Tolkien’s demonisation of the orcs in The Lord of the Rings without seeking to understand their motivation betrays a racist belief that some peoples are inferior to others, according to an American author.

Andy Duncan, a science fiction writer, told the Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy podcast: “It’s hard not to miss that repeated notion in Tolkien that some races are just worse than others and some peoples are just worse than others and it seems — in the long term, if you embrace this too much — it has dire consequences for yourself and society.” He said that he would rather explore why the orcs were serving Sauron. “You can easily imagine that all those people doing the Dark Lord’s bidding were doing so