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Item - The Temple of Elemental Evil

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Series: Greyhawk Novels — no. 11
Author: Reid, Thomas M.
Illustrator: Sullivan, Jon (cover)
Date: May, 2001
ISBNs: 0786918640 / 9780786918645 (American edition)
0786926163 / 9780786926169 (British edition)
Length: 308 pages
Kveto's Thoughts:

These non-interactive novels are based on classic, famous AD&D modules from the '70s and early '80s. This one is based on the Gary Gygax classics The Village of Hommlet and its sequel The Temple of Elemental Evil.

Unlike Keep on the Borderlands, I've not read or played the original module, famous for its length, but I'm guessing it sticks close to the story, basically a dungeon crawl. The characters are basic but feel like familiar party members. The mage casts familiar spells, the cleric is holy and heals, the druid has a pet bear, etc. While it lacks the irreverent humor of White Plume Mountain, it resembles more of an actual game session. And the characters are more distinct than the party in Keep on the Borderlands. There is even a romance between the main character Elven wizard and the half-elf druid.

Overall, of the novels I've read so far, this one probably fits the format of what the series sets out to do, a novelezation of a party in a familiar dungeon of nostalgia.

It appears to want to set up a sequel in the epilogue (I wonder which module was in mind), but I don't think the characters reappear.

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