Customer Reviews

Saga of Old City (Greyhawk Adventures #1)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Saga of Old City" tells an epic story of one young orphaned adventurer that grew up in the Slum Quarter of the Gem of the Flanaess, Greyhawk City. The adventurer's name is Gord and the story begins with the loss of his only caretaker, a mean old crone named Lenna. Gord overcomes many obstacles to just survive the dangerous parts of the Greyhawk City. On the way, Gord experiences a mixed bag of outrageous fortunes and ill luck. I liked this novel and consider it like a diamond in the rough. The overall style of the novel leaves a little to be desired. The novel seems a little rushed with too many adventures thrown together. The last couple of parts are jumpy and leave out the interesting details that make the early part of the book so intriguing. I do recommend this novel especially for those who are familiar with the Greyhawk setting. The novel does offer richness to Greyhawk and gives life to the races of Oerth like the mysterious Rhennee. Another thing to note is that the events that occur in this book happen well before the current time in recent publications and the Flanaess have changed a lot since then.

I had a friend give me this book to read when I was 13 and read it atleast 5 times before I gave it back to him. I asked him years later when he was home on a visit from the navy and he said sorry man my mom thru all my old books away. Can you believe that?? Anyway, I finally have found it again at age 32 and let me tell its even better then I thought! I was concerned maybe I outgrew it or something but no way as Gary Gygax is an absolute genius and it shows most I think in his books. I also want to point out there are several more books to this series all of which are great.

The first novel in Gygax's Greyhawk setting is a good one. It is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it is a fast and fun read. The story continues in Artifact of Evil, at which point Gary and TSR parted ways. He then took his Gord the Rogue series to another publisher and come out with Sea of Death, Come Endless Darkness and Dance of Demons. There is also a collection of short stories. TSR has published other Greyhawk novels, but none have been as good or fun as the Gord the Rogue series.

I am a slow reader, It takes me 2 months plus to finish novels but I read this book in 3 days!! I could not put it down. The characters are so endearing, the novel is filled with sweet poetic justice. I was a big fan of the Greyhawk Campaign but the Gygax novel really brought it to life! If you enjoyed Greyhawk in the least bit you'll be cheating yourself if you don't read this series. Gygax is such a creative mind!!! I don't think he gets all the credit he deserves.

I bought this book in 1989 when I was in eighth grade; I found it difficult to get into, and gave up on it. I have since read(and completed) it several times, and, in fact just finished it again. My thoughts and feelings on it have not wavered, other than I've enjoyed it more and more over the years as I grew up. What remains constant is this; You will need PATIENCE to thoroughly enjoy it. The author doesn't ramble per se, but he does go into intricate detail (reminiscent of Piers Anthony) about virtually every scene he creates. This has a mixed effect on his writing. On one hand, in what most writers would describe in a sentence or paragraph, he would in a paragraph or page, respectively. This can wear on you at first. But if you stick with him, you begin to realize that despite his indulgence in prose, he manages to have it create that much more of a detailed picture in your mind's eye. There are those that feel that a good book can dwell only on minimal description, thus varying the perception of the book greatly from individual to individual, and I, in part, agree with this. But if you read this book while I read it simultaneously, and we discussed what happened when we were finished, our perceptions and feelings would most likely be similar at worst and something near identical at best. If this was the author's mission, that is, to transfer a detailed, precise desription of events as they transpired to paper so that any reader who picked it up would see and feel what he did, then I believe he did so.

Many movies have been made on lesser books than this one.Its simply a fun and entertaining book to read.I love how Gygax mixes the actions/events taken place with gords inner thoughts and feelings.Not to mention the brilliant interplay of characters that gord meets through his travels.Gygax mixes just the right amount of character depth with the characters roll in the story - theres nothing worse than reading page after page about a characters own past then he/her character disappear from the pages.

Yes I have kept the book for over 10 years I lost it at about 18 and re-ordered it at about 28 - I wont lost it again.
True to the spirit of D&D, the most fun part is going from "level 0" to "level 1" and finally reaches the "named" level - which is exactly what happens in the book.

In 1990 I sat down with Gygax at a convention we were both guests at (He gaming Guest of Honor, I a technology guest). This novel is that first in a series which brought a new dimension to the world of AD&D. These novels take AD&D to the level of other fantasy adventure series. This is the novel to start with!

I read this book many years ago growing up, and I recently decided to read it again to see if it was as good as I remembered, and let me tell you it was a pleasure to read it once again! If this tells you anything, I was reading a Stephen King book (The Gunslinger) simultaneously with Saga of Old City, and I found myself more engaged in Gary Gygax's classic book. It's action, passion, and above all OUTSTANDING character development, the journey and growth of Gord is so fun to read about. You witness a scrawny street kid grow into a formidable theif in the theives guild, and eventually become a powerful warrior who can overcome incredible challenges!

This is GREAT reading. A young boy named Gord, who lives in the City of Greyhawk's slums, is trained by the local thieves guild and goes on many exciting adventures.