paizo.com - The Samarkand Solution (Trade Paperback)

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.

Andrew Turner (Pathfinder Chronicles Charter Superscriber; GameMastery Maps Subscriber), 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; GameMastery Maps Subscriber), 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... :(