Pierced Heart

by Robin D. Laws

A lost soul in search of the answer to a question no one else dares ask. An honorable gangster intent on keeping his promises, even if it kills him. A psychopathic criminal with an eye on the bottom line and a hand wrapped around the hilt of a stiletto. A New Age con man capable of charming anyone -- except the man he sees in the mirror every morning. A funeral director who isn't quite the same species as the rest of us. An angry man who has given up his own life for his sister's success. And a certain pivotal figure in human history, who may or may not have been conjured up by Communion, a designer drug that promises instant contact with the divine. The curious death of an American singer throws these people together in a tightly-woven web of hallucination, mystery, and violence. It all happens on Al Amarja, the Mediterranean island where surreal menace lurks beneath the thinnest veneer of normalcy. Al Amarja is the setting of the Over the Edge roleplaying game and the On the Edge collectible card game.

Genres: Urban Fantasy

207 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1996

About the author

Writer and game designer Robin D. Laws brought you such roleplaying games as Ashen Stars, The Esoterrorists, The Dying Earth, Heroquest and Feng Shui. He is the author of seven novels, most recently The Worldwound Gambit from Paizo. For Robin's much-praised works of gaming history and analysis, see Hamlet's Hit Points, Robin's Laws of Game Mastering and 40 Years of Gen Con.

Reviews

[Benjamin]

OK, I'm breaking my streak of not reading rpg tie-in novels that I get with Bundle of Holding bundles for this, Robin D. Laws's first novel, and the only novel-length fiction set in the Over the Edge RPG game. Some spoilers, but come on, as if you're going to read this?

And it's fine. It reminds me of something Laws said about his Pathfinder novel The Worldwound Gambit, where he took a standard RPG fantasy tie-in novel and made one modernist tweak -- putting it in the present tense -- and the Pathfinder fans were incensed at first, before maybe coming around to it.

A scan of the Goodreads reviews reveals a similar issue, for both positive and negative reviews: ostensibly tie-in fiction to the weird world of Al Amarja, with its weird science, paranormal activity, and wide-ranging conspiracies, this book focuses on a woman (into sex and drugs) investigating the death of her twin sister (Christian music star) and the guilt and anger she feels towards her stepbrother (the manager) and sister -- and her ex who happens to have ended up on Al Amarja running a new age con.

Along the way, we get a very brief glimpse of a powerful Satanist (which doesn't add to the story, but gives a signpost for readers who know the RPG), the world-spanning mafia business conspiracy, a new drug, hidden mutants, intra-gang politics, the crooked Customs bureaucracy, and a possibly sentient hallucination and/or avatar. In other words, we get a taste of all the stuff happening on Al Amarja from the RPG. (Well, maybe psychic rats and baboon enforcers would be a nice addition to really round it out.)

Ultimately, the weirdness of the island entangles the protagonist, but ... doesn't exactly touch her or really impinge on her story. As one reviewer noted, the weirdness is a distraction, a school of red herrings for the protagonist who doesn't want to see the pretty ordinary story going on, which is a fun bit of bait-and-switch looked at one way -- or a criminal act of bait-and-switch looked at another way.

This definitely feels like Laws playing with non-genre topics -- love, religion, duty -- in a genre way, but the fact that these two almost seem like parallel and disconnected stories makes this feel like a not great introduction to Over the Edge.

[Kirt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read a lot of novels related to gaming or by gaming authors, but nothing compares to Pierced Heart and The Rough and the Smooth, both by Robin D. Laws.

The first is a urban fantasy novel about a woman coming to terms with the suicide of her sibling, against a backdrop of strangeness that only serves to cleverly distract the reader (and many of the characters) from what's really going on. The second is a wonderful fantasy novel with detailed characters and a plot Machiavelli would love, not because it's twisted (tho it is, at points) but because it's political and interesting.

These novels deserve to be let out of the gaming ghetto -- I'd recommend them to non-gamers, even my ex-wife, who is picky and doesn't like genre fiction. The characterization, alone, makes it worth it. Hell, the second one has nothing to do with gaming at all, and calls out for a sequel.

[Sly Reference · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a complete premise rejection if I've ever seen one. "Come to Al Amarja, get into some wacky conspiracies, threaten your life with weird science, mock the world and reality at large!" That's the pitch, at least, or at least it should be, but this book is pure bait and switch. 90% of this book is about a woman who has to deal with the trauma of her twin sister's suicide. Al Amarja is barely window dressing. Bit of the mythology pop up, but soon gets swept under the current of the main character's inner struggle. It's almost like the author had a story he wanted to tell, and this was the contract in his hand at the time, source material be damned.

And while the writing is fine, it never seems to get out of second gear. Everything seems vaguely smarmy and disconnected, like some snarky Gen Xer who even feel strongly enough to be nihilistic. I never quite got passionate enough about the book to be truly hate-reading it, but I would have had to get to that level if the book were any longer. It weirdly ends with exposition dumps. I've read worse, but some of those were more enjoyable because I knew what I was getting into. I have no idea why this was set in Al Amarja. What makes it worse is that, as far as I've seen, this is the only novel set in the Over the Edge setting.

[Eddy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was expecting a fun, surreal, conspiratorial romp. What I got was a tragic and very human story about loss and faith, that also happened to feature surreal conspiracies. Far, far better than what most RPG tie-in fiction shoots for.

[Ralf Schemmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting introduction into the The Edge setting.

[Oliver · Rating 3 out of 5]

In no way epic literature but a fun read. Good introduction for GMs and players of the game. Could double as sourcebook.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book, ending was a little rushed but still v good