Paizo Store Top Nav Branding
Welcome, guest! | Sign In | My Account | My Subscriptions | My Downloads | Shopping Cart  Shopping Cart | Help/FAQ
  On Sale Now     Paizo Products     Games     Game Aids     Paizo.com Exclusives     Downloads     DVDs     Magazines     Comics     Fiction     Toys     Apparel     Artwork  

Pathfinder Society!
SEARCH


Shop
Upcoming Products
The Reavers of Skaith (Trade Paperback)

The Outlaws of Mars (Trade Paperback)

The Sword of Rhiannon (Trade Paperback)

Robots Have No Tails (Trade Paperback)

Store / Fiction / Planet Stories     Top Sellers     New     Upcoming
PZO8009

The Samarkand Solution (Trade Paperback)
Paizo Publishing, LLC

5x5
Our Price: $12.99
Add To Cart
5x5 5x5

by Gary Gygax, with an introduction by Ed Greenwood

The governor is dead!

While vacationing in the treacherous city of On, Magister Setne Inhetep—personal wizard-priest to the Pharaoh and part-time detective—stumbles upon a scene of murder by magic at the highest levels of government. With suspects ranging from the high priest of Set to a consortium of merchants and wizards from across the world, Inhetep must piece together the mystery before more luminaries are killed in a plot that threatens the Triple Kingdom of Ægypt!

An exotic mystery by the father of fantasy roleplaying, The Samarkand Solution is Gary Gygax at his most thrilling and mysterious.

Recommended Age: Mature Readers (ages 16 and up)

208-page softcover trade paperback
ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-083-4

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.

Usually ships from our warehouse in 3 to 6 business days

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


Product Reviews

Average product rating: FullStarFullStarFullStarFullStarFullStar (4.0) based on 1 review

Sign in to create or edit a product review.

FullStarFullStarFullStarFullStarFullStar Not Agatha Christie
Reviewer: B_Wiklund

Not having read any of Gygax's fiction I was pleasantly surprised. He's no Susanna Gregory but the Samarkand Solution provides an entertaining and not badly crafted fantasy murder mystery.(an undeveloped genre if there ever was one.)
Gygax does well in unfolding his setting and characters. His Aegypt is a bed of intrigue and religious rivalry. The colleague relationship b/w Setne and the Chief Inspector whilst not particularly original in the genre keeps the pace and dialogue snappy.
Some of the game roots show but for the most part Gygax does a good job of weaving those elements into the world and Setne's use of magic was quite colourful in many parts.
The book probably deserves three and a half stars but I'll put it at 4 for a pleasant surprise. Looking forward to Death In Delhi and now I'll have to go back and order Anubis Murders.


Product Discussion
16 posts. See all discussion for this product.

The Samarkand Solution (Trade Paperback)
Andrew Turner (Pathfinder Charter Superscriber),

Unger avatar

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

Aubrey the Malformed (Pathfinder Charter Subscriber, Pathfinder Modules Subscriber, Planet Stories Subscriber),

Golemtrio 21 avatar

Hey! Lucky you!

Oh, you mean she is hitting you. Sorry.

Zootcat (Pathfinder Charter Superscriber, Planet Stories Subscriber),

A 10-Glorio-Arkona avatar

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 Charter Superscriber),

Unger avatar

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,

Teamster avatar

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... :(

PZO8009

Top Sellers
PZO8010
1. The Ginger Star (Trade Paperback)
Our Price: $12.99
Add To Cart
2. The Samarkand Solution (Trade Paperback)
3. The Secret of Sinharat (Trade Paperback)
4. Infernal Sorceress (Trade Paperback)
5. The Anubis Murders (Trade Paperback)
6. Northwest of Earth: The Complete Northwest Smith (Trade Paperback)
7. Black God's Kiss (Trade Paperback)
8. City of the Beast (aka Warriors of Mars) (Trade Paperback)
9. Worlds of Their Own (Trade Paperback)
10. Elak of Atlantis (Trade Paperback)
Messageboards

Nevyn's CotCT, 1 minute ago by Rethvian Ardimai

Dragon 365 - Artificer Playtest, 3 minutes ago by Tatterdemalion

Ghetto's Nentir Vale Campaign, 3 minutes ago by Brianna

Ranger Favoured Enemy - No knowledge???, 11 minutes ago by Jason Sonia

Birdcrunchers! (An all-goblin RotRLAP campaign) [Major Spoilers], 5 minutes ago by tbug

Homemade Galorian Scifi Collection, 7 minutes ago by yellowdingo

Puzzled by Mearls, 7 minutes ago by Jeremy Mac Donald

Chronicles of the Silver Rose Company, 11 minutes ago by Dungeon Monkey

I swallowed a bug -- W2 PbP, 12 minutes ago by Tarren the Dungeon Master

Where will you set yours?, 15 minutes ago by FabesMinis

Store Blog

Paizo Fashions Together Some Fashion!, Friday, 07:00 PM

The End Is Near!, Thursday, 07:00 PM

How Much Loot Can You Carry?, Wednesday, 07:00 PM

Oldies but Goodies!, Jul 1, 2008

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark!, Jun 30, 2008

Sign up for our weekly store newsletter

News

Paizo Publishing Hires Sean K Reynolds, Jun 27, 2008

Paizo Publishing to Attend Gen Con UK, Jun 23, 2008

Paizo Set to Release Gary Gygax's "Lost" Final Novel in July, Jun 23, 2008

Salvatore, Stackpole, and Cunningham Come to Planet Stories in August, Jun 23, 2008

Dorkness has Risen! Announcing The Gamers: Dorkness Rising distributed by Anthem Pictures!, Jun 4, 2008



©2002–2008 Paizo Publishing, LLC®. Need help? Email customer.service@paizo.com or call 425-289-0060 Monday–Friday, 10 AM–5 PM Pacific Time. View our privacy policy. Paizo Publishing, LLC, the Paizo golem logo, GameMastery, and Undefeated are registered trademarks of, and Pathfinder, RPG Superstar, Titanic Games, the Titanic logo, Anthology Board Game, Planet Stories, and the planet logo are trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC. Amazing Stories is a trademark of, and Dungeons & Dragons, Dragon, Dungeon, and Polyhedron are registered trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc., and are used by Paizo Publishing under license. Most product names are trademarks owned or used under license by the companies that publish those products; use of such names without mention of trademark status should not be construed as a challenge to such status.