Quag Keep & Return to Quag Keep

~ An Omnibus for the Quag Keep Series by Andre Norton

Contains ~

• Quag Keep (1978) Published by Atheneum, HC, 0-689-50107-2, LCCN 77017771, 224pg ~ cover by Jack Gaughan

• Return to Quag Keep (2005) Published by TOR, HC, 0-765-31298-0, $24.95, 304pg ~ cover by Justin Sweet

Synopsis ~

Write-up from the 2006 dust jacket ~

In 1978, science fiction’s Grande Dame Andre Norton was given a wonderful opportunity – to take part in the role-playing game “Dungeons & Dragons”, and to have it run in her own home by none other than the game’s creator, E. Gary Gygax. The result was Quag Keep.
When a Gaming master meets with his gamers to show off his newly acquired warrior miniatures, one gamer, Martin, is strongly attracted to a sword-wielding miniature and seizes it as his own. Instantly, he finds himself transported into the D&D realm of Greyhawk – but experiencing that realm through the mind of fighter Milo Jajon. His fellow gamers are also transformed into D&D characters – from berserker to battle-maid to lizardman. Like Martin, they each inexplicably sport an unremovable bracelet containing spinning dice…and each must face an immutable fate: to find his way to Quag Keep – the most fearsome place in all the realm – and destroy a malevolent force determined to snuff out the mundane world. But first they must survive the journey there…
In “Return to Quag Keep”, Norton teams up with Jean Rabe to revisit her bracelet-geased heroes, still trapped in Greyhawk, and still pursued by the vile darkness, Pobe. Barely escaping mounting assaults by Pobe’s servant, the were-rat Fisk, they struggle to journey back to the Keep to learn the true history of the dark force they can scarcely outrun. But they must endure the endless onslaught of hardship and treachery obstructing their way…beyond the unimaginable horror at the heart of it all: Quag Keep.

Write-ups from fans ~

Quag Keep ~ Ah, yes--"the forgotten Norton".    Andre met Gary Gygax the creator of "Dungeons and Dragons" and she sat in on some of these role-playing adventures. She decided to write a novel about Gaming gone awry. A quest involving a diverse group of stock type fantasy characters (as usual in D&D). A reptilian, a berserker were-boar, an Evish bowman and humans including a priest /healer, a bard with a magic harp, male and female fighters, and then for flavor she adds a pseudo dragon. One thing they all have in common is that all have irremovable silver bracelets with various dice attached. A wizard has brought these people to this world to stop another wizard from taking over and causing chaos in several worlds. To keep them focused he places a Geas (pronounced geese) on the group. This powerful spell forms a compulsion that binds them to their task. The perils are a-plenty, the dangers are Dire and the challenges unending. Each character has his/her own strengths and weaknesses and is vital to the team and they quickly discover that teamwork is the order of the day. The more you like RPG's, the more you will like and appreciate this tale. ~ PG

Return to Quag Keep ~ After winning through to the end and destroying the evil presence, the gamers in Quag Keep discover that they cannot return to their own world. But while playing Dungeons and Dragons was fun, living it isn't nearly as much fun. So, they have to set off on a new adventure to find their way out of this world and back into their own. But there's a new Game Master who would rather see them dead than let them return to their own world. ~ SL

Bibliography of English Editions ~

• (2006) Published by SFBC, HC, 0-739-46418-3, # 1206501, $12.99, 435pg ~ cover by J.P. Targete {Black Paper Boards, # 1206501 on Rear of Dust Jacket}