City of Hawks (Gord the Rogue, Book 3) (Paperback)

~ Gary Gygax (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: ACE Charter; 1St Edition edition (November 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441106366
• ISBN-13: 978-0441106363
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #193,351 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ahh, the memories, July 21, 2008

By	William M. Wilson "obryn" (Illinois) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This was actually the very first Gord the Rogue book I read, back when I was in ... 7th or 8th grade, I think. I remember being very impressed with it way back then, so re-reading it now - in my early thirties - was an experience.

I've read all the Gord the Rogue books by New Infinities, but never read the Greyhawk Adventures books released under TSR. Despite - or perhaps because of - this, I was able to enjoy this book on its own merits.

And really... well, it's not bad. If you've been a gamer for a long time, it's a sterling example of what a good D&D novel should be like. Gary did a good job here - at least for the first portion.

As far as chronology goes, the Gord the Rogue series is a mess. I'd put the first parts of this book first, followed by the stories in Night Arrant, then back to the remainder of this book, then on to Sea of Death, and onwards to Come Endless Darkness and (if you must) Dance of Demons.

Gary's at his best when talking about Gord's childhood and earlier exploits. Things fall apart a little bit once he gets to the Shadowrealm, but it's still a fun read. The last 30 or so pages, however, are a hot mess. The chess metaphors get excruciating (even to the point of including a *lengthy footnote* explaining a chess variant), everything is written in an indirect way without names, and all in all it just gets crazy. Until, at the end, a character important for Come Endless Darkness is introduced. It's like Gary tried to cram as much as possible into the end in order to bridge the gap between Sea of Death and Come Endless Darkness.

Regardless, it's still a fun, pulpy read after all these years.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Like a broken spider web..., August 15, 2004

By	Michael Valdivielso (Alexandria, VA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

this book goes all over the place. The novel is Gary Gygax trying to explain who Gord the Rogue is by showing you his early childhood and the events that happen about him, some of which are behind the scenes. The deeper you get into it the more details, some very vague details about other characters and other events, are tossed at you. The book is not the first in the series and you should not read it till either you are finished or almost finished with both the Greyhawk Adventures series and the Gord The Rogue series (which seems to be a spin off).

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The exception to the rule, May 3, 2004

By	Kai Frederking (Hamburg Deutschland) - See all my reviews

If you love Greyhawk, you will love the Gord books - period. There is only one exception, and that is "City of Hawks".
Gary Gygax tried to change the background of the Gord-stories in mid-stride. What originally (in Saga of Old City) seemed to be fate or cunning of the hero is now "unmasked" to be meddling of powers.
It is obvious that these developments are NOT what EGG originally intended. There are major breaks in continuity and outright contradictions. In the context of the Gord-story, this book had best not been written. Anyway, since the rest of the books is 4 to 5-star reading, and since everyone owning the other books also has this one, there is just one advice: Read this one last (after Dance of Demons), so as to not spoil the storyline.