Name: The Samarkand Solution
Rating: 3.38 (9 reviews)
ISBN: 9780451452405

461 reviews375 followers

October 30, 2019

Ladies and gentlemen, if I don't have a vagrancy, I'll try to write this review, but first I'll let you know my future criticisms. The plan, except for an unexpected project to emerge, is to continue my summer reviews again, even though I have forgotten some of the characters. My plan is to continue before continuing with "Drive" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... my plan is to continue with Charles Dickens' "The Antique Store" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4... , and with Victor Hugo's "Bug Jargal" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5... other than that I owe a review of "Gil Gamesh" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... Unless someone asks me to write a review, from another book, that I have read. But in the meantime I'll be paying particular tribute to the figure of Gary Gygax https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... . This book, which I intend to comment on, for goodreads users is not the first in the saga that Gygax wrote about Dangerous Journeys, but the second part, and the reason I start with the second part, and not for the first https://www.goodreads.com/series/1528... is for two semi-purposes as the immortal G.K. Chesterton would say https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... first, because it is the book, which I liked most about the three, and also because it did not come to the enough ratings among goodreads users, as to be recommended to other Goodreads users, and considered this to be a pity. The history of this book will be very brief. One of my hobbies is visiting bookstores, and one of them is a second-hand bookstore, where I could find the three tomos, which I bought at a modest price. I must admit, I didn't expect much of these three books, but I've been surprised, and liked it a lot more than I thought, and I think, that Gygax aside from being the creator of the wonderful role-playing game dungeons and Dragons deserves to go down in history not only as the creator of the Greyhawk series https://www.goodreads.com/series/4045... https://www.goodreads.com/series/4045... also deserves to be recognized for having created toth's detective-wizard-priest (who has the head in the form of Ibi) Setne Imhetep, and his repellent companion the rider Rachelle. With this trilogy Gary Gygax get to link to two very different genres the fantastic genre and the police. I admit that the first novel "The Murders of Anubis" had a hard time being sympathetic to her. I think, that much of the negative reviews, which in my opinion has received this saga is because Gygax is not a historian to use and instead of telling a historical novel what it does is not create a Ukrainian (on this subject, if you are interested I recommend you throw a look at my review of Jo Walton's Farthing https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... and if you still want to know more about this genre I recommend reading admired friend Manuel Alfonseca "The Jacob`s ladder" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... already this story is for me one of the best stories of fictional history, or of alternative universe that has been created, but if you want to know more about this genre you read the final notes, which my wise friend wrote. Keep in mind, when we first approach this trilogy is that Gary Gygax is a good writer, but he is inferior to great writers like J.R.R. Tolkien https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... although this despite others Writers. Despite writing a magnificent book, Mrs. Silvia Pato in her wonderful book "Short Story of Fantasy" edited by Nowtilus https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4... it seems to more or less criticize Catholic fantasy readers that we only like J.R.R. Tolkien, and he seems to tell us that the rest of the fantasy authors reject them. Absolutely false this accusation, as you can see in goodreads there are a lot of Catholic users who enjoy reading fantasy writers. Of course some will like some authors more, and others will not. But there are writers that a Catholic should be discouraged, because they write for a hostile purpose, and destroy the religious belief of the reader. This of course began in the 1960s, and a Catholic above his hobbies, and tastes has a goal to obtain the eternal salvation of his soul, and whether any book that separates him from that purpose should abstain from them, or be very critical of them. That doesn't mean it has to be banned. When I write criticisms of anti-Christian books or authors critical of Christianity I say that the best way to combat their postulates is not by forbidding their books, but by writing better books to answer them, and sometimes even those writers Anti-Christians are read by Catholic writers, who are inspired by them to write better works, which are suitable not only for Catholics, and Protestants, but for all readers outside their creed. The second reason, which made me want to challenge Ms. Silvia Pato, is because she accused Catholics of organizing a campaign against Dungeons and Dragons. That's what my friend Werner A. Lind https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... we both come to the same conclusion, that role-playing games are not anti-Christian. It hangs from the specific role-playing game and the intention that the participants have. Gary Gygax's saga was accused of being pagan and demonic. Let's put things in place. This campaign was undertaken by a mother, whose son committed suicide, and she went (unfairly) into role-playing games. The truth must be told was only a group of Catholics, and people of other confessions, and not all. I saw no condemnation on the part of the bishops, nor that the Pope condemned them in any encyclical, synod, or council. Most didn't join that campaign. Instead, Ms. Duck silenced a fact known as the crime of the role that criminalized role players for years, and there was not involved the Catholic Church, but televisions that reported to greater glory of the PSOE, and that was not reported by denounced Mrs. Pato. Perhaps because it is easier to criminalize Catholics, and blame them for all that goes wrong in the world, even though the most violent, bloodier century has been the twentieth century, which can be considered as the least religious century of all. The majority of victims who suffer religious persecution are Christians, especially Catholics. Nor has it been protested against a thing that I find infamous the attempt to rewrite classics, because they have been branded sexist, racist, or otherwise. Not only that, but we see authors like Perrault denigrating, because they are not feminist enough. I think that is much worse than the whole campaign that could have been carried out against Mr Gygax, to whom I apologise if any harm was caused in life by this. Back to our business. It is true, that this cycle of "Dangerous Journeys" is a little pagan, and there is no trace of Christianity, because I believe, that Gygax in this case has followed the pattern of Charles Renovier, who wrote a book according to which Rome would not have converted to Christianity, and would not have succumbed to the peoples , who crossed the limes (some by the way Romanized, and Christianized, albeit with heretical variants) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show.... One thing if we agree with Mrs. Duck, and that is that for example you do not have enough consideration with a writer of the talent of Poul Anderson https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... in my opinion Anderson was talented enough to write a great story, without betraying the story as he did in Time Patrol. Nor for example does lyon Sprague Camp model https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... or Fletcher Pratt https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... by the way translated by my admired and appreciated Juan Manuel de Prada https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... with a wonderful prologue by the also great fantasy expert and writer Javier Martín Lalanda https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... Juan Manuel de Prada also translated the second part " The apprentice becomes a magician" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... Gygax unlike Lyon Sprague de Camp, or Fletcher Pratt does not turn to a scientist, who gets into a magical world, but opts for more than a ucrony, since the book doesn't look either utopian or dystopic (on this subject I recommend Rino Cammelleri's book "Monsters of Reason" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... What Gygax does is create a world where the pagan rites of the different civilizations of the late Roman empire survive. England is split in five, there is a Fraconia, Polchana, a Byzantium. The surprise I took in this second part, and that for me it was a relief is that Gygax does not continue the plot of the "Asesintos de Anubis" but starts from scratch. In addition, he does not make his hero Setne travel anywhere (in "The Murders of Anubis" travels to the Celtic world), but here we see him in Egypt besides his assistant, no bodyguard, or girlfriend the ex-slave Rachelle, who is somewhat repellent. This adventure takes place in Egypt in On and a twin city, in which as if it were a classic police novel an Egyptian governor asks the priest of Toth to investigate some events. Everything gets complicated when an old enemy of Setne appears. This world of Gygax may be pagan, but Gygax clearly distinguishes between good and evil. There are good gods like Toth, and bad gods like Seth, or the snake Apep. The coolest thing about this novel is that it is a tireless relon of action that does not leave any time for reflection to the reader. If Setne isn't fighting an Efrit, or he's solving a murder. He'll be doing some delicious interrogations of suspects, and there's the funniest thing, that almost everyone is guilty of. When you think you have the culprit or he dies or another one more culprit shows up. He is also very well supported by circumstantial characters very well done Tuhorus the honest policeman, or the charming Xonaapi, who plays Rachelle. That although it seems the typical character, he plays the lady in distress, and the typical blonde fool, as if it were a Spillane novel https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8... . She gives me, she's very smart, for what she wants. Not only that, but the plot is full of much humor, as if Agatha Christie https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... or Edmund Crispin had https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... written a novel police in a fantastic universe. There are very well-written fights. Both the motive for the crime and the instrument for committing the murders is fascinating. Perhaps saving many distances is the best novel about Egypt, which I have read without telling Mika Waltari who has written with "Sinuhe the Egyptian" an insurmountable novel. But he's in the line of Fred Saberhagen's "Piramyds" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... of course and apologized to Rick Riordan, I like disliked more than " Red Pyramid" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7... It's not easy to write novels set from ancient Egypt you can ask Gene Wolfe with "Soldier of Sidon" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4... or Henry Rider Haggard https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... . Perhaps the only weak point is the villain, he always tends to be himself. The ending is very good, and extremely funny, and it's a lame to have to say goodbye to the characters especially Tuhorus, who was an excellent buddy, or research partner. A tip to Goodreads users, I think, they're going to like it, and they're going to have a great time reading it.

Dangerous Journeys #2

The Samarkand Solution

E. Gary Gygax

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E. Gary Gygax

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