''Artifact of Evil'' is a 1986 fantasy novel by

Gary Gygax Ernest Gary Gygax ( ; July 27, 1938 – March 4, 2008) was an American game designer and author best known for co-creating the pioneering tabletop role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') with Dave Arneson. In the 1960s, Gygax creat ...

, set in the world of

Greyhawk Greyhawk, also known as the World of Greyhawk, is a fictional world designed as a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy roleplaying game. Although not the first campaign world developed for ''Dungeons & Dragons''—Dave Arneson' ...

, which is based on the ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out ...

Plot summary

''Artifact of Evil'' was the second novel to feature Gord the Rogue. Gord and his companions must stop a recently uncovered ancient artifact from falling into the wrong hands, as its power could destroy their world. This was the first novel to feature the

drow The drow ( or ) or dark elves are a dark-skinned and white-haired subrace of Elf (Dungeons & Dragons), elves connected to the Subterranea (geography), subterranean Underdark in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy roleplaying game. The drow have t ...

prominently. Other characters appearing in the book include

Melf Metal electrode leadless face (MELF) is a type of leadless cylindrical electronic surface mount device package with metal end terminals. Diodes and resistors are the most common MELF devices. The EN 140401-803 and JEDEC DO-213 standards descr ...

of the Arrow (who has sworn fealty to

Mordenkainen Mordenkainen is a fictional wizard from the ''World of Greyhawk'' campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' roleplaying game. He was created by Gary Gygax as a player character, only months after the start of Gygax's Greyhawk campaign and ...

), Anthraxus the Oinodaemon (who appears to the Horned Society as a messenger for Nerull), the

dwarf Dwarf, dwarfs or dwarves may refer to: Common uses *Dwarf (folklore), a supernatural being from Germanic folklore * Dwarf, a human or animal with dwarfism Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Dwarf (''Dungeons & Dragons''), a sh ...

Obmi, and the losel (mixtures of orcs and baboons).

Publication history

wrote ''Artifact of Evil'' as a continuation of his first novel, ''

Saga of Old City ''Saga of Old City'' is a 1985 fantasy novel by Gary Gygax, set in the world of Greyhawk, which is based on the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. Plot summary ''Saga of Old City'' was the first novel to feature Gord the Rogue. ...

'', and it was published in 1986 as the final novel under TSR's ''Greyhawk Adventures'' banner that was written by Gygax.

Reception

Dave Langford David Rowland Langford (born 10 April 1953) is a British author, editor, and critic, largely active within the science fiction field. He publishes the science-fiction fanzine and newsletter ''Ansible'' and holds the all-time record for most Hug ...

reviewed ''Artifact of Evil'' for ''

White Dwarf A white dwarf is a Compact star, stellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. A white dwarf is very density, dense: in an Earth sized volume, it packs a mass that is comparable to the Sun. No nuclear fusion takes place i ...

'' #78, quipping "At first glimpse within, my soul was purged by the brutalities visited upon the English language", and concluding that the story was nothing more than "an ''AD&D'' campaign write-up". In the ''

Io9 ''io9'' is a sub-blog of the technology blog ''Gizmodo'' that focuses on science fiction and fantasy pop culture, with former focuses on science, technology and futurism. It was created as a standalone blog in 2008 by editor Annalee Newitz under ...

'' series revisiting older ''Dungeons & Dragons'' novels, Rob Bricken commented that "''Artifact of Evil'' rolls a 5 on a d20, making it a bit higher than ''Saga of Old Citys original 4. But whereas ''Saga'' took a -2 penalty for general unpleasantness and lack of a coherent narrative, ''Artifact'' avoids it by being mostly okay and kind of having a coherent narrative. However, both books still earn a -3 penalty for needless misogyny, so ''Artifact of Evil'' ends with a 2. Not good, but... no. It's simply not good. If you somehow manage to track a copy down, stop tracking that copy down immediately."

Reviews

*''

Voice of Youth Advocates ''Voice of Youth Advocates'' (''VOYA'') was a bimonthly magazine that provides book reviews and information for librarians with a focus on young adult materials. History and profile ''VOYA'' was established in 1978. The founders were Dorothy M ...

'' (August 1986)

References

1986 American novels American fantasy novels Books by Gary Gygax Dwarves in popular culture Greyhawk novels {{Greyhawk-stub