Books that should be in Appendix N

finarvyn · **Posted:** Wed May 30, 2012 7:16 pm

Troy812 wrote:

....and for urban adventuring .. you can't beat Robert Asprin's Thieves' World books.
Im not sure if the are DCC / Appendix N material, but I do think required reading for getting the most out of your thief.

They were written after AD&D was created so they were too recent to be actually included in AppN, but they have a simiar feel as well. Dave Arneson contributed to the THIEVES' WORLD boxed set in the early 1980's.

Troy812 · **Joined:** Sat Jun 11, 2011 1:49 pm **Posts:** 37

Ohhh so that's the rule... nothing since 1980.

Kobayashi · **Joined:** Fri Apr 06, 2012 9:56 am **Posts:** 12

I'll subtmit these anyway

We are all legends by Darrel Schweitzer (1981)

Quote:

13 linked stories about Sir Julian, the Crusader damned by God after a night spent with a Satanic witch. Julian roams Europe and the East, and strange lands not found on any map, seeking to escape his fate.

Tomoe Gozen trilogy by Jessica Amanda Salmonson (1981)

Quote:

They are dead-on Sword & Sorcery as some swordfight or sorcerous event is happening in every chapter [...] ultimately they're the very same thing, both terms were coined by Fritz Leiber with the sort of thing Robert Howard wrote in mind. I tried to invest these stories with depth, emotion, & intelligence, but at base, they are also thud & blunder.

Both are highly recommended to any Appendix N reader.

Karaptis · **Posted:** Thu May 31, 2012 7:30 am

finarvyn wrote:

Troy812 wrote:

....and for urban adventuring .. you can't beat Robert Asprin's Thieves' World books.
Im not sure if the are DCC / Appendix N material, but I do think required reading for getting the most out of your thief.

They were written after AD&D was created so they were too recent to be actually included in AppN, but they have a simiar feel as well. Dave Arneson contributed to the THIEVES' WORLD boxed set in the early 1980's.

Those stories kick ass!

Karaptis · **Posted:** Thu May 31, 2012 7:31 am

Kobayashi wrote:

I'll subtmit these anyway

We are all legends by Darrel Schweitzer (1981)

Quote:

13 linked stories about Sir Julian, the Crusader damned by God after a night spent with a Satanic witch. Julian roams Europe and the East, and strange lands not found on any map, seeking to escape his fate.

Tomoe Gozen trilogy by Jessica Amanda Salmonson (1981)

Quote:

They are dead-on Sword & Sorcery as some swordfight or sorcerous event is happening in every chapter [...] ultimately they're the very same thing, both terms were coined by Fritz Leiber with the sort of thing Robert Howard wrote in mind. I tried to invest these stories with depth, emotion, & intelligence, but at base, they are also thud & blunder.

Both are highly recommended to any Appendix N reader.

These sound pretty cool as well.

Troy812 · **Joined:** Sat Jun 11, 2011 1:49 pm **Posts:** 37

Kobayashi wrote:

Tomoe Gozen trilogy by Jessica Amanda Salmonson (1981)

Nice ones! I loved these books. Great for an Oriental/Japanese flavored game...

finarvyn · **Posted:** Thu May 31, 2012 11:38 am

Troy812 wrote:

Ohhh so that's the rule... nothing since 1980.

Well, if it was post 1980 or so then it couldn't have been included in Appendix N becasue the AD&D books would have been done and so anything after couldn't have inspired them.

Certainly books after 1980 could have inspired DCC and thus could exist on an "extended Appendix N" list.

Raven_Crowking · **Joined:** Fri Mar 16, 2012 11:41 am **Posts:** 1731

I had an exchange with Gary Gygax about books once, and I was surprised (given his obvious love of old language) that he wasn't a fan of older "classic" literature. It didn't occur to me to ask him about William Morris then, but I doubt Gary had read Morris' fantasies. If he had, I feel sure they would have been included, because the line of descent is obvious from Morris to authors Gary did include.

IMHO. YMMV.

Menocu · **Joined:** Fri Jun 01, 2012 10:54 pm **Posts:** 5

+1 on Tomoe Gozen & We Are All Legends. They are rock solid stuff. If you can't find glorious grotesque images to rip off while reading them, you're not trying.

I'd add, just barely missing the 1980 cutoff (although the stories that comprise both started appearing before 1980) Michael Shea's Nifft The Lean and it's sequels, and Tanith Lee's Cyrion. It's hard to say too many good things about either of them, other than that Shea is incredibly inventive, full of strong and gory imagery and strong rogue heroes. Here's a review quote that sez it better than I can (from F&SF, Sept. 2000):

"The world inhabited by Nifft (the Brain) and his sidekick Barnar (the Lunk) is not a game. It is Evolution run amok, where "Kill or Be Eaten" is the prime directive and Nature is red not just in tooth and claw but tentacle, mandible, gaping maw and coiled stinging tail. Nifft and Barnar outwit, fight, and occasionally f*** other humans; but their real energy, and Shea's, is directed towards monsters.

And what monsters! Entire rippling, pullulating, creeping, swirling, crouching, leaping, swimming, slaughtering armies of them; enough monsters to populate a hundred novels, and untold nightmares. In his brief introduction to The Mines of Behemoth, Tim Powers (whose own early work treads deftly within the gleaming footsteps of Vance and Michael Moorcock) cites Bosch and Doré as worthy illustrators of Shea's hellish land- and creature-scapes."

The Cyrion stories are also very good, and very unlike later work by Tanith Lee. He's kind of a Gray Mouser without the talkiness, sharp, smart and forever in bluff and counter-bluff ina series of vaguely middle-Eastern adventurers that smell of sweat, blood, and kif, usually with a thin civilized veneer.

Flexi · **Posted:** Fri Jun 22, 2012 11:01 am

A big +1 for 'Nifft the Lean'. A wildly imaginative book. Shea's 'A Quest for Simblis' is worth checking out too. The book's description of feuding and incompetent magic users reminds me of spell mishaps in DCC.

I would like to add comics. Sure, they were obviously inspired by REH's original literature but I can highly recommend the 'Conan the Barbarian' and 'The Savage Sword of Conan' comics. I think they started coming out in 1970 and 1974 respectively.
The current collections by Dark Horse, 'The Conan Chronicles' and 'The Savage Sword of Conan' volumes are currently taking up a lotta room on my bookshelves!
The series of Chronicles and Savage Sword of Kull volumes are worth checking out as well.

headspice · **Posted:** Tue Jul 24, 2012 4:14 pm

WOW, can't believe Alan Burt Akers, pseudonym of Kenneth Bulmer, hasn't been mentioned yet. 37 Dray Prescott novels published between '72 & '88.
Sword & Planet fiction set on the planet Kregan.

The 1st few Gor novels are worth reading. As the series went on Norman's sexual role playing interests unfortunately took over the series. If nothing else read Tarnsman of Gor, and Priest Kings of Gor.

Lin Carter's work such as Callisto, Thongor, and Green Star novels should definitely be included.

There's quite a few comics that I would include as well, perhaps another thread?

Goodman Games

Books that should be in Appendix N

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