Orcs: First Blood (variant title: Orcs (2004)) is a series of books written by Stan Nicholls. It includes: Bodyguard of Lightning, Legion of Thunder and Warriors of the Tempest. The books focus on the conflicts between a group of orcs and humans, but through the unconventional view of the orcs. The trilogy, first printed in the United Kingdom by Victor Gollancz Ltd, has become international bestseller, with over one million copies sold and the first two books, Bodyguard of Lightning and Legion of Thunder, received Best Novel nominations at the 1999 British Fantasy Awards. The sequel of Orcs: First Blood is Orcs: Bad Blood, which includes Bad Blood: Weapons of Magical Destruction, Bad Blood: Army of Shadows and Bad Blood: Inferno. Background and release 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 Lightning, 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. Plot The story follows the adventures of a warband of orc soldiers, the Wolverines, led by Stryke, a Captain in the Orcish Horde. His lieutenants are Haskeer, a foul tempered and not too bright orc; Coilla, a clever female orc who is also the warband's newest recruit; Jup, a Dwarf mercenary, who is disliked by Haskeer due to his race (and the fact that Dwarves fight for both sides); and Alfray, an old and wise orc who also acts as the warband's standard bearer and medic. The setting of the story is the mythical world of Maras Dantia, which is populated by Humans, Orcs, Elves, Dwarves, Goblins, Centaurs, Faeries, Trolls,