Bodyguard of lightning cover

Bodyguard of lightning

by Stan Nicholls

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 orc, Coilla, a clever female orc, who is also the warband's newest recruit and Jup, a Dwarf mercenary, who is disliked by Haskeer due to his race (and the fact that Dwarfs 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, Dwarfs, Trolls, Dragons and many other staple creatures of the Fantasy genre. There is a war raging between the polytheistic Manis (who worship "many" gods) and the monotheistic Unis (who follow a religion analogous to Puritan Christianity). The orcs dislike humans, who have brought farming and industry to Maras Dantia, as well as the Uni religion. The presence of humans in Maras Dantia is also killing the land, every year the glaciers advance further from the north, and the magic is literally draining out of the ground itself.

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Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?