15. 1987. (Sep.) - Greyhawk (Gygax) - Gary Gygax - Night Arrant (Gygax #2)

Series: Gord, the Rogue #4

Another Gygax book, another Gord book. This is a little different, however. In this volume Gygax gives us 9 short stories with Gord at their centre. Although they work independently they are interconnected and flow nicely from story to story, as is usual in these kinds of books there is always a bit of an element of hit and miss when it comes to anthologies. However, Gygax actually manages to pull off a feat by making this the most enjoyable of all the Gord books up until now. It still owes a lot to Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser stories, but it also gives us a better sense of place and setting than the previous volumes. The world of Greyhawk feels more alive and deep here than anywhere else up until now, and this has a lot to do with the format, the 9 interconnected stories manage to cover different aspects, places and subcultures in a way which fleshes the world out nicely.

All in all my favourite Gygax volume by far, it misses something by having only one memorable female character and stereotypes gay characters in one of the stories, but at least it has gay characters! Something which has happened in none of the other books. So, you know, meh.

TL;DR: 7/10 Best Gord/Gygax book until now, recommended. Essential for Greyhawk fans.

14. 1987. (Aug.) - Greyhawk (D&D) - Rose Estes - The Price of Power (Greyhawk #5)

Series: Greyhawk Adventures Vol. 4, Mika Trilogy Vol. 2

So the second volume of the Mika Trilogy, which has replaced the Gord the Rogue novels in the official Greyhawk publications continues the story last seen in Master Wolf earlier in 1987. Frankly it's an improvement on the previous installment. The book chugs along nicely and the ending doesn't feel as rushed as it did in the previous volume, leaving space for a concluding book in the trilogy. 

Mika is a cool character, there are some good secondary characters added here, particularly Lotus Flower and the development of a slightly freaky love triangle between Mika, his wolf and the princess from the previous book which has been cursed into wolf form add quite a bit to the book's interest.

Still not a great novel or any kind of classic, but it is engaging, has a good main character and while the villains are still pretty much two-dimensional I hope the third volume will fix that. All said, it was a fun read.

TL;DR: 6/10 

13. 1987 (Aug). - Dragonlance (D&D) - Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman (Eds.) - Kender, Gully Dwarves, and Gnomes (Dragonlance #8)

Series: Dragonlance Tales Volume 2

Another volume in the Dragonlance Tales series, much like the previous one, The Magic of Krynn, this is a collection of short stories with a pretty long one in the middle. They are by a variety of writers some better known than others, and some better writers than others. The timeline is also varied but it focuses on the main characters of the previous series. 

The longest tale is by the editors and writers of the Dragonlance Chronicles and Legends, and it is the most substantial of the pieces not only in page-length but as a story. This has a lot to do with the format, seeing as the story is some three times the size of the others in the volume. The cool thing about this book is that it has a great variety of tales, from a Gnomish treatise on poetry to a tale seen from the point of view of an enchanted dagger. We get to know a bit more about the sons of Caramon who were introduced in the previous volume so there is some forward movement in terms of the Dragonlance timeline, which is cool. 

The downside of this volume, much as in most anthologies, is the fact that the writing is uneven, some tales are great, some not so great. Fortunately no real stinkers here, so it's a fun volume to dip into. 

TL;DR: 6/10 As in the previous in the series it's a fun read.

12. 1987 (Jun.) - Greyhawk (Gygax) - Gary Gygax - Artifact of Evil (Gygax #1)

Series: Gord, the Rogue #3

So Gary Gygax after having created D&D eventually leaves TSR. This leaves a problem, he had started writing novels for TSR, with his character of Gord the Rogue, set in the Greyhawk world which he also created. He leaves TSR who retain the rights to D&D and takes with him his character from the novels, publishing them elsewhere. This is the first volume of the non-official Greyhawk series, which is actually the third volume of the Gord series, and the 4th in the Greyhawk series, but not really... see?

Gygax will continue to publish these things over the next couple of years until he tires of it as we will eventually see. All that being said the book isn't amazing, really. It is clearly a way for Gygax to flesh-out his world and that's fine. Some elements here such as the Drow love-interest, cloning, the Cat World etc. are interesting and Gord himself is a compelling character, however many of the secondary characters are one dimensional and the plotting is all over the place, confusing and often boring. So... not really essential reading, it will impact nothing in the official line, and isn't great.

TL;DR: 4/10 Not great. 

11. 1987 (May.) - Forgotten Realms (D&D) - Douglas Niles - Darkwalker on Moonshae (Forgotten Realms #1)

Series: Moonshae Trilogy #1

First of all I must apologize to my 0 readers the long hiatus I had here. But I'm back! We've already had books from several other D&D universes, namely Dragonlance and Greyhawk. However, the longest running, and still ongoing novel universe in D&D is Forgotten Realms, this is due in large part to the popularity of the Drizzt novels, which will start coming up soon here and are still coming out today!

We start the universe with the first of the Moonshae Trilogy, originally intended as a stand-alone work, it left enough of an open door... actually a wide-open door to sequels at the end of it, so it is only natural that with the success of the Dragonlance trilogies they would eventually turn this into one. Moonshae is not the most interesting of territories, basically it's a version of some Druidic British Isles, with pretty traditional monarchy and some dwarfs, elves, unicorns and firbolgs for good measure... also a fairy dragon. It feels quite a bit like a mix of Arthurian Legend and Tolkien and for this reason quite standard fantasy. This is true even in the D&D context, with the interesting anti-heroes of both the Dragonlance setting and Gord in the Greyhawk setting. All that being said it is a fun and light read, there is a sense of threat pervading the book, the titular Darkwalker, and it is always good to see the female member of the party save the day. So not the most auspicious start to the Forgotten Realms, but mindlessly enjoyable read anyway.

TL;DR: 5/10 Easy read but very unoriginal.

10. 1987 (Apr.) - Dragonlance (D&D) - Various - The Magic of Krynn (Dragonlance #7)

Series: Dragonlance Tales Volume 1

At the end of the Legends trilogy, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman told us that this was it for those characters, and if anyone else wanted to pick it up they'd be welcome to. A few months later we get a new Dragonlance book and we learn that Weis and Hickman are liars. Not that I'm complaining.

Here we get a mix of short stories and one novella, near the end. Many of the stories return us to familiar characters like Tas, Laurana and Tanis but the real highlight here is the final novella by the creators of the Dragonlance series. 

It's no surprise that this is the most enjoyable story, Weis and Hickman know these characters inside-out, particularly seeing as it is a story based on Caramon and Raistlin. We see what happens some years after the events of the Legends series, and start seeing a new generation growing up to take the place of their parents. In this case we get Caramon's son, Palin, who follows in the footsteps of his uncle as a spellcaster. 

It's fun to dip back into the universe through these short stories, with the big pay off that is the novella at the end.

TL;DR: 6/10 A bit hit and miss, but a fun read.

9. 1987 (Mar.) - Greyhawk (D&D) - Rose Estes - Master Wolf (Greyhawk #4)

Series: Greyhawk Adventures Volume 3

This book has a kind of bad reputation, but I wasn't minding it at all for at least the first three quarters of it. It is a pretty standard Outcast Barbarian story, but there are elements which add some interest to it. The main character is a likeable rogue, the fact that he was trained as a magic user, but really just wants to netflix and chill, the fact that he is a great fighter but dislikes fighting and is actually a bit cowardly, as well as his close relationship to his wolf. These elements make the book quite likeable, the writing itself is nothing to write home about, but it isn't bad, not in a way which distracts from the plot at least.

However it feels like this was a kind of rushed book, by the time it ends it feels like there is a lot to go still, and the ending just feels rushed and tacked on, leaving all the questions unanswered and feeling very cheap. This involves a cheap death, a too quick resolution and what actually ends up being a bittersweet mix of comedy with tragedy which actually feels kind of jarring. It's like what a highschooler would write during an exam if he realised that there were 5 minutes to go on the clock. Still I actually want to read more about Mika, the main character. 

TL;DR: 5/10 Ok book, crappy ending.