A few of the RPG related books that I’ve read and that I’m reading. This is my own Appendix N. This is far from all the books and short stories I have read. Practically anything you read can serve as inspiration for RPGs. Dig deep into your own Appendix N as both a player and a GM.
I plan to add the 15 authors below, from Appendix N, that I haven’t read to my list.
Bellairs, John
Brackett, Leigh
Brown, Fredric
Carter, Lin
Derleth, August
Dunsany, Lord
Farmer, P. J.
Fox, Gardner
Merritt, A.
Offutt, Andrew J.
Pratt, Fletcher
St. Clair, Margaret
Weinbaum, Stanley
Wellman, Manly Wade
Williamson, Jack
WHAT I’M READING
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – The White Company [Amazon Affiliate link] is a historical novel of the White Company [Amazon Affiliate link] during the Hundred Year’s War. Doyle considered this his favorite work. I like it but I’m reading a bit at a time since 2012. I find other books grabbing my interest more.
- H. Rider Haggard – King Solomon’s Mines and Allan Quartermain. Not on Appendix N’s list of authors, but out of copyright, so free on Project Gutenberg. I have no idea if they are any good.
- D&D 5th Edition Player’s Handbook [Amazon Affiliate link] This is slow going. Reading new rules is slow going and the choice of shiny paper with art behind the text makes it a lot harder for my aging eyes to read.
Playing At The World [Amazon Affiliate link]
An in-depth history of D&D and Role Playing Games. This is a well-researched scholarly level book. It has the sources and footnotes for those who are interested. However, it is written in a way that is readable.
NEXT ON KINDLE
PAST BOOKS
PAPER BACKS: (I spent way too much on these and several Kindle volumes in 2012. So I’m working on Appendix N authors that are either available at low cost or free. I’m now reading on Kindle as I am out of shelf space for more book.)
- Glen Cook – Chronicles of the Black Company trilogy is very good. I hadn’t read it until I picked it up in 2012.
- Terry Goodkind – Wizard’s First Rule. I picked up the first book in the series when I got hooked on the Legend of the Seeker TV series.
- Alan Dean Foster – I was at the bookstore way back when and found that there were more Pip & Flinx adventures than I knew about. Impossible Places, Reunion, and Flinx Transcendent.
- Robert H. Heinlein – I’ve read lots of his stuff. The one book I have is The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress. This is the origin of TANSTAAFL in the vocabulary of most geeks/nerds. I first read it the first time and most of the other Heinlein I have read was back in high school and college.
In 2016, I picked up Orphans Of The Sky, as many say it was inspiration for Metamorphosis Alpha. However, James Ward says it was actually Starship by Brian Aldiss, which I also picked up. Both are quick reads and one can see elements of MA in both. - Frank Herbert – The Dune series is what most people know him for. I read all of the Dune series in high school and college, and re-read Dune in 2012. I really like his The Santaroga Barrier. It would make a great movie or TV series. I can’t seem to find my copy….
- Raymond E. Feist – I first read the Riftwar Saga in high school and college. I re-bought the books in about 2012 and re-read it.
BOOKS I READ BACK IN THE DAY:
- Isaac Asimov – I made it through the Foundation trilogy way back in high school. Not something I’ll do again. I also read I. Robot and others I don’t recall. My brother had a subscription to his Science Fiction Magazine, so I got to read that after he did.
- Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle – Lucifer’s Hammer [Amazon Affiliate Link]. I read that back in high school. I think of that one often and added it to the Kindle in 2017.
- Poul Anderson – Three Hearts and Three Lions [Amazon Affiliate Link] . There was a sale so I added it to Kindle in 2017 for a re-read. I read it in high school.
- Fritz Leiber – Swords and Deviltry (Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser Book 1) [Amazon Affiliate Link] . I read this series back in high school. I added the first book to Kindle in 2017 when it was at a great price.
- H.P. Lovecraft – I read several of the stories back in the day, and re-read many of them when my oldest son bought a book of collected works when the library had a book sale. I added The Complete H.P. Lovecraft Collection [Amazon Affiliate Link] (Xist Classics) to my Kindle to save on space and have my own copy.
- H.G. Wells – War of the Worlds.
KINDLE:
- Robert E. Howard – Conan: The Barbarian Complete Collection [Amazon Affiliate Link] on Kindle. There is another version by a different publisher here.
- Matthew Colville – He has a great YouTube series on Running the Game. He is also a very talented author. I bought both of his books in 2016 and devoured them. I am anxious for the third book to come out.
- Priest (Ratcatchers Book 1) [Amazon Affiliate Link]
- Thief: A Fantasy Hardboiled (Ratcatchers Book 2) [Amazon Affiliate Link]
Mazirian the Magician: (previously titled The Dying Earth) (The Dying Earth series Book 1)Cugel the Clever: (previously titled The Eyes of the Overworld) (The Dying Earth series Book 2)Cugel: The Skybreak Spatterlight: (previously titled Cugel’s Saga) (The Dying Earth series Book 3)Rhialto the Marvellous (The Dying Earth series Book 4)
Space Viking
Rebel Raider
Little Fuzzy
Way back in high school I also read his book based on John Carpenter’s The Thing, and Dark Star. I read Dark Star before I saw the movie at a ConQuest in KC.For Love of Mother Not (Adventures of Pip & Flinx Book 1)The Tar-aiym Krang (Adventures of Pip & Flinx Book 2)Bloodhype (Adventures of Pip & Flinx Book 3)Orphan Star (Adventures of Pip & Flinx Book 4)The End of the Matter (Adventures of Pip & Flinx Book 5)
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
