''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 role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') with Dave Arneson. In the 1960s, Gygax created an ...

, 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 (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical Studies Rules ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, 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 these roles within ...

Plot summary

''Artifact of Evil'' was the second novel to feature

Gord the Rogue Gord the Rogue is the protagonist in a series of fantasy novels and short stories written by Gary Gygax. Gygax originally wrote the novels and short stories to promote his ''World of Greyhawk'' campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' ro ...

. 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 ...

prominently. Other characters appearing in the book include

Melf Metal electrode leadless face (MELF) is a type of leadless cylindrical electronic surface mount device that is vacuum deposition, metallized at its ends. MELF devices are usually diodes and resistors. The EN 140401-803 and JEDEC DO-213 standa ...

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

Obmi This is a list of characters from the Greyhawk campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. A Acererak Acererak was a powerful wizard who became a lich, and later a demilich. Publication history Acerera ...

, 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 mos ...

reviewed ''Artifact of Evil'' for ''

White Dwarf A white dwarf is a stellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. A white dwarf is very dense: its mass is comparable to the Sun's, while its volume is comparable to the Earth's. A white dwarf's faint luminosity comes fro ...

'', 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 part of Gizmodo media since 2015, and it began as blog launched in 2008 by Gawker Media. The site initially focused on the subjects of science fiction, fantasy, futurism, science, technology and related areas but over the years has ...

'' 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."

References

1986 American novels American fantasy novels Books by Gary Gygax Dwarves in popular culture Greyhawk books Novels based on Dungeons & Dragons {{Greyhawk-stub