Gord the Rogue/Boxed Set

Rating:
Summary: Essential for the Greyhawk role-playing gamer
Review: Gygax is the original creator/developer of the world of Oerth and all it contains. Though T$R ousted him in the mid-eighties and published laughably childish adventures unworthy of perusal, the fine print of the ousting allowed Gygax to finish the series of novels begun in _Saga of Old City_ and _Artifact of Evil_. The five GORD THE ROGUE books, _Sea of Death_, _Night Arrant_, _City of Hawks_, _Come Endless Darkness_, and _Dance of Demons_ continue and complete the story of Gord of Greyhawk: thief and sometimes-warrior.

For the most part, the books work well, though they could really have utilized a better editor, or more time spent by the editor: several contradictory passages exist within, and some story details are inconsistent.

The author's a bit too in love with his own prose, but anyone familiar with the bearded- windbag of an author (as he calls himself) is used to this by now.

As source material for what Gygax thought the world of Oerth and the universe surrounding it was and should have been, this work is brilliant, although I'm sure you'd have to be an original participant in his Greyhawk campaign to get all the in-jokes. Some aspect of the agreement with T$R must have discouraged him from using names and place names from T$R's published material, as several of these have been changed to "protect the innocent", as it were. But the careful reader can figure out the translucent alterations.

As with most of Gygax's work, the protagonists are "grey"-- not evil, certainly, but not bound by conventional standards of ethics or morality. This is, in fact, viewed as a strength in the internal structure of the book, as the "good" folks are typically well-meaning but weak, self-righteous, or naive. I approve.

Some of the plot elements needed extra work and should have been better thought out before print, but overall the books worked for me, if only because Gygax is not afraid to show his characters as being manipulated by forces they can't understand, but nonetheless possessing and utilizing their own free will.

The climax of the series is a slap in the face to the people at T$R who took his company away from him. I found it amusing, but your opinions on the Great Schism might make your opinions differ-- i.e. you might find it petty and offensive. One wonders what the series of books (and especially the finale) might have looked like if Gygax and T$R had not parted ways.

Not the best books in the world, but I reread them once every few years to remind me how fantasy in the tradition of the pulps should be written: dark, rich in ambiguous morality, and full of intrigue.

Rating:
Summary: Gord the rogue is king
Review: Well what can one say, when the father of RPG's decides to write a series of novels? It is fantastic. Taking Gord from small boy in a large corrupt city and following his progression, as he goes from gutter snipe to monte banc, to a hero that can effect the world. Great novels and a great idea of what a good RPG campaign can be like. the only sad note is the last book a bit of Gary's bitterness over being forced out of TSR shows, but still a great read and a great romp of fantasy.