Against the Giants

Greyhawk Classics #1

by Ru Emerson

Vengeance will be served
A village burns while its attackers flee into the night. Enraged, the King of Keoland orders an aging warrior to lead a band of adventurers on a retaliatory strike. As they prepare to enter the heart of the monsters' lair, each knows only the bravest will survive. Against the odds. Against the giants.

Genres: Fantasy, Dungeons and Dragons, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Gaming, Sword and Sorcery

310 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 8, 1999

About the author

aka Roberta Cray

Ru Emerson was born on December 15th, 1944 in Montana. She and her husband, Doug, live in Oregon with their only child, a silver mackerel tabby cat named Roberta. She likes to lift weights, run, bike, skate in-line, ski, play basketball, tennis, racquetball, garden, play guitar, scuba dive, and fly stunt kites. Her favorite reading material includes Megan Lindholm, science fiction by Larry Niven, murder mysteries by Patricia Cornwell, plus any other good historical non-fiction.

Reviews

[Derek · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Procedural" isn't the right word, but I kind of want it to be. Once the menace has been established and the party is at the giants' steading, it's very akin to reading the original game materials, and a reader with the map and descriptions could probably follow along. (Wouldn't that be weird?)

That, the inclusion of all three settings, and following the original plot all the way through makes it feel a very slavish and mechanical translation, and one which isn't organic or natural.

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A surprisingly solid novelization of the "Against the Giants" D&D modules. A party of adventurers goes up against hill giants in their steading, frost giants in their glacial rift, fire giants in their fortress, and finally the drow puppetmasters behind the giant attacks. Not the most thrilling fantasy ever, but solid.

[Heiki Eesmaa · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is unashamedly predictable -- and in this particular case I don't think it's a weakness. It is a novelization of the D&D Against the Giants modules. It was published shortly before the launch of 3rd edition D&D and I believe around that time a lot of the classic modules got redone. In any case, this line of novels was launched around that era as well, having a little bit of the tone of each of the editions.

For me it's a good throwback into an era -- I never ran the Giants modules myself -- giving me a good chance to relive these D&D sessions in my mind. I have to say the way the early chapters on the protagonist's 'call to adventure' and party formation were really appreciated. All D&D campaigns have something like this, after all, but mostly they drop off.

So I enjoyed some of it but skipped over a lot of it -- most of it is fighting and dungeon crawling after all. I just wish they fleshed out the characters a bit more -- or perhaps less, as the way it is I feel there was some wasted potential for a little more depth there.

[Frank Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was great. The heroes seemed to have good reason for their personalities and that flowed into the choices they made. The adventure is a noble little quest and I thought that the scenes were well painted.

But maybe I'm not the best judge. I haven't read a pure fantasy for many years and this is my very first D&D story. I've only played D&D 5e and only a handful of times in the last 2 years. I don't know very much of the lore at all.

Some other reviewers have noted disappointment that this story wasn't much more than a run through of the eponymous D&D adventure, but that was exactly what I was looking for. It felt to me as though I was peeking into an adventure as it was being played out, while the party was formed and through each turn the story took.

So for a noob with a beginner's enthusiasm this was perfect.

[Julian Meynell · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is based on the famous module from the early history of Dungeon's and Dragon's. Really the only reason to read this is for nostalgia reasons for those familiar with the original adventure, which is why I read it and is a perfectly good reason. The novel itself is not that great by the standards of a D&D novel. It's a little primitive in the writing and character development. It is weirdly paced. The original module dealt with three dungeons around three different giant races. The novel for whatever reason spends a lot of time on the first dungeon and then rushes through the last two, so that was very strange.

Still despite all of this it served its purpose of being a light read around nostalgia.

[Dru · Rating 3 out of 5]

A so-so entry in the "D&D module-to-novel" series. On the plus side were the treatments of a paladin's struggle against the necessities of adventuring life. On the downside was the ABJECT failure to stick to official D&D spells, the ridiculous number of combat hits that were CRITICAL hits, the unnecessary nonsense of putting a child into the adventuring party and the .....SPOILER.... death of Eclavdra! How the hell is the next author supposed to undo that stupidity?

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I'm putting this footer on all 7 of my reviews of "Greyhawk Classics", for consistency.
Note that I read them them in LEVEL ORDER, not publication order. I wanted an overall review of the series of 8 in one spot, so here ya go:

1) (6th published) Keep on the Borderlands - Levels 1-3 : 2 stars
2) (4th published) The Temple of Elemental Evil - Levels 1-3 : 3 stars
3) (2nd published) White Plume Mountain - Levels 5-10 : 4 stars
4) (1st published) Against the Giants - Levels 8-12 : 3 stars
5) (3rd published) Descent into the Depths of the Earth - Levels 9-14 : 4 stars
6) (5th published) Queen of the Demonweb Pits - Levels 10-14 : 3 stars
7) (7th published) Tomb of Horrors - Levels 10-14 : 3 stars
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[Joe · Rating 2 out of 5]

A fun read if you are an old school D&D player. The writing was good for the most part and the descriptions of village life was exceptional. The story was basic and to be expected given the nature of its origin, but I felt it became tiresome as it went along. The ending seemed rushed. Would have given it two and a half stars if that were an option.

[Chris Turek · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an amazingly straightforward hack and slash dungeon crawl where the characters genuinely blur. I can appreciate that it is trying to capture 1st edition ad&d, though in the end it ends up a muddled slog. Black Library captures the dead ahead fantasy action genre much better.

[Aaron Meyer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the best book i have read but not the worst either. If you like D&D type adventures it reads an awful lot like a module at moments. The story seemed to me to take an incredible amount of time to develop and was entirely to rushed at the end.

[Ross Kitson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I went into this with little expectation, as DnD novelisations can be poorly done and I, like many, have such affection for the original adventure that I was worried what Emerson would do.
Altogether, it's not bad at all. After giant raids on his village, a young lad Lhors, is drafted into a group of adventurers to investigate the organisation behind the raids by the king. The formation of the party is well done, a phase often neglected, and the mix of class and persona interesting (paladin, sorcerer, barbarian, rogue, ranger, and a few fighters).
The party then adventure through the three classic settings, spending a disproportionate time in the Hill Giant steading. In a way it allows some basic character and relationship development, deepens the mystery aspect of the story, and makes the Rift and the Hall phases play more like focused missions.
It's a belts and braces adventure, with heavy combat and magic focus. The giants go down a touch easy IMO, but we can wave away the narrative justification for that. There's a few nice little paladin morality clashes, a good coming of age, and the BBEG battle is brutal. Snurre was a missed opportunity as he is one of the most iconic villains in AD&D, but it's a minor grumble.
So, all good nostalgic fun with nothing too deep

[Bret · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can see why someone would rank this lower than I did. I could even understand if someone felt strongly about this book one way or another. Me? It was all right!

This is a pretty solid fantasy novel, but it is written based on the original D&D adventure from the same name. And I felt like I could really tell it suffered from those confines. Each time there was a new room, each time there was a new encounter, each time an item was described, it felt like the author was struggling to not use the words written in the original adventure. Did it make for a bad book? Not hardly. But I was definitely aware of those feelings.

The characters are pretty good and I do wish I could see them in other works. I'd like to see the same characters work together again and I'd like to see the kid from the small town grow. Starting here was fine, but not letting the author use them again on an adventure written all on their own was a missed opportunity, in my opinion.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Against the Giants is one of seven Greyhawk Classics based on D&D Modules. This novel follows the adventurer of Lohrs after his village is destroyed by giants. As one of the few survivors he travels to the central city of his country carrying a warning. He then joins a band of adventurers as they investigate why the giants attacked and determine who is behind them.

In general this novel is typical of the Greyhawk Classics. As a D&D player it evokes a nostalgic feeling as elements of the module are brought to life. Its a good easy read, however the novel has many characters which makes it a little hard to keep track of who is doing what. In addition, there are parts of the novel where, in an attempt to create drama, tension between party members feels forced.

[Matt Littrell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm giving this novel a 2.25 or so. It's slightly better than keep on the borderlands, but it's just one huge 240 page battle scene. I really liked the beginning, the giants attack, and the forming of the party. I liked seeing why they turned certain people away, and why they chose others.
There's nothing technically wrong with the battles, but they're described in such a droll way. Like the facts are all there, but there's not an ounce of emotion. I liked the Paladin's portrayal, and the young thief, but otherwise, the characters were oh so boring.
All in all, it's really bad. I'd only recommend it to people who like hearing a dungeon master maybe describe the battles in his campaign. It's best skipped.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the story in as much as I played the Dungeons and Dragons module when I was in high school. There was not the hack and slash that I expected from a D&D novel, but more methodical and well-planned. Most of the story took place up to and in the Steading of the Hill Giant Chief before a rush through the Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl and the Hall of the Fire Giant King. We are briefly introduced to the Drow before being whisked away to safety. Reading it brought back the nostalgia of playing D&D with my sister and cousins and a sense of escape from the real world into the fantasy realm of Greyhawk.

[Sean Helms · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the first 'Greyhawk' books written within that D&D world. Bearing that in mind the story was pretty good; although low on character building it made up for it with the action and bloodshed expected from a dungeon-crawl.
Hill giants attack and destroy a rural village and slaughter virtually everyone. One survivor does escape to report the incident to his local lord. And so the game begins. A group of heroes bands together with the young survivor, but they discover an overall plot far more wicked and larger in scope than just some raid for giant cook pots. The Drow have reappeared from their underground warrens and are out for a little payback!

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid romp through the old G1-3 Advanced Dungeons & Dragons modules by Gary Gygax. While I confess to being concerned to see the pages dwindle to the right of my reading progress as the story went on (because I feared that the book would rush through G2 & G3 as the material of G1 took just over half the book), my concerns were unfounded because the story that unfolded made sense. Ru Emerson's Against the Giants succeeded in giving the people and these adventures of Gygaxian Greyhawk life and heart.

[Xavier Marturet · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 1999 I translated the spanish edition of this book for Devir Contenidos S.L.

I discovered an interesting and fun story, a good adventure and a novel anybody can read even if you ever visited the Greyhawk universe.

I detected the structure of somekind rol game in the adventure. some parts are some rigid, but I supose this is due a rol previous game.

A great experience and a novel I recomend to all the fants of Fantasy, even if you ever read a line of D&D.

[James Seger · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's no masterpiece, but I enjoyed the book. I was able to remember who all the characters were even with the made up names. It was nice to read a simple fantasy novel where the kingdom rather than the world (or worlds) were at stake.

My only real complaint is that the book seemed to take too long to get going, though perhaps that is remaining faithful to the original D&D module?

[Brad · Rating 3 out of 5]

I downloaded this super pulpy fantasy paperback on my cell phone and read it in 2 minute bursts whenever I would normally neurotically check Twitter and Instagram. This was a great way to read this book. I recommend that everyone delete Instagram and instead read novelizations of 1970s AD&D modules on their cell phones.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun romp through modules G1-2-3, played out as if we were there on the same maps. Some of the chapters bordered on tedious, but the trip through G2 and G3 was highly accelerated as if the writer didn't realize she needed to do all three adventures. Still, these modules are fond memories, and visiting them in a new format was fun.

[Erik Chorazy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun oration of a quick campaign.

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

As others have pointed out, the battles are ridiculous. They are from half to one page. If my players killed enemies as quickly as they do in this book, I wouldn't play DnD anymore.
It's a good book but just. Too many rules are pointed out to take it too seriously.
I also don't understand how they had all their winter stuff with them. They had no clue where they were going.

[Justin Salisbury · Rating 1 out of 5]

I normally enjoy D&D Novels, but this book was horrible.

[Brad Theado · Rating 5 out of 5]

enjoyable read that brought back memories of playing this module in AD&D

[David Roenicke · Rating 3 out of 5]

i would give this book an above ave rating overall

[Henry · Rating 1 out of 5]

you can hear the dice rolling as you read this book based off the popular RPG module