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King of Sartar: Revised and Annotated Edition
King of Sartar is comprised of:
Annotated Argrath’s Saga – the complete saga of Argrath’s adventures in the Hero Wars
An overview of Orlanthi Mythology, including some of the most important Orlanthi Myths
The Composite History of Dragon Pass from the Dragonkill to Argrath’s marriage to the Queen of Saird
The Argrath Book – a compilation of material on Argrath
Jalk’s Book – material on the Colymar, Boldhome, and the Grazers
Thanks to better layout, the book is actually shorter (256 pages) despite have significant amounts of new material, including:
The Lost Chapter of Fazzur Wideread
Annotations giving out the actual dates of the Sacred Kings and of other Hero Wars events (instead of the wildly inaccurate dates in the original edition)
Countless corrections and additions intended to provide new information for the reader
Corrected genealogies
Corrected timelines
New and better maps
Although the book still contains deliberate internal contradictions and inconsistencies, annotations and other notes allow the Gloranthan scholar to determine the actual dates used by Greg and Jeff. King of Sartar is your guide to the events of the Hero Wars.
What do Gaming Luminaries say about King of Sartar?
“Wise, enigmatic, and impossibly many-sided, King of Sartar is as beguiling as any non-imaginary mythology, but with more dragonewts. Gaming culture’s equivalent of Invisible Cities or Dictionary of the Khazars.” – Robin D. Laws
“If you are unfamiliar with Glorantha, this is your chance to learn of an amazing mythic realm. If you are familiar with Glorantha, what are you waiting for?” – Sandy Petersen
“Some of us have been waiting so many years for this new revision of this book that we lost count. If you don’t know how precious a thing it is that you are holding in your hands right now… OPEN IT UP AND START READING!
Doesn’t matter where, doesn’t matter what. The world tells the tale.” – Mark Rein-Hagen
Annotated Argrath’s Saga – the complete saga of Argrath’s adventures in the Hero Wars
An overview of Orlanthi Mythology, including some of the most important Orlanthi Myths
The Composite History of Dragon Pass from the Dragonkill to Argrath’s marriage to the Queen of Saird
The Argrath Book – a compilation of material on Argrath
Jalk’s Book – material on the Colymar, Boldhome, and the Grazers
Thanks to better layout, the book is actually shorter (256 pages) despite have significant amounts of new material, including:
The Lost Chapter of Fazzur Wideread
Annotations giving out the actual dates of the Sacred Kings and of other Hero Wars events (instead of the wildly inaccurate dates in the original edition)
Countless corrections and additions intended to provide new information for the reader
Corrected genealogies
Corrected timelines
New and better maps
Although the book still contains deliberate internal contradictions and inconsistencies, annotations and other notes allow the Gloranthan scholar to determine the actual dates used by Greg and Jeff. King of Sartar is your guide to the events of the Hero Wars.
What do Gaming Luminaries say about King of Sartar?
“Wise, enigmatic, and impossibly many-sided, King of Sartar is as beguiling as any non-imaginary mythology, but with more dragonewts. Gaming culture’s equivalent of Invisible Cities or Dictionary of the Khazars.” – Robin D. Laws
“If you are unfamiliar with Glorantha, this is your chance to learn of an amazing mythic realm. If you are familiar with Glorantha, what are you waiting for?” – Sandy Petersen
“Some of us have been waiting so many years for this new revision of this book that we lost count. If you don’t know how precious a thing it is that you are holding in your hands right now… OPEN IT UP AND START READING!
Doesn’t matter where, doesn’t matter what. The world tells the tale.” – Mark Rein-Hagen
452 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 1, 1992
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
October 13, 2018
Metaplot has long been a hobgoblin in RPGs. How do you move forward a timeline without railroading players and/or invalidating local campaigns? Greg Stafford offers a solution for this problem in King of Sartar, written by Greg as a new start to Glorantha, after he'd left behind his work with Avalon Hill, then the controllers of RuneQuest.
What if you told a story in bits and fragments, all from the point of view of some 600 or so years in the future? What if those fragments were self-contradictory, meaning some of them were obviously wrong? The result would be a future history where every GM could choose how His Glorantha Might Vary. And that's exactly what King of Sartar is.
But, King of Sartar is more than just a sop for roleplayers, a way to both offer a future history and not contradict games. It's also a brilliant puzzle, the beginning of a thousand discussions about what really happened in the Hero Wars. And it's made all the more fun by a set of scholarly conclusions at the end, at least some of which are obviously ludicrous.
But King of Sartar doesn't even stop there. As a set of scattered documents, it has the ability to go far afield from just the stories of the Hero Wars, and it does so by also revealing the histories and myths of the peoples of Dragon Pass. My favorite are the Orlanthi myths, but there are also a variety of histories, such as those of the Grazers and the EWF, and even cultural notes on the Orlanthi. But, despite these scattered sources, King of Sartar itself retains a solid core. When you're done you'll have a strong understanding of the peoples of Dragon Pass, past and future.
Greg wrote many other in-world histories after this one, part of what's now called the "Greg Stafford Library". But none have the majesty and mystery of this initial effort.
(And if you're not already a Gloranthan fan, this book isn't for you. Go read RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha to get indoctrinated into the Cult of Greg.)
What if you told a story in bits and fragments, all from the point of view of some 600 or so years in the future? What if those fragments were self-contradictory, meaning some of them were obviously wrong? The result would be a future history where every GM could choose how His Glorantha Might Vary. And that's exactly what King of Sartar is.
But, King of Sartar is more than just a sop for roleplayers, a way to both offer a future history and not contradict games. It's also a brilliant puzzle, the beginning of a thousand discussions about what really happened in the Hero Wars. And it's made all the more fun by a set of scholarly conclusions at the end, at least some of which are obviously ludicrous.
But King of Sartar doesn't even stop there. As a set of scattered documents, it has the ability to go far afield from just the stories of the Hero Wars, and it does so by also revealing the histories and myths of the peoples of Dragon Pass. My favorite are the Orlanthi myths, but there are also a variety of histories, such as those of the Grazers and the EWF, and even cultural notes on the Orlanthi. But, despite these scattered sources, King of Sartar itself retains a solid core. When you're done you'll have a strong understanding of the peoples of Dragon Pass, past and future.
Greg wrote many other in-world histories after this one, part of what's now called the "Greg Stafford Library". But none have the majesty and mystery of this initial effort.
(And if you're not already a Gloranthan fan, this book isn't for you. Go read RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha to get indoctrinated into the Cult of Greg.)
January 13, 2020
Deeply inspired by The Silmarillion, one supposes. It has that deep worldbuilding feel, with multiple overlapping myths, not all of which are mutually compatible. That the curator has a presence and that curator is Greg Stafford himself makes me wonder how Glorantha relates to our world, and so on.
And it's not like anything else, I'll give it that. The influences aren't particularly Northern European or European or any other cultural area that I can recognize. There's some wild, outre material--the Machine City, the reshaping that created the Pain Centaurs, and so forth--but these are nuggets in a sweeping history that I honestly can't get too interested in. I'm missing some critical historical piece or overview or understanding of the underlying game rules or setting. And the whole thing may not be something to read as much as reference.
And it's not like anything else, I'll give it that. The influences aren't particularly Northern European or European or any other cultural area that I can recognize. There's some wild, outre material--the Machine City, the reshaping that created the Pain Centaurs, and so forth--but these are nuggets in a sweeping history that I honestly can't get too interested in. I'm missing some critical historical piece or overview or understanding of the underlying game rules or setting. And the whole thing may not be something to read as much as reference.
Read
April 27, 2020A somewhat awkward, though intriguing, introduction to Glorantha. I bought this a while ago after suspecting that there was something more to this whole Glorantha thing than your typical game setting, and after hearing that King of Sartar was a solid literary work in its own right.
Okay, yes: yes it is. But it's also fairly baffling to a newcomer. The first 40 pages or so, "Argrath's Saga", gripped me. After that I found I had to set the book down and go read the setting and cultural parts of "Runequest: Roleplaying in Glorantha" to have some necessary background for what I was reading. I still didn't feel quite that I understood the significance of 50% of what I was reading, but it helped.
The text is a bricolage of myth, commentary, ethnography, hagiography, history...and more (what's that word for suppressed political literature? I can't think of it now). It's rich and confusing. For example: I have a very good sense of the story of Argrath and how it fits when set against the backdrop of his culture, geography, and history. But also, the book is subtitled: "The Mystery of Argrath: How One Man Became a God," and I have no idea how he became a god, and only a vague sense that he did become a god at all. Any such consideration seems to be ancillary to the text. And anyway, why does this collection of texts focus on Argrath at all? what's his importance to the history of Sartar and greater Dragon Pass?
I feel that the answer is probably in here, but it eludes me. Maybe it's time to move onto The Guide To Glorantha, daunting as that seems...
(This is a part of the Shelf Love project: shorturl.at/dCRV9)
TL
Okay, yes: yes it is. But it's also fairly baffling to a newcomer. The first 40 pages or so, "Argrath's Saga", gripped me. After that I found I had to set the book down and go read the setting and cultural parts of "Runequest: Roleplaying in Glorantha" to have some necessary background for what I was reading. I still didn't feel quite that I understood the significance of 50% of what I was reading, but it helped.
The text is a bricolage of myth, commentary, ethnography, hagiography, history...and more (what's that word for suppressed political literature? I can't think of it now). It's rich and confusing. For example: I have a very good sense of the story of Argrath and how it fits when set against the backdrop of his culture, geography, and history. But also, the book is subtitled: "The Mystery of Argrath: How One Man Became a God," and I have no idea how he became a god, and only a vague sense that he did become a god at all. Any such consideration seems to be ancillary to the text. And anyway, why does this collection of texts focus on Argrath at all? what's his importance to the history of Sartar and greater Dragon Pass?
I feel that the answer is probably in here, but it eludes me. Maybe it's time to move onto The Guide To Glorantha, daunting as that seems...
(This is a part of the Shelf Love project: shorturl.at/dCRV9)
TL
March 11, 2024
re-read early march of 2024. somewhat flawed and awkward in places but extremely imaginative both in content and in presentation. contradicts itself in a lot of places on purpose, since it presents itself as the written version of an orally transmitted legend about a mythical king. some really insane imagery.
August 2, 2026
Remarkable novel, though it ends quite a bit stronger than it starts. Most people rightly treat it as a gaming resource, but it's also a proper adventure tale.
March 17, 2017
I picked up a hardback copy at Dragonmeet 2016, naturally getting Jeff to sign it (hopefully one day I'll get to add Greg's autograph too!) having recently fallen in love with Glorantha through both reading around the setting and the fantastic games run there by our GM. For those that don't know Glorantha it is a mythical world created by Greg Stafford and the setting for a number of roleplaying games over the years.
King of Sartar is a fascinating experiment. It isn't a novel, rather it is a collection of writings from Glorantha - I say from rather than about, as the writings are presented as source materials about the place by its own people, a bit like the source materials that historians in the 'real world' might sift through. There are inconsistencies, gaps, and questions left unanswered. In places its deliberately dry, in others it sparkles. As a piece of creative writing, it's a remarkable work. As a book to simply read through for fun, it hits a different spot than a standard work of literature, its more of an experience than a story. It's full of the myths and histories of the peoples of Glorantha from creation to the 'present day'. Unlike many fantasy works, the conflicts aren't presented as black and white, good and evil, instead we hear from the viewpoints of different factions, making a much more nuanced and satisfying picture, although of course the tendency is still to regard the Lunars as the enemy with the general bias towards the Orlanthi people.
Personally I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, and will certainly return to it for the background it gives to this imaginary world. Hopefully, it will also inform future gaming there too.
King of Sartar is a fascinating experiment. It isn't a novel, rather it is a collection of writings from Glorantha - I say from rather than about, as the writings are presented as source materials about the place by its own people, a bit like the source materials that historians in the 'real world' might sift through. There are inconsistencies, gaps, and questions left unanswered. In places its deliberately dry, in others it sparkles. As a piece of creative writing, it's a remarkable work. As a book to simply read through for fun, it hits a different spot than a standard work of literature, its more of an experience than a story. It's full of the myths and histories of the peoples of Glorantha from creation to the 'present day'. Unlike many fantasy works, the conflicts aren't presented as black and white, good and evil, instead we hear from the viewpoints of different factions, making a much more nuanced and satisfying picture, although of course the tendency is still to regard the Lunars as the enemy with the general bias towards the Orlanthi people.
Personally I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, and will certainly return to it for the background it gives to this imaginary world. Hopefully, it will also inform future gaming there too.
August 6, 2016
"King of Sartar" is a decent introduction to the Glorantha universe, but as a novel it is mind-numbingly boring. It is the story of two complete Marty Stu characters (Argrath among men, Orlanth among gods) who perform a series of "heroic" feats with zero effort and zero difficulty. The characters are flat as pancakes, there is not even a hint of suspense, and the prose is incredibly plain.
"Oh no! The evil Lunar Empire invaded! But Argrath defeated them. Oh noes! The evil Lunar Empire invaded again! But Argrath kicked their butts."
"Then a monster appeared! Then Orlanth killed it. Then another monster appeared! Then Orlanth whacked it."
I understand that "King of Sartar" attempts to mimic mythology and legends. But simply imitating the FORM of a myth does not make a story worth reading - quite the contrary. Compare with J.R.R. Tolkien's "Silmarillion", which has a similar form. "The Silmarillion" works because the characters are moderately interesting, there is some suspense, and Tolkien's prose is beautiful (and probably other reasons as well). "King of Sartar" fails miserably on all those three counts.
I read this book as an attempt to get into the Glorantha universe in preparation for the upcoming board game "Glorantha: The Gods War" (which is going to be awesome). As an introduction to Glorantha this is better than nothing. As a novel "King of Sartar" is a complete failure.
"Oh no! The evil Lunar Empire invaded! But Argrath defeated them. Oh noes! The evil Lunar Empire invaded again! But Argrath kicked their butts."
"Then a monster appeared! Then Orlanth killed it. Then another monster appeared! Then Orlanth whacked it."
I understand that "King of Sartar" attempts to mimic mythology and legends. But simply imitating the FORM of a myth does not make a story worth reading - quite the contrary. Compare with J.R.R. Tolkien's "Silmarillion", which has a similar form. "The Silmarillion" works because the characters are moderately interesting, there is some suspense, and Tolkien's prose is beautiful (and probably other reasons as well). "King of Sartar" fails miserably on all those three counts.
I read this book as an attempt to get into the Glorantha universe in preparation for the upcoming board game "Glorantha: The Gods War" (which is going to be awesome). As an introduction to Glorantha this is better than nothing. As a novel "King of Sartar" is a complete failure.
August 30, 2023
(Note: This review is for the “Revised and Annotated” edition of King of Sartar, published in 2016.)
The most important thing to know about King of Sartar is that it is not a novel. Some reviewers have labeled it as an “epistolary novel,” but even that is too suggestive of a single narrative with a unified plot. There’s none of that in King of Sartar. Instead, it’s a collection of many stories, sometimes multiple versions of the same story, all set in the same fantastic world. It’s a tour de force in world-building, and it’s well worth reading on that basis. On the other hand, if you’re looking for a single coherent narrative, with a more conventional plot, characterization, and dramatic tension, then this book is not going to work for you.
The central conceit in King of Sartar is that centuries ago, a hero named Argrath (the name means something like “savior” or even “messiah”) unified the tribes of the kingdom of Sartar, and led them against the oppressive Lunar Empire which had occupied the kingdom for a generation. The result was a period of conflict and cosmic upheaval known as the “Hero Wars.” The gods and forms of magic that had held sway for eons were cast aside. Even literacy itself vanished, as for generations people simply forgot how to read and write. Only in recent times have literate civilizations begun to reappear. King of Sartar is a collection of fictional letters, scholarly papers, and mythical accounts, all written as if academics are trying to piece together the truth about Argrath long after his death.
There are some brilliant intellectual jokes buried in this odd book, familiar to anyone who’s made a serious study of real-world ancient history or mythology. The Hero Wars and the dark age that followed are immediately reminiscent of the Greek heroic age, and the “Bronze Age Collapse” that brought the Mycenaean civilization crashing down. The book’s fictional authors constantly engage in euhemeristic speculation, trying to cut through to the mundane truth they assume must stand behind the magical stories they’re studying. There are debates over whether Argrath was a single historical individual, or whether several different hero-tales were merged into one. There’s even a dispute over whether a “long” or a “short” chronology is more appropriate, with a positively Velikovskian speculation about whether a few centuries of the accepted account simply never happened in the first place.
Meanwhile, the stories themselves are a treasure-trove of lore about the world of Glorantha, famous through decades of tabletop wargames, roleplaying games, and computer games. Fans of any of these, from Runequest to King of Dragon Pass and its sequels, will find lots of clues to that fictional world here.
King of Sartar defies classification – there just aren’t many books like it in the fantasy genre. The closest thing I can compare it to is parts of J. R. R. Tolkien’s legendarium. King of Sartar occasionally reminds the reader of the Silmarillion, or better yet the volumes of unfinished material later collected by Christopher Tolkien to document the evolution of his father’s creation.
All in all, this is less a novel to be read than it is an intellectual experience to be savored. Very highly recommended if you’re a student of ancient history or myth, if you’re a fan of the world of Glorantha, or if you’re simply interested in how fantasy world-building can be done. Keep your distance, though, if you’re looking for a more conventional narrative.
The most important thing to know about King of Sartar is that it is not a novel. Some reviewers have labeled it as an “epistolary novel,” but even that is too suggestive of a single narrative with a unified plot. There’s none of that in King of Sartar. Instead, it’s a collection of many stories, sometimes multiple versions of the same story, all set in the same fantastic world. It’s a tour de force in world-building, and it’s well worth reading on that basis. On the other hand, if you’re looking for a single coherent narrative, with a more conventional plot, characterization, and dramatic tension, then this book is not going to work for you.
The central conceit in King of Sartar is that centuries ago, a hero named Argrath (the name means something like “savior” or even “messiah”) unified the tribes of the kingdom of Sartar, and led them against the oppressive Lunar Empire which had occupied the kingdom for a generation. The result was a period of conflict and cosmic upheaval known as the “Hero Wars.” The gods and forms of magic that had held sway for eons were cast aside. Even literacy itself vanished, as for generations people simply forgot how to read and write. Only in recent times have literate civilizations begun to reappear. King of Sartar is a collection of fictional letters, scholarly papers, and mythical accounts, all written as if academics are trying to piece together the truth about Argrath long after his death.
There are some brilliant intellectual jokes buried in this odd book, familiar to anyone who’s made a serious study of real-world ancient history or mythology. The Hero Wars and the dark age that followed are immediately reminiscent of the Greek heroic age, and the “Bronze Age Collapse” that brought the Mycenaean civilization crashing down. The book’s fictional authors constantly engage in euhemeristic speculation, trying to cut through to the mundane truth they assume must stand behind the magical stories they’re studying. There are debates over whether Argrath was a single historical individual, or whether several different hero-tales were merged into one. There’s even a dispute over whether a “long” or a “short” chronology is more appropriate, with a positively Velikovskian speculation about whether a few centuries of the accepted account simply never happened in the first place.
Meanwhile, the stories themselves are a treasure-trove of lore about the world of Glorantha, famous through decades of tabletop wargames, roleplaying games, and computer games. Fans of any of these, from Runequest to King of Dragon Pass and its sequels, will find lots of clues to that fictional world here.
King of Sartar defies classification – there just aren’t many books like it in the fantasy genre. The closest thing I can compare it to is parts of J. R. R. Tolkien’s legendarium. King of Sartar occasionally reminds the reader of the Silmarillion, or better yet the volumes of unfinished material later collected by Christopher Tolkien to document the evolution of his father’s creation.
All in all, this is less a novel to be read than it is an intellectual experience to be savored. Very highly recommended if you’re a student of ancient history or myth, if you’re a fan of the world of Glorantha, or if you’re simply interested in how fantasy world-building can be done. Keep your distance, though, if you’re looking for a more conventional narrative.
October 28, 2018
I bought this copy because I'd worn out the paperback. And the second copy of the paperback.
Only for Glorantha nerds, and preferably those who come to it from reading Arthurian history/mythology, so you can see what the real-life author has done in creating the in-Glorantha authors, all of whom are unreliable, all of whom are writing for a specific audience, and have specific background beliefs and prejudices. It's utterly brilliant, and several hundred re-reads later I'm still getting things out of it.
The casual reader, though, will probably go "huh? what???" and put it down again.
Only for Glorantha nerds, and preferably those who come to it from reading Arthurian history/mythology, so you can see what the real-life author has done in creating the in-Glorantha authors, all of whom are unreliable, all of whom are writing for a specific audience, and have specific background beliefs and prejudices. It's utterly brilliant, and several hundred re-reads later I'm still getting things out of it.
The casual reader, though, will probably go "huh? what???" and put it down again.
December 3, 2023
A remarkable book that's taken me an age of dipping in and out of. Bought an e-book version which isn't ideal for some of the lineages, some of which are reproduced in RQ sourcebooks.
It's a strange mish-mash of history, legend, hearsay, opinion, and random bits of information. I think beyond dedicated RQ fans it would have only passing interests, but for those who love Dragon Pass and can't splash £200 in the Guide to Glorantha encyclopedia, it's a decent deep dive. Useful for those who want to transpose a meta-plot on their game.
It's a strange mish-mash of history, legend, hearsay, opinion, and random bits of information. I think beyond dedicated RQ fans it would have only passing interests, but for those who love Dragon Pass and can't splash £200 in the Guide to Glorantha encyclopedia, it's a decent deep dive. Useful for those who want to transpose a meta-plot on their game.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 30, 2017
Cool book. But to me, the plot twists such below, are lame, and for people with a really bad imagination:
"And then they woke up, and it was all a dream!"
"And then the waters rose up, and Narnia was no more"
".. and after a long time, middle-earth became just earth"
If not for this, it would be a really really cool book.
Getting rid of a RPG world is ok, and the makers choice.
However, it should be done in a way which is not super lame.
"And then they woke up, and it was all a dream!"
"And then the waters rose up, and Narnia was no more"
".. and after a long time, middle-earth became just earth"
If not for this, it would be a really really cool book.
Getting rid of a RPG world is ok, and the makers choice.
However, it should be done in a way which is not super lame.
June 1, 2020
King of Sartar is definitely not a novel nor even an RPG sourcebook. It is a fragmented collection of myths, lies, truths, half-truths and untruths told from different points of view and from different places in an uncertain timeline. Welcome to the world of Glorantha! If you are like me you will struggle at the start, get frustrated trying to join all the dots, realise that that is not what you are supposed to do, and finally experience something akin to what happened to Ingolf.
King of Sartar is very funny in places, brilliantly imagined, delightfully contradictory, abrupt and chaotic. One of my favourites is story of the ruler (whose name I won't mention here for spoiler reasons) who "was well versed in the religious arts, and resisted growing Lunar strength with all his ability...ruled for eighteen years, but was killed when a stray moonbeam blinded him as he climbed a cliff to escape a hungry dinosaur."
King of Sartar is very funny in places, brilliantly imagined, delightfully contradictory, abrupt and chaotic. One of my favourites is story of the ruler (whose name I won't mention here for spoiler reasons) who "was well versed in the religious arts, and resisted growing Lunar strength with all his ability...ruled for eighteen years, but was killed when a stray moonbeam blinded him as he climbed a cliff to escape a hungry dinosaur."
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 30, 2015
Interesting book for the Rune Quest/Glorantha officianado. The book made me want to pull out my copy of Dragon Pass and got me excited for Gods War from Petersen Games. When I got the book I was hoping for something more narrative. Instead it is pseudo academic, told by historians long after the events of the Hero Wars in Glorantha. The beginning has a more fable like quality and then descends into lists of kings and academic discussions. The idea is cool, but I am not so invested in Glorantha minutia. It was quite a slog to finish the book.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews