written in 2nd person that I enjoyed as much. In fact, this could be used by an instructor to show how 2nd person writing should be done.

The politics in it were a little troubling and may be why I can't bring myself to give it a 5-star rating. The novella itself was good enough that I already have recommended it to a friend and added other books by the author to my to-read list… though admittedly that may change if the social leanings in those are similar.

Thank you to @rebellionpublishing (the publisher) and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.

*******Below are spoilers and more depth to my earlier discussion of politics. **********

Ok, the story in this book is like Anthem and Battlefield Earth had a baby at an anti-vaxxer rally. Oddly though, both Rand and Karl Marx would see things to love in this book.
First off, if you read all the way to the middle, you find that this is a story about genetic manipulation on par with Brave New World. Like in BNW, the protagonist is an atavism.... a throw back to what people were before some (the common people) were changed and others (the elite) were not. Unlike BNW, rather than yell into the void, the protagonist leads an uprising of the proletariat against the genetic bourgeois using what they have taught him (hence BE). The author, at one point, describes how the original genetic manipulation began with it being for the common good and people being rewarded and processed to those unwilling to be changed going to prison camps (I felt like I was reading a conspiracy post about the Covid vaccine). The elite, of course, went unchanged (very "for thee but not for me") and eventually became the feudal lords (ogres) of the altered world.

While I enjoyed the inventiveness of the take on genetic manipulation and the style of the prose, the almost right-wing propaganda of the whole thing left me wondering if 2 stars would be more appropriate than 4.

A story of man vs ogres, told in the 2nd person. I didn’t think I was going to enjoy this one, however that quickly changed.

The narrator is a very likeable character who tells the story of the lovable rogue, who daringly faces off the bigger, meaner and scarier characters ogres. Prose is fantastic, making every paragraph enjoyable.

I swallowed this up in one day...I usually take a week for each book but this is completely un-put-downable!

Character and plot go hand in hand. Following the rise of the main character, who gradually unveils the truth about his ogre masters.

5/5 - first 5 star rating of the year and thank you NetGalley & Adrian Tchaikovsky.

"And you’ve struck an ogre. You’ve struck a Master. You’ve done the thing no human may do."
"But when you’re property, it doesn’t matter if your owner treats you well or badly. The ownership is all."

You are Torquell, the son of a village headman - one day, Sir Peter, the landlord and Master Ogre of your village, comes to collect his tax. His son insults and belittles you as naught more than a monkey - you raise your hand to the ogre, the Master, and in so doing your life changes forever.

You know that stupid question that people ask, 'If you could have dinner with anybody, who would it be'? I think my answer would be Adrian Tchaikovsky, and rather than actually holding any conversation with him, I would just ask him to list ideas he's had for stories and novels.

Tchaikovsky seems to so effortlessly conjure up these creative and unique worlds - whether it's the accidentally-engineered intelligent spider society of CHILDREN OF TIME, the bleak and surprisingly intense FIREWALKERS, the majestic galactic terror of the Architects in SHARDS OF EARTH, or the post-apocalyptic expeditionary adventure that was CAGE OF SOULS.

In OGRES, Tchaikovsky creates a succinct but immediately understandable and compelling world where the majority of humanity finds itself under the heels of grotesque ogres, while also using the least used audience perspective; second person.

I can't remember the last time (if ever) I read something written in second person, and it was an odd experience. Torquell is less a protagonist than the player character in a bizarre text adventure - his actions and thoughts are assigned to 'you' and so you think less of Torquell doing it than yourself. It was interesting.

OGRES reads almost like a grim fairy tale, as if being told by a parent - it blends genres, but leans more science fiction than fantasy. The political message isn't exactly subtle, but nevertheless gets you thinking, which I imagine was the point. The world and the slowly revealed mystery behind it is the real star of the show here, though.

A wonderful read that doesn't outstay its welcome. Couple of good twists in the plot, well paced, and a concept which - while simple - I've not seen done before.

Thankyou to NetGalley and Rebellion Publishing for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was an unexpected treat.

Ogres was one of the best Novellas I have read in a long time and in such a short space was able to defy genre expectations numerous times and continually surprise with interesting twists to keep the reader guessing throughout.

The story is written in second person perspective which isn't that common and may be a little unusual for some readers if you have not seen this before (no worries for me as a former dice wielding role playing gamebook nerd), but this helps to further stretch expectations and give the story additional immersion.

For readers interested in picking up Tchaikovsky but unsure where to start or looking to try some of his work before launching into the acclaimed larger works, this would be a fantastic standalone and would leave you eager to read more.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Ogres is expected to release 15th March 2022, published by Rebellion/Solaris Books.

I've always wanted more stories about orges. Shrek can't be it for ogres. Enter this novel (they're not green though, I feel like that should be said).

This is a dystopian, alternate future, if you don't know history you're doomed to repeat it, fun time. The first chapter took a little to get into, but once you're there, it's very enticing and you want to learn whats going on in the world just like Torquell. I don't read a lot of SFF novellas and this is telling me that I should be reading more.

I also haven't read anything else by Adrian Tchaikovsky, but I will be picking up Children of Time/Ruin later on this year, and it makes me more excited to read more of his writing.

This was a wonderful adventure that took me in unexpected directions. The setting was wonderfully put together and fit the story so well.

Second person is such a difficult perspective to pull off, but I feel it was done well here. I was able to immerse myself in the story and the world.

Some of the reveals in this were predictable - but only because the story was told in a way that got me thinking!

The commentary on slavery and oppression was masterfully done in my opinion. I loved finding out some of the historical details because everything felt so realistic (in a horrible way)! The ending was lovely and quite frankly I would love to see more in this world.

For the first quarter of the book, it felt medieval. A story about a time past when monsters ruled a world of peasants. At the halfway point, it changed totally. Now it became a time in the future when the current earth was very different; and you start to learn why. As the end approaches, it becomes an indictment of our reality. At the end, it becomes a story of hope.

The writing style is a bit difficult at first; it reminds me of a few other books I’ve come across written in an ancient style. That passes fairly quickly and the pages turned more rapidly. What I really loved was how the author reveals the story behind the story.

I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by the author. This is the best he’s put on paper yet! You can’t add this one to your stack of books to read quickly enough. Amazing and worth sharing with anyone who finds the current state of the world offensive.

Ogres
by Adrian Tchaikovsky

I love about everything this author writes and was thrilled to get this from NetGalley. At first, it was strange reading it. The way the story is told is very different! I wasn't sure if I liked it in the beginning but I got in the grove and found it was different and had it's perks.

This is a world were ( in the future?) Ogres are top dog and rule over humans. This story is about one human man that is bigger than all the others, but not as big as Ogres, and runs afoul of Ogre's rules. Instead of the death sentence, an Ogress takes him in as a pet and lets him learn anything he wants. He figures out how the races came to be. Then he decides to act!

This has a bit of mystery, lots of action, intrigue, and political statements. I really enjoyed it. The way it was told I think made giving the characters more depth but they had enough to understand the basics of each major character.
Thanks NetGalley for letting me read this book. The opinions are all mine.

Tchaikovsky’s latest novella is an intriguing, engaging examination of a whole swathe of human qualities — ambition, weakness, economics, and more. Interesting from start to finish, it’s packed with original spins on a number of fantasy/sci-fi features. Each year, the author publishes a new book that shows readers that his range is far larger than we already believed.

In this novella, Tchaikovsky offers a vision of world in which humanity is ruled by a class of ogres — bigger, stronger, meaner, more brutal than humans, they are at the top of the heap. Humans are chattel, as well as (in some cases) cattle; they are docile, obedient, and afraid. Until Torquell. After an altercation involving the ogre who rules over their land, Torquell lashes out and sets in motion a cascading series of events that could change everything. Through his experiences, we learn more and more about this world/reality: the history of the ogres, their rise and humanity’s fall. And also the truth of Torquell himself. If you’re even vaguely observant of contemporary Western politics, you’ll see clear parallels.

"They have demanded for generations: can it not be slightly better for us? and been slapped down by the truncheon-wielding thugs the ogres employ as law-keepers. And then you arrive, and tell them that their entire bubble world is like a pot, only hot and seething because someone’s keeping the fire beneath it stoked. The question they should have been asking is, why is it like this at all?"

It’s very difficult to talk about the plot without spoiling things (something I always struggle with, when it comes to reviewing novellas) — it is in the gradual stream of revelations that Ogres works so well. The punch of the ending would land very differently if you knew even a few of the stops along the way. Needless to say, Tchaikovsky builds the story brilliantly. Each character is fully realized on the page, even if their appearance is only fleeting, and through their inclusion in the story we learn more and more about the society, politics, and history of this reality.

One of the things I very much liked about the novella was the extent to which it comments on our current reality — in particular, in relation to capitalism and the expectations it has convinced us are necessary; but also some nice commentary on international relations and/or the history of war. (See, Tchaikovsky really knows how to pack in quite a bit into his novellas.)

"The ogres have set up their pressure-cooker cities so that it’s work or die, and you come to them and say, what if… neither?"

The writing is excellent, and the story pulled me along from the very beginning. Torquell’s experiences are a perfect vehicle to explain this world. He is a reluctant hero, but one who appears up to the challenge. The ending was especially good, as Tchaikovsky shows us just how predictable people can be, and the risks of raising up any saviour without recognizing their innate humanity and flaws. Definitely recommended. This is a must for Tchaikovsky fans, and also an excellent starting place (if you have somehow managed to miss his work…)

CHARACTERS
🔲 mary-sue party
🔲 mostly 2D
🔲 great main cast, forgottable side characters
✅ well-written
🔲 complex and fascinating
🔲 hard to believe they are ficitonal

PLOT
🔲 you've already heard this exact story a thousand time
🔲 nothing memorable
🔲 gripping
✅ exceptional
🔲 mind=blown

WORLDBUILDING
🔲 takes place in our world
🔲 incoherent
🔲 OK
✅ nicely detailed
🔲 meticulous
🔲 even the last tree in the forest has its own story

ATMOSPHERE
🔲 nonexistent
🔲 fine
✅ immersive
🔲 you forget you are reading a book

PACING
🔲 dragging
🔲 inconsistent
🔲 picks up with time
✅ page-turner
🔲 impossible to put down

Short, but pretty thought-provoking. I didn't see the ending coming but I really liked it.

My first read from Tchaikovsky didn't disappoint, this novella managed to deliver despite its pretty short length.

This is one of those books that I would recommend to start without any prior knowledge or expectations so you can figure it out for yourself as you go. For me it was pretty obvious what direction will the story go from the very first chapter, but that just made the journey even more interesting. The plot unfolds in a well-crafted, satisfying way and the ending managed to make it even better in my opinion.

I found the character work solid but I wouldn't call it outstanding, it served its purpose well. The worldbuilding was interesting but because of the length we only get to know the bits that are relevant to the story. I wish there were some more details but I can understand the decision and it would maybe bore some people even if I would appreciate it.

The most controversial point of this book is most likely the writing style, since it's told in second person. Yes, everything is "you". At the start it slightly bothered me but with time I kinda got used to it and it made sense by the end of the story.

Overall it was a very pleasant first experience with the author and I can't wait to read more from him 😊

A wonderful book. An adult fairy story or myth. An oppressed people, a hero who doesn’t even realise that the world needs him, oppresses who have forgotten that when cornered even a mouse can bite.

It’s not often a book is written in the second person and even less often is it done well. Here it is done magnificently. I simply could not put this story down. I think that we, as readers, are supposed to work out the heritage of the ogres and the Economics but the ending left me openmouthed with surprise. I really didn’t see it coming but upon reflection who else would tell a hero’s tale.

I have read a few of Adrian Tchaikovsky's books but this was my first novella. I have to say at first it was jarring reading in second person point of view. I was completely thrown off but I got into the flow I enjoyed this story very much. It explores genetic modification and society's idea on the class system. The ending got me and I usually can see things coming. Not this time. I think the read readability of the novella will give a whole new perspective after the first run through. This just furthers my love for reading this man's work. He's a machine and his ability to adapt to different genres is amazing. I will be reading more of his novellas in the future.