#j. zachary pike

[johnnyricks]

Ding ding ding!

Orconomics is a phenomenal book, incredibly funny satire both of fantasy genre and capitalism. It's 4.75/5, everyone should read it.

[tricerabeth]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jzacharypike/the-dark-profit-saga?ref=clipboard-prelaunch

Excited for this. Fantasy set satire of serious human economic and historical behavior.

So good.

Elven marbles/Elgin marbles

Profit/prophet... like

It really helps fill a niche of clever writing that terry pratchett hrld in my heart.

[shamebats]

Professional heroes kill and loot deadly monsters every day, but Gorm Ingerson's latest quest will be anything but business as usual.

Making a Killing in Professional Heroics

The adventuring industry drives the economy of Arth, a world much like our own but with more magic and fewer vowels. Monsters’ hoards are claimed, bought by corporate interests, and sold off to plunder funds long before the beasts are slain. Once the contracts and paperwork are settled, the Heroes’ Guild issues a quest to kill the monster and bring back its treasure for disbursement to shareholders.

Life in The Shadows

Of course, while professional heroics has been a great boon for Humans, Elves, Dwarves, and all the other peoples of light, it's a terrible arrangement for the Shadowkin. Orcs, Goblins, Kobolds, and their ilk must apply for to become Noncombatant Paper Carriers (or NPCs) to avoid being killed and looted by guild heroes. Even after getting their papers, NPCs are treated as second class citizens, driven into the margins of society.

An Insane Quest

Gorm Ingerson, a Dwarven ex-hero with a checkered past, has no idea what he's getting himself into when he stands up for an undocumented Goblin. His act of kindness starts a series of events that ends with Gorm recruited by a prophet of the mad goddess Al'Matra to fulfill a prophecy so crazy that even the Al'Matran temple doesn't believe it.

Money, Magic, and Mayhem

But there’s more to Gorm’s new job than an insane prophecy: powerful corporations and governments, usually indifferent to the affairs of the derelict Al’Matran temple, have shown an unusual interest in the quest. If his party of eccentric misfits can stop fighting each other long enough to recover the Elven Marbles, 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.

*gently places this on my already way too long to read list in hopes that I'll get around to it eventually*

[mapas-fantasticos]

Map of Arth from the Dark Profit Saga by J. Zachary Pike.

[magic-is-something-we-create]

i DESPERATELY need more people to read orconomics by j zachary pike. foaming at the mouth having finished book 2 and this series continues to surprise me with how fucking phenomenal a satire and compelling narrative it is

[mooestriovermind]

I don't think I talked about this yet and if I did fuck you I'm talking about it again

One of my favorite fantasy book series recently got the third and final book of the trilogy and I am yet to read it because it came out September 1st of this year and I only very recently found out that it was released.

It's probably some of the best fantasy I've ever read- it's also a dark comedy, but like it's really well done, and and

It's just good! It's by J. Zachary Pike and it's called "The Dark Profit Saga" and the first book in the series is "Orconomics"

If you hate capitalism and want to see an author poke fun at corporations, bureaucracy, and corrupt people in positions of power, while also kind of casting that against a high fantasy ttrpg-esque backdrop, then the Dark Profit Saga might be enjoyable for you

:>

also we could gush about the books together and talk about our favorite bits hehe

I still gotta get that third book though...

[eddisfargo]

1, 3, 4?

Oh yay thank you!!

#1: How many books did you read this year? According to my Storygraph, which I'm pretty sure is updated, I have read 53 books this year! Of course, the year is not over yet! I did hit my original goal of 50, although I later changed it to 60, which I will not be hitting haha. I'm currently in the middle of 10, but 0 chance I'll be finishing them all in December.

#3: What were your top five books of the year? In no particular order, because it was hard enough to get them down to 5 at all:

Waybound (Cradle #12/12, by Will Wight)

Painted Devils (Little Thieves #2/3, by Margaret Owen)

Son of a Liche (The Dark Profit Saga #2/3, by J. Zachary Pike)

The Hero of Ages (Mistborn #3/3, by Brandon Sanderson)

Network Effect (Murderbot #5/7, by Martha Wells)

#4: Did you discover any new authors that you love this year?

Oh, GREAT question! I think literally everything I put above was a series I'd started in a previous year. Which makes sense because it usually takes me more than 1 book in a universe to get really invested. So this seems like a great time to include:

Jonathan Stroud, because I did start the Bartimaeus trilogy with Amulet of Samarkand, and I'm definitely planning to continue.

I also really enjoyed Beautiful, by Juliet Marillier, to the point where I'd like to read more of her stuff.

Ditto Jennifer Donnelly after Stepsister!

Thanks so much for asking, @knife-dad! This was fun!

[quotent-potables]

There is not always a light at the end of the tunnel. That is why you must carry a torch.

Niln, Son of a Liche, book 2 of The Dark Profit Saga, by J. Zachary Pike

[ulkaralakbarova]

A blind Vietnam vet, trained as a swordfighter, comes to America and helps to rescue the son of a fellow soldier. Credits: TheMovieDb. Film Cast: Nick Parker: Rutger Hauer Frank Devereaux: Terry O’Quinn Billy Devereaux: Brandon Call Cobb: Charles Cooper MacCready: Noble Willingham Annie Winchester: Lisa Blount Lynn Devereaux: Meg Foster The Assassin: Sho Kosugi Slag: Randall “Tex” Cobb Lyle Pike: Nick Cassavetes Tector Pike: Rick Overton Latin Girl: Julia González Gang Leader: Paul James Vasquez Crooked Miami Cop #1: Woody Watson Crooked Miami Cop #2: Alex Morris Bus Station Cop: Mark Fickert Popcorn: Weasel Forshaw Six Pack: Roy Morgan Snow: Tim Mateer Female Biker: C.K. McFarland Cornfield Killer #1: T.J. McFarland Cornfiled Killer #2: Blue Deckert Cornfield Killer #3: Glenn Lampert Cornfield Killer #4: Red Mitchell Rockwell Mom: Bonnie Suggs Rockwell Dad: Harold Suggs Freeway Lady #1: Barbara Gulling-Goff Freeway Lady #3: Holly Cross Vagley Freeway Lady #2: Dorothy Young Colleen: Sharon Shackelford Casino Bodyguard #1: Jay Pennison Casino Bodyguard #2: Masanori Toguchi Crooked Croupier: R. Nelson Brown Croupier #2: Lincoln Casey Jr. Croupier #3: Gene Skillen Big Mama: Debora Williams Casino Cowboy: Kyle Thatcher Casino Patron: Patricia Mathews Waiter in Elevator: Mitch Hrushowy Penthouse Guard #1: Ernest Mack Penthouse Guard #2: Linwood Walker Drug Dealer: Robert Prentiss Ski Lodge Killer #1: Jeffrey J. Dashnaw Ski Lodge Killer #2: Glenn R. Wilder Ski Lodge Killer #3: David R. Ellis Ski Lodge Killer #4: Michael Adams Ski Lodge Killer #5: Dave Bartholomew Ski Lodge Killer #6: Fred Lerner Ski Lodge Killer #7: Mike Shanks Ski Lodge Killer #8: Ray Colbert Film Crew: Director of Photography: Don Burgess Executive Producer: Robert W. Cort Producer: Daniel Grodnik Director: Phillip Noyce Producer: Tim Matheson Executive Producer: David Madden Associate Producer: Charles Robert Carner Production Design: Peter Murton Editor: David A. Simmons Original Music Composer: J. Peter Robinson Location Manager: Carole Fontana Unit Production Manager: Dennis Stuart Murphy Location Scout: Mike Harrowing Set Designer: Lauren E. Polizzi Title Designer: Michael Lodge Costume Design: Katherine Dover Production Coordinator: Jeffrey J. Kiehlbauch Casting Assistant: Louise Marrufo Production Coordinator: Gina Scheerer Casting: Junie Lowry-Johnson Casting Associate: William A. Johnson Art Direction: John Myhre Casting Assistant: Elisa Goodman Location Manager: Susan Elkins Script Supervisor: Helen Caldwell Set Decoration: Tom Talbert Second Unit Director: Dick Ziker Key Makeup Artist: Karoly Balazs Special Effects Makeup Artist: J.C. Matalon Assistant Hairstylist: Jan Sebastian Key Makeup Artist: Jeanne Van Phue Hairstylist: Cinzia Zanetti Production Manager: Leonard Bram Executive In Charge Of Production: Ted Zachary Additional Second Assistant Director: Sandy Collister Second Assistant Director: K.C. Colwell First Assistant Director: Tom Davies Second Assistant Director: Douglas Dean III Second Assistant Director: Thomas A. Irvine First Assistant Director: Donald P.H. Eaton Second Unit Director: Max Kleven Set Dresser: Joel Bestrop Art Direction: Michael Marcus Set Decoration: Nicholas T. Preovolos Sound Editor: Gregg Baxter Production Sound Mixer: Jacob Goldstein Assistant Sound Editor: David Hagberg Sound Re-Recording Mixer: Grover B. Helsley Sound Editor: Michael Hilkene Sound Mixer: Walter Hoylman Sound Editor: David M. Ice Sound Editor: Doug Jackson Special Sound Effects: Eric Lindemann Sound Re-Recording Mixer: William L. McCaughey Boom Operator: Prometheus Patient ADR Editor: Tally Paulos Foley Mixer: Troy Porter Sound Re-Recording Mixer: Richard D. Rogers Foley Artist: Joan Rowe Sound Editor: Christopher Sheldon Assistant Sound Editor: Thomas W. Small Foley Artist: Jerry Trent Special Effects Coordinator: Martin Bresin Special Effects Assistant: Steven C. Foster Special Effects Assistant: Marvin Gardner Special Effects Coordinator: Allen Hall Special Effects Supervisor: Mike Manzel Special Effects Assistant: Joe Montenegr...

[jmtorres]

for the curious, final audible cart was:

daughter of the sun by effie calvin

queen of rhodia by effie calvin

empress of xytae by, hold on let me check, @effiecalvin

beware of chicken by casualfarmer

orconomics: a satire by j zachary pike

the dead sea scrolls (great course)

guide for the perplexed, maimonides, no translator listed? hmm

fixer by @genedoucette

fixer redux by @genedoucette

queen of zombie hearts by gena showalter

through the zombie glass by gena showalter

race for paradise: an islamic history of the crusades by paul m cobb

james tiptree jr: the double life of alice b sheldon by julie phillips

dragon blood by patricia briggs

secondhand origin stories by lee blauersouth

venus of dreams by pamela sargent

trespass (short story collection)

along the razor's edge by rob j hayes

starter villain by john scalzi

second hand curses by drew hayes

when the moon hits your eye by john scalzi (preorder)

with a side of dome Mira Grant and Garth Nix from libro.fm

apparently Audible credits expire after a year?

so I have 21 to spend this month (and I'm considering reducing next year's subscription)

Please recommend me books to buy on Audible!

preferably: scifi/fantasy or like interesting histories (nonfiction), "audible original" aka not available elsewhere

(feel free to reblog)

[johnnyricks]

Ding ding ding!

Dragonfired is still as funny as the rest of the dark profit saga. The ending, however, is a bit too much for me.

All in all, 4/5

[gonehollywoodrp]

CONGRATULATIONS, MEGAN! your role of JACOB ELORDI has been accepted and we’re happy to welcome you to GONE HOLLYWOOD! now that your application has been accepted, here are a few things that you should do and we’re looking forward to seeing you on the dash!

send your account in within 24 hours.

follow everyone on the blog roll.

follow all the tracked tags.

make sure you’re following all the guidelines for your new role.

send us a message if you’d like a link to our OOC blog.

OOC:

NAME/ALIAS: megan

AGE: 28

TIME ZONE: eastern

PRONOUNS: they/them (or literally anything tbh)

____________________________________

IC:

PREFERRED CELEBRITY: jacob elordi

BACKUP CELEBRITY: lucy hale

CELEBRITIES GENDER: cis male

CELEBRITIES PRONOUNS: he/him

AGE & BIRTHDAY: 26, june 26, 1997

CAREER: actor

____________________________________

OTHER:

WANTED CONNECTIONS: alex fitzalan, alexa demie, algee smith, ana de armas, archie madekwe, austin abrams, barbie ferreira, barry keoghan, cailee spaeny, carey mulligan, chloe cherry, daisy edgar-jones, dominic fike, eric dane, hunter schafer, joel courtney, kaia gerber, kathryn newton, keean johnson, kendall jenner, lana condor, lukas gage, maise richardson-sellers, maude apatow, noah centineo, olivia jade, patrick j adams, paula marshall, rosamund pike, sofia coppola, sydney sweeney, talia ryder, taylor zakhar perez, tiera skovbye, will poulter, zachary quinto

GUIDELINES PASSWORD: rfp.

DO YOU WANT YOUR CELEBRITY INCLUDED IN THE GOSSIP BLOG?: rfp.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: rfp.

CAN YOU ENSURE THE GIFS YOU USE WERE EITHER MADE BY YOURSELF OR FROM A CREATOR WHO ALLOWS THEIR GIFS TO BE USED IN HOLLYWOOD ROLEPLAYS?: yes.

____________________________________

ANYTHING ELSE:

MISC: bringing in prior history with joey king (dating)!

[pluguglybob]

Book Review: Orconomics

I have been blessed of late to read a number of funny fantasy novels. The Palace Job, The Dungeoneers, and now Orconomics by J. Zachary Pike.

First and foremost, this is a very timely satire. Unlike a lot of satire however, it is actually accessible to people. It is humorous almost always, at times biting, and in a few choice moments, heart wrenching. Its a book that you start for the humor, and…

[red-pencil]

Another Granite State comicon commission from J. Zachary Pike's novel. An ogre businessman? How could I say No?

[asuccessfulbusinessman]

Impromptu Book Review- Orconomics: A Satire

So, let’s get the recipe-blog storytelling out of the way. Back when I still had an audible subscription and before I had an audiobook backlog, I picked up the first book in the Witcher series spurred on by a 2-for-1 credit deal on specific books. I needed a second book for the deal, and while I originally thought it to be a mere satire on the conventions of TRPGs rather than one that looked on through the lens of TRPGs, sometimes an easy listen is all you need. Halfway through the book, I put it on so I could have some white noise while I did some work crafting the HGBD:R Justice Knight - an in-universe customized model kit to represent heroism, of a knight of justice, as my favorite character in that series learns over the course of the series what is means to be a hero. 

To paraphrase the book I’m supposed to be reviewing, professional heroism is all laughs, until suddenly, it isn’t.

J. Zachary Pike makes the bold move of tag lining his satire as a satire, which I’d argue pays off for him, lest his work be seen as more of another self-aware LitRPG, a term whose existence since 2013 has completely blindsided me. The flashing red arrow highlights to readers who tend to zone out and not piece everything together - me - to pay more attention to what the work is satirizing. This makes the obvious Leeroy Jenkins reference even more so, but also makes it apparent that the work is not just referencing fantasy RPG conventions without reason, with one deal breaking exception. More on that later.

While the satire here isn’t nearly as complex and multifaceted as - say - the Discworld series, I wouldn’t say it’s simple to the point of being “Just like Tabletop RPG,” a novel. It’s accessible, and for someone whose only experience with satire were a few Discworld books he still didn’t know counted as satire and two Christopher Buckley books that were outdated even when he read them - me, again - that’s nice. 

So, ever wonder what it would be like if you could take up being a hero as a profession? How profit can be made, off the loot of adventuring? And how as the industry grew, more parts of the economy became tied to adventuring? Or maybe you just want a romp with somewhat simplistic character archetypes - reminiscent of playing a TRPG, with all the character drama thankfully not happing out of character as well! 

But if I were to play a TRPG with the other 6 legendary heroes in this setting, I’d thank my DM for such an enthralling experience, but might also begin to question my friendship with them. We play TRPGs to get away from the woes of everyday life, those that this book satirizes.

I view Orconomics: A Satire as a good book that doesn’t demand too much of the reader to get through it - but which also invites the reader to give more thought on the subject matter and setting if they are so inclined. The characters are somewhat weak here, however, and the setting has to compete with Terry Prachett’s own - the one built over far more novels that each deal with more specific subject matter.

I give Orconomics: A Satire a 4/5, with a caveat not to read it if you’re averse to the topic of self-harm in fiction. I am not equipped to discuss the topic in the slightest, so I cannot say if its inclusion in this work is... “tasteful?” It’s a character flaw that a character struggles with and while there may be a payoff in a later book down the line, the characterization in this first one was fairly weak and I’m not sure if it was... “earned?” Either way, it nearly made me put down the book, so buyer beware.

As the audiobook is only available on audible, I’d suggest you give it a read. 

[uhf-comm-pass]

"You cannot always see the light at the end of the tunnel. / That is why you must carry a torch."

let me tell you about hopepunk.

grimdark says “we are all going to die. the universe is cold and empty.” hopepunk says “yes, and the greatest act of defiance against the dark is kindness.”

grimdark says “nothing can save us forever.” hopepunk says “something can always save us today.”

grimdark says “in a hundred years, we will all be dead and forgotten.” hopepunk says “yes, but here and now, we are alive.”

grimdark says “there is no hope. there is no mercy. there is no justice.” hopepunk says “but there is us.”

hopepunk says  “the universe has done all it can, and we are still alive.”

hopepunk is not about the daylight. it’s about the flame you light in the dark of the night. hopepunk is not about being unbroken. it is about taking the beating and staying on your feet. hopepunk is not idealism. hopepunk is the willful, unyielding defiance of cynicism.