Have questions about Orc Sworn? Here are some answers to some common questions I’ve heard, some as part of of Romantically Inclined Reviews’ awesome article here.
If you have more questions, I’d love to hear from you! And for more a more general FAQ with me, click here.
NEW! At a recent Grisk Revel, Nattfarr himself answered almost 50 fabulous reader questions! For those answers, click here.
What’s coming next in the Orc Sworn series?
I recently released Orc Sworn #8, The Beauty and the Orcs, and it finally tells the tale of our Grisk disaster boys Varinn and Thrain! And now, I’m working on Orc Forged #2, The Fall of the Orc, which is coming October 20, 2023. It tells the long-awaited tale of how Olarr of Clan Bautul first fell for his handsome human mate Aulis Gerrard, who we’ve seen throughout the Orc Sworn series.
Other full-length stories I’d love to tell in the near-ish future include another Ka-esh tale, a Skai MMF tale with Killik and Ulfarr (SOOO many plans), and a proper return to the Bautul with Kalfr (who has been waiting a long time, I know!).
I also recently started a Patreon, and I’m hoping to share a few extra stories there as well. My holiday novella Yuled by the Orcs is currently on there, and I have quite a few other little tales/backstories sketched out that I’d love to write properly!
If you have other thoughts on what you’d like to see next, I’d love to hear them on my Discord server or Facebook group!
Are the rest of the Orc Sworn books coming to audio?
Yes! We’re caught up to The Governess and the Orc now, and The Beauty and the Orcs should be coming in early 2024. I’m so thrilled to keep working with the fabulous team at Podium Audio!
Do you have a discreet paperback option?
I’m currently working on discreet hardcovers for the first six books in the series. More news coming soon!
How can I learn more about the Orc Sworn world?
To start, I hope you’ll find your own clan through the Orc Sworn Clan Quiz! You can also check out our Orc Sworn Artwork, Glossary, Map, and Character List.
To meet up with other Orc Sworn fans, I highly recommend my Discord server, Facebook group, or Patreon! We hold in-depth book release discussions on all three channels, and Patreon and Discord both include LOTS of delicious official artwork. On Patreon, you can also get extra bonus content, exclusive art, and Orc Sworn swag, while Discord has a huge fanworks archive full of Orc Sworn fics and fanart (and we’d welcome your contributions too!).
Finally, to get the latest Orc Sworn news and updates (and all my bonus epilogues), please sign up to my newsletter here! I only email about once a month or so, and I do my best to make sure they’re full of fun info and artwork for you.
Why do you write about orcs?
For me, books have always been about escaping into another world… ideally one that doesn’t include any glaring reminders of one’s all-too-human ex, heh. I love that orcs are so removed from our own reality, while also giving us so many opportunities to explore perennial themes like acceptance, desire, forgiveness, and growth. Also, huge, scarred, scary monsters are just really hot, right?!
What are your orcs based on?
A lot of my Orc Sworn world originally spun out from Grimarr, the hero from The Lady and the Orc. I really wanted to write about a big, burly, rough-and-tumble, and very messy (heh) monster hero… but I also wanted him to be a real, well-developed character, with a distinctive culture, religion, history, and code of ethics.
So as I worked through sketches for The Lady and the Orc (which I spent almost a year writing), I ended up taking a lot of inspiration from Old Norse legends and culture… those wild old Vikings from the sagas were often VERY orc-like, right? I’m also a huge language geek, and tried to give many of my orcs’ speech a strong Germanic/Old English flavour. And as I’ve written these books, I’ve been continually inspired by so many incredible visual artists who have so generously shared their orc interpretations with the world.
That said, of course you can’t talk about orcs without talking about Tolkien. And while I personally still love Lord of the Rings, and can’t deny its huge influence in our cultural imagination (and therefore also my books) — I absolutely recognize the equally huge issues with how Tolkien described and depicted his orcs. I truly want my stories to be part of our larger reclamation of orcs, and a deeper exploration of the other side of the tale.
How do you pronounce “ach”?
Those orcs DO love to say “ach”, haha. And while I’m definitely happy for you to use whatever pronunciation feels best for you, in my own brain (in keeping with my Old English/Germanic-inspired orc dialect) I hear them saying it the German way. If it helps, you can hear samples here, or watch a video here!
For more Orc Sworn pronunciations, check out my glossary here!