The Anubis Murders

Dangerous Journeys #1

by E. Gary Gygax

Gary Gygax, father of fantasy roleplaying and the co-creator of the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, weaves a fantastic tale of warring wizards that spans the world from the pyramids of ancient Egypt to the mist-shrouded towns of medieval England. Someone is murdering the world's most powerful sorcerers, and the trail of blood leads straight to Anubis, the solemn god known by most as the Master of Jackals. Can Magister Setne Inhetep, personal philosopher-wizard to the Pharaoh, reach the distant kingdom of Avillonia and put an end to the Anubis Murders, or will he be claimed as the latest victim?

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Mystery, Sword and Sorcery, Pulp, Ancient

299 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

Reviews

[Fonch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ladies and gentlemen, I don't know if I'll have time to finish this review today. I'll try to be brief. The good thing about this review is that having written the second. I don't have much to comment on this book anymore. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
We can say, this is the first book in the Dangerous Travel trilogy by Dungeons and Dragons universe creator Gary Gygax. This is the first of detectives' books Setne Inhetep, and his pupil, exesclava, bodyguard, lover and amazon Rachelle. In fact, the surprise I took when reading this first volume was that the protagonist was the priest of Toth and not the trio of Celtic druid characters Aldriss, Tallesian, and the Begon. It is very rare, because in Anglo-Saxon literature, and especially in the United States, England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. The Protestant sectors take refuge in a kind of celtism praising Celtic culture, and denoting Latin. Not only is there talk of Fionn McCumhail, Cuchulain and other Celtic creatures, but there is an attempt to show querr the Celtic Catholic Church is more legitimate and just than Roman Catholic. In this plan, for example, are such good writers as Stephen R. Lawhead, or Gillian Bradshaw https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... present heresies, and pretend as true religion has already done the anti-Catholic director Antoine Fuqua in for example King Arthur, where we were sold to King Arthur as an apprentice of Pelagio's heresies. Also in this network has fallen a writer, and historian as well as Paul Johnson https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
, who dened St. Augustine and made Pelagio outlawed. Something incomprehensible in the Catholic writer and historian Paul Johnson, unless it is by macionalism, and insularity. https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... It is quite possible that this nationalist, anti-Roman, and philosophical approach has influenced the Welsh communist historian and nationalist Raymond Williams https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... (who by the way is one of the masters of Marxist historiography, which Ken Follet reproduces as a parrot https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... ) as Roger Scruton brilliantly explained in his book "New Left Thinkers" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... We're going to see many of these writers especially Paul Johnson, and Stephen R. Lawhead are very good, except when Lawhead is given for the Cele Dés and for anti-Romanesm. But I recommend you read them, but if you want a more interesting view of the arturate myth, invite them to read my friend Professor Manuel Alfonseca's book "The Adventure of Sir Karel of Northumbria" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... or Meriol Trevor's books https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... or Mark Adderley's https://www.goodreads.com/series/6120... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... heavily influenced by those of his admired Bernard Cornwell without anti-Christianity since the latter (which turns Arthur into an antichrist) https://www.goodreads.com/series/2505... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... But returning to the great Gygax, I was very pleasantly surprised that the protagonist was the Egyptian Setne, and that he was up against these arrogant Celtic lords. The beginning is dizzying, with murders committed in that magical world or alternate universe that Gygax has created, almost looks like the beginning a James Bond movie. I also liked that Setne and Rachelle were on vacation in Hispania that both that fictional character and Gygax had good taste. Let us remember that Spain is the Zingaria of the universe of Conan's universe https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... https://www.goodreads.com/series/5106... https://www.goodreads.com/series/6558... supposed to Bene, and Rachelle are summoned by a Celtic prince of Lyonesse, as the United Kingdom, if we count Ireland is broken into five Hibernia, Caledonia, Cambria, Northumbria, and Lyonnesse. The prince calls him, presumably because he is the victim of the blackmail of a murderer, who is dedicated to killing wizards from the different kingdoms of this alternate universe, who shows us how paganism survives, and the Roman Empire has not fallen, though if it has been divided into two, and the barbarians, and the different territories of the Roman Empire are pagan, and maintain their cults. Each kingdom is ruled by its king. For a historian this may be the main problem, asking Gygax historically plausibility, as Poul Anderson could have done (which with this material would have bewitched . https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... (I believe that this is why it is due to the bad notes, which has been put to this trilogy, and that Goodreads users have remained indifferent to this narrative cycle of the Dungeons and Dragons creadfor). To me the intrigue of trying to dirty the name of Anubis by linking it with Seth seems to me magmnífi, like the fact that there is an Egyptian cult in Lyonnesse. This part reminded me of Barry Levinson's wonderful film The Young Sherlock Holmes (I've always liked The Pastiches of Sherlock Holmes) https://www.filmaffinity.com/es/film6... that in Spain was called the secret of the pyramid. Saving huge distances, but Egyptian mythology (I am not unfortunately an expert in that field), but it seems to me that Gygax employs it very well, and for me this trilogy is one of the best novels about ancient Egypt, which have been written. The descent to the Egyptian underworld is magnificent, as is the Bilocation. The Egyptian gods, the ones who show themselves, remember much their apparitions to those of the Latro saga not being as confused, or as smooth as Gene Wolfe's saga https://www.goodreads.com/series/4945... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... This is because it does not employ narrative techniques so avant-garde, and presumably refreshing without being, that they cause confusion in the reader. People like the simple. Besides, this story works very well, as police literature, people may not like it, that the genres mix, but Gygax does a very good job. It's almost more interesting the police intrigue, than the fantastic one, and that there are magnificent moments. Setne is not only a great magician-priest-detective too he is a great fighter, and the combats in which he participates have a great quality. Although not as powerful as Mitsuru https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... Pay attention to "Brave Story" because Mrs. Miyabe has written the best modern fantasy novel, which she has ever read far superior to the George R.R. Martin, Patrick Rothfuss, and even Brandon Sanderson (to name just three) https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

But going back to Setne, I love the classic black-novel detective air that Gary Gygax has given him, and he's a tireless hound, if you don't want me to solve the case, i'd do better not to call him, and it's a mistake all the criminals in the trilogy make. Maybe it's one of the flaws in "Murders of Anubis" that Gygax's plots, even though they're very well made, are very similar, and the criminals are the same. That is, the resolution of the case is quite fine, and how he deceives the criminal and his accomplices. The funny thing is that the novel is left with an open ending, and surprisingly, although there are references to this novel Gygax will not continue the plot, perhaps it is for the best. I focused on different plots, so I can explore new universes without being conditioned by loose ends of the previous stories. I wish Goodreads users a happy day for all the saints and the deceased. Although it's good to eat fritters, and holy bones don't eat too much. Read the Tenorio https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8... and the "Legends" of Becquer https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

[Little Timmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 1st book of the adventures of Setne Inhetep, Magician-Priest-Detective in Gygax's fantasy world. Very good fantasy novel, I was pleasantly surprised. Good fast read with nice plot and characters. Very recommended

[Truls Ljungström · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jag läste denna serie senast på universitetet och älskade den. Det gör jag fortfarande med tillägget att djup kunskap om Europas lokalmyter - såsom om Ys i Bretagne - gör boken ännu mer underhållande.

Premissen är att antikens trolldom och mytiska öar fanns på riktigt, och setting är något slags 1600-tals version inom denna. Huvudpersonen är en egyptisk överstepräst-trollkarl tillika konsult-detektiv. Handlingen är fokuserad på hovintrig. Jag rekommenderar varmt.

[Gabor Hernadi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gary Gygax` Setne Inhetep books are basically Sherlock Holmes style crime stories in an alternative middle age "AErth". Surprisingly lots of people don`t like it for some reasons but I just loved it. In this first book Setne Inhetep follows the trail of a dangerous and possibly supernatural villain threatening the kingdoms of Avilonia.

[John Teske · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good "pulp" read - reminiscent of sherlock holmes and flash gordon, and all the rest of the crew.

Delightful Setne and Rachelle take on a case and are led around by a bunch of clues - well, no spoilers here.

A just pleasant and entertaining read, and a good flashback of nostalgia for me in my gaming history with Dungeons and Dragons and Dangerous Journeys.

[ArtlessKnave · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gygax may have made one of the best games, but man... he is not so good with writing a book.

[Nathan Lambert · Rating 4 out of 5]

good ol fashioned pulp fantasy but with an egyptian Sherlock Holmes as the head

[Ernesto I. Ramirez · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Anubis Murders by Gary Gigax it's a curious way to begin a line about classic sci-fi writers (many of them unknown to the common reader), but as Erik Mona (in the prologue) and James Sutter (in PaizoCon 2009) exposed there is a reason. Gary Gigax with his new game (not new any longer, and well known to most or all of us) and the early novels based on his first setting, both of which had a profound influence from this classic authors, exposed us to fantasy in ways that had been left forgotten in time.

Yes, fantasy and sci fantasy still existed, but the source that influenced lots of them and in the end the hobby in which we participate were left in the past and when reprinted... they lost much of what was worth on them.

So I suppose to begin Planet Stories was a tribute to the man who brought this lost world back to us. But why the Anubis murders, considering he had stories before it? Well Erik explains it plainly in his prologue so I won't ruin a good story... but I would also think it's like to have a fresh beginning.

The Anubis Murders is presented in a world not so different than ours during the classic era, a quite defined world where Camelot brushed elbows with the "Ancient Egypt", a world where Merlin is a renowned wizard, but no more, a land where gods influence the world and an ancient evil stirs.

So why began with Anubis Murders? Because, it's a good place to begin with.

The Anubis Murders is a refreshing look of the world and a refreshing read, one of the first stories in which we have a cleric (ok wizard priest) as the main hero. Not a man to take sword or "adventurous" even if he does follow adventure wherever it takes. Setneh Inhetep, servant of the pharaoh, wizard-priest, uncanny detective and a man with a rich background, made human for the fact that he not only has virtues, but also flaws he can understand and accept... if not change. Setneh takes us into the path of danger while analyzing his surroundings, seeing beyond our sight, but giving a few clues so we can arrive to his same conclusions by our own insight.

The Anubis Murders in the end is a detective stories of the pulp era happening in a world not so different than ours, and where magic should have made it easy to arrive to an early ending. But taking this into account I believe Gygax arrived to an elegant performance of why would magic doesn't uncover the mystery after a few chapters.

Yes, the story is NOT perfect and it has a few flaws. It falls in clichés (understandable with Gigax experience and how true he was to the classic sources) and his heroine Rachelle, even when she could easily be an heroic character he tells us early in the story that she can be as much heroine as lady in disgrace. No complains here, I did liked Rachelle.

Another small detail is how in the last chapters he exchange in descriptions one character for another, I suppose Paizo left this intentionally, letting the source be as true to itself as they could. The careful and attentive reader would, by the end of the book, certainly know of what I am talking about.

And if the fanatics of magic needed any more impulses or reasons to read this... you won't find a better example of 'Time Stop' anywhere; a vivid, vivid and creative use of magic. A living magic miles away of "I cast Magic Missile".

All in all, The Anubis Murders is a great detective story in the middle of a Sword and Magic universe. Enjoy the reading, I know I did.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

After I finished the recent Gygax biography (Empire of Imagination: Gary Gygax and the Birth of Dungeons & Dragons), I went out and looked for some of his fiction, which I had never read, despite being an avid D&D player at one time in my life. I didn’t have super-high expectations, but I was hoping for a quest with a few dank dungeons to explore, some cool combat scenes, and a world of magic and exotic creatures.

Instead, I got this. “This” is a mystery novel set in the world of “Dangerous Journeys.” “Dangerous Journey’s” was Gygax’s attempt at re-entering the role playing industry after losing control of “Dungeons and Dragons” when he was ousted by the board at TSR. Originally, the game was called “Dangerous Dimensions,” but TSR’s lawyers sent a cease–and-desist letter on the basis of the similarity between the acronym “D.D.” and “D&D” (I’m not kidding). So far as I know, the game never really took off under either name, but some books were published to support it. So far as I can tell based on this novel, “Dangerous Journeys” involves a highly complex magical system, but no otherworldly creatures. The world described by Gygax in this novel is one very much like Earth (called Aerth), but each country’s name is slightly different, and they all exist in a kind of mythical pre-modern state, based on their most well-known or archetypal fantasy mythos. Thus, our main character is an Aegyptian Sorcerer-Priest, who worships (and interacts with) the deities of classical Egypt, although this empire didn’t really have contact with Arthurian England, which is where he spends much of the novel.

I didn’t expect Gygax to be a great writer, but as a mystery writer, he is especially bad. He tries to make his character sort of like a Sherlock Holmes, but he really comes off as annoying and not as brilliant. It doesn’t help that his “Watson” character (a scantily-clad young female warrior) isn’t around for much of the book, and is rarely used as the narrator’s voice, so we don’t get to experience her admiration of his genius. Nor does it help that he fails to provide us with enough suspects or distractions to keep the ending from being blatantly obvious. His treatment of the Egyptian mythos will probably annoy anyone who (like me) has a strong interest in that myth-cycle, but it isn’t so bad that the passingly interested will spot any problems.

All this aside, I’ll admit that the book is diverting enough for a quick read, and I did read it quickly (on airplanes during vacation). It’s just not something I anticipate returning to or even recalling in a year or two.

[Riobhcah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm only on page 17 out of 207 and already I want to give this book five stars. I love this author's writing style -- eerie, dark, metaphysical, fantasiaesque, intriguing. And I can hardly put the book down. I will add to this review when I finish the book. We shall see if he can keep up this intrigue until the end of the book. I hope so. If he does, I may have just discovered another favourite author!

I finished the book and it was awesome. I hardly was able to put it down. Bravo.

[Fantasy Literature · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gary Gygax is best known as the co-creator of a role-playing game so famous it is woven into the fabric of popular culture: Dungeons and Dragons. He passed away in 2008. Dangerous Journeys: The Anubis Murders was meant as the first in a series of novel tie-ins to a game of the same name.

I revere Gygax for his contributions to gaming and the use of the imagination. About The Anubis Murders, I can confidently say that it’s a good book to have on hand if you think you’ll have a boring bus ride in your future or the camping trip might get rained on, stranding you in your tent.

The paperback version I read was published by Roc in 1992. The story is not particularly dated, and the puzzle solved by Setne Inhetep, Read More:
http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...

[Dominic · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story starts off pretty strong and engaging. A little heavy handed dialogue, but the characters are set up in what I thought was going to be a great, fun duo.

Wrong.

This is one flawless, magical, Ancient Egyptian Sherlock Holmes character, a barely window-dressing companion, and a story so condensed that it's feels like I was reading a plot synopsis on Wikipedia instead.

It is the first in a trilogy, so perhaps the three need to be taken together as one whole book to be fair. As a book by itself, it was wholly disappointing. Only by the strength of the first half did it get two stars.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty fun hybrid of the detective, fantasy, and alternate history genres. The ending was weak though and came completely out of left field

[Cliff Townsend · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting and well done book.

[Christian Lindke]

Fantasy,Paizo