grodog's review of Castle Zagyg: The Upper Works

grodog · Post by **grodog** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 8:21 am

Since the CZ forums are locked, I'm posting here.

I finally completed my review of CZ:UW, and you can read it at http://www.greyhawkonline.com/grodog/gh ... _final.pdf
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Allan Grohe
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http://www.greyhawkonline.com/grodog/greyhawk.html for my Greyhawk site

Jason Vey · Post by **Jason Vey** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 2:00 pm

Holy crap the CZ board is locked? That sucks

gideon_thorne · Post by **gideon_thorne** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 3:40 pm

The Grey Elf wrote:
Holy crap the CZ board is locked? That sucks

Where ya been dude? Its been that way for a week.

*eyeballs a 15 page review and winces* Eh, no time for a novel.
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Lord Dynel · Post by **Lord Dynel** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 4:21 pm

Yeah, man, that's a biggie. I'll have to print that out and snuggle into bed for a good read.
Looking forward to reading it, though.

moriarty777 · Post by **moriarty777** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 5:12 pm

An interesting read... thanks for sharing!

M
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Deogolf · Post by **Deogolf** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 5:50 pm

Anyone care to give a brief summary. I hear it's a big review, but I can't access it here at work - big brother gov. is blocking me out. Was it favorable?
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moriarty777 · Post by **moriarty777** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 6:06 pm

It was a review that will come across to be a detailed analysis. Critical in parts but very fair. However, my favorite passage from the review is this:

Quote:
While portions of the writing in The Upper Works are reminiscent of Gary Gygaxs style and tone---particularly in the various introductions; the Zagygian encounters peppered with quips, puns, and humorous magic item command words; and in the smattering of epicurean and flavorful domestic magic items such as the never-ending cigars---Jeffrey Talanians voice is the one I hear most throughout the boxed set. Talanians writing style is clear, flows well, and has a bit of sardonic and sometimes biting wit to it that I find engaging. His descriptions actively engage all five senses, and brim with the baroque vocabulary that sometimes sounds Gygaxian but more so recalls H. P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, and Gardner Fox. I dont believe that it would be a worthwhile exercise to try to deconstruct the words in CZ:UW to suss out which Talanian wrote, and which Gygax wrote: per many discussions online, it is clear that while Gygax guided the arm and the hand, Talanians creativity was the animating force behind the pen that carved the words of Castle Zagyg: The Upper Works from the ether, and that built them into the fine product that it is. He deserves heart-felt thanks for helping to fulfill thirty-year-old promises, and for evoking Gygaxs vision with such authenticity.

In my mind, this says it all. Despite the various criticisms, it was a favorable review (these are on a scale of 1 to 10):

Quote:
Greyhawk Heritage: 7.5

As a Non-Greyhawk Mega-Dungeon: 8.0

Adventure Design and Writing: 8.5

Editing and Proofreading: 9.0

Layout: 7.5

Art: 7.5

Cartography: 6.5

M
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Deogolf · Post by **Deogolf** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 6:40 pm

Thanks for the quick rundown!

The one thing I do like seeing is the editing & proofreading score - something that had been bit of a weak link in history of TLG. They come a long way since their humble beginnings!
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Eulaliaaa!!! Give those rapscallions blood and vinegar, wot?!

Be sure to check out Jim's artwork for sale:
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Geleg · Post by **Geleg** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 7:32 pm

it was an impressive review for many reasons. One of which was Grodog's ability to comment both on UW's ability to live up to 30 years of expectations and on the box's utility as a 'simple' megadungeon.

I enjoyed reading it. thanks, grodog.
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serleran · Post by **serleran** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 7:50 pm

Skimmed it, since I don't particularly like reading pages of material online. Nice.

Now, where's that one for Engineering Dungeons?
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Aladar · Post by **Aladar** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 8:50 pm

Interesting review.
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Tadhg · Post by **Tadhg** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 10:45 pm

Great review, Allan. I very much enjoyed reading it!!

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Post by **Breakdaddy** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 10:52 pm

serleran wrote:
Skimmed it, since I don't particularly like reading pages of material online. Nice.

Now, where's that one for Engineering Dungeons?

You want a review for Engineering Dungeons, son? Here you go:

Engineering Dungeons is a good resource with excellent utility for GMs that have little time or desire to work out the minutiae of dungeon design but desire a well crafted dungeon dripping with old school flair.

Hey, you didnt want to read pages of material online

serleran · Post by **serleran** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 11:25 pm

Neither of those are "pages of material." What I won't do is open a 10+ page document and read it while online; in fact, I don't even consider 15 page forum threads to be too long (individual posts might be, though) since its easy to just skip to a particular post. But, whatever... thanks for the review.
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