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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Jan 23, 2015 16:43:40 GMT -5
I love the Appendix N reading list from the original DMG. I have never set with the goal of reading everything on the list but I have read a decent amount from Tolkien, Howard, and others. I think my favorite might be Howard's Conan stories with their snake cults, ancient gods, etc. How about you?
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Post by Admin Pete on Jan 23, 2015 20:33:24 GMT -5
I love the Appendix N reading list from the original DMG. I have never set with the goal of reading everything on the list but I have read a decent amount from Tolkien, Howard, and others. I think my favorite might be Howard's Conan stories with their snake cults, ancient gods, etc. How about you? Well let me go through the Appendix N list and see: Anderson, Poul: THREE HEARTS AND THREE LIONS; THE HIGH CRUSADE; THE BROKEN SWORD I have read a lot of Poul Anderson including Three hearts and Three Lions, but have never seen the others, but would love to read them.Bellairs, John: THE FACE IN THE FROST I have never seen this one either.Brackett, Leigh I have read a lot of stuff by this author and enjoyed all of it. The Book of Skaith (1976) – omnibus edition of the three Skaith novels was very good. Her husband Edmond Hamilton was also a good author.Brown, Frederic I don't ever remember seeing his books.Burroughs, Edgar Rice: "Pellucidar" series; Mars series; Venus series I have read all of these and loved them, I have read the first series at least twice, the Mars series 7 or 8 times and the Venus series at least 3 or 4 times. Plus nearly everything else he wrote, many of those multiple times.Carter, Lin: "World's End" series I have read most of this authors books.de Camp, L. Sprague: LEST DARKNESS FALL; THE FALLIBLE FIEND; et al Yes to these also, everything I could find.de Camp & Pratt: "Harold Shea" series; THE CARNELIAN CUBE Yes to these also, everything I could find.
Derleth, August Nothing by this author, but don't recall seeing any either.Dunsany, Lord Great author and I have read several of his books, but by no means all.Farmer, P. J.: "The World of the Tiers" series; et al Yes, a lot of books by this author.Fox, Gardner: "Kothar" series; "Kyrik" series; et al Yes, a lot of books by this author.Howard, R. E.: "Conan" series Yes, a lot of books by this author, as close to everything as possible.Lanier, Sterling: HIERO'S JOURNEY Yes, a several of books by this author, including the sequel to this. There is a Mars book too, Menace Under Marswood (1983) is excellent.Leiber, Fritz: "Fafhrd & Gray Mouser" series; et al Yes, a lot of books by this author.Lovecraft, H. P. A few books and would love to read more.Merritt, A.: CREEP, SHADOW, CREEP; MOON POOL; DWELLERS IN THE MIRAGE; et al A few but not all, would love to find the rest.Moorcock, Michael: STORMBRINGER; STEALER OF SOULS; "Hawkmoon" series (esp. the first three books) Yes, a lot of books by this author.Norton, Andre Yes, a lot of books by this author, at least 50. Fun fact is that she lived in Cleveland OH back in the 80's and was listed in the phone book. I never called, I felt that was over the top. But later on I wished I had sent a note, telling her how much I enjoyed her books.Offutt, Andrew J.: editor of SWORDS AGAINST DARKNESS III Yes, a lot of books by this author.Pratt, Fletcher: BLUE STAR; et al Yes, a lot of books by this author.
Saberhagen, Fred: CHANGELING EARTH; et al Yes, a lot of books by this author.St. Clair, Margaret: THE SHADOW PEOPLE; SIGN OF THE LABRYS I have never seen any of these books.Tolkien, J. R. R.: THE HOBBIT; "Ring trilogy" Yes, a lot of books by this author.Vance, Jack: THE EYES OF THE OVERWORLD; THE DYING EARTH; et al Some of this authors books, would love to read more.Weinbaum, Stanley Yes, a lot of books by this author.Wellman, Manley Wade A couple of the young adult books a long time ago. Another hard to find author.Williamson, Jack Maybe 7 or 8 of these books, haven't seen many.Zelazny, Roger: JACK OF SHADOWS; "Amber" series; et al Some of this authors books, would love to read more.
There is where I am currently at on this list.
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Post by Admin Pete on Jan 23, 2015 20:36:52 GMT -5
Another book I would recommend is The Lavender Dragon by Eden Phillpotts. I once read a story where the dragon was 500 feet long. It may have been this book or not. It has been a long time.
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Post by tetramorph on Jan 23, 2015 22:21:36 GMT -5
Admin Pete, wow you are amazing! I clearly have some catch up work to do in the reading department. I have done a lot of reading, but I need to catch up on some of this. I've read: Lewis, Tolkien, Howard, Lovecraft, Vance. That's all I've got at this point!
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Post by Admin Pete on Jan 23, 2015 23:11:54 GMT -5
There are a ton of great reads that are very inspirational to OD&D. See also my list over in the Novels to Game thread. |
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Post by finarvyn on Jan 24, 2015 7:00:50 GMT -5
I've read a lot of Appendix N -- some I thought was great and others I thought were pretty average. Many of my all-time favorite books come from the list.
Category 1 - I’ve read some or all of it!
Anderson, Poul: THREE HEARTS AND THREE LIONS; THE BROKEN SWORD
Bellairs, John: THE FACE IN THE FROST
Burroughs, Edgar Rice: "Pellucidar" series; Mars series; Venus series
de Camp & Pratt: "Harold Shea" series; THE CARNELIAN CUBE
Howard, R. E.: "Conan" series
Leiber, Fritz: "Fafhrd & Gray Mouser" series; et al
Lovecraft, H. P.
Merritt, A.: CREEP, SHADOW, CREEP; MOON POOL; DWELLERS IN THE MIRAGE; et al
Moorcock, Michael: STORMBRINGER; STEALER OF SOULS; "Hawkmoon" series (esp. the first three books)
Norton, Andre
Tolkien, J. R. R.: THE HOBBIT; "Ring trilogy"
Vance, Jack: THE EYES OF THE OVERWORLD; THE DYING EARTH; et al
Zelazny, Roger: JACK OF SHADOWS; "Amber" series; et al
Category 2 - Have copies of it, but haven’t read it yet.[/b]
Brackett, Leigh
Carter, Lin: "World's End" series
Fox, Gardner: "Kothar" series; "Kyrik" series; et al
St. Clair, Margaret: SIGN OF THE LABRYS
Category 3 - Don’t have it, haven’t read it.[/b]
Brown, Frederic
*de Camp, L. Sprague: LEST DARKNESS FALL; THE FALLIBLE FIEND; et al
Derleth, August
Dunsany, Lord
*Farmer, P. J.: "The World of the Tiers" series; et al
Lanier, Sterling: HIERO'S JOURNEY
*Offutt, Andrew J.: editor of SWORDS AGAINST DARKNESS III
Pratt, Fletcher: BLUE STAR; et al
*Saberhagen, Fred: CHANGELING EARTH; et al
St. Clair, Margaret: THE SHADOW PEOPLE
Weinbaum, Stanley
Wellman, Manley Wade
Williamson, Jack
The ones marked with a * are authors where I've read some works, just not the ones mentioned in Appendix N.
Finarvyn's much shorter "everyone should read" part of Appendix N
Anderson, Poul: THREE HEARTS AND THREE LIONS; THE BROKEN SWORD
Burroughs, Edgar Rice: Mars series
Howard, R. E.: "Conan" series (actual REH, not the pastiche stuff)
Leiber, Fritz: "Fafhrd & Gray Mouser" series; et al
Moorcock, Michael: STORMBRINGER; STEALER OF SOULS
Tolkien, J. R. R.: THE HOBBIT; "Ring trilogy"
Zelazny, Roger: JACK OF SHADOWS; "Amber" series
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Post by tetramorph on Jan 24, 2015 11:43:00 GMT -5
finarvyn, no Jack Vance? It really helped me to "get" the old school game-i-fication of "magic."
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Jan 24, 2015 13:14:51 GMT -5
Nice list! I think I might try to concentrate on just those and then branch off...
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Post by Admin Pete on Jan 26, 2015 13:23:05 GMT -5
Finarvyn's much shorter "everyone should read" part of Appendix N Anderson, Poul: THREE HEARTS AND THREE LIONS; THE BROKEN SWORD Burroughs, Edgar Rice: Mars series Howard, R. E.: "Conan" series (actual REH, not the pastiche stuff) Leiber, Fritz: "Fafhrd & Gray Mouser" series; et al Moorcock, Michael: STORMBRINGER; STEALER OF SOULS Tolkien, J. R. R.: THE HOBBIT; "Ring trilogy" Zelazny, Roger: JACK OF SHADOWS; "Amber" series I would agree to this list as a good must read list. this is a great place to start! |
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Jan 26, 2015 15:21:03 GMT -5
Just a quick thought - maybe we could start a reading club like thing on these books?
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Post by tetramorph on Jan 26, 2015 18:37:30 GMT -5
Just a quick thought - maybe we could start a reading club like thing on these books? I like that idea. I think we will need a few more folks around here to be able to sustain something like that. But when we grow, let's come back and address this again. |
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Post by Admin Pete on Jan 26, 2015 22:43:31 GMT -5
Just a quick thought - maybe we could start a reading club like thing on these books? I like that idea. I think we will need a few more folks around here to be able to sustain something like that. But when we grow, let's come back and address this again. That sounds like it could be a lot of fun! |
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Post by Vile Traveller on Feb 11, 2015 4:25:04 GMT -5
Quite a bit of it, but I really, really can't stand Vance's writing ... Does that make me a bad person?  |
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Post by The Old Ref Himself on Mar 5, 2015 12:38:34 GMT -5
Quite a bit of it, but I really, really can't stand Vance's writing ... Does that make me a bad person? Not to me, I don't care for Vance or Vancian magic. |
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monk
Prospector
Posts: 90
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Post by monk on Mar 6, 2015 11:20:53 GMT -5
I've never gotten very far into Vance, though I generally have trouble sticking to a book (maybe a little ADD). I did like the flavor of it, though.
For the most part I've only read the App N authors most everyone else has: Lovecraft, Howard, and Tolkien. Love them all.
My very favorite Howard is actually the Kull story "The Shadow Kingdom"--snakemen, secret passages through the castle, hacking monsters to pieces, woo hoo! Generally, I love how Howard throws you some combat every 3-5 pages or so.
Though not much of a Burroughs fan, I LOVE Leigh Brackett and have read a bunch of her books.
Clark Ashton Smith, though not on the list, is probably the biggest influence on the setting of my Lost Continent campaign, particularly the Hyperborea and Zothique. He has great story twists and beautifully weird settings and creatures. I base most of my magic imagery on his descriptions. Not much combat, though.
Anybody looks at the "Inspirational Reading" section in the back of Moldvay's Basic? It's worth a gander, as it includes an eclectic mix of scifi and fantasy, as well as including some books for younger kids. I particularly dig the Ursula Leguin Earthsea books. He also remembers to include CAS. (This is actually part of my larger argument about how B/X is really very weird fantasy/ mixed genre, which I will type out somewhere soon).
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Post by Vile Traveller on Mar 6, 2015 19:27:37 GMT -5
Clark Ashton Smith, though not on the list, is probably the biggest influence on the setting of my Lost Continent campaign, particularly the Hyperborea and Zothique. He has great story twists and beautifully weird settings and creatures. I base most of my magic imagery on his descriptions. Not much combat, though. Same here, although I also base a lot of core "Realm" areas on Averoigne. |
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Post by finarvyn on Mar 7, 2015 6:49:38 GMT -5
finarvyn, no Jack Vance? It really helped me to "get" the old school game-i-fication of "magic." Like Vile, I wasn't ever much of a Vance fan. His Eyes of the Overlord was decent enough, but I wouldn't put it in the same category as my other "short list" authors. |
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Post by cadriel on Mar 7, 2015 11:51:13 GMT -5
Anderson, Poul: THREE HEARTS AND THREE LIONS; THE HIGH CRUSADE; THE BROKEN SWORD
I've read all three books. The Broken Sword is how elves should have been. Three Hearts and Three Lions is top-notch adventure fantasy.
Bellairs, John: THE FACE IN THE FROST
Haven't read this.
Brackett, Leigh
I've read one or two of the Eric John Stark books. A lot closer to "adventure SF" than "science fantasy" as planetary romance authors go.
Brown, Frederic
Nothing. I have an anthology on my list of to-buy works.
Burroughs, Edgar Rice: "Pellucidar" series; Mars series; Venus series
I've read the first 2 or 3 Barsoom novels. A Princess of Mars is a favorite of mine. I have but haven't yet read any of the Venus stories.
Carter, Lin: "World's End" series
I think Gary either had a soft spot for prose that thuds like wood, or was pulling our legs. I've tried, but I have no intent of finishing this series. I've also tried and failed to read both Jandar of Callisto and Thongor of Lemuria. I love Lin Carter's work as an anthologist, but his original prose is unreadable.
de Camp, L. Sprague: LEST DARKNESS FALL; THE FALLIBLE FIEND; et al
I've read The Fallible Fiend and a couple of other de Camp originals. A waste of time, particularly the "Reluctant King" series. Haven't read Lest Darkness Fall.
de Camp & Pratt: "Harold Shea" series; THE CARNELIAN CUBE
The Incompleat Enchanter and The Carnelian Cube both sit on my bookshelf waiting for a day when I don't like myself very much.
Derleth, August
I had a big hardcover of Derleth stories back when I was in college. I tried reading several and couldn't get along with him very well. I keep meaning to go back but can't find a good volume to do so from.
Dunsany, Lord
I've read King of Elfland's Daughter and parts of his short fiction from the big Gollancz collection Time and the Gods. (It includes all the Pegana stories and everything from Sword of Welleran, etc.) Dunsany's short work is something you have to read, especially if you want to understand early Lovecraft.
Farmer, P. J.: "The World of the Tiers" series; et al
I have this sitting on my shelf and haven't read it.
Fox, Gardner: "Kothar" series; "Kyrik" series; et al
I just recently acquired Kothar: Barbarian Swordsman. I intend to read it even though I think this is what Anderson was warning us about in "Of Thud and Blunder."
Howard, R. E.: "Conan" series
I just read "The Scarlet Citadel" and am working on "Queen of the Black Coast." I'm reading through all the Conan stories to make sure I've actually read all of them. Conan is probably my favorite fantasy work by anyone. My favorite is either "A Witch Shall Be Born" or "Red Nails." I've also read several of the Solomon Kane stories, and Howard's pastiche novel Almuric (a deeply inferior planetary romance, possibly half written by Otis Adelbert Kline).
Lanier, Sterling: HIERO'S JOURNEY
I read this several years back, it's a very good book even if it takes its sweet time getting to the fun parts.
Leiber, Fritz: "Fafhrd & Gray Mouser" series; et al
I read every scrap of Fafhrd and the Mouser in high school. Still some of my favorite work. "Adept's Gambit" I thought never got its fair shake, but "Bazaar of the Bizarre" is probably the best of his short fiction.
Lovecraft, H. P.
I've read the majority of Lovecraft's short work. I don't think I've ever gotten all the way through At the Mouths of Madness, I keep meaning to circle back and check that one off. "The Colour out of Space" is his best story, but I do like to indulge in the Dunsany-esque "dream cycle" from time to time.
Merritt, A.: CREEP, SHADOW, CREEP; MOON POOL; DWELLERS IN THE MIRAGE; et al
I've read The Moon Pool. Merritt's framing stories are tedious but his fantastic content is great.
Moorcock, Michael: STORMBRINGER; STEALER OF SOULS; "Hawkmoon" series (esp. the first three books)
I have read several of the original Elric novellas, plus the six-volume Ace series of novels, and The Jewel in the Skull. I am definitely a fan of Elric.
Norton, Andre
I've read Daybreak: 2250 A.D., Storm Over Warlock, and at least one Witch World novel. I love Norton's writing and could just sit and read one of her books without interruption to the end.
Offutt, Andrew J.: editor of SWORDS AGAINST DARKNESS III
Recently acquired this, but have only read the first story in it so far, a Ramsey Campbell story that makes for a good bit of horror/fantasy.
Pratt, Fletcher: BLUE STAR; et al
I have two copies of The Blue Star and it seems to clash violently with what I actually like out of a fantasy novel, so I never actually finish it.
Saberhagen, Fred: CHANGELING EARTH; et al
I have one of the "Book of Swords" books but not Changeling Earth.
St. Clair, Margaret: THE SHADOW PEOPLE; SIGN OF THE LABRYS
I've read Sign of the Labrys. It's OK, kind of weirdly Wicca-trippy. It could go either way between a D&D megadungeon and a Metamorphosis Alpha type under-world. Referees should really read it, if just for gaming ideas.
Tolkien, J. R. R.: THE HOBBIT; "Ring trilogy"
I've read The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, The Children of Hurin, Unfinished Tales, Farmer Giles of Ham, The Tolkien Reader, Smith of Wooton Major, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, and most of the first five volumes (and chunks of later volumes) of The History of Middle-Earth. I skipped most of Lays of Beleriand, and didn't actually read the Etymologies in The Lost Road; with the later volumes I just dipped into topically, since they were mostly material covered in The Silmarillion. I never read Roverandom or Tolkien's translations. I obviously think rather highly of Tolkien. My favorite story in the whole cycle is Beren and Lúthien.
Vance, Jack: THE EYES OF THE OVERWORLD; THE DYING EARTH; et al
I've read all four books from the Dying Earth cycle. The first book is the only must-read, and Rhialto the Marvellous seemed particularly unnecessary. I also have Planet of Adventure which I keep meaning to finish; it's referenced elsewhere in the DMG.
Weinbaum, Stanley
I have a volume of his short fiction from which I've read "A Martian Odyssey." It's such a good story I'm almost shy to read more of his work in case it's not at the same level.
Wellman, Manley Wade
I've read several of the Silver John stories. They're really good for Appalachian fantasy, if you like your Americana tinged weird fiction.
Williamson, Jack
I have no idea why Williamson is on this list; he was a straight SF writer. I have The Humanoids but haven't read it yet.
Zelazny, Roger: JACK OF SHADOWS; "Amber" series; et al
I read some of the Amber stuff back in college, and I've read Jack of Shadows. None of it had anything to do with D&D, of course, but it was fun.
Oh, and because we're talking about Appendix N, I have to register my standard complaint: Catherine Moore and Clark Ashton Smith belonged on that list. Moore for her spectacular "Jirel" stories ("Black God's Kiss" is a revelation), Smith for his cycles, particularly Hyperborea, Averoigne and Zothique. ("The Tale of Satampra Zeiros" is a D&D adventure.)
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Post by Admin Pete on Mar 9, 2015 19:22:30 GMT -5
Oh, and because we're talking about Appendix N, I have to register my standard complaint: Catherine Moore and Clark Ashton Smith belonged on that list. Moore for her spectacular "Jirel" stories ("Black God's Kiss" is a revelation), Smith for his cycles, particularly Hyperborea, Averoigne and Zothique. ("The Tale of Satampra Zeiros" is a D&D adventure.) I agree with you fully on this, Catherine Moore is excellent! I love he "Jirel" stories and which there were a lot more of them. Clark Ashton Smith also definitely belongs on the list too! |
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Post by Bartholmew Quarrels on Apr 1, 2015 11:23:35 GMT -5
I've read mainly just Howard, Burroughs and de Camp off of this list.
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