KEEP ON THE BORDERLANDS by Ru Emerson

GREYHAWK

Wizards of the Coast, 2001

Swordswoman Eddis has just finished a job as a caravan job and is looking for a little relaxation when a new opportunity opens. Bandits have been raiding the local town, cutting off its trade routes and threatening its destruction. Together with adventurer Jerdren and a group of caravan guards and town armsmen, Eddis sets off on an adventure. What starts out as a simple raid on a bandit camp escalates to a full-scale cave invasion against kobolds, orcs, and the undead.

Author Ru Emerson keeps up a steady flow of adventure and conflict. In keeping with the Greyhawk series, the book frequently feels more like a role-playing game rather than a novel--with our heros entering a possibly infested cave, facing enemy guards, and pocketing some random treasure.

Fans of role-playing games may enjoy this novelization of what feels like a real game. Emerson works hard to add character depth to Eddis, with her semi-adoption of a young child as a major element in this. Fans of pure fantasy are likely to find that KEEP ON THE BORDERLAND lacks the stakes that make the novel compelling reading.

Two Stars

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