A slight modification

So, originally my Quag Keep review was gonna be a Let's Play-style chapter-by-chapter dissection. On further examination, I think I'm going to jettison that plan. It's not a terribly long book, but it'd still take a hell of a long time at one chapter a week. And believe me, Quag Keep does NOT deserve that kind of analysis. So I think I'll just do it more big chunk by big chunk--still multi-part, though.

Some initial impressions:

Remember how I assumed that Andre Norton was a crappy writer? Yeah, so far it looks like I was right on the money. Here's the first sentence of the book:

"Eckstern produced the package with an exaggerated flourish and lifted the lid of the box to pluck out shredded packing with as much care as if he were about to display the crown jewels of some long-forgotten kingdom."

THE ENTIRE BOOK IS LIKE THIS. Norton does NOT do brevity. Except, heh, when it comes to characterization.

Also, do you know what Eckstern is unwrapping with such reverence? Pewter figurines. Yeah, it's one of THOSE kinds of books, where D&D is a tabletop wargame (this was written back in the Chainmail days, so it IS a wargame) even in the context of the book. Say what you will about R.A. Salvatore--and I have--but he never pulled this shit. This didn't work for the cartoon and it doesn't work here; all it does is pull me out of the story. Norton makes a point of thanking the book's publisher Donald A. Wollheim, "an authority and collector of military miniatures, whose special interest was so valuable for my research". Say, Andre, if you ever want to write a book about copyright infringement, Wollheim's something of an expert in that, too.

I'd also be remiss not to mention this picture of...whatever the hell this is a picture of.

A...morbidly obese lizardman on a horse? I have a feeling that's EXACTLY what it is. The back cover mentions a lizardman character...yeah, I'm calling it.

More on the way soon...