Can I use orcs in my story?

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Mr Flibble

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I personally would much rather people just write elves if they're only going to paint the things blue and make them war-like.

That's the first time I've seen the Nac Mac Feegle compared to elves. You realise they'll nut you for it :D
 

Roxxsmom

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So no elves, dwarves, goblins, Wizards, dragons, nothing of the classic fantasy races?

Nope. Not in most of the books I've read for the past 10 years or so. Except for practitioners of various kinds of magic (none really resembling the D and D type wizards, however--wizards, even the traditional kind with pointy hats, aren't a race, though), and an occasional dragon.

The only recently written books (as in within the past 5 years or so) I can even think of with elves, dwarves and so on would be Michael Sullivan's Rirya books (I don't remember his having orcs in the ones I read, however), and Jim C. Hines has some books with Goblins as the protags, but those were a lighter style of fantasy. I'm sure I've missed some, but that's the thing. Fantasy is huge, and it's possible to read tons of books that reflect one's own tastes and miss the ones that don't. Dragons turn up sometimes still . Hobbs and Martin have used them in recent years (and Rothfuss had one that was really a giant lizard). But none of them had orcs, elves, dwarves etc. that I can remember.

Oh, there was Eragon too. That's the only recent book I've run across in recent years with all the races. Didn't get into those really. It really seems to me that traditional fantasy races have taken a hit in recent years, actually. There have been threads here on AW where people have even asked where all those stories have gone. Might mean there's a desire for them still. If you have them in your novel, you'd know better than I do who the target readers are.

It wasn't my question. I'm defending the OPs right to use Orcs in his book if he wants, when others have told him it's forbidden...

I don't think anyone here has said it's forbidden, just that there are potential issues that can arise. That's true with anything, though.
 
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Shadowwriter

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Thanks to all. So much education in a very short period of time. I don't even know what *bookwall* means.

I'm pleased to know I can use orcs, even if I shouldn't. So my story -involving Terrans traveling to an entire world populated by goblins (the ruling class), orcs (the enforcers) and fairies (the evil creatures) - is likely to be hated on sight?

MartinD, I read many of the posts in this thread, and, writer to writer, I want to say one thing: It's your story. Remember that. If you want to write something purely for the fans, go for it. But if you, like me, are writing to share a piece of your imagination--your heart--with the world, there comes a point where you can't give a f*ck what anyone thinks or says. Do what you know will make you happy, and do it well. J.R.R. Tolkein, a huge writing inspiration of mine, was once complained to vehemently by a fellow Inkling for writing too many Elves into LOTR (sounds a little like the situation that prompted your above question). I love your receptive attitude, but don't sell yourself or your story short! I'm paraphrasing a quote I saw on the topic saying something like "Remember, YOU are the only one who can write your story." I'm not saying people with critiques or advice don't mean well, and sometimes there are gems in their criticism, but know where you draw your line, and remember not to let others write your story. They can't; they don't know how. It's YOURS. Happy writing. :)
 

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This is what I could find online on the subject.

http://ask.metafilter.com/234724/Are-Orcs-copyrighted

Most fantasy fans will think of Tolkien's orcs if you use the term and have them be similar kinds of creatures, but that doesn't mean you can't put your own spin on them (the WoW orcs are similar to, yet different from, Tolkien's orcs, for instance). I think Tolkien himself got "orc" from Beowulf. Tolkien used "orc" and "goblin" synonymously, while fantasy games and other writers often distinguish orcs from goblins. If you're really concerned about this, you could simply call your orcs goblins instead.

But I just noticed that this is a very old thread, so old I forgot I posted in it years ago. Is there a reason it's been dredged up again? How many pages was it back in the forums to be found?
 
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