Orcs: First Blood - Background and Release

Background and Release

I owe thanks to Steve Jackson and Heather Matuozzo, for their friendship and encouraging laugh; to Harry and Helen Knibb, for their unparalleled knowledge about the internet and for their kindness; to Sandy Auden, for her wisdom and because he went on; to Simon Spanton, the firm arm from the editorial helm, and to Nicola Sinclair, for her ability in the publicity field, rather than professional.
The series of adventures of the orcs is dedicated to Marianne Gay and Nick Fifer, for their happiness and because they are a source of inspiration full of affection. —Stan Nicholls

Asked why he has written about orcs, Nicholls has answered with "When I was thinking of writing about orcs, my mind turned to the well known adage about how it’s winners who write the history books.
Orcs have featured in European folklore for hundreds of years, and they’ve popped up in various works of fiction from as early as the 15th."

The first volume, Bodyguard of Lighting, was first published in the UK in February 1999. The second volume, Legion of Thunder appeared in October 1999 and the third, Warriors of the Tempest, in November 2000. The books were published by Gollancz (Victor Gollancz Ltd).

The novel was published in other countries, in the form of 3 books or omnibus, including: The United States of America, Bulgaria, China, The Czech Republic, Germany, The Netherlands, France, Italy, Poland, Russia, Spain and Romania.

Audiobook versions of trilogies Orcs: First Blood and Orcs: Bad Blood, read by John Lee, are being released by US company Tantor Media in 2010/2011.