RETURN TO QUAG KEEP

Unimpressive sequel to Quag Keep, the first novel based on the Dungeons & Dragons game franchise, published 27 years after the original.

In Quag Keep, a number of Dungeons & Dragons gamers were transported to the fantasy world of Greyhawk (the setting of their game) after encountering some mysterious tabletop miniatures. The magical miniatures dictated what sort of “character” they became in Greyhawk—e.g., the gamer who picks up a thief miniature finds himself in the body of a thief, but with all his memories of the real world intact. Now those stalwart adventurers are still trapped in Greyhawk, though a stranger they meet leads them back to Quag Keep, with a plan that could help them find their way back to the real world. Action and conflict ensue, with the characters collecting plot coupons and plodding through the motions of the formula. The concept might have been fresh and exciting in the original, but in the 21st century feels trite and clichéd. Moreover, the market for the book is questionable—the hardcore gamers will find it antithetical to everything they like about gaming, and readers of heroic fantasy will simply sneer.

Derivative, stale rubbish.