Ogre Powered

After a too-long break from reading on a regular basis, tonight I finished a book loaned to me by a friend. It's a comedic fantasy called In the Company of Ogres, by A. Lee Martinez. It's a fast read; not too demanding and relatively enjoyable.

It's the story of Never Dead Ned, a member of a large army and unexceptional in every way but one -- he always comes back to life whenever he's killed. In the eyes of the leadership, this makes him uniquely suited to take command of a misfit division of soldiers called Ogre Company. The undisciplined band of ogres, goblins, humans, elves, and more has gone through many commanders recently, and has become too big a drain on the army's budget. It's to be disbanded if Ned can't whip them into shape.

The book tries for the kind of tone of The Princess Bride, or Terry Brooks' Magic Kingdom of Landover series. And while it's whimsical throughout, it's not really so funny as it is just cute. But it also comes close to feeling like two books grafted together. When the full truth behind Ned's repeated resurrections is revealed around the halfway point, it's so far from left field that only the continuity of characters reminds you you're reading the same book.

I have another book by the same author, also a "loaner." But I must confess I'm not going to jump to read it. It will stay on the "to do" list, but by the end of this book, I was feeling at the saturation point of this author's brand of wit. It's entertaining for a while... and he seems to know when enough is enough, keeping his book short and brisk.

I'd rate the book a B-. I would sooner steer someone the Landover books, but In the Company of Ogres wasn't a bad way to spend reading time either.