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About the Author

In 1974, Gary Gygax (1938–2008) co-created the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, forever changing the face of fantasy. The hand-assembled first print run of 1000 boxed rulesets sold out in nine months, and by 1978 the game’s explosion in popularity warranted a three-volume harcover rules expansion called Advanced Dungeons & Dragons authored by Gygax. The release of AD&D coincided with the explosive popularity that catapulted the game into a true cultural phenomenon, introducing fantasy to a generation of new readers. D&D’s literary roots drew upon the sword and sorcery work of authors like Fritz Leiber, Jack Vance, and Robert E. Howard, and by the mid-1980s D&D’s publisher, TSR, began to release their own line of fantasy fiction.

Thus was born Gord the Rogue, Gygax’s rakish, metropolitan thief whose daring adventures span seven novels: Saga of Old City, Artifact of Evil, Sea of Death, City of Hawks, Night Arrant, Come Endless Darkness, and Dance of Demons. Years later he introduced a new character, the crime-solving Ægyptian wizard-priest Magister Setne Inhetep, in a trilogy of novels: The Anubis Murders, The Samarkand Solution, and Death in Delhi.

Gygax's importance to American popular culture was solidified with an animated cameo alongside Al Gore, Stephen Hawking, and Star Trek's Nichelle Nichols in a 2000 episode of Futurama.

Are there errors or omissions in this product information? Got corrections? Let us know at webmaster@paizo.com.

Andrew Turner (Pathfinder Chronicles Charter Superscriber), Fri, Sep 21, 2007, 02:42 AM

Yummy! Seoni makes a guest appearance...wait! Someone call 911 (or 119, here in Korea); my wife is beating me!!

Aubrey the Malformed (Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Companion, Pathfinder Modules, Planet Stories Subscriber), Fri, Sep 21, 2007, 03:18 AM

Hey! Lucky you!

Oh, you mean she is hitting you. Sorry.

Zootcat (Pathfinder Chronicles Charter Superscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Planet Stories Subscriber), Wed, Feb 27, 2008, 11:11 PM

The final cover art is great! But do you have to put all that writing over her body? What's the use in using a barely dressed hot chick if your just going to cover up all the juicy bits?

Edit: Maybe I should change the phrasing. What's the use in covering up that great art? There. Sound better?

Andrew Turner (Pathfinder Chronicles Charter Superscriber), Thu, Feb 28, 2008, 05:03 AM

Well that's just great! Now no-one will understand my first post! Thanks, Paizo!!

At any rate, I like the real cover much more. Besides, Seoni's sister needs to be exposed...uh...I mean exposure... never mind.

Farthing, Thu, May 8, 2008, 07:13 AM

Any idea when this is finally coming out? I'm trying to save on shipping, so this is holding up all of my pathfinder goodness... :(

Erik Mona (Publisher), Thu, May 8, 2008, 12:42 PM

The books are stateside and clearing customs right now. We hope to get them next week, but this is a somewhat murky process that has plenty of capacity for nasty surprises.

Chris Self (Sales Manager), Thu, May 8, 2008, 12:50 PM

Erik Mona wrote:

The books are stateside and clearing customs right now. We hope to get them next week, but this is a somewhat murky process that has plenty of capacity for nasty surprises.

...and by nasty, Erik means expensive and time consuming.

flash_cxxi (RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32), Mon, May 12, 2008, 04:47 PM

Farthing wrote:

Any idea when this is finally coming out? I'm trying to save on shipping, so this is holding up all of my pathfinder goodness... :(

Heh, I came here to ask the exact same question and lo someone has well and truly beaten me to the punch =)

Farthing, Tue, May 13, 2008, 10:06 AM

Chris Self wrote:

Erik Mona wrote:

The books are stateside and clearing customs right now. We hope to get them next week, but this is a somewhat murky process that has plenty of capacity for nasty surprises.

...and by nasty, Erik means expensive and time consuming.

I just realized there were more posts to this :) Thanks for responding so quickly! I know all about those "nasty surprises". Thanks for the update.

NSTR, Fri, May 16, 2008, 08:28 AM

So... is there another week of customs in this books future. Really getting impatient about reading the Gazetter. Do not get me wrong about wanting this book too, but I am already behind in reading the Planet Stories.

KaeYoss (Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Pathfinder Chronicles, Pathfinder Companion, Planet Stories Subscriber), Fri, May 16, 2008, 09:19 AM

Can't wait. So far, The Anubis Murders were my favourite Planet Story, maybe along with City of the Beast, so anything from Gary is highly anticipated.

flash_cxxi (RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32), Mon, May 19, 2008, 08:36 AM

KaeYoss wrote:

Can't wait. So far, The Anubis Murders were my favourite Planet Story, maybe along with City of the Beast, so anything from Gary is highly anticipated.

Same here. I am very keen to get this, but I was hoping to get it before I finished my current reading assignment (Blade of the Flame III: Sea of Death, a nice little Eberron Trilogy). Oh well, I'll just have to start Lord of the Spiders first.

NSTR, Thu, May 22, 2008, 02:05 PM

This book is no longer listed as a preorder so I suspect they finally got it in. Can't wait!

Lisa Stevens (CEO), Thu, May 22, 2008, 05:14 PM

NSTR wrote:

This book is no longer listed as a preorder so I suspect they finally got it in. Can't wait!

Yep, came in yesterday!

-Lisa

Elorebaen (Pathfinder Chronicles Charter Superscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Planet Stories Subscriber), Thu, May 22, 2008, 06:25 PM

Lisa Stevens wrote:

NSTR wrote:

This book is no longer listed as a preorder so I suspect they finally got it in. Can't wait!

Yep, came in yesterday!

-Lisa

Awesome! I hope this means the orders will go out tomorrow. *crosses his fingers*

KaeYoss (Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Pathfinder Chronicles, Pathfinder Companion, Planet Stories Subscriber), Fri, May 23, 2008, 12:22 PM

Now they'll just have to hurry up with A History of Ashes so I can get the book shipped in my monthly box of goodness.