I saw it as the flow-over from Lords of the Ring, centuries later. Middle Earth was no more, the elves flourished, mankind in between, and orcs paying for their ancestors betrayal. Even a touch of a dragon and fairies made it seem like the two worlds ( fantasy / real ) combined.
Racism still was present and to me the orcs seem like the only race who was true to who they were. There were many parallels to LOR.