The Dark Profit Saga - Review
Link to the author's (J. Z. Pike) personal website
Book 1: Orconomics
Book 2: Son of a Liche
Book 3: Dragonfired
Blurb: (From Book 1) Brimming with swords, sorcery, and wit, Orconomics: A Satire introduces Arth, a world much like our own but with more magic and fewer vowels. For the licensed wizards and warriors of Arth, slaying and looting the forces of evil is just a job. The Heroes' Guild has turned adventuring into a career, selling the rights to monsters’ hoards of treasure as investment opportunities. Corporations spend immense sums sponsoring heroes to undertake quests, betting they’ll reap the profits in plunder funds when the loot is divvied up.
Questing was all business for famous Dwarven berserker Gorm Ingerson, until a botched expedition wiped out his party, disgraced his name, and reduced him to a thieving vagabond. Twenty years later, a chance encounter sees Gorm forcibly recruited by a priest of a mad goddess to undertake a quest that has a reputation for getting heroes killed. But there’s more to Gorm’s new job than an insane prophecy; powerful corporations and governments have shown an unusual interest in the job. Gorm might be able to turn a bad deal into a golden opportunity and win back the fame and fortune he lost so long ago.
Promising fun, fantasy, and financial calamity, Orconomics: A Satire is the first book in The Dark Profit Saga, an economically epic trilogy.
Review: Never did I ever think you could port a global financial crisis analogy into a fantasy novel without removing something major. I stand corrected! This series is amazingly written, and just very solid all-round good fantasy. The squad of characters fit well together, and having the quest-like dynamic while maintaining the hero society wide commentary somehow works.
Edit after finishing the series: The series is just a joy to read. It manages to make me jump from elation, to despair, to eye watering laughter all in a few pages. I adore the style of writing, and think such a style is a truly rare treat. I am so glad that I got read Nove's principles, and even more glad that I got to follow Gorm's story. For a book that carries such obvious real-world parallels and clear messages, I am absolutely content with how the series ended. it made me hopeful, and goes down as one of the absolute best endings that I've read. I wholeheartedly recommend this series to anyone!