Artifact of Evil
| Artifact of Evil | |
|---|---|
 Cover of the first edition | |
| General information | |
| Type: | Novel |
| Creators | |
| Author: | Gary Gygax |
| Cover artist: | Clyde Caldwell |
| Interior artist(s): | Jeff Easley |
| Publishing info | |
| Series: | Gord the Rogue novels |
| Publisher: | TSR |
| Publish date: | 1986 |
| Misc | |
| Pages: | 352 |
| ISBN: | 0-88038-279-1 |
| Class: | Officially published content |
Artifact of Evil is a 1986 fantasy novel by Gary Gygax, set in the World of Greyhawk™.
Plot summary
[edit | edit source]Artifact of Evil was the second novel to feature Gord the Rogue. Gord and his companions must stop a recently uncovered ancient artifact from falling into the wrong hands, as its power could destroy their world.
This was the first novel to feature the drow prominently. Other characters appearing in the book include Melf of the Arrow (who has sworn fealty to Mordenkainen), Anthraxus the Oinodaemon (who appears to the Horned Society as a messenger for Nerull), the dwarf Obmi, and the losel (mixtures of orcs and baboons).
Publishing history
[edit | edit source]Gary Gygax wrote Artifact of Evil as a continuation of his first novel, Saga of Old City, and it was published in 1986 as the final novel under TSR's Greyhawk Adventures banner that was written by Gygax.
Reception
[edit | edit source]Dave Langford reviewed Artifact of Evil for White Dwarf, quipping "At first glimpse within, my soul was purged by the brutalities visited upon the English language", and concluding that the story was nothing more than "an AD&D campaign write-up".[1]
In the Io9 series revisiting older Dungeons & Dragons novels, Rob Bricken commented that "Artifact of Evil rolls a 5 on a d20, making it a bit higher than Saga of Old City's original 4. But whereas Saga took a -2 penalty for general unpleasantness and lack of a coherent narrative, Artifact avoids it by being mostly okay and kind of having a coherent narrative. However, both books still earn a -3 penalty for needless misogyny, so Artifact of Evil ends with a 2. Not good, but... no. It's simply not good. If you somehow manage to track a copy down, stop tracking that copy down immediately."[2]
References
[edit | edit source]Notes
[edit | edit source]Citations
[edit | edit source]- ↑ Langford, Dave (June 1986). "Critical Mass". White Dwarf (78): 11. Games Workshop.
- ↑ Bricken, Rob (March 25, 2022). Dungeons & Dragons & Novels: Revisiting Artifact of Evil (in en-us). io9.
Bibliography
[edit | edit source]- Gygax, Gary. Artifact of Evil. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1986. ISBN 0-88038-279-1
Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index
The Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index (EGI) is based on previous work of Jason Zavoda through '08, continued by numerous other fans. The EGI article has a list of sources, product names, abbreviations, and a link to the full, downloadable index.
| Topic | Type | Description | Product | Page/Card/Image
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Artifact of Evil | Publication | Novel, | Dragon magazine #100 | 23 |
| Artifact of Evil | Publication | Novel, | Dragon magazine #344 | 54 |