APPENDIX N:

INSPIRATIONAL AND EDUCATIONAL READING

"Inspiration for all of the fantasy work I have done stems directly from the love my father showed when I was a tad, for he spent many hours telling me stories he made up as he went along, tales of cloaked old men -who could grant wishes, of magic rings and enchanted swords, or wicked sorcerors and dauntless swordsmen. Then too, countless hundreds of comic books went down, and the long-gone EC ones certainly had their effect. Science fiction, fantasy, and horror movies were a big influence. In fact, all of us tend to get ample helpings of fantasy when we are very young, from fairy tales such as those written by the Brothers Grimm and Andrew Long. This often leads to reading books of mythology, paging through bestiaries, and consultation of compilations of the myths of various lands and peoples. Upon such a base I built my interest in fantasy, being an avid reader of all science fiction and fantasy literature since 1950. The following authors were of particular inspiration to me. In some cases I cite specific works, in others, I simply recommend all their fantasy writing to you. From such sources, as well as just about any other imaginative writing or screenplay you will be able to pluck kernels from which grow the fruits of exciting campaigns. Good reading!"

- Gary Gygax, Dungeon Master's Guide (1st Edition) 1979


Inspirational Reading:


Anderson, Poul. THE BROKEN SWORD. 1954 (1971)

Neither mortal love nor Elfland magic could blunt the fury of a changeling scorned!

Anderson, Poul. THREE HEARTS AND THREE LIONS. 1961

Anderson, Poul. HROLF KRAKI'S SAGA. 1973

The Norse Legends newly brought to life by a master fantasist

Bellairs, John. THE FACE IN THE FROST. 1969

Authentic fantasy by a writer who knows what wizardry is all about

Brackett, Leigh. THE SWORD OF RHIANNON. 1953

Cosmic peril in a lost world

Brackett, Leigh. THE SECRET OF SINHARAT. 1964

Behind the banner of eternal life lies eternal horror

Brackett, Leigh. THE COMING OF THE TERRANS. 1967

Could Earthmen stand against the forgotten science of the Red Planet?

Brown, Fredric. WHAT MAD UNIVERSE? 1949

The SF classic of a man trapped in a hilarious alternate reality!

Brown, Fredric. MARTIANS, GO HOME. 1955

They were little green men, but with a difference... and what a difference!

Burroughs, Edgar Rice. A PRINCESS OF MARS. 1912

The first book of the famous Martian series

Burroughs, Edgar Rice. THE MOON MAID. 1912

Discovery and adventure in the unseen world of the Moon

Burroughs, Edgar Rice. PIRATES OF VENUS. 1934

Excitement in the Tarzan tradition on the planet of mystery

Burroughs, Edgar Rice. SAVAGE PELLUCIDAR. 1941

The last adventure of David Innes at the Earth's Core

Carter, Lin (editor). DRAGONS, ELVES, & HEROES. 1969

Carter, Lin. THONGOR AND THE WIZARD OF LEMURIA. 1965

The famous first adventure of the mightiest warrior-hero since Conan

Carter, Lin. THONGOR AND THE DRAGON CITY. 1966

Swordplay and spells - and bizarre adventure for the mightiest warrior-hero since Conan

Carter, Lin. THE QUEST OF KADJI. 1971

Kadji, the young warrior, axed a path through a hundred adversaries

Carter, Lin. THE WARRIOR OF WORLD'S END. 1974

The first book of the Gondwane epic

de Camp, L. Sprague (editor). SWORDS & SORCERY. 1963

Action, magic, enchantment - eight novelettes by masters of heroic fantasy

de Camp, L. Sprague (w/ Fletcher Pratt). THE INCOMPLETE ENCHANTER. 1941

Two mortals adrift in worlds of magic and wild adventure

de Camp, L. Sprague (w/ Fletcher Pratt). THE CARNELIAN CUBE. 1948

Ancient magic opens the door to strange worlds in a universe where all dreams come true!

de Camp, L. Sprague. THE TRITONIAN RING. 1951

Thrilling sword and sorcery for the fans of Tolkien's LORD OF THE RINGS

de Camp, L. Sprague. THE GOBLIN TOWER. 1968

A bold warrior and his sorceress lady - a spellbinding quest for a magic amulet

Derleth, August. THE MASK OF CTHULHU. 1958

Stories of eldritch terror based on the concepts of H.P. Lovecraft

Dunsany, Lord. THE KING OF ELFLAND'S DAUGHTER. 1969

A fantasy novel in a class with the Tolkien books

Dunsany, Lord. AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD. 1970

Dunsany, Lord. DON RODRIGUEZ: CHRONICLES OF SHADOW VALLEY. 1970

Dunsany, Lord. BEYOND THE FIELDS WE KNOW. 1972

...a key unlocking rich storehouses of dream

Dunsany, Lord. THE CHARWOMAN'S SHADOW. 1973

He had the magic of the myth-maker

Dunsany, Lord. OVER THE HILLS AND FAR AWAY. 1974

Farmer, Philip Jose. THE MAKER OF UNIVERSES. 1965

The enigma of the many-leveled cosmos

Farmer, Philip Jose. A PRIVATE COSMOS. 1968

I looked forward for over a year to the book you are holding in your hands

Fox, Gardner. WARRIOR OF LLARN. 1964

Envoy to a world of science-wizardry

Fox, Gardner. KOTHAR AND THE WIZARD SLAYER. 1970

It was the Magnificent Barbarian's most dangerous quest - to stop the wizard killer

Fox, Gardner. KYRIK: WARLOCK WARRIOR. 1975

The mightiest swordsman who ever walked the Earth

Howard, Robert E. CONAN THE CONQUEROR. 1950

Volume five in the saga of fantasy-adventure's mightiest hero

Robert E. Howard's only book-length novel of Conan!

Howard, Robert E. ALMURIC. 1964

Alone on an uncharted planet

Howard, Robert E. CONAN THE ADVENTURER. 1965

The world's greatest fantasy hero - the ultimate in swashbuckling adventure

Howard, Robert E. BRAN MAK MORN. 1969

Savage! Furious! Thrilling! The mightiest adventures of the greatest hero of them all

Howard, Robert E. CONAN. 1969

The earliest, most savage battles of fantasy-adventure's mightiest hero

Howard, Robert E. THE HAND OF KANE. 1970

Lanier, Sterling. HIERO'S JOURNEY. 1975

In a holocaust world of strange beasts and savage men, he rode forth

Leiber, Fritz. SWORDS AGAINST WIZARDRY. 1968

Fafhrd the Barbarian and the Gray Mouser battle awesome monsters and treacherous sorcerers, in this new novel by the master of heroic adventure

Leiber, Fritz. SWORDS AGAINST DEATH. 1970

Fafhrd the Barbarian and the Gray Mouser battle the most dangerous sorceries in all Newhon

Lovecraft, H.P. THE DREAM-QUEST OF UNKNOWN KADATH. 1970

The finest weird fantasy ever written

Lovecraft, H.P. THE DOOM THAT CAME TO SARNATH. 1971

Lovecraft, H.P. THE SPAWN OF CTHULHU. 1971

Merritt, Abraham. MOON POOL. 1919

What secret compulsion made this lovely girl the handmaiden to unnatural horrors?

Merritt, Abraham. DWELLERS IN THE MIRAGE. 1932

Packed with all the elements that make Merritt the top fantasy author: a lost land, a beautiful witch, and a supernatural horror from the ends of time

Merritt, Abraham. CREEP, SHADOW CREEP. 1934

Moorcock, Michael. THE STEALER OF SOULS. 1961

Elric, wanderer of strange worlds... and his enchanted sword Stormbringer... in fantasy-adventure at its best

Moorcock, Michael. STORMBRINGER. 1965

Elric, the haunted warrior king, fights a titanic war against the forces of Chaos! Powerful and sustained imagination

Moorcock, Michael. SWORD OF THE DAWN. 1968

Dorian Hawkmoon journeys through time and space to defeat the spreading tentacles of the evil Dark Empire

Norton, Andre. DAYBREAK 2250 A.D. 1952

All new, all original, and all excellent (original title STAR MAN's SON)

Norton, Andre. WITCH WORLD. 1963

One man against a wonder planet

Norton, Andre. YEAR OF THE UNICORN. 1965

Norton, Andre. WARLOCK OF THE WITCH WORLD. 1967

He read his destiny in alien stars

Norton, Andre. HIGH SORCERY. 1970

Warlocks of other worlds - or scientists of times unknown

Offutt, Andrew (editor). SWORDS AGAINST DARKNESS. 1977

Heroic fantasy in the tradition of Robert E. Howard

Pratt, Fletcher (w/ L. Sprague de Camp). LAND OF UNREASON. 1942

A droll masterpiece of fantasy!

Pratt, Fletcher. THE BLUE STAR. 1952

The tale of a parallel world

Saberhagen, Fred. THE BROKEN LANDS. 1968

Who rides an atomic "Elephant" dares not dismount!

Saberhagen, Fred. CHANGELING EARTH. 1973

The turning point for Terra had come

St. Clair, Margaret. THE GREEN QUEEN. 1956

Was she mistress of miracles or puppet of super science?

St. Clair, Margaret. SIGN OF THE LABRYS. 1963

Imaginative, inventive, original - the science-fiction novel of an ultra-modern world without a future

St. Clair, Margaret. THE SHADOW PEOPLE. 1969

They came from the underearth to take over the world

Tolkien, J.R.R. THE HOBBIT. 1937

The enchanting prelude to THE LORD OF THE RINGS

Tolkien, J.R.R. THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING. 1954
(1965 Ace Unauthorized Edition)

Superb - one of the major achievements of epic imagination in our lifetimes, and your life is the poorer if you have failed to read it

Tolkien, J.R.R. THE TWO TOWERS. 1954
(1965 Ace Unauthorized Edition)

It is an extraordinary work - pure excitement, unencumbered narrative, moral warmth, barefaced rejoicing in beauty, but excitement most of all

Tolkien, J.R.R. THE RETURN OF THE KING. 1955
(1965 Ace Unauthorized Edition)

An impressive achievement, unique among the imaginative works of our time

Tolkien, J.R.R. THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING. 1954
(1965 Ballantine Edition)

The authorized edition of the famous fantasy trilogy THE LORD OF THE RINGS newly revised with a special foreword by the author

Tolkien, J.R.R. THE TWO TOWERS. 1954
(1965 Ballantine Edition)

The authorized edition of the famous fantasy trilogy THE LORD OF THE RINGS newly revised with a special foreword by the author

Tolkien, J.R.R. THE RETURN OF THE KING. 1955
(1965 Ballantine Edition)

The authorized edition of the famous fantasy trilogy THE LORD OF THE RINGS newly revised with a special foreword by the author

Vance, Jack. THE DRAGON MASTERS. 1963

The book that won the Hugo Award for Best Science-Fiction Novel

Vance, Jack. THE EYES OF THE OVERWORLD. 1966

Quest at the end of time

Vance, Jack. CITY OF THE CHASCH. 1968

Planet of Adventure #1 Marooned on a world of mysterious aliens and unpredictable dangers

Weinbaum, Stanley. THE BLACK FLAME. 1939

A landmark work in modern science fiction Stanley G. Weinbaum's brilliant novel of the far future

Weinbaum, Stanley. A MARTIAN ODYSSEY. 1962

And other great science-fiction stories

Weinbaum, Stanley. THE NEW ADAM. 1969

A long-neglected milestone in modern science fiction!

Wellman, Manly Wade. WHO FEARS THE DEVIL? 1963

Fantastic stories of science fiction

Wellman, Manly Wade. THE SOLAR INVASION. 1968

From beyond the fifth dimension, a master fiend threatens to destroy the universe

Williamson, Jack. THE GREEN GIRL. 1930

A great science-fiction novel about a weird land beneath the Earth

Williamson, Jack. REIGN OF WIZARDRY. 1964

The magic of the dark one enslaved the world... Theseus alone stood against it

Zelazny, Roger. LORD OF LIGHT. 1967

The Hugo Award-winning novel

Zelazny, Roger. NINE PRINCES IN AMBER. 1970

A prine of The Blood returns to rule the only true world

Zelazny, Roger. JACK OF SHADOWS. 1971

The gripping new adventure of a mighty hero's battle with the forces of decay - set in a world of darkness and despair


"The most immediate influences upon AD&D were probably de Camp & Pratt, REH, Fritz Leiber, Jack Vance, HPL, and A. Merritt; but all of the above authors, as well as many not listed, certainly helped to shape the form of the game. For this reason, and for the hours of reading enjoyment, I heartily recommend the works of these fine authors to you."

- Gary Gygax, Dungeon Master's Guide (1st Edition) 1979


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