In the Shame of the Rose

Though the "death" of the World of Greyhawk fantasy setting was predicated by many unfortunate circumstances and horribly miopic marketing decisions, one person perhaps has the best claim to the phrase "I killed Greyhawk." That person, of course, is treasured children's author Rose Estes, who, over the course of a handful of novels, managed to make a mockery of the most popular Role-Playing setting at the time. With her introduction to TSR's "Greyhawk Adventures" series, the novels plunged from New York Times best-sellers to bargin-bin refuse. Though we cannot saddle her with all of Greyhawk's failures, it is certainly amusing to try.

But don't take our word for it. Gaze upon the following literary treasures. Read the words of the Prophetess of Putresence, Rose Estes herself. . .

Quotations from the Mistress

"Mika grasped the single crystal bead that hung from a fine gold chain around his neck and quickly uttered the words to a simple globe of invulnerability spell.

This spell, which he had taken special care to master, created a magical buffer around his body for five feet in all directions and protected him from spells up to the fourth level of ability.

It seemed unlikely that the old man's abilities would exceed third level spells."
Master Wolf, p. 115.

"Whoa! Mika's eyes swiveled around, and he saw why he had been on a level with Tam. The spell had worked. He had really done it! He, Mika, a lowly bumbling fourth-level magic user had pulled off a seventh-level skill! Why did everyone think this magic stuff was so hard."
Master Wolf, p. 149-50.

"Men stood in the clearing looking upward, pointing at him as he flew above them. Well, he could fix that, and taking careful aim, Mika squeezed a sphincter muscle and was rewarded by the howls of of the watchers below as they shielded their heads and ran for cover."
Master Wolf, p. 159.

"It seemed apparent that somehow the nomad had persuaded the giant to let him have his way with her, although such a thing seemed unlikely, for the giant loved her too and would never have let another man touch her, unless. . . ! No! It all seemed too terrible to consider! Mika AND the giant?

Hary's mind whirled. Yet think as he might, his thoughts kept returning to the same conclusion."
Master Wolf, p. 222.

"'And just look at me! I'm dirty! I'm filthy! My hair's a mess! My dress. . . my dress, or what little there is left of it, is totally ruined! I even smell bad, if you can even imagine such a thing!'

'I find out I'm not even a virgin anymore, and I don't even remember what happened!'

The princess dispatched Iuz with ease, knocking him to the floor at Hornsbuck's feet, where he lay stunned. Mika almost felt sorry for Iuz. He could have told him even a demon has something to fear from an angry woman."
Master Wolf, p. 308.



Iquander Reviews the Work of Rose Estes

Want an unbiased, over-arching review of the work of the Mistress, herself? Look no further!

Disturbing Rose Estes Link of the Year

The Transformation Review Page, wherin someone has a fairly sophisticated rating system based upon the amount of time a main character spends in the form of an animal. It makes one wonder what a half-wolfen princess child of a polymorphed princess who was raped by a real wolf would rate! High-larity, on any scale!



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The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by the University of Minnesota.