The Sagard the Barbarian gamebooks are interesting artifacts from the mid-1980s. Co-authored by Gary Gygax and Flint Dille, the series consisted of four books published between 1985 and 1986 by Pocket Books in the USA and Corgi in the UK.
There are two aspects of these books that continue to intrigue me. The first is that they were released not by TSR by "mainstream" publisher(s). The '85 to '86 period coincides with Gygax's Cent-Jours, when he briefly seized control of TSR once again before his departure in October 1986. At the time, TSR was a mess on every level, so I can't help but wonder if the decision to publish these books outside of TSR is reflective of the chaos at the company. On the other hand, I also find myself wondering whether Gygax did this as an insurance policy against the demise of TSR, which was a very real possibility at the time. By publishing them elsewhere, he could safeguard his remuneration in a way he might not have been able to had TSR published them.
The other aspect of the Sagard books that's notable is that, in the first two, they're explicitly set within the World of Greyhawk. The later books, however, shift away from having any clear Greyhawk connections. This is somewhat similar to what happened to Gygax's Gord the Rogue series, whose final volumes were published after he left TSR through his new company, New Infinities. Those later volumes take place in a palimpsest version Greyhawk, with many names changed for legal reasons having to do with the terms of his departure. For this reason, I have a strange fascination with these late Gygax works, if only to ponder how they might have fit into his overall oeuvre had events not gone as they did in 1986.
The Sagard series was enjoyable. I was especially fond of the book where the barbarian-hero develops a love interest (Book 2, I believe), but then strangely after developing it, the authors abandoned the idea.
ReplyDeleteI can't speak of TSR's business situation at the time or Gygax's reason for publishing outside of TSR. Like most of these gamebook offerings of the mid-80s, I thought the idea was to capitalize on Fighting Fantasy's immense popularity, and to tap the solo gamebook market. Sagard did a better job in terms of game and writing-quality than a chunk of the others.
I have to speak of the art. The Corgi covers (pictured) were far superior to the Pocket covers, which were quite juvenile, FWIW.
Your opinion about the cover art seem to be the consensus from what I have gathered.
DeleteI liked the Conanesque feel, but the d2/coin flip-based combat syste m was not great. These are the only gamebook adventures I know that even hint at sex/romance; they seem aimed at a teen market, whereas Fighting Fantasy was always determinedly asexual and pre-pubescent, as were most of its imitators like Grailquest and the TSR gamebooks. Another notable point - in Sagard the Great Kingdom are the good guys! If it's Greyhawk, it must be several centuries before 576 CY.
ReplyDeleteJH Brennan's Demonspawn series did more than hint at sex/romance, from memory. I mean, it was wall to wall sex, but the main character did have something approaching a carnal life.
DeleteI gather Gygax met Dille whilst he was in Hollywood, and its possible therefore thst thry started collaborating on the books, and maybe signed a publishing deal, before Gygax was back in control of TSR. It was through Dille that Gygax met Lorraine Williams, Dille's sister, in 1984. She, of course, was then brought into TSR by Gygax and eventually took over the company. That suggests Gygax and Dille were working on the Sagard books from 1984. The timing would also explain the different publisher.
ReplyDeleteI have book 2. seems decent.
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