Ari Marmell's big idea, viewing a classic good versus evil conflict from the dark side, is an intriguing one. There is clearly mileage in showing how the world looks through evil eyes. Morthul, the Charnel King, makes a credible, sometimes fascinating Dark Lord, and the scenes in which he appears are highlights. Similarly, the involvement of Queen Anne, Morthul's mad as a box of frogs beloved, is an interesting diversion from the main anti-quest. Less successful are Marmell's central cast.

Presented as an elite hand picked from among the "evil" races, the main players spend much of their time exchanging juvenile insults, and being bland. There is tension aplenty, thrills and spills, side quests, and distinctive characterisation. But, racial characteristics aside, the group are not significantly different to any other crew; the big one, the little one, the grumpy one, the slightly stupid one, and so forth.

In other words, the opportunity the really explore the mindset of an orc or an ogre -- and so reveal the detail of what makes evil tick -- is missed. To be fair, the author is not trying to present a deadly serious work, and humour is the major part of what is on offer. The problem for me was that much of this humour came across as puerile, and the central characters as veneers of what they could have been. Far too often culturally specific references such as tiddlywinks intruded, weakening the necessary illusion of a cohesive, believable world that is not our own. At times the dialogue also grated, mostly where Marmell allowed his cast to become vessels for speech patterns which parsed his own intellect, at the expense of characterisation. One example being the quote used at the top of this review. Call me old fashioned, but no kobold worth his salt should ever be talking about non-Euclidean grammar! Incongruously, while there was much slashing and hacking, the main cast did not do anything especially evil for almost 500 pages.

After which the plot hobbled through a rushed ending which did nothing to relight my fires. The epilogue, however, twisted things around again giving me hope that any sequel has at least the potential to realise the not inconsiderable promise.

In summary, The Goblin Corps is principally intended to raise smiles using the backdrop of a fantasy setting. As such, it will appeal primarily to those looking for a light, fun read, as opposed to something that advances or reinvents the genre.