My Own Sword and Sorcery Game: Part 2, Influences

I'm still in the note-taking process of mashing together my own role playing game, but it is fun just thinking about it.

Step one of this process is declaring "what" my game is going to be about. In three words: Sword and Sorcery.

The definition of Sword and Sorcery I prefer is by Philip Martin in his work The Writer's Guide to Fantasy Literature: From Dragon's Lair to Hero's Quest.

"Sword and Sorcery [is characterized]...by a strong bias towards fast-paced, action rich tales set within a quasi-mythical or fantastical framework. Unlike high or epic fantasy, the stakes tend to be personal, the danger confined to the moment of telling" (Martin 35).

I also like Karl Edward Wagner's definition: "[Sword and Sorcery is]...a fascinating synthesis of horror, adventure and imagination...displayed to best effect in a universe in-which magic works and an individual may kill according to his personal code". I like KEW's definition for it puts "horror" first. This is important for I feel that the proper father of Sword and Sorcery is Robert E. Howard.

The roots of Sword and Sorcery, just as those of Epic/High Fantasy, stem from the great epics (Gilgamesh, Beowulf, etc.) and the much later Lord Dunsany story, "The Fortress Unvanquishable Save for Sacnoth"; however, it was Howard's 1929 Kull story, "The Shadow Kingdom" which solidified what Sword and Sorcery would become, even if the phrase Sword and Sorcery would not be coined until 30 years later by Fritz Leiber. Howard, of course, was heavily influenced by his contemporary, H.P. Lovecraft, and horror, and/or a sense of dread, was often a large factor in the Sword and Sorcery writings of Howard, and those of Clark Ashton Smith.

Thus I've begun my project by deciding upon my own early Appendix N. I'm sure the list will change as I go along.

Another early decision I'm trying to arrive at is a good working title. The best I've come up with so far is: Sword and Sorcery Game Algorithm, or SAGA. It is a mouth full, and the use of the word "Algorithm" is forced as an synonym for "System", but works as an acronym in the spirit of Fudge and GURPS, and it serves as a tribute to both the North sagas and the 1960's Swordsmen and Sorcerer's Guild of America, whose membership included Lin Carter, Fritz Leiber and Jack Vance, just to name three.

My second option is MOSS-Game, My Own Sword and Sorcery-Game.

Advice, votes and suggestions are welcome.

My Own Sword and Sorcery Game

In a recent post, I spoke of my wish to design my own version of D&D; however, not for general consumption, but only for my own use. I now realize that what I really want is my own Sword and Sorcery game.

I make this distinction because while a quick look at the Appendix N (from the AD&D Dungeon Master's Guide) will show that D&D is strongly rooted in the traditional roots of Sword and Sorcery (i.e. Robert E. Howard, Fritz Lieber), it also tries to be rooted in the genre of High Fantasy (J.R.R Tolkien being the most obvious example listed in Appendix N). In fact, I believe this is D&D's greatest appeal; however, it is also it's greatest limitation.

While it is cool that players can "make their own game" by simply omitting aspects of the game they do not wish to include; I suspect that the willingness to do so is more apt to be found amongst those that enjoy the OSR. Furthermore, I believe, and this is merely opinion, I believe that with the publication of AD&D, TSR began moving its fan base away from the idea of "it's your game, do what you want", and more towards, "this is the official way you should play". This is, as I said opinion only, but consider the old house organ magazine of Dragon back in the day and the regular feature "Sage Advice" in which any questions of "what's the official rule here?" were answered. I don't mean to be repetitive, but there was a definite drive towards making things "official".

It is damn hard to be "official" and all encompassing with a game like D&D, for it involves the tropes of Sword and Sorcery, High Fantasy and at times even a splash of Historical Fantasy and Sword and Planet. I believe as the game progressed towards the late 80's there was a drive to be more High Fantasy then anything else.

All of this is fine, but it's not the game I want. So fine, I'm a firm believer in the OSR (even if I don't solidly play in the OSR sandbox), so I am free to do what I want. Don't like the Cleric class? Nix it. Don't want Players running magic-users? Don't let them. Don't want hordes of cannon fodder monsters running around? Fine, then throw out the Monster Manual and make your own creepy-crawlers. All of those decisions are easy.

It is even easy enough to make crunchy rules decisions. Don't like alignment? Don't use it. Think Wisdom is a silly attribute? Don't use it. etc. etc. etc..

It comes to a point though when you have to ask yourself: am I still playing D&D? It's okay if the answer is no. My answer is No. I find it liberating. I am now free to do whatever I want.

In another recent post, I listed my ten favorite rpg products.
Now that I am free to do whatever I want, why not combine all of the elements I like from those products and make my own game? The first non game changing rule I would make is my game will be grounded in Sword and Sorcery, minus all the high fantasy. It will be markedly low fantasy. I'm simply going to mash together everything I like and make it work.

This will be fun. Now if I only actually had time to game. *Sigh*

Appendix N: Leigh Brackett's "The Halfling and Other Stories"

While I have immensely enjoyed Leigh Brackett, and will undoubtedly read more from her, this will be the last of my Leigh Brackett Appendix N entries for a while. I am feeling the need to move further down my reading list of Anderson to Zelazny.

I found my copy of this book in a used book store, and while I have seen it for sale on-line, I encourage you to haunt your local used book stores first, as I firmly believe in supporting local owned businesses.

As far as I know, this book and many of the stories contained within it are out of print.

My copy is dog eared, beaten up, stained with loose pages. Luckily, it is intact and I only paid $1. It is a paperback first Ace Books printing from 1973. I was unable to confirm who the cover art was by, any information on this would be appreciated. There was a second Ace printing done in 1983 which has cover art cited to Mel Odom.

It contains the following stories: "The Halfling", "The Dancing Girl of Ganymede", "The Citadel of Lost Ages", "All the Colors of the Rainbow", "The Shadows", "Enchantress of Venus", "The Lake of the Gone Forever" and "The Truants". Strangely, "The Truants" is not included in the table of contents, nor is any first printing information provided for it in the Acknowledgements section. I was able to find said information with minimal research.

"The Halfling" being the title story, was the first in the collection. It first appeared in Astonishing Stories, 1943. While it was not my favourite story in the collection, it showcased Brackett's ability to write across genres as it was a science fiction story, but had a definite hard boiled noire feel to it. Halflings in Brackett's universe are not the happy hobbits found in Tolkien's world. In Brackett's stories, a halfling is a creature that is half human and half something else. It is a concept seen in her novel The Sword of Rhiannon, and to a lesser extent, her Skaith novels as well. It is a concept that I find intriguing, and I am considering adopting it into my own D&D universe; perhaps retiring the happy hobbits of "Tolkienville".

"The Dancing Girl of Ganymede" first appeared in Thrilling Wonder Stories, 1950. This story was a striking cross between C.L. Moore's "Shambleau" and Philip K. Dick's novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Interestingly enough, C.L. Moore's Northwest Smith story was published in Weird Tales in 1933, while Androids was not published until 1968. I wonder if Moore's story influenced Brackett, and consequently, Brackett influenced Dick? Honestly, I am not enough of a scholar on any of the three to say with any certainty. I draw connections between these three as a casual reader. I point out a connection to Catherine Moore as "Dancing Girl" shares a plot structure used to a large extent (perhaps too large of an extent) by Moore in her Northwest Smith stories; that being "Boy meets Girl, Girl turns out to be far more then Boy anticipated". I only use "Shambleau" as an example as it was the first to pop into my head by Moore; actually, any number of her Smith stories would work nicely. As to the connection to Philip K. Dick, there is a theme shared in both "Dancing Girl" and "Androids", "Man vs. Machine, and the rights of said machines".

"The Citadel of Lost Ages" first appeared in Thrilling Wonder Stories, 1950. This story reminded me of a novel by Henry Kuttner, The Dark World, published 1946. Thematically both are similar, but my connection may be born of the fact that I read The Dark World not too long ago.

"All the Colors of the Rainbow", Venture Science Fiction, 1957. This story stood out for me the most in the entire collection. Here Brackett tackles racism as only a science fiction writer can. I found it, interesting, sad and still (sadly) relevant.

"The Shadows", Startling Stories, 1952. This was a straight up "bug-hunt"; although in this case the "bugs" were shadows. It contained the most interesting quote in the collection: "We aren't welcome in the universe. I don't know why. Maybe it's because we're not content to be the animals we are, but must always be pretending that we're something else, prying about and upsetting things, grasping after stars, making trouble and screaming because it hurts. I don't know. I only know that we are hated. Everywhere I've been, everywhere there was a man, they've been gotten rid of somehow". Substitute "world" for "universe" and "American" for "man" and it is still a phrase that rings true.

"The Enchantress of Venus", Planet Stories, 1949 (also published as "City of the Lost Ones"). This is an Eric John Stark tale; actually, it is the second Stark story written by Brackett, the first being "Queen of the Martian Catacombs". It is a solid Stark story, and a solid story regardless of the protagonist, and I wonder why it has not been re-printed by Paizo in their Planet Stories line?

"The Lake of the Gone Forever", Thrilling Wonder Stories, 1949. I found the reading of this as almost a warning story of those that try to take the magic of the world and keep it for themselves.

"The Truants", Startling Stories, 1950. Again, this story did not appear in the table of contents, so I was surprised and pleased upon reaching the end of "Lake" to find I had one more tale. It is a creepy tale, almost Stephen King like in style, with a rather, in my opinion, silly ending that still satisfied.

Overall, this is a great collection, and read along with the Stark/Skaith stories available from Paizo and The Sword of Rhiannon, serves as a great introduction to the writings of Leigh Brackett.

C.L. Moore and Henry Kuttner - A Perfect Union

When Gary Gygax put together his Appendix N for the first edition AD&D DM Guide, there was no way he could have been all inclusive. However, there are some names that are shockingly not on it, such as Clark Ashton Smith. Two other names that often come up in discussions of missing authors are C.L. Moore and Henry Kuttner.

Pictured to the left are Catherine Moore and Henry "Hank" Kuttner. It is nearly impossible to discuss one with out the other. The story has been passed down that the two started a relationship when Hank sent a fan letter to the gender ambiguous author C.L. Moore. Catherine Moore was using the gender-non-specific pen name in order to help her boost her sales in a then almost entirely male dominated pulp world.

A friendship began which turned into a marriage. Their marriage was more then just a civil union, it was the union of two talents as well. More then one person that knew the two would often remark that they worked so well together, that when one left the typewriter, the other would sit down, scan what was done then launch right back into the story. Thus it is often hard to say what stories are pure Moore or pure Kuttner or an amalgamation of the two.

I became enamored with their writing when I discovered them through my Planet Stories Subscription through Pazio Publishing. I read Moore's works offered from the Planet Stories line several months ago, and I read Kuttner's Elak of Atlantis around the same time. It was not until recently when I took account of how far behind I had fallen in reading my Planet Stories subscription that I finally read Kuttner's Dark World and Robots Have no Tails.

This offering by Pazio Publishing collects all of the Northwest Smith stories, most of which appeared in Weird Tales beginning in 1933. The biggest negative criticism I have towards the collection is that the character of Northwest Smith has been advertised as a precursor to Han Solo. This is what I expected when I read these stories, but that is not what was delivered. Now I should state that this is not a negative comment towards Moore and her creation; rather, it is a statement that the blurbs are misleading. I was expecting stories of space smugglers out running the law in space ships and a hero blasting away the bad guys. In short, I was expecting Space Opera.

In truth, the Northwest Smith stories are more in the key of H.P. Lovecraft then Star Wars style space opera. This makes sense as both Moore and Kuttner were part of the Lovecraft Circle of the pulp era. Moore offers up stories of creeping doom, often in the guise of alien women that hint towards being the catalyst of mythological creatures such as the Medusa (read Moore's short story "Shambleau" and you will know what I am talking about).

There are no battles in space, I think there may have been one space ship in the entire collection, and the appearance of "blasters" is slim and infrequent. Many of the stories take place on Mars, and this is the Mars of the pulp era that is assumed to have always been habitable. It is a future in an undetermined time in which space travel is frequent and common, even though there is a definite lack of said space travel.

In other reviews, I have read several accounts of readers being disappointed with the definite lack of "space opera-ness". Again, this is not a fault of Moore's but rather it is bad marketing. Moore's Northwest Smith stories are engaging and a worth while read; however, the reader should know what he is getting into.

It would be easy enough to place these same stories not on Mars, but instead on Earth or an earth like world. The space ships which are mentioned could be left out, and the few blasters that appear could be replaced with swords. If these things were done, then these would be Sword and Sorcery tales albeit somber ones with a great amount of creeping horror but short on sword swinging action.

If this were done, then I think some of the charm of the Northwest Smith stories would be lost. As they are written they are good stories, some great. They are not Space Opera. They are more Sword and Planet, without the "swords"; perhaps even the sub genre of Planetary Romance could apply.

Pictured to the left is an illustration of the alien from "Shambleau"(this illustration is not included in the Planet Stories volume, I should point out) . It is the first story in the Planet Stories collection and the first published Northwest Smith story. They appear in the volume by publication date, and nearly half of them appeared not in Weird Tales but in fanzines.

"Shambleau" is a strong story. Upon reading it, I was immediately sucked into the book as a whole; however, I quickly realized after reading three more stories in succession that Moore was writing this with an eye towards publication. She had a definite formula she was following and she did so stringently with the intent of publishing and putting food on the table. This was a common practice in the hey day of pulp weird/science/fantasy fiction. Many of the authors were full time writers and at only a few cents per word, they were forced to create regularly and publish as much as possible. This meant going with what sold. Moore knew she had a winner with Northwest Smith, so she stuck to the formula. Unfortunately, when the Northwest Smith stories are read in succession, this leads to predictability. They are worth reading, but do yourself a favor and do not read them all in succession. Take your time with this book. Read a story, set it down and read another the following week or month.

I did not have the same experience when I read Moore's Black God's Kiss. Perhaps this was due to the fact that there are only six of them. There was a formula to these stories as well, not too different from the formula used with her Northwest Smith stories.

These stories are strongly influenced by Lovecraftian style horror as well, but while the Northwest Smith stories may be difficult to place in a genre, her Jirel of Joiry stories are not. They are Sword  and Sorcery, and it is obvious that Moore was hoping to ride on the coat tails of the success of Robert E. Howard with these stories. That isn't to say she wrote Conan pastiche with a red-haired woman in place of the sullen eyed barbarian. No, the Jirel of Joiry stories are unique to themselves.

What I found enjoyable about them is while the Northwest Smith stories were episodic, the Jirel of Joiry tales taken as a whole read almost like a novel. Each successive story references the former and Jirel's actions in previous stories have consequences that she must face. This may be why I didn't notice the formulaic nature of them when read successively.

I believe most fans are attracted to Moore's Northwest Smith stories, but for me her Jirel of Joiry tales are what sucked me in. I found Jirel more of an early ancestor of Roy Thomas and Barry Windor-Smith's Marvel Comics character Red Sonja. The ancestor's normally attributed to Red Sonja are either Howard's Red Sonya of Rogatino ("The Shadow of the Vulture) and/or another Howard character Dark Agnes de Chastillon, a swords-woman of 16th century France.

It was Howard who inspired the creation of Jirel of Joiry for Moore was very taken with the first Dark Agnes story, "Sword Woman". I have not had the pleasure of reading "The Shadow of the Vulture" nor have I read any Dark Agnes stories (of which there are only two complete stories and a third draft) beyond last month's offering in Dark Horse's Robert E. Howard's Savage Sword #1, but instinct speaks to me and says that Moore was just as much responsible for the birth of Red Sonja as Howard himself was.

I shall move onto Henry Kuttner, but I would like to point out that the story "Quest of the Starstone" appears in both Northwest of Earth and Black God's Kiss. It is interesting to read because it was written with Henry Kuttner. It is a meeting of Northwest Smith and Jirel of Joiry, kind of an early "Marvel Team-up"; unfortunately, it is the weakest story of both volumes, and I felt cheated having it appear in both books.

I read Henry Kuttner's Elak of Atlantis prior to any of Moore's stories. I found this book in a used book store. I knew of the Planet Stories books, but had not bothered to investigate them. My decision to subscribe was based upon the strength of this book.

Consequently, I only picked it up for I am always interested in potential Clonan characters, and Elak seemed to fit the bill. I was wrong. Elak of Atlantis is not a Clonan. He and his sidekick Lycon have more in common with Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser then Conan.

Don't get me wrong, all of the tropes of Sword & Sorcery are there and it would be naive to say that Howard's success in the field didn't have anything to do with Hank Kuttner creating the Elak stories; however, they stand on their own, in the spirit of Howard, but not simple pastiche (and not to get off on a rant here, but even though I use the words "simple pastiche" I have no hang ups with Howard Pastiche stories -- many Howard fans do, I'm not one of them; not to mention, there has been some good pastiche written, particularly by Karl Edward Wagner).

It is a shame that there were only four Elak stories written. I read these over a year ago, and while I remember enjoying them, the particulars all ready fade from memory, but I enjoyed them enough that I know this book will warrant future re-readings to pass a lazy warm Sunday afternoon. Included in this volume are two Prince Raynor stories, inferior to the Elak stories, but still good stories on their own merit.

The Dark World was a great read and stands out as a reason that Ray Bradbury calls Kuttner a "neglected master". Just as I did with Leigh Brackett's Skaith books, I found my hungry DM mind filling up with great world building concepts born of this short novel.

Kuttner presents an intriguing world, a parallel universe to our own in which magic is real, but is perhaps the result of super-science unexplored within our own realm. Vampires, werewolves and gorgons exist, but they are mutations.

The Dark World is Sword & Sorcery, and it is very good Sword & Sorcery. Piers Anthony, in his introduction to the book, points out that Kuttner makes many rookie mistakes with writing, and it is true that he does, but as Anthony points out, the story is strong enough that you do not notice.

I have been toying with the idea for some time now of presenting to my players a fantasy world that they are sucked into from our own world, although, maybe not from our time period.

The initial idea was generated while reading Edgar Rice Burrough's "Pellucidar" stories, and sprouted while reading Brackett's Skaith books. The Dark World just might be the rain that cements it all together for me.

That is the best part of reading selections from Gygax's Appendix N (and authors that were not included, but should have been such as Moore and Kuttner). Each book I have read has given me something, at least a kernel of an idea. Ideas are germinating, and that is what Gary Gygax was hoping he could do for fellow gamers by offering them Appendix N. The experiment was successful.

Galloway Gallegher, the protagonist of the stories collected in Robots Have No Tails was familiar with successful experiments, but only when he was loaded.

The five stories collected in this book were too short, and I regret that there only will ever be five. They are not perfect and the science in the science fiction aspect is suspect. Kuttner may not have been big on research, but he was big on fun.

Fun is what is promised in this book and fun is what is delivered. Each story was short to read and was a joy. I didn't gleam many ideas from these; however, I can easily see a drunken genius gnome inventor named after Galloway Gallegher making an appearance in my Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay game soon.

An introduction by C.L. Moore (written in 1952) is included in the Planet Stories edition. The author name given for these stories was originally "Lewis Padgett". Lewis Padgett is a pseudonym created from both their mothers' maiden names.

Moore insists in her introduction that these were Kuttner's stories, written by him with no help from her, but he use of the joint pseudonym (one of several that the two used) suggests that the opposite is true.

Personally, I like to think that Moore did help write these. I have no proof that such is the case, but I like the idea of it. I like imagining the two chuckling. One looking over the other's shoulder then saying "move over, I have an idea". That sounds perfect to me.

I will end this post with an enlargement from the cover art from the first printing of the book, for no other reason then I like it.

Appendix N: Leigh Brackett III

I have a lot of blogging to catch up on, so the final three volumes in the Planet Stories series reprinting classic Leigh Brackett stories are going to get the short treatment.

The Hounds of Skaith and The Reavers of Skaith complete Brackett's John Erik Stark trilogy begun with The Ginger Star and introduced in The Secret of Sinharat. In my last exploration of Brackett's work, I mentioned that her writing generates world building ideas for me. That statement remains true with both of these continuations.

Brackett's writing is ripe with several world building concepts for the hungry DM's mind. I'm still fighting the temptation to scrap my own world of "the Dark Ways" and base my world upon Skaith. No doubt, several ideas will emerge that are steeped in her writing.

I don't want to give away particulars of the story itself, but I do wish to mention that I feared there would not be a satisfactory ending to the trilogy. In my opinion, The Reavers of Skaith does conclude nicely. I can not say it does so without the use of deus ex machina.

The Sword of Rhiannon delivers just as well as her Stark stories; perhaps even a bit better. As much as I enjoyed the Stark works, I enjoyed Rhiannon even more so. It is a well told, fast paced, action packed work that has just as much imagination as her other works.

In D&D terms, the actual Sword of Rhiannon of the stories name sake serves as an excellent example of how an artifact can be used well to form an excellent story. Other then that, I saw no direct examples of tropes from the game that were obviously influenced by Brackett's works. No doubt, the level of action and adventure were what the games designers were shooting for. In that way, there is a direct influence.

I have a tendency when reading works written around the same time period as Tolkien to see if the old scholar had any influence upon the author. In Brackett's case, it is easy to say no he did not. While there are parallels with Edgar Rice Burrough's works, there is a definite lack of High Fantasy Tolkienism. "High Fantasy" as a sub genre does not apply to her either.

Her stories that I have read would most likely be classified as Sword and Planet; for this reason, Edgar Rice Burrough's name shall always be tagged to her. I believe that to classify her as a Burrough's mimic is a naive assumption. Yes, she does work with the tropes first made popular by ERB, but her writing is too original for her to be called an imitator.

Overall, I have enjoyed Brackett's writing immensely. Of the Appendix N writers I reviewed for this series thus far, I've enjoyed her writing the most, with Poul Anderson being a very close second.

I do have to state a criticism towards Planet Stories itself. The typos continued through all three of these books. Please Pazio, hire better copy editors.

Appendix N Birthdays: March

These are the people that started it all. Without their imaginations, this hobby that we all love may never have been. When applicable, the date of their death is provided. Each month also features "Honourable Mentions". This section is composed of people not listed on Appendix N, but geeky cool, and/or inspiring in some nerd fashion. It is also of course completely subjective and based upon my own opinion. Please notify me if I've missed anyone from Appendix N, made any errors, or if you feel someone should be added to the Honourable Mentions column and please tell me why they should be added.

There is a third column: "Hot Geek Crush of the Month", in which I choose a lovely lady to honor that has some geek cred. Necessary you ask? No, but it is another excuse for me to post pictures of lovely women.

Appendix N:

There are no births for the month of March from those authors listed on the Appendix N list; however, I would be remiss if I did not mention the deaths of two great men that much lore of fantasy gamings is owed: Edgar Rice Burroughs passed March 19, 1950 and Gary Gygax himself died March 4, 2008. RIP.

Honorable Mentions:

March 1: Dirk Benedict (B: 1945; the original Starbuck)

March 3: James Doohan (B: 1920/D: July 20, 2005; Scotty of Star Trek)

March 5: Jake Llyod (B: 1989; painful, but Anakin Skywalker Star Wars: The Phantom Menace)

March 5: Dean Stockwell (B: 1936; Al of Quantom Leap and many other roles)

March 11: Douglas Adams (B: 1952/D: May 11, 2001; The Hitchhiker's Guide novels and others)

March 13: L. Ron Hubbard (B: 1911/D: January 24, 1986; SF author and Scientology founder)

March 22: William Shattner (B: 1931; Captain James T. Kirk USS Enterprise)

March 26: Leonard Nimoy (B: 1931; Spock, this is a big month for Star Trek births)

March 29: Lucy Lawless (B: 1968; Xena and Spartacus: Blood and Sand)

March 31: Ewan McGregor (B: 1971; Obi-Wan of those other so called Star Wars movies)

Hot Geek Crush of the Month:

This was a hard choice to make, but I just spent the better part of the weekend watching Spartacus: Blood and Sand, from which I must say WOW-ZA!

Appendix N: Leigh Brackett's "The Ginger Star"

One thing I've noticed since my previous post about Leigh Brackett, is the more I read her, the more I like her. That is true of the first book I read by her in the Planet Stories line. Of the two stories in that book, I enjoyed the first, "The Secret of Sinharat", but I liked the second, "People of the Talisman", more.

The Ginger Star is another John Eric Stark story. Originally published in 1974, The Ginger Star would be Brackett's return to the character of Stark after a nearly twenty years. As I mentioned in my review of The Secret of Sinharat, that book, published in 1964 was a re-write of two earlier short stories, both of which were published in the late 40's and early 50's. In the three previous Stark stories, Brackett had adapted the typical 40's Space Opera milieu which assumed that there was indigenous life in our solar system other then our own. Many authors other then Brackett had assumed as much about Mars, Mercury and Venus. With Brackett's return to Stark, she abandoned that curio of the golden age and created a new planet with Skaith.

It is because of Skaith that The Ginger Star so easily finds its place on Gygax's Appendix N. It is stuffed full of action and exotic locals. Several times while reading it, I kept finding myself tempted to stop and start building a campaign world around Skaith. So many things in this novel fired my imagination - The Corn King, the Farers, the Wandsmen. I won't ruin it for you by explaining what these things are, just please trust me. If you haven't ever experienced this novel, pick up a copy from Paizo and do so.

There are some weaknesses in this novel. Brackett does not take the time to develop here characters in this story. Most seem card board cut outs meant to stand in just long enough to push forward her plot. That criticism aside, she does deliver a fast paced story in less then 200 pages and while her secondary characters are not well developed, her main character is engaging. I think of Stark as a blending of Edgar Rice Burrough's Tarzan (and in some respects, John Carter) and Robert E. Howard's Conan.

I enjoy the Planet Stories selections that I've purchased from Paizo. I have not yet had the opportunity to read all of them - I have two more Henry Kuttner volumes to read, a collection of earlier stories written by contemporary authors titled Before they Were Giants and a double feature of Michael Moorcock and Joe Lansdale. Each book has attractive well done cover art, plus the covers are pre-creased (something I really appreciate). The paper used is of good stock that will not fade easily. Paizo has also sought out some great talent to write their introductions. I have one very glaring criticism: TYPOS! The Ginger Star featured the most annoying typo yet, as the copy editors had the characters stabling their "breasts" instead of their "beasts".

To steal a line from one of my favorite NFL pre-game shows: COME ON MAN!

Such glaring typos detract from an otherwise great product and I would love to see future products missing such errors.

Appendix N: Leigh Brackett's "The Secret of Sinharat and People of the Talisman"

Born December 7, 1915 and passing away March 17, 1978, Leigh Brackett was an author of science fiction, hard-boiled crime fiction and she was a screen writer as well. It is her screen writing that most remember her for; particularly, she is remembered for writing the script for The Empire Strikes Back. That script was completed just prior to her death, and underwent heavy re-writing before the movie was made. A pirated version of her script is rumored to be floating around the web; however, I have never seen it.

Other then The Empire Strikes Back, she also screen wrote The Big Sleep (1945, co-written with William Faulkner), Rio Bravo (1959) and The Long Goodbye (1973) amongst others.

It is not her screen writing that made Gary Gygax mention her in Appendix N; rather, it was her science fiction stories. I recently read The Secret of Sinharat and People of the Talisman. The edition I read was published by Paizo Publishing in 2007 as volume five of their Planet Stories imprint. The volume includes two stories: "The Secret of Sinharat" and "People of the Talisman". It includes an introduction by Michael Moorcock, who was a long time friend of Brackett and her husband Edmond Hamilton (her husband is credited by some as "the father of Space Opera", alongside E.E. 'Doc' Smith and he is well known for his "Captain Future" stories). The cover art is by Andrew Hou.

I've read a number of the Planet Stories volumes by such authors as C.L. Moore, Henry Kutner and Manly Wade Wellman; without exception, I've enjoyed them all. The good people at Paizo are on a mission to keep these classic authors in print, and I am supporting their efforts by maintaining a subscription with them. The name "Planet Stories" is meant to pay homage to the magazine of the same name that saw print from 1939 to 1955.

Like the other volumes I've read, I enjoyed this one as well. I did, however, note an increased number of copy-editing mistakes that unfortunately detracted from an otherwise greatly enjoyable reading experience.

As for the stories themselves, "The Secret of Sinharat" is a novella expanded from a short story titled "Queen of the Martian Catacombs" (originally published in Planet Stories Magazine in 1949) and "People of the Talisman" was expanded from an earlier story as well, "Black Amazon of Mars" (originally published in Planet Stories Magazine as well in 1951).

The stories in this volume are both Eric John Stark tales. Stark was her most popular creation. He is perhaps made a bit in the image of Burrough's John Carter with a dash of Howard's Conan. Stark is a hard-bitten mercenary for hire. His skin is baked dark by the harsh sun. He was born on Mercury where his parents died and he was raised by the Mercurian aborigines who gave him the name N'Chaka, meaning "the man without a tribe". Both "Secret" and "Talisman" could be classified as Planetary Romance, or possibly even Sword and Planet. Technology is present, but so are swords made of cold-hard steel.

After reading both of these tales, it is easy to see why Gygax recommended Brackett in Appendix N. Here are tales of harsh lands, false gods, lost civilizations and high adventure. It is worth noting that Gygax recommended all of Brackett's works. I am in the midst of reading The Ginger Star now (another Stark book), and will blog about that when I am finished.

In closing, this short book serves well as an introduction to Brackett and her character Eric John Stark. If you enjoy Edgar Rice Burroughs and Robert E. Howard, you won't be disappointed.

Appendix N Birthdays: February

These are the people that started it all. Without their imaginations, this hobby that we all love may never have been. When applicable, the date of their death is provided. Each month also features "Honourable Mentions". This section is composed of people not listed on Appendix N, but geeky cool, and/or inspiring in some nerdage fashion. It is also of course completely subjective and based upon my own opinion. Please notify me if I've missed anyone from Appendix N, made any errors, or if you feel someone should be added to the Honourable Mentions column and please tell me why they should be added.

I've added a new category this month: "Hot Geek Crush of the Month". Necessary you ask? No, but it is another excuse for me to post pictures of lovely women.

Appendix N:

February 17: Andre Norton (1912/D. March 17, 2005)

February 17: Margaret St. Clair (1911/D. November 22, 1995)

February 24 :August Derleth (1909/D. July 4, 1971)

Honourable Mentions:

February 4: George A. Romero (1940, Master of Zombie flicks)

February 5: H.R. Giger (1940, famous painter)

February 5: William S. Burroughs (1914/D. August 2, 1997; Naked Lunch)

February 8: Jules Verne (1828/D. March 24, 1905; A Journey to the Center of the Earth)

February 10: Lon Chaney Jr. (1906/D. July 12, 1973; star of The Wolfman amongst others)

February 11: Leslie Nielson (1926/D. November 28, 2010; Forbidden Planet)

February 16: LeVar Burton (1957; Star Trek: The Next Generation)

February 25: Sean Astin (1971; played Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings)

Hot Geek Crush of the Month:

February 21: Jennifer Love Hewitt (1979).

Okay, being the star of Ghost Whisperer just nominally qualifies her, but damn have I ever got a geek crush on her!

Appendix N Birthdays: January

I'm starting a new monthly tradition. Each month, I'll post the birthdays of authors from Appendix N. Why? These are the people that started it all. Without their imaginations, this hobby that we all love may never have been. When applicable, the date of their death is provided. Each month, and months that have no one born from Appendix N, features a larger column of "Honorable Mentions". This section is composed of people not listed on Appendix N, but geeky cool, and/or inspiring in some nerdage fashion. It is also of course completely subjective and based upon my own opinion. Please notify me if I've missed anyone from Appendix N, made any errors, or if you feel someone should be added to the Honorable Mentions column and please tell me why they should be added.



Appendix N

January 3: J.R.R Tolkien (1892/D: September 2, 1973)

January 17: John Bellairs (1938/D: March 8, 1991)

January 20: A. Merritt (1884/D: August 21, 1943)

January 22: Robert E. Howard (1906/D: June 11, 1936)

January 26: Philip Jose Farmer (1918/D: February 25, 2009)



Honorable Mentions

January 2: Isaac Asimov (1920/D: April 6, 1992; Author of Foundation and many other books)

January 5: George Reeves (1914/D: June 16, 1959; "Superman" of the 1950's)

January 6: Rowan Atkinson (1955; Star of Black Adder)

January 12: Jack London (1876/D: November 16, 1922; his adventure stories birthed the pulps)

January 13: Clark Ashton Smith (1893/D: August 14, 1961; one of the great pulp writers)

January 13: Orlando Bloom (1977; He played Legolas)

January 16: John Carpenter (1948; he gave us Halloween and several cool movies)

January 17: James Earl Jones (1931; Darth Vader)

January 19: Edgar Allen Poe (1809/D: October 7, 1849; without him, no HPL)

January 20: David Lynch (1946; Directed 1984's Dune)

January 20: Deforest Kelley (1920/D: June 11, 1999; Star Trek's "Bones")

January 22: Bill Bixby (1934/D: November 21, 1993; My Favorite Martian and the Hulk)

January 27: Lewis Carroll (1832/D: January 14, 1898; Wonderland)

January 28: Elijah Wood (1981; played Frodo)

January 30: Christian Bale (1974; Thus far, the best big screen Batman)

January 30: Gene Hackman (1930; the Lex Luthor to Christopher Reeve's Superman)

January 31: Zane Grey (1872/D: October 23, 1939; his adventure stories spawned the pulps)

Current Reading

As I've stated before, I am in the midst of reading the DMG Appendix N in its entirety. Thus far, I've made my way through Poul Anderson and John Bellairs. Next on my list, I'm reading alphabetically, is Leigh Brackett. I decided that before moving onto Brackett, who I have never read, I would re-read Burrough's A Princess of Mars, as it is my understanding that Burroughs' work had a large influence upon Brackett.

At the same time, I have a large stack of comics calling my name that I need to catch up on. Not to mention Literary magazines, bought yet unread and a growing number of books outside of the immediate interests of this blog that I've been meaning to get to; although, some of them are related and will turn up here.

I also have a number of posts I need to make concerning books I've read from the Ballentine Adult Fantasy Series and Paizo's Planet Stories, which do not cross paths with Appendix N. So it will be a few weeks before I get to Leigh Brackett in my Appendix N series.

Appendix N: John Bellairs "The Face in The Frost"

Moving on from the "A's" to the "B's" listed on the DMG's Appendix N, I had the pleasure of reading John Bellairs' The Face in the Frost.

Originally published in 1969, Bellairs has stated that he was inspired to write a book staring a wizard after reading Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Having a wizard as a protagonist, or in the case of Bellairs two wizards, is where most of the similarities end; both works are without a doubt grounded in High Fantasy.

Bellairs is better known for his Young Adult works. Initially, The Face in the Frost was billed as such; however, be that as it may, this is a novel easily enjoyed by any reader who loves fantasy, regardless of age.

I first became aware of this novel after having read Lin Carter's non-fiction book about fantasy, Imaginary Worlds: The Art of Fantasy. In his book, Carter discusses The Face in the Frost as the third of three works published since The Lord of the Rings, that in Carters own words: I have read three absolutely first class fantasy novels published since The Lord of the Rings first appeared in print in this country (the United States) during the mid 1950s. And only three.... The first two Carter wrote of were Peter S. Beagle's The Last Unicorn, and Joy Chant's Red Moon and Black Mountain; Katherine Kurtz and Ursula K. LeGuin get honorable mentions. John Bellairs' The Face in the Frost gets the nod from Carter as being worthy of being placed upon the book shelf alongside The Lord of the Rings.

I bring this forward as I would like to emphasize once more my love for Lin Carter as an editor and fellow fanatic of great literature. By many critics accounts, he had glaring faults as a writer, and if stories are true perhaps as a person as well, but as a lover of Fantasy/Sword & Sorcery fiction, Carter did much for the genre and his fellow fans with his editorship of The Ballentine Adult Fantasy Series, which I've spoken of before.

It's a mystery to me as to why some works made Gygax's Appendix N while others did not. For instance, John Bellairs' The Face in the Frost does, but neither Peter S. Beagle nor Katherine Kurtz do. My suspicions lean towards a theory that Dungeons & Dragons grew from Gary Gygax's love of pulp fiction, not the fantasy literature that exploded upon the scene after the publication of Tolkien. I believe this for Gygax names EC Comics and fantasy/horror/science fiction movies as inspiration as well. Gygax was known fan of Hammer Horror Films, which were pulpy in tone as were EC Comics.

It is again the old odd argument of D&D's inspirational material. The outsider looks into the gaming circle and sees the usual assortment of gamers seemingly reliving a Tolkien fetish as they hack their way through dungeons in the guise of elves, dwarves and halflings (hobbits). The fans of the game, or at least many, know that they are actually playing out their fantasies of yes kin akin to the kindred of Tolkien, but more in the vein of Robert E. Howard's Conan stories and nightmare tales from H.P. Lovecraft. Some, perhaps even Gygax himself, are angered at the simplification of The Lord of the Rings = Dungeons & Dragons and vice versa.

It is mystery. If Tolkien had not published his masterpiece, there would have been no boom of interest in the 1950s/60s/70s in the genre of fantasy. This resurgence of interest lead to a fan named Lin Carter who took the reigns of editing at Ballentine and reintroduced, and in some cases introduced for the first time, fantasy readers to such greats as William Morris, Lord Dunsany, Katherine Kurtz and John Bellairs. It should not be forgotten that Lin Carter as the men-tee of L. Sprague de Camp had a hand in reintroducing fantasy lovers to Howard's creations as well; although the manner in which it was done angers Howard purists to this day.

What I'm driving at is simply that Gary Gygax, having stated himself that he was ...an avid reader of all science fiction and fantasy literature since 1950...most likely was exposed to many great works by being a fan of the Ballentine Adult Fantasy series. For instance by reading the Ballentine paperbacks he could have been exposed to H.P. Lovecraft. Lovecraft was one of the authors re-introduced by Carter to the public in the Ballentine Adult Fantasy series. Most likely, with his age being taken into account, his exposure to Bellairs was the Adult Fantasy series.

Also, it is possible that Gygax never read the pure versions of Howard's Conan yarns. Gnomic Press published them prior to the altered versions that de Camp pushed onto the public, but the de Camp versions, along with Marvel Comics, were the stories that most readers in Gygax's age group would have been exposed to. After all, Gary Gygax was born two years after Howard's death, and wouldn't have come into his formative reading years until four years prior to the cancellation of Weird Tales.

The popularity of the character of Conan led to the formation of the sub-genre of Sword & Sorcery. I believe, and I have no proof there of, that Gygax's leisure reading was more geared towards Sword & Sorcery rather then the High Fantasy inspired by Tolkien. Many of the works included in the Ballantine series were more geared towards High Fantasy. So while Gygax certainly read some, perhaps many or even all of the titles in Carter's Adult fantasy series, he would have paid attention to other works more in the vein of Howard's Conan tales. I specifically point out the Conan tales, as Gygax specifically named them in Appendix N.

I find myself curious as to why, if H.P. Lovecraft got the nod in Appendix N, why not Clark Ashton Smith? Perhaps the answer to that lies in the proper full title of Appendix N, Inspirational and Educational Reading. The italics on "Educational" are mine. Perhaps I can only answer many of my own questions by reading the appendix in entirety with the goal of educating myself about Dungeons & Dragons.

I did not intend such a long ponderous entry, but it is interesting to see how reading Appendix N gets my gears turning about the origins of the game. Gary Gygax aptly named Appendix N. It can inspire great gaming and educate the reader about Gygax's creation.

Back to the work at hand, I really can not state more then has been stated elsewhere. The Face in the Frost is a joy to read and it reads quickly. The fact that Prospero studies his spells from a spell book prior to casting, has been pointed out as a possible influence upon D&D. I would also like to point out that there is a scene which may have been the introduction for the spell magic mouth as well.

In Carter's Imaginary Worlds, a prequel to The Face in the Frost is talked about and was to be published in a volume of literature aimed at young fantasy readers titles Young Magicians. That book never saw print, and the manuscript for Bellairs story is assumed lost. He did begin work on a sequel titled The Dolphin Cross. It was never finished, but the 150 pages of it which were written are available in print.

My copy is a used Ace printing (1981) that I found in a local used book store. I have seen multiple copies available. There is a current edition in print as well. As always, I encourage you shop locally and support your favorite non-corporate owned book store. Hopefully one that serves coffee not bought from Starbucks and has a lazy cat rolled up in a cozy corner.

Happy Reading. Good Gaming.

Appendix N: Poul Anderson's "Three Hearts and Three Lions

Originally appearing as a 1953 novella in Fantasy & Science Fiction, Three Hearts and Three Lions would later be published as a novel in 1961. I have not read the original novella, nor am I certain as to its availability outside of a possibly expensive on-line auction; I would however, be keen to the idea.

This was actually the first of Anderson's three novels listed on Appendix N that I read. I'm not sure why I didn't write about it first, accept that I just wasn't sure exactly "what" to say about it.

I'm still not. Is it a good book? Most definitely. I read most of it on a short two hour flight, and stayed up late that very same night to finish it. It's not often I find a novel any more that is enough of a page turner to entice me to miss sleep. I like my sleep.

I wonder how much it differs from the '53 novella. While the novel is strongly in the vein of traditional fantasy, there is a definite lack of Tolkienisque influence. This isn't surprising, as the original novella appeared before tLotR and the '61 novel appeared five years before Tolkien's masterpiece was wide read in it's Ace and/or Ballentine paperback edition. I'm on record as being a fan of any work of fantasy that manages to tell a good and original story outside of imitating Tolkien. Three Hearts and Three Lions does just that.

It's influences upon Dungeons & Dragons are obvious. Anderson divides his fantasy world, that of the Holy Roman Empire on one side and Faerie on the other, into two classifications: Law and Chaos. It is easy to see that D&D's alignment system was most likely adapted from this novel. The class of Paladin may also have come from Anderson's portrayal of his main character, Holger, as well. The AD&D description of a Troll is almost word per word from Three Hearts and Three Lions.

As far as availability goes, I easily tracked down a copy at a local used book store. A quick search on Amazon turned up many copies available as well. As always though, I encourage the patronage of your local non-big-box stores.

I put off writing about this novel as I felt I should say more then "loved it", but honestly, I can't think of any thing new that hasn't all ready been said. Highly recommended.

Appendix N: Poul Anderson's "The High Crusade"

Having read "The Broken Sword" previous to this novel, I found it an odd juxtaposition to the former. First, the tone here is much lighter. Anderson does not attempt to take his story seriously, but at the same time, he is a serious enough writer that the reader is able to take the novel seriously. Secondly, while "The Broken Sword" fits nicely into the nitch of Sword & Sorcery, or possibly just Fantasy, "The High Crusade" fits imperfectly in both Fantasy and Science Fiction.





Originally serialized in Astounding Magazine in the year 1960, The High Crusade opens with a starship landing in England during the 14th Century. The English overtake the aliens, hi-jack it and end up light years away from home in a star-spanning empire ruled by the Wersgorix, a blue-faced alien race that rules several other races through having the most advanced technology.





The story that follows is that of Sir Roger Baron de Tourneville and his exploits in which, well, not wanting to give too much away, I'll say "God Favors the English". As mentioned earlier, the tone of Crusade is much lighter then that of The Broken Sword. There are many humorous moments in this short novel, along with short spats of high adventure. The narrator is one Brother Parvus a Franciscan Monk who explains his Christian name thusly:





"...I am of low size, and ill-favored, though fortunate to have the trust of children"

Brother Parvus gives a sometimes first hand account, and when necessary, recounts details he was not present to witness. As a narrator, he works wonderfully as I never found the story jarring. Along with humor and adventure is twisted in a tale of love lost, love betrayed, love regained, the classic "Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back".

The edition I have was published by Baen publishing in 2010, as a 50th Anniversary edition. It includes an Introduction by Astrid Anderson Bear, the daughter of Poul Anderson and the wife of Greg Bear. There are also five Appreciations of the novel, one each from: Diana L. Paxson, Eric Flint, Greg Bear, David Drake and Robert Silverberg. Included after the novel proper is a short story written by Anderson and in the same universe as The High Crusade titled "Quest".

"Quest"first appeared in Ares in 1983. It is set, appropriately enough, 30 years after the events of The High Crusade and tells the short tale of Sir Eric in his quest for the Holy Grail. The high moment of this story for me was a "singing sword" (a technological construct of the famous relic) that has the wrong tape inserted into it before battle. As Sir Eric rushes to confront a dragon the sword sings:

Oh, give me a haunch of ruddy beef,

And nut-brown ale in my pot,

Then a lusty wench with a sturdy arse

To bounce upon my cot--

It is a short tale, but everybit as enjoyable as its predecessor.

I pondered upon why Gary Gygax included this novel in his Appendix N. There are two possibilites, the first is in Mr. Gygax's own words:

for the hours of reading enjoyment, I heartly recommend the works of these fine authors to you.

That may be reason enough, for The High Crusade is without a doubt a story that can and most likely will be enjoyed by gamers of all different lots; however, what is the direct impact of this novel upon Dungeons & Dragons?

I thought long upon this, and remembered a section in the 1st edition Dungeon Masters Guide in which Gygax spoke of keeping campaigns fresh and alive. He spoke briefly of having realms similiar to the lost island of King Kong, and The Isle of Dread does that well, or perhaps realms similiar to Jack Vance's Dying Earth. He then presented alternative rules for converting AD&D characters to Boot Hill and Gamma World.

In my younger gaming days, this is something that me and my friends took literally. We had six-shooters, shot guns and mutants making frequent appearances in our games. With the acquistion of Expedition to the Barrier Peaks, robots and ray-guns gained heavy circulation.

Perhaps Poul Anderson's The High Crusade served as Gary Gygax's inspiration for this simple idea. Eric Flint, in his Appreciation sites Anderson's tale as heavily influencing his own genre twisting tales. Even if it were only a subliminal influence on Gygax's idea, it serves as an excellent example of what Swords & Ray-Guns could be.

Appendix N: Poul Anderson's "The Broken Sword"

Published in 1954, the same year as Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring saw publication, it is tempting to compare Anderson's novel to the Ring Trilogy. Both works are influenced by Norse mythology, shades of the Poetic Edda are obvious in The Broken Sword; however, while Tolkien took Norse Mythology and molded it to fit his vision of Middleearth, Poul Anderson took a more literal approach with The Broken Sword. Perhaps a weakness of Sword is that it reads as if written by a writer trying too hard to emulate a story form he obviously holds in high regard.

There were moments while reading passages of the novel that I found myself doing an inward eye roll. That aside, it is a delightful read and is without a doubt a true classic of Sword and Sorcery literature. I am careful to not say Fantasy in the generic sense. While it is a novel that would fall under the large banner of Fantasy in the genre sense, I would consider it more in the vein of Sword and Sorcery. Not quite in the vein of the works of Robert E. Howard or Fritz Lieber, but more similar to that of Lord Dunsany or even William Morris.

I only make this distinction as Poul Anderson does not attempt to create his own world here; while Tolkien took his Norse influences and created his own world clearly outside of the boundaries of reality, Anderson's tale takes place in a fictionalized England during the period of Viking incursions. Populace superstitions of the realm of Faerie are real and can be sensed from time to time upon the margins of society. Anderson's Faerie realm is perhaps a dimension which shares our own. As are the realm of Jottenheim and the Norse Gods.

Anderson's elves are not Tolkien's elves. They are, in Dungeons & Dragons terminology, Chaotic. The affairs of mankind not only do not interest them, they are perhaps beneath them. Here is perhaps the first influence which can be seen upon the development of Dungeons & Dragons. Comparing this novel to Anderson's novel Three Hearts and Three Lions, in which a definite alignment system is developed by Anderson, the rudimentary beginnings of on alignment system may be viewed in The Broken Sword, although it is not clearly as drawn out. Perhaps also an early influence upon what would become the standard Troll in D&D is here as well:

...arms like tree boughs that hung to their knees...Their skin was green and cold and slippery...few of them had hair...eyes set far into bone-ridged sockets, were like skulls.

The realm of Fae as presented by Anderson in his novel is in tune with that of Lord Dunsany's The King of Elfland's Daughter or the many works of William Morris. In my own personal vision of Dungeons & Dragons, this vision of the realm of Faerie would have more heavily influenced the game.

I've read that Anderson was inspired by H. Rider Haggard's The Saga of Eric Brighteyes, but having not read it myself I can not speak to that. I have also read that the broken sword of Anderson's novel inspired Michael Moorecock to create Stormbringer the famous sword of his Elric stories. Having read those, I can see the influence.

My copy of The Broken Sword came from a local used book store. A quick search of Abe Books coughed up several copies ranging from .69 to 20 plus dollars. It should be noted that an earlier version of the novel appeared in 1954. The work was rediscovered by Lin Carter and printed as the twenty-fourth volume of his Ballentine Adult Fantasy Series in 1971. My copy is a fourth printing from Del Rey this is the same as the version printed by Lin Carter, but missing his introduction. Anderson says this:

...without changing the story, I did allow myself a number of textual emendations...I did not rewrite end to end...I have trimmed away a lot of adjectives and wordbrush, corrected certain errors and inconsistencies, and substituted one Person (in one brief though important scene) for another who didn't really belong there.

Also in Anderson's forward, he openly admits that this novel could not be written by the same author who would later write Three Hearts and Three Lions:

This young, in many ways naive lad who bore my name could, all unwittingly, give readers a wrong impression of my work and me.

As I stated earlier, this is not Poul Anderson's strongest work, but time spent reading it is time well spent for lovers of Fantasy and/or Dungeons & Dragons.

As a note for the purists out there, an edition by Gollancz was published in 2002 titled The Broken Sword (Fantasy Masterworks). I have not seen this edition, but from what I understand it is exactly as the story appeared in 1954 prior to the 1971 Ballentine edition. For myself, I enjoyed the novel enough that I am seeking out the Gollancz copy so I may compare the two; however, the Gollancz edition is no longer in print either. Amazon lists new copies from $48.67 and used versions (some in hardcover) from $5.62.

I encourage you buy local and buy often.

Appendix N: Poul Anderson to Roger Zelazny

I've tackled the task of reading the works listed in Appendix N of the AD&D 1st edition Dungeon Master's Guide. In the cases that Gygax has listed specific works, I am reading those. For those authors he has listed as all their works, I am selecting those works I feel would have most likely influenced Gary Gygax.

In some cases, this intersects with three other reading lists that I am working my way through: The Ballentine Adult Fantasy Series, The Planet Stories Library and Pre-Tolkien Fantasy Literature.

I am reading each work and assessing each work in two regards. The first is how well the novel stands as a Fantasy Classic (or Science Fiction/Horror/whatever the case may be). Does it feel dated? Is it well written? Entertaining. Of course I am measuring it against my personal prejudice.

Secondly, what was its influence upon the development of Dungeons & Dragons as a game? What elements of the work in question would I like to see adopted into my own games? The later of the two is more important to me.

I will also give an indication of the availability of each work. I'm finding that many of the works listed in Appendix N are out of print. I will state how I came across my copy, how much I paid, and where others might come across their own copies.

I would like to make two statements related to my last paragraph: First, don't ignore the public library system. Too often, the library is ignored in favor of the big box stores. Support your library, be a patron if you can.

Second, I implore you to buy from your locally owned and operated book stores, not to include Barnes & Noble or Borders. I have nothing against either stores and I occasionally buy from them myself; however, as much as possible my dollars go to my favorite locally owned non-chain stores. I heavily believe in investing in my community.

Planet Stories Library

I've been plugging away at my reading list; lately, I've been concentrating on the few volumes I own from Paizio's Planet Stories line.

In short, I'm yet to be disappointed; however, I only own a few titles: Black God's Kiss, Northwest of Earth: the Complete Northwest Smith, both by C.L. Moore; Elak of Atlantis, The Dark World and Robots have No Tails by Henry Kuttner; Who Fears the Devil by Manly Wade Wellman and Before They Were Giants, edited by James L. Sutter.

Elak of Atlantis was the first book I dived into and the one that made me decide to get a subscription with Paizo. I expected a Clone-an story, they were much more than that.

I dove into Who Fears the Devil next. Wow, is the simplest way to explain how much I enjoyed these stories.

Northwest Smith was the third title I read, and while the stories were not what I expected (most reviewers lead you to believe that Northwest Smith is a proto-Han Solo and that these stories are Space Opera in their ray gun blazing best -- both statements are untrue and misleading), they were entertaining. I do recommend not reading them all in one sitting. I enjoyed Black God's Kiss by Miss Moore much more (no pun intended).

I have not yet read The Dark World, Robots have no Tails or Before they Were Giants as of yet, but will soon.

Many of these (Moore, Kutner and Wellman) fall into my pre-Tolkien reading list. Surprisingly, only Manly Wade Wellman is included in Gygax's Appendix N. It must be remembered though that Gygax stated in Appendix N that the authors listed were just some of many that inspired him. It is possible that he either never read Moore or Kuttner, or that he simply forgot to list them. Northwest Smith, Black God's Kiss and Elak of Atlantis are all three full of stories that would and should spark the imaginations of any fantasy gamer. I will give further thoughts on all of these books later, as each deserves more in-depth discussion.

I'm currently making my way through Appendix N from A to Z. I'm starting with Poul Anderson's Three Heart's and Three Lions.

Reading Lists

I'm not sure when in life I decided it was necessary to assign myself reading lists, but I have for more years then I can remember. My problem is two-fold, one: I tend to have more then a single list going at once and two: I am a completionist, perhaps bordering on OCD.

I've mentioned my affection for Lin Carter as an editor before. His non-fiction book Imaginary Worlds: the Art of Fantasy, impressed me so that I have been snagging any book edited by him that I can. This has led me to really appreciate the Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series.


While I am still actively reading pre-Tolkien fantasy, I have found myself relying heavily upon the Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series (BAFS)as a treasure trove resource for this reading list and I have been actively trying to find and read as many titles in the BAFS as possible and has become another reading list for me.


At the same time, I have discoverd The Planet Stories volumes published by Paizo as well. This too has become another obsessive reading list of mine. I have thus far by so impressed with the volumes I have read, I've purchased a subscribtion with Paizo.


So the reading journey continues and while I need to go into further detail in the future, I must say that I wish I had read Lord Dunsany's The King of Elfland's Daughter prior to starting my Darkling Ways campaign, as I find the elven culture in the novel very inspiring.

Appendix N from The DMG

Listed is the Appendix N from the 1st edition Dungeon Master Guide by Gary Gygax. Note some titles are in italics while others are in bold type while some are in both. These are added by me and are explained below. Dates are added by myself and are for my own reference.

Poul Anderson: "Three Hearts and Three Lions" (1961), "The High Crusade" (1960), "The Broken Sword" (1954)

John Bellairs: "The Face in the Frost" (1969)

Leigh Brackett (as early as 1943 to as late as 1971, but I believe most of her works were written prior to LOTR, but I will have to check my facts on that).

Fredric Brown (~ 1941 to 1963)

Edgar Rice Burroughs: "Pellucidar" Series (1922 -1941), Mars Series (1917 -1941), Venus Series (1934 - 1946)

Lin Carter: "World's End" Series (1969 - 1978)

L. Sprague de Camp: "Lest Darkness Fall" (1941), "Fallible Fiiend" (1973), et al. (many pre- 1966 works).

de Camp & Pratt: "Harold Shea" Series (1941 - 1953), "Carnelian Cube" (1948)

August Derleth (~1934 to 1961)

Lord Dunsany (~1915 - 1957)

P.J. Farmer: "The World of the Tiers" Series (begun in 1965, so I'll let it stand), et al. (many pre-1966 works)

Gardner Fox: "Kothar" Series (begun 1969), "Kyrik" Series (begun 1975), et al. (five works written prior to 1966)

R.E. Howard: "Conan" Series (Howard killed himself in 1936).

Sterling Lanier: "Hiero's Journey" (begun 1973).

Fritz Leiber: "Fafhrd & Grey Mouser" Series, et al. (F.L. published his first Fafhrd and Grey Mouser story in 1939 and continued publishing those and many other stories until his death in 1992; I've read enough of his literature to say without a doubt he didn't become a Tolkien imitator after the publication of any of Tolkien's works).

H.P. Lovecraft (died in 1937).

A. Merritt: "Creep, Shadow, Creep", "Moon Pool", "Dwellers in the Mirage", et al. (He died in 1943).

Michael Moorcock: "Stormbringer", "Stealer of Souls", "Hawkmoon" Series (esp. the first three books). M.M. will take further thought and investigation. He published his first Elric tale in 1961. I've read enough of his literature to say that despite the fact he no doubt has read Tolkien, I don't believe it influenced him, but I will leave his name un-bolded for now.

Andre Norton (A.N. published as early as 1934 and was with us until 2005. While I have read some A.N., I have not read enough to make an informed opinion. For now, she is off the list).

Andrew J. Offutt, editor: "Swords Against Darkness III" (1978)

Fletcher Pratt: "Blue Star", et al. (Died 1956).

Fred Saberhagen: "Changeling Earth" (1973), et al. (some pre - 1966 work, but not much).

Margaret St. Clair: "The Shadow People" (1969), "Sign of the Labrys" (1963). Note, most of her major works were prior to 1966.

J.R.R. Tolkien: "The Hobbit", "Ring Trilogy"

Jack Vance: "The Eyes of the Overworld" (1966, however part of a series started in 1950), "The Dying Earth" (begun 1950), et al. Luckily, Mr. Vance is still with us as of the writing of this list. He began publishing in 1950.

Stanley Weinbaum (died 1935).

Manly Wade Wellman (began publishing in 1927).

Jack Williamson (began publishing in 1928).

Roger Zelazny: "Jack of Shadows", "Amber" Series, et al. (most of his work was published from 1970 onwards, but I have to say there is a definite lack of Tolkien influence in his works).

The appendix notes that de Camp & Pratt, REH, Fritz Leiber, Jack Vance, HPL, A. Merritt had particularly significant input to the game.

The italics are added by myself and denote those authors/works I have read to date. While I'm sure I have read more then listed here, I have not seriously read fantasy for a number of years, so in some cases (such as de Camp and Burroughs) I left them listed as unread. What I find embarrassing is my essential geek reading is lacking. In a previous post, I stated that I was going to put together my own Appendix N, but before doing so, I wanted to read G.G.'s list, with particular preference given to de Camp, Pratt, REH, Leiber, Vance, HPL and A. Merritt, for Gygax noted that those authors in particular had helped shape the face of Dungeons and Dragons. Now of the big "seven", I have read three, in the case of Howard and Lovecraft, I have read extensively.

I still intend to finish the original Appendix N, but do to my growing interest in all literature "pre-Tolkien" I am giving particular attention to all literature written prior to 1966. Just about any Tolkienite can guess why I chose 1966. While JRRT published The Hobbit in 1937 (Britain - it was released in America in 1938), it was The Lord of the Rings which made him famous. While LOTR was first published in hardback in 1954-55 (again in Britain, The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers were published in 1954, The Return of the King was released in 1955. Rights for publication in America were sold in 1957), it was not until Ace came out with their pirated paper backs in the states in 1965, and Ballantine released the "official" paperbacks in 1966 that the trilogy set fire to the fantasy reading community.

Now Gygax did not name JRRT as one of the big seven; however, do to public opinion, Dungeons & Dragons and JRRT are linked in the minds eye. This is not my larger reason for concentrating on fantasy literature pre-1966, my main reason is the publication of the Ballantine paperbacks in 1966 forever changed the face of fantasy literature. In my opinion, not for the better.

Thus, the bold authors/titles are those works that were published prior to 1966, and are at the top of my Appendix N. It is not always easy to make the call as to who is on the list, versus who is off. Not to mention, Gygax made no attempt to separate science fiction from fantasy. If he liked it and it influenced him, then it made his list. Sometimes on my part, authors/works are included due to my ignorance of their work. Hopefully I can revise this after becoming better well read.

No doubt, many would disagree with the decisions I've made. After a bit more research, I plan on revising this into my own Appendix N. Right now I am still sampling and unable to make an informed decision.