The Temple of Elemental Evil (novel)
| The Temple of Elemental Evil | |
| Error creating thumbnail: File missing | |
| Cover of the first edition | |
| Type: | Novel |
|---|---|
| Author(s): | Thomas M. Reid |
| Cover Artist(s): | Jon Sullivan |
| Series: | Greyhawk Classics |
| Publisher: | WotC |
| First Published: | May 2001 |
| Pages: | 308 |
| ISBN: | 0-7869-1864-0 |
| Class: | Officially published content |
The Temple of Elemental Evil is a 2001 fantasy novel by Thomas M. Reid. It is set in the World of Greyhawk™ and is based on 'Dungeons & Dragons, specifically the adventure T1-4 The Temple of Elemental Evil.[1]
Cover blurb
"A sinister force, long thought destroyed, stirs in the land. As a she-demon bent on wreaking worldwide havoc struggles to escape her prison and a foul demigod plots to bend her to his will, a band of desperate heroes must infiltrate the very heart of darkness in a daring attempt to stop them both."[2]
Plot summary
The heroes entering the Temple seek to find a way to save the world from a demon struggling to escape captivity and an evil demigod working to gain control over the demon.[3]
Development
The Temple of Elemental Evil was published in May 2001.[4]
This book is a novelization of the original T1-4 adventure and features characters based on those that Reid and his friends developed while playing the adventure as part of a Greyhawk campaign in college.[citation needed]
Reception
The novel got both positive and negative reviews. One common criticism was that the pacing felt rushed and that entire sections of the original adventure were not present in the novelization.[citation needed] For example, the characters in the novel do not spend time in the village of Nulb, and the elemental "nodes" from the adventure's climax are entirely missing from the novel.[citation needed] Reid has subsequently stated that these issues were caused by the 90,000 word limitation Wizards of the Coast enforced for the book, leading him to cut out significant sections of his initial draft.[citation needed]
Reviewing the novel for Science Fiction Chronicle, Don D'Ammassa wrote that although it is "not earthshaking", the story is "well paced and logically developed, and there's even some reasonably good characterization."[5]
On GoodReads.com, the novel has an average rating of 3.29.[6] Reviewers consistently say the novel is neither the best nor the worst in the series. A strong theme throughout the reviews is that it well-represents the feel of actual gameplay and rules. "The best part was how well the author kept the GAME MECHANICS correct in this novel." Kartik Narayanan describes it as "straight up D&D fantasy. It was very much like playing the game"[6] and there are "elements clearly being pulled from the source material."[6] Marcelo Ribeirão concludes that "you'll find yourself smiling very often all along the book, due to Thomas M. Reid's ability to convert the typical game class and race stats into narrative."[6]
References
Notes
Citations
- ↑ The Seven Greyhawk Classics of the Ancient World. Black Gate , 25 September 2011.
- ↑ The Temple of Elemental Evil (novel) (2001), Back cover.
- ↑ (2005) Dungeons & Dragons For Dummies, For Dummies, pp. 375 Retrieved on 2009-02-12. ISBN: 978-0-7645-8459-6.
- ↑ WotC Product Library: The Temple of Elemental Evil. wizards.com.
- ↑ D'Ammassa, Don (September 2001). "Greyhawk: The Temple of Elemental Evil", Science Fiction Chronicle 22 (9): 42–44, DNA Productions.
- ↑ a b c d Thge Temple of Elemental Evil. GoodReads. Retrieved on 28 November 2024.
Bibliography
Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index
The Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index (EGI) is based on previous work of Jason Zavoda through '08, continued by numerous other fans. The EGI article has a list of sources, product names, abbreviations, and a link to the full, downloadable index.
| Topic | Type | Description | Product | Page/Card/Image
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil | Adventure | Located in: Verbobonc, | Dragon magazine #292 | 95 |
| Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil | Adventure | Located in: Verbobonc, | Living Greyhawk Journal #4 | 2 |
| Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil (D&D 3.0e) | Adventure | Located in: Verbobonc, | Caves of Ancient Secrets: RttToEE Web Enhancement, D&D 3.0e | 1, 11 |
| Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil (D&D 3.0e) | Adventure | Located in: Verbobonc, | Dragon magazine #347 | 34 |
| Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil (D&D 3.0e) | Adventure | Located in: Verbobonc, | Dragon magazine #356 | 18 |
| Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil (D&D 3.0e) | Adventure | Located in: Verbobonc, | Into The Unknown: The Dungeon Survival Handbook, D&D 4e | 111 |
| The Temple of Elemental Evil - Greyhawk Classics Book 4 | Publication | Novel, | Into The Unknown: The Dungeon Survival Handbook, D&D 4e | 111 |