City of Hawks

This was actually the very first Gord the Rogue book I read, back when I was in ... 7th or 8th grade, I think. I remember being very impressed with it way back then, so re-reading it now - in my early thirties - was an experience. I've read all the Gord the Rogue books by New Infinities, but never read the Greyhawk Adventures books released under TSR. Despite - or perhaps because of - this, I was able to enjoy this book on its own merits. And really... well, it's not bad. If you've been a gamer for a long time, it's a sterling example of what a good D & D novel should be like. Gary did a good job here - at least for the first portion. As far as chronology goes, the Gord the Rogue series is a mess. I'd put the first parts of this book first, followed by the stories in Night Arrant, then back to the remainder of this book, then on to Sea of Death, and onwards to Come Endless Darkness and (if you must) Dance of Demons. Gary's at his best when talking about Gord's childhood and earlier exploits. Things fall apart a little bit once he gets to the Shadowrealm, but it's still a fun read. The last 30 or so pages, however, are a hot mess. The chess metaphors get excruciating (even to the point of including a *lengthy footnote* explaining a chess variant), everything is written in an indirect way without names, and all in all it just gets crazy. Until, at the end, a character important for Come Endless Darkness is introduced. It's like Gary tried to cram as much as possible into the end in order to bridge the gap between Sea of Death and Come Endless Darkness. Regardless, it's still a fun, pulpy read after all these years.

City of Hawks is intended to be read at about the same place as its numeration in the series would imply, not at the end as another reviewer suggested. This book introduces the character of Gravestone, who becomes central in Come Endless Darkness. Also, the book contains a story ( depicted on the cover ) introducing the sword from the Plane of Shadows which later becomes part of Courflamme. As a more minor example, the reference to the Blademaster in Come Endless Darkness is seemingly a callback to a part of City of Hawks. Thus, this book is intended to be read before both Come Endless Darkness and Dance of Demons. The book itself may be the weakest of its series; the character of Bru is a blatant retcon, and both short story collections in this series are uneven. However, the sections on Gravestone and the Plane of Shadows, along with a chapter in which Gord invades a temple of Nerull, are the highlights of this installment.