Descent into the Depths of the Earth

Greyhawk Classics #3

by Paul Kidd

The ranger and the faerie are back
Fresh from their encounter at White Plume Mountain, the Justicar and Escalla are on the way to Hommlet. But life around a pixie is never exactly . . . stable. Escalla is drawn into the intrigues of the faerie court. Before he knows it, to save her life the Justicar is on his way into the depts of the earth to fight hobgoblins, drow, and the queen of the demonweb pits.
For an adventurer, it's all in a day's work.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Dungeons and Dragons, Science Fiction Fantasy, Gaming, Role Playing Games, Audiobook

310 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 1, 2000

Reviews

[Dustin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second in what I refer to as "the Justicar series" is just as much fun as the first book. It was amazing to me that licensed books based on old D&D adventures could be this fun to read. Paul Kidd does a great job with the main characters. There's action and adventure, mystery, humor, and clever thinking to get around a few of the puzzles that the module the book is based on is known for. I would say that it feels like a group of players playing through a campaign, but these characters are written better and there aren't any Monty Python jokes being tossed around.

[Dru · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another book with "The Justicar"! Not a bad little entry in the D&D module-to-novel series. I had to knock off a star for some non-D&D stuff and failure to stick to the module, but it's better than many other books in the series.


Reasons for the missing star:
- not a true D&D party
- not a direct follow-on to "Against The Giants"
- the whole added mythology of the Faeries and their relation to Lolth
- every hit by the Justicar seems to be critical or vorpal
- Failure to lead directly into Q1


Highlights:
- a logical improvement to the existence of the Lich in the Trog caves
- directly following the 3 modules D1, D2, D3 without skipping things
- great characters, despite being non-canon
- good adherence to actual D&D spells

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Sean Helms · Rating 4 out of 5]

The further adventures of Justicar and Escalla. Personally, I love them, along with Cinders, as they whip hiney through the underdark while seeking to clear Escalla of a murder she didn'y commit.
For those of you who don't know our motley crew of heroes, here you go: Justicar is a hard-bitten ranger who investigates offenses, passes judgment, and deals out justice. Escalla is a high-strung ornery faery that always finds a way to get into trouble. Cinders is a sentient hellhound pelt who likes spreading fire with his breath and loves eating coal while hanging out with Justicar and his pal Escalla.
There is loads of adventure and plenty of monstrous baddies as the group travels deep into the underdark and finally come face to face with Lolth, Queen of the Demonweb Pits, all in an effort to clear Escalla of murder and discover the true culprit.

[Eddie Godin · Rating 5 out of 5]

So i think I found my summer addiction... Greyhawk! Absolutely havig a blast reading these. Makes me miss my old D&D friends.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

A merry chase through the Underdark meeting beholders, drow, a lich, kuatoa and an intelligent sentient sword. Quite the motley crew. The hell hound pelt is probably my favourite character.

[Frank Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was pleased to rejoin the party for another adventure. I thought the story was even more interesting than the first one and the heroes were fantastic again.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone who has ever played Dungeons and Dragons will love this book. It reads much like an adventure one would have played back in the day. Justicar and Escalla go on an adventure with Poik, the teamster, Cinder, the hell hound, and Enid, the sphinx. They eventually battle Lolth and her drow minions to uncover a murder mystery. In a sense, it is a romance as the reader is left with the idea that Jus and Escalla will end up together. Monsters, spells, and the world of Greyhawk are revisited in this delightful novel.

[Paulgtr234 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an awesome romp through a familiar territory. Not a lot of literary depth here but for what it is its a great read. The books conceit is sticking strictly to AD&D 2nd ED rules of magic and following the outline of the well known and played through dungeon module of the same name. If those things sound fun to you-you will love this book. If not, you might still love it because of the characters in it. If you have ever tried to DM a game of AD&D you will recognize the chaos created when characters do things no one expected them to do. A roller coaster ride from start to finish.

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

More enjoyable than the previous audiobook in this series ("White Plume Mountain"), also named for and based on a classic D&D module; like the prior book, this one has a plot with only a passing relation to the module (this one was a bit closer, I think), but I did recognize several scenes as being based on encounters and locations in the module. The quirky characters introduced in White Plume Mountain continue their adventures in this book. I enjoyed it!

[Bret · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book could have been really great. The story is solid, being based on one of the best adventures in history. The characters are at least interesting, especially being the second time we see them.

Unfortunately, the vast amount of sexualizing the female lead character detracts from the good parts of the book so regularly, it becomes annoying by the end. I'm glad this isn't AS common anymore, but trying to read books from back then makes it difficult to enjoy them.

[Vintage Blue · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun romp as usual with some unexpected character growth. I enjoyed it for what it is, but it was not quite as sharp as the past book. I worry too about the plethora of sidekicks the party seems to gain with each book. It's a bit distracting. Though if they are trying to emulate the average RPG campaign, they nailed it.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mostly self-contained story, and an improvement over Kidd's previous entry. An old school "dungeon crawl" (cave, forest) with adept use of action and comedy. The characters even have some depth to them, which you wouldn't expect from the genre, and their comraderie is believable and enjoyable. The Audible narrator is superb.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun adventure that shares many of the ideas from the D1-2-3 series of modules, but also a significant part of the book takes place outside of that, in a regular city and then in a faerie court. Characters return Kidd's prior book on White Plume Mountain, and those are great fun.

[John Hart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. The audio book narration makes it even better.

[Stephen Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book started odd yet the story kept getting better as it went along. The ending was very well done.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is _very_ D&D: in-story spell memorization, finding convenient magic items, wacky tactics to defeat boss monsters. It was a little too much for me. Still, very entertaining.

[Juraj Lahuta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. Most of the time, these days, I can see plot twists coming from a mile away but this story got me. Especially, who is the killer.

[Austin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic DnD fantasy, great listen!

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third book in the Greyhawk Classics series follows the continuing adventures of the Justicar and his unique bunch of companions, including the faerie Escalla and Polk the caravan master. The Justicar and his friends are pulled into the intrigue of the Faerie Court, as it turns out that Escalla is an escaped princess now being forced to return home for a political marriage. However, just as the adventurers escape, the groom is found murdered and Escalla is the prime suspect. The Justicar must Desced into the Depths of the Earth to find the real murderer.


Of all the Greyhawk Classics, I enjoy the stories of the Justicar and his friends the most. Like most of the Greyhawk Classics the novel does a good job of bringing a D&D module to life while crafting a solid story. However what sets the Justicar stories apart is the over-the-top characters, dialogue and pace of action. Reading this novel feels like I am watching a D&D campaign where the player playing the Justicar is trying to be serious while all the other players are just trying to have fun by irritating him. It makes for a good read that is both light-hearted and entertaining.

[Michael T Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh, this book! I'm so frustrated because I desperately want to give it a higher rating. Paul Kidd just fires on all cylinders for nearly ALL of this book, going from a fairly low-key start, then ramping up the drama very quickly (we get to meet Escalla's family! then she's framed for murder!). From there it proceeds to the underdark, where the party encounters a lich, a beholder, and many, many drow!

All the characters are in top form. Only Enid, who sits most of the tale out, doesn't really get a chance to shine. But beyond that, I loved all the characters, most especially the relationship between the Justicar and Escalla. They both profess their love for one another here, in a very understated and believable way, while keeping their teasing interaction. I loved, loved, LOVED everything about their relationship.

The reason this book is not a five-star book is because of a HUGE flaw around the beginning of act three. Maybe others didn't cotton on to this, but for myself, there's a bit of ... mystery? I guess? That just felt SOOO obvious. I'll talk about it in a way that avoids spoilers. The party is hunting down a clue in the Underdark, trying to figure out the REAL killer of the person Escalla is accused of murdering. They are able to pass through a lot of places because the guards just let them through upon seeing Escalla. The thin excuse given is 'I guess all fairies look alike to them.' The REAL reason is SO painfully obvious that I kept thinking, 'come on, do the reveal so this isn't a damn mystery anymore.' The reveal comes in the penultimate chapter, a kind of Perry Mason-esque denoument amended to the story, and by then I had really just lost all emotional connection because it got dragged out so long.

Maybe if you DON'T figure out the mystery it works OK? I don't know. In any case, the whole third act was mostly ruined for me because of this.

BUT the epilogue is awesome, and I really look forward to reading the third book with these characters. I probably won't do so for a while, but I've bought the book on Kindle already.

[P. Aaron Potter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know whether or not my slightly "meh" reaction to this novel is due to it being a weaker book then the first in the series, or because I didn't care for the source material as much as I did with White Plume Mountain. Either way, "meh."

This is still an enjoyable fantasy romp, although it's definitely got that middle-book-of-a-projected-trilogy vibe. The plots, both of them, play out a distant second-fiddle counterpoint to the book's main emphasis, which is the growing feelings between the Justicar and his fairy companion Escalla. I liked that Kidd managed to handle the developing relationship without recourse to either lengthy internal monologues or too-practical considerations about how a six-foot human is going to consumate a relationship with a 5-inch tall pixie. That's a background issue, as it should be when trying to deal sincerely with emotional matter in fiction. It's not entirely absent, but the focus is definitely on the characters' emotional lives, not their physiology.

There's still a proper bucketload of humor in this volume, though I'd like to see more done with Enid the Sphinx's character, and rather less with Polk the donkey drover. The draw of lowbrow fantasy is the outre, not the merely annoying. Still, a worthwhile installment in the series if you enjoyed the first volume. I'll be moving on to book three. See you there.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fun and interesting story from the Greyhawk Classics series. I have really enjoyed following the adventure of the characters Paul Kidd has created in Books 1 & 2 and hope to read more of their adventures. The grand battle at was very well written pulling in details from all sides of the battle field.

[Sandra Rosa · Rating 5 out of 5]

continuing on my re-read, while the first book took more concerns with game veracity and game limits this one throws those concepts out the window
i sincerely don't mind, but i do realize now that we get very little Enid during the first two book, hope this will be rectified in the last one...

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book with action, adventure mystery and a great sense of humour. Every thing you need in a book right here.

[TONY · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the characters

[Richard Radgoski · Rating 5 out of 5]

What do you get when you have a Justicar, a hellhound pelt, 40 some odd Troglodytes, A Fairy, a Teamster, a young Guardsman, several Floating Gas Spores, a Beholder and a Lich in the same place at the same time??? An Awesome scene right smack dab in the middle of this novel. If you have played D&D before, you say to yourself, how does our 4 heros, 2 of which are basically non-combatants, and another is a freakin sentient rug, deal with all of those baddies and survive?? Well, let me tell you...it was hilariously believable in a wow my GM would never have let me do that kind of way. But roll with it - because it's well worth the fun.

Back in the last book, I really worried that the group wouldn't make sense and I didn't like Ascalla very much. And now, she's straight up my favorite character.. Hoopie!

But be warned... the final chapters are rough - But what do you expect when you are trying to save several thousand townfolk from a mass sacrifice?

Bottom line - I enjoyed the heck out of this book, and am looking forward to joining these characters for the third novel. Good show Mr. Kidd!