Night Watch

Excellent story; the author shows a real feel for the setting. Told entirely from the main characters perspective, the other characters are also well written, with clear personalities and motivations. A hard book to put down, especially at the action filled climax. Recommended!

Robin Wayne Bailey was at one-time president of the Science Fiction Writers of America. He wrote this in four months at the request of TSR, who were trying to revamp their Greyhawk product line. This book came out the same year as R.A. Salvatore's first Drizzt book, and ultimately Forgotten Realms ended up the winner on the fiction shelves. Bailey was known for Thieves World stories before this, but this was his first bestseller.

Greyhawk is the fantasy world that I have used for nearly all of my D&D games, and I am very familiar with the history and setting. Bailey got a few minor things wrong, and his story doesn't fit in the canon timeline - but we are talking about a universe much less defined than say, Star Trek. The minor discrepancies are more than made up for in plot and storytelling - this is a ripping good yarn. Descriptions of combat are exciting, putting the reader in the scene, and the bad guys are suitably evil. Finally, the humor - mostly between members of the Nightwatch - really adds to the story.

When asked if he would write another Greyhawk novel, the author stated he would consider it. He would like to revisit Garret Starlyn and his team, and I think that would make for another great tale.