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Greyhawk: Gord the Rogue #2
Night Arrant
In a world fraught with sorcery and skulduggery, every day can bring a new experience - some of them humorous, some utterly horrifying. So it is with Gord, a young adventurer who not only attracts excitement but thrives on it.
Night Arrant is a collection of nine short stories spotlighting the character for who the GORD THE ROGUE book series is named, showing some side of him that have not been revealed before. Readers who savor fast-moving fantasy adventure will enjoy seeing how Gord gets himself into and - most of the time - out of one predicament after another.
Includes the following stories:
"The Heart of Darkness"
"The Weird Occurrence in Odd Alley"
"A Revel in Rel Mord"
"The Five Dragon Bowl"
"Twistbuck's Game"
"The House in the Tree"
"Cats Versus Rats"
"Love Laughs at Locks"
"Cat or Pigeon?"
Night Arrant is a collection of nine short stories spotlighting the character for who the GORD THE ROGUE book series is named, showing some side of him that have not been revealed before. Readers who savor fast-moving fantasy adventure will enjoy seeing how Gord gets himself into and - most of the time - out of one predicament after another.
Includes the following stories:
"The Heart of Darkness"
"The Weird Occurrence in Odd Alley"
"A Revel in Rel Mord"
"The Five Dragon Bowl"
"Twistbuck's Game"
"The House in the Tree"
"Cats Versus Rats"
"Love Laughs at Locks"
"Cat or Pigeon?"
398 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 1, 1987
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270 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
May 6, 2016
Something of a step backward from Sea of Death in terms of both writing and story. Gygax starts the collection by trying very hard to emulate Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser--small monochromatically-dressed thief in cahoots with hulking northern barbarian, both greedy and neither entirely intelligent, hijinks ensue--but his reach exceeds his grasp. He tries for the easy banter but fails painfully, and tries for a living, breathing setting on par with Lankhmar and succeeds fitfully and too late. His writing and plotting lacks Leiber's economy, being too wordy by half and unable to target what was essential to the story.
"The Weird Occurrence in Odd Alley", perhaps the second best of them, is Gygax sort of doing "Bazaar of the Bizarre", but has a long rambling preamble of explaining how Gord and Chert wind up in the multidimensional Daigon Alley sort of place doorwayed from the City of Greyhawk. It is slow to get going and overstays its welcome and is never really clear where Gygax was going with it after introducing a fascinatingly interesting notion.
"Love Laughs at Locks" makes Gord the victim of a con. The details provoke an eye-rolling lack of surprise in anyone who has read Lawrence Block or the like, but the notion that Gygax's increasingly competent uber-character can be so credulous is an interesting flaw.
The way that Gygax links it with the events of "Cat or Pigeon?"--the con artists are part of some governmental conspiracy, what?--is incredibly bizarre and forced, and the denouement of the latter talks itself into a pretzel justifying the unlikely connection, a connection that only exists as a convenience to draw Gord into the plot. The entire situation is a shame because the link is unnecessary and serves to weaken both stories.
"The Weird Occurrence in Odd Alley", perhaps the second best of them, is Gygax sort of doing "Bazaar of the Bizarre", but has a long rambling preamble of explaining how Gord and Chert wind up in the multidimensional Daigon Alley sort of place doorwayed from the City of Greyhawk. It is slow to get going and overstays its welcome and is never really clear where Gygax was going with it after introducing a fascinatingly interesting notion.
"Love Laughs at Locks" makes Gord the victim of a con. The details provoke an eye-rolling lack of surprise in anyone who has read Lawrence Block or the like, but the notion that Gygax's increasingly competent uber-character can be so credulous is an interesting flaw.
The way that Gygax links it with the events of "Cat or Pigeon?"--the con artists are part of some governmental conspiracy, what?--is incredibly bizarre and forced, and the denouement of the latter talks itself into a pretzel justifying the unlikely connection, a connection that only exists as a convenience to draw Gord into the plot. The entire situation is a shame because the link is unnecessary and serves to weaken both stories.
October 5, 2014
A collection of short stories about Gord the Rogue
24 December 2012
To be honest, the only thing that I can remember about this book was the cover, and that is of a roc getting blasted with a minute lightning bolt (though considering the size of the bird, I the lightning bolt is probably an average size). One thing that I have learnt about it, even from the few brief reviews (if there is even one, because, besides this one, I can count only two) is that it is a collection of short stories written by Gary Gygax about Gord the Rogue.
The funny thing about Dungeons and Dragons short stories is that I never actually read them. I believe that I read this book, though in reality it could have simply been sitting on my shelf for an uncounted period of time before it mysteriously vanished (I remember a time when I nicked off to Sydney without telling everybody, and then my so called friends decided to raid my room on the pre-text that I owed them money – which I probably did). It could have been one of those library books that I never returned, but my parents ended up returning on my behalf (thanks Dad), or it could have been sold to a second hand bookshop when I did not want to be loaded with books anymore (and then for some reason all the stuff that I get rid off ends up being replaced with other stuff).
When I was younger I remember reading every Dragon magazine, a monthly periodical released by TSR for the Dungeons and Dragons community, that was released and I would read everything in the magazine with the exception of the short story. For some reason I simply never wanted to read the short story, despite the fact that I would read all of the other parts of the magazine, or even Dungeons and Dragons novels. The only reasoning that I have for this is that I probably only wanted to read the parts of the magazine that directly related to the game rather than some story that probably had nothing to do with the game at all.
24 December 2012
To be honest, the only thing that I can remember about this book was the cover, and that is of a roc getting blasted with a minute lightning bolt (though considering the size of the bird, I the lightning bolt is probably an average size). One thing that I have learnt about it, even from the few brief reviews (if there is even one, because, besides this one, I can count only two) is that it is a collection of short stories written by Gary Gygax about Gord the Rogue.
The funny thing about Dungeons and Dragons short stories is that I never actually read them. I believe that I read this book, though in reality it could have simply been sitting on my shelf for an uncounted period of time before it mysteriously vanished (I remember a time when I nicked off to Sydney without telling everybody, and then my so called friends decided to raid my room on the pre-text that I owed them money – which I probably did). It could have been one of those library books that I never returned, but my parents ended up returning on my behalf (thanks Dad), or it could have been sold to a second hand bookshop when I did not want to be loaded with books anymore (and then for some reason all the stuff that I get rid off ends up being replaced with other stuff).
When I was younger I remember reading every Dragon magazine, a monthly periodical released by TSR for the Dungeons and Dragons community, that was released and I would read everything in the magazine with the exception of the short story. For some reason I simply never wanted to read the short story, despite the fact that I would read all of the other parts of the magazine, or even Dungeons and Dragons novels. The only reasoning that I have for this is that I probably only wanted to read the parts of the magazine that directly related to the game rather than some story that probably had nothing to do with the game at all.
May 17, 2020
I don't generally like short story anthologies, and this one was no exception. I found the first few stories rather slow, and the just didn't seem to fit in with the high adventure of the previous Gord books. The last 2-3 stories had a connecting plot, and they were more or less chapters of a larger story, the culmination of which I didn't quite follow.
I still own the next 2 books in the series, and I am determined to continue reading.
I do not recommend this book or series. I am just reading them for nostalgia.
I still own the next 2 books in the series, and I am determined to continue reading.
I do not recommend this book or series. I am just reading them for nostalgia.
June 20, 2024
While this does count as a collection of short stories, they kind of lead into one another like links in a chain. At first, Gord is still teamed up with Chert, and they form a sort of Fahfard and the Grey Mouser duo. From there the adventures range from inconsequential to providing clues to larger mysteries and conspiracies. There isn’t much in the way of romance here, and I don’t consider the stories to be particularly scary, so aside from the swear words it's safe for kids. It might be a good idea to keep a dictionary handy because I’ve never encountered a writer who uses so many obscure meanings of so many obscure words. I think the best thing Gygax has going for his series is the action and the fantasy setting he developed. He transitions easily from the layered magic and extraplanar intrigue of high fantasy to mundane local mischief, and it's clear he understood plenty about folklore. I don't think you need to read the previous books, which helps because I think he got better with practice, but even though it's quite unspecific as to whether it takes place before or after Sea of Death it might be optimal to read the others first.
October 10, 2020
The fourth novel (2nd in the Gord The Rogue series)with Gord the Rogue as the central character, is a collection of short stories chronicling Gord’s adventures prior to the Sea of Death (vol 3/1 depending on how you are counting). The stories are well written for the most part and serve more to flush out Gord’s personality and relationships in Greyhawk than it does to advance the overall ‘artifact of evil’ narrative found in other books.
May 19, 2021
A couple of interesting moments, for the most part forgettable.
September 13, 2021
A book of tales concerning Gord the Rogue, loosely interconnected among them. Particularly important is the last one, where Gord thwarts a sinister plot. A not miss for any fan.
February 10, 2022
Nice collection of “short stories” that read like a novel since they all star the same character and build off each other.
November 15, 2019
This was the second series of fantasy books I ever read. It made me fall in love with D&D, and led me to paper top role playing.. It all started with this series of books!
January 24, 2022
A 2022 re-review. Somehow Goodreads has lost all of my original reviews. This is probably go-round #3.
A mixed bag of stories of Chert and Gord in the Gord the Rogue series. As one of the post-TSR books written by Gygax in that series, it fits between Saga of Old City and Artifact of Evil, but also falls between chapters 15 and 16 of City of Hawks, and must be interwoven with the independent stories "At midnight blackcat comes" and "The return of Gord". Thanks Gary.
Anyway, not nearly the page-turner that Gord's later adventures become, the quality of the stories is sub-par, full of inconsistencies in Gord's timeline, Gord's age, Gord's equipment and frankly just not all that interesting. Recommended only for those who want to read the "extended life" of Gord. Otherwise, entirely skippable.
A mixed bag of stories of Chert and Gord in the Gord the Rogue series. As one of the post-TSR books written by Gygax in that series, it fits between Saga of Old City and Artifact of Evil, but also falls between chapters 15 and 16 of City of Hawks, and must be interwoven with the independent stories "At midnight blackcat comes" and "The return of Gord". Thanks Gary.
Anyway, not nearly the page-turner that Gord's later adventures become, the quality of the stories is sub-par, full of inconsistencies in Gord's timeline, Gord's age, Gord's equipment and frankly just not all that interesting. Recommended only for those who want to read the "extended life" of Gord. Otherwise, entirely skippable.
December 3, 2012
There are a few passages and stories in here that made me chuckle; including "Twistbuck's Game." And several of the stories influence each other the way chapters would in a longer book. But, overall, I can't really say it will change your life.
The book provides a simple, amusing way to kill a few hours.
The book provides a simple, amusing way to kill a few hours.
October 20, 2012
Nothing quite as perversely entertaining as a Gary Gygax classic. Simple tales that built a complex world.
December 27, 2013
Classic DnD book by the master and inventor, Gary Gygax. It follows the adventures of Gord the Rogue, the 4th book in the series.
February 12, 2016
Good fantasy read by the creator of dungeons and dragons. Recommended
December 29, 2016
more like shorts stories, not really a novel.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews