by Gary Gygax, with an introduction by James Lowder

The Crown Jewels of the Maharajah of Delhi have been stolen, and only Magister Setne Inhetep, wizard-priest and detective in the service of the Ægyptian pharaoh, can get them back! Along with his beautiful amazon bodyguard Rachelle, Inhetep must face pirates and assassins, death cultists and black magic in order to voyage across thousands of miles to the lands of the Peacock Throne. Yet once there, the wizard-priest’s problems are only compounded. For in addition to the machinations of an evil witch, rebels intent on killing anyone assisting the current regime, and the cruel whims of the diabolical maharajah himself, Setne’s actions might just bring him up against Kali, Goddess of Death...

The father of fantasy roleplaying and co-creator of the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, Gary Gygax has had more influence on modern fantasy than any author since J. R. R. Tolkien. Take a ride through his dark and mysterious vision of ancient India and uncover a fantastic mystery from the man who redefined a genre.

"Gary Gygax serves up a thrilling fantasy yarn, steeped in the essence of the consulting detective tale and spiced with plenty of pulp adventure!"
    —James Lowder, bestselling author of Prince of Lies

216-page softcover trade paperback
ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-137-4

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.