As I'm re-visiting my adolescent love of Dungeons and
Dragons, and running the adbetures in the World of Greyhawk, it seemed
appropriate to read the books that Gary Gygax, Godfather of DnD, and latterly
Rose Etes, wrote. From the outset it's fair to say that this particular book is
probably only of interest to those with a background or curiosity about the
hobby. Even compared to other DnD books (Paul Kidd's DnD classic module
offerings, and Salvatore's dark elf books) it's not the best of the bunch. But
to a fan of Gygax, and the magic he created with Dungeons and Dragons, whether
the manuals, the modules, or the world of Greyhawk, it's fun reading.
The hero is Gord the Rogue, a solid adventuring thief who we
follow from humble beginnings as a cutpurse and beggar-thief in the sprawling
City of Greyhawk. The first section of the book takes us along his early
encounters, fleshing out the City vividly, and Gord's involvement in a 'turf
war.' Gord comes across as a likeable character, with a suitable charm and wit,
and his tricks and scams make easy reading.
The middle third of the book then
takes us on a tour of Gygax's world, with Gord adventuring, romancing, and
scrapping his way from Greyhawk City, across the vast Nyr Dyv, and then around
the Bandit Lands, Urnst, the Theocracy of the Pale, Nyrond, and ultimately to
the edge of the Great Kingdom. Now to me as a gamer currently reading the
source material of the Flanaess, and Greyhawk, this was a great tour—the depth
and detail to each area is a real bonus. But for a more casual reader the lack
of a central driving plot beyond a series of vaguely related encounters could
be frustrating. The plot through this stage feels half way between a bunch of
DnD scenarios and a travelogue. We do get some development of him as a
character, but rarely a decent in depth insight into him that a book this
length should provide.
In fact the lack of a real purpose beyond Gord getting some
cool weapons, picking up skills, and ducking/diving, is a real weakness. The
book has a patched together episodic feel, which I suppose in some ways
emulates the pulp fantasy that inspired Gygax's original DnD game (Robert E
Howard, Fritz Leiber, Moorcock). I could just imagine reading it serialised in Dragon magazine.
In the last third of the novel Gord links up with some more
substantial characters: Gellor, a mysterious spy/bard; Chert, a barbarian
(reminiscent of Fafhrd, from Lankhmar); and Curly, a plump bald druid-ranger
(my favourite). We then get a trip out to a dungeon, and a suitably nasty demon
to sort out. This part of the book at least had the right balance of action,
purpose, characters and humour. It felt as if Gygax had got into the swing of
things, and as I recall from Book 2, he continued this momentum and developed a
fairly solid plotline.
So much in the way that superhero origin films never feel
all that good, as they establish a history and a setting, this book is very
much an intro, both to the world and to the character who ultimately sees us
through five or so books (as Gygax departed TSR). It's a 4 star for fans,
probably a 3 star for those DnD-naïve.
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