gord the rogue

[messy]

i just finished reading gary gygax's gord the rogue series, and it was great! a few questions:

1. as the books are pretty well written, have some great vocabulary, and have a very "dungeons and dragons" feel, with monsters, magic, and mystery, why doesn't the series get more attention?

2. why did gary write city of hawks as a separate book when it seems like he could've incorporated it into saga old old city (the first book in the series)?

3. i don't remember reading a physical description of the primary antagonist (other than his initial, child-like form). did i miss something?

these are some of the best "dungeons and dragons" style books i've ever read, and i definitely recommend them.


messy

[Carlyle Clark]

i just finished reading gary gygax's gord the rogue series, and it was great! a few questions:

1. as the books are pretty well written, have some great vocabulary, and have a very "dungeons and dragons" feel, with monsters, magic, and mystery, why doesn't the series get more attention?

2. why did gary write city of hawks as a separate book when it seems like he could've incorporated it into saga old old city (the first book in the series)?

3. i don't remember reading a physical description of the primary antagonist (other than his initial, child-like form). did i miss something?

these are some of the best "dungeons and dragons" style books i've ever read, and i definitely recommend them.


messy

I can only hazard a guess for question #1. Because the books are over twenty years old and those of us who read them (like me and I'd guess a heckuva loft of others here), read them hot off the presses over twenty years ago.

Sorta like Dragonlance, I read them and loved them when they came out, but it's been how long since the "originals"?

[KatG]

It didn`t really have a lot of time to build notoriety, essentially. Gygax was better known for his games work than for his writing by most people. He did the first few Gord novels as D&D tie-in novels to promote the new game Greyhawk. So the novels were part of the huge mass of the D&D tie-ins. About the same time that the novels were out, Gygax and TSR folk had their big falling out and Gygax left the company. He kept rights to Gord and some characters and he wrote several more Gord novels and short stories. However, he didn`t like what TSR was doing with the Greyhawk universe in the game and so he killed off his version of that world in a final novel in 1988. Gygax himself died in 2008. In contrast, series by Weis & Hickman and R.A. Salvatore for D&D tie-ins have been on-going, so they still get attention.

There`s a lot of good stuff in the D&D tie-ins, but it was all mass market paperback and people often dismiss them as the gaming books as opposed to other creations. So all of those factors mean that the series is remembered, but not often discussed. Tell us what you liked about the novels.

[Zsinj]

You know, I've never read the "Gord the Rogue" series because it's very hard to find, at least where I come from, but it's always seemed to me like it would be a good old fashioned fun sword and sorcery fantasy romp. This post is quite a departure from the usual, I must say, because usually Gygax's "Gord" gets viciously put down in this forum. I too, would love to know more about your experience with the series.

[messy]

You know, I've never read the "Gord the Rogue" series because it's very hard to find...

yes, i had much difficulty finding the books, so i ended up buying them on ebay. including shipping, it came to about five dollars per book, which is definitely worth it.

it's always seemed to me like it would be a good old fashioned fun sword and sorcery fantasy romp.

that's exactly what it is.

This post is quite a departure from the usual, I must say, because usually Gygax's "Gord" gets viciously put down in this forum.

wow, i'm surprised. i found it to be much better than most d&d-style fiction.

I too, would love to know more about your experience with the series.

ok ok, fine.

a few things i enjoyed about the series:

1. the vocabulary! citrine, mauve, demiurge, agathokakological! love it!

2. the characters! although many of the protagonists were fairly one-dimensional, i loved seeing iggwilv, iuz, graz'zt, zuggtmoy, eclavdra, and tharizdun in action.

3. the adventure! it was a d&d game in book form, complete with adventuring party, magic items, and interplanar travel.

good stuff, and i'm looking forward to reading gary's other novels.