The second Gord the Rogue novel and the last to be published through TSR as Gygax would be leaving the company soon, this is, like the first book, not the most successful of AD&D tie-in novels, it does however fix some of the criticisms I had of the first volume (while unfortunately creating other problems in the interim).

If the first book, Saga of Old City, didn’t feel like it was particularly a uniquely D&D story, with a setting that felt as much like Leiber’s Lankhmar as anything else, this volume is very definitely set in the world of Greyhawk. Unfortunately Gygax does this mainly by stuffing the novel full of references to in-universe characters that players would know from modules and other materials. You get Iuz, Zuggtmoy, Iggwilv (later Tasha), Eclavdra, Mordenkainen, Melf, Bigby, Baphomet, Graz’zt and a bunch of other demons and even such obscure characters as Obmi the Dwarf, who was originally in Snurre Ironbelly’s keep in Against the Giants as a slave. This to say nothing of our regular cast of similarly named characters like Gord, Chert, Gelor and Curley, a bunch of names which kind of meld into each other on the page. Unless you are an obsessive (like yours truly) many of these names will be meaningless and even if you are sometimes they feel like unearned fan service.

The plot is also not much to write home about, in order to compensate for the mainly city set first book, Gygax takes us on a tour of Oerth, but it’s such a wide ranging tour that you never really develop a sense of attachment for any place. There’s an artifact of evil which demonic forces want and “good” forces which include Gord as mates as well as Mordenkainen, Melf, Bigby and other Gygaxian home game characters, need to get it first to avoid disaster. Much too much happens in this novel while also very little substance happening. It would have really benefited from a good editor and/or a flowchart. Still, good cover by Caldwell and interior illustrations by Easley!