D&D General How many books/authors of the original AD&D Bibliography have you read? Do you feel you see D&D differently than people who have not read any?

[Turbiales]

I have readed of the appendix:

Burroughs, Edgar Rice: “Mars series; Because of the movies and the rpg
Derleth, August. Because Cthulhu
Howard, R. E.: “Conan” series , Late in life my first experience was the Marvel Comic Books and there wasn't my cup of tea.
Leiber, Fritz: “Fafhrd & Gray Mouser” series (Great fan of the first novels, became disinterested after a while)
Lovecraft, H.P . Because of Cthulhu of course. Liked more his late work.
Moorcock, Michael: STORMBRINGER; STEALER OF SOULS; “Hawkmoon” series (esp. the first three books) . A great fan of his work, it hasn't aged well.
Tolkien, J. R. R.: THE HOBBIT; “Ring trilogy” a Great classic never rereaded.
Vance, Jack: Only readed the Dying Earth, not the Eyes.

I confess I feel more related to works by Brandon Sanderson, Terry Pratchett, Louise Cooper, Barbara Hambly, Margaret Weiss and The Earthsea novels. It can be said that some of those authors are derivative of the great writers of the 60's-70's but my fantasy is more rooted int he 80's.

My fantasy is not so different than the modern player, but my taste for some "grimdark" and tragic fantasy (As Moorcock) can clash with the actual d&d style.

 

[Baron Opal II]

I would say I've read most of the list, >= 70%.

I can certainly see where Gary found some inspiration from the styles, themes, and specific ideas in the stories I've read. I also have perused Stone's Glossary on the Construction, Decoration, and Use of Arms and Armor. I get the polearm lists. Aside from having an understanding of where Gary and Dave were coming from, I would not say I have any special insight into the workings of D&D.

They have certainly influence my personal presentation of my campaign; the writings of 19th and early 20th century authors were pretty trippy at times. But I would think I am as influenced by later sci-fi and fantasy authors, as well as the Surrealist movement, Kirby and Dikto comic art, Benin bronzes, &c. There all ingredients thrown into the the imagination pot.

 

[Lanefan]

Even for a modern reader, Lieber's "Fafhrd and Grey Mouser" stories are quite fun.

Duly noted. I'll check 'em out sometime.

 

[Dioltach]

I've read probably half the stuff on the list. In my opinion, it's no better or worse than works that have been published since, whether in the 1980s or today. Perhaps some of the early stuff was less restrained by conventions of the genre, but by the same token more recent stuff has explored depths and angles that earlier writers could never have dreamed of.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Moorcock has written so much, and it'd all just so darn good!

But if I had to recommend a single volume from the list, based on quality and literary legacy, I'd go with Lord Dunsany's King of Elfland's Daughter. It's gorgeous and deep, and completely magical. There are books on the list that feel more "D&D-ish," but Dunsany's writing is amongst the best of it.

Other than the Tolkein books, which I love, and a tiny bit of Lovecraft which IMO wasn't worth the time spent reading it, I haven't touched any of these. This is a very pre-1970s list, and most of my fantasy-reading go-to books are by authors slightly more recent; in some cases a lot more recent.

The only one I might check out someday is Moorcock.

I would agree with this. On the one hand you have these wildly unconventional tales (Lin Carter alone raises the gonzo quotient) with Appendix N. But at the same time you're not going to get the depth of themes you'll find in, say, The Broken Earth trilogy.

Perhaps some of the early stuff was less restrained by conventions of the genre, but by the same token more recent stuff has explored depths and angles that earlier writers could never have dreamed of.

 

[MNblockhead]

Like @Umbran D&D influenced my reading more than the other way around. I see some differences between folks that started in the 70s and 80s versus those who started with 5e, but I think that has to do more with the fact that the middle of the Venn diagram between war gamers and role players was much fatter in the 70s and 80s than it is today.

There are some things like spell slots that were influenced by those books (e.g. Jack Vance's Dying Earth series for D&D's magic system), but these are baked into the mechanics of the game and it is the mechanics, not the familiarity with the novel that inspired it that affects how players play.

The one book series that I feel has certainly influenced how people play the game is the Lord of the Rings. That's crosses generations and game styles. How most players see elves and dwarves is heavily influenced by Tolkien. I think it is starting to change a bit with younger generations who are as--or more--influenced by anime tropes than Tolkien. But this is the only example I can think of from my personal experience.

 

[Vraal]

Well, I've read:

• Lord Dunsany's Time and the Gods, but so long ago that it's faded from memory.
• Fritz Leiber's Lankhmar stories, which I recall as being a lot of fun.
• Quite a bit of Michael Moorcock, probably my favourite on the list, most relevantly the Runestaff, the first Corum trilogy, and a chunk of Elric.
• The Hobbit, and I'm mid The Two Towers right now for the first time.
• Jack Vance's The Dying Earth books, of which I'd say my favourites are Cugel's various frequently comedic adventures.
• And Zelazny's Amber series. I've read the full ten, but couldn't tell you anything that happens after book five.

I don't think I see the game any differently because of what I've read, but I do think spending my youth reading fantasy novel after fantasy novel has given me a pretty good grounding in the genre for when I came to D&D. I feel more confident in my ability to improvise fantastical or magical stuff, or hit the relevant tropes, because I have that huge wellspring of influences to draw on (which of course includes a lot that was written after Gygax made his list).

 

[Lord Mhoram]

Before I started playing D&D I'd read Tolkien and a smattering of Farmer.
After D&D (I started with Basic in 77 when I was ten) - I read Elric, Fafrd & Grey mouser and Conan - then realized I hate swords and sorcery as a genre (as I really didn't like any of those) and stopped reading it.
Aside from that I read Zelazny, some of Farmer, Lovecraft (although for him it's only been in the last 5 or 6 years).

As for any difference I was 10 when I started and played with my age group - not a lot of that was what we read at that age. As I grew older I was drawn to Eddings, Donaldson, Shannara (a little bit) - mostly the big sweeping save the world epics with a chosen one. I liked that a lot. I also grew up reading a lot of superhero comics, and I played superhero RPGs later, but even from the beginning i wanted big heroes who did the right thing, because it was the right thing to do - basically superheros with a fantasy skin.

I still like to play with that attitude.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

The original 1979 AD&D theme, Greyhawk, and the game rules are based on a wide variety of fantasy novels (as well as miniatures wargaming, history, etc.)
1. How many books/authors have you read from the 1979 bibliography?
2. Do you feel you see D&D differently than people who have not read these?

□ Anderson, Poul: THREE HEARTS AND THREE LIONS; THE HIGH CRUSADE; THE BROKEN SWORD
□ Bellairs, John: THE FACE IN THE FROST
□ Brackett, Leigh
□ Brown, Frederic
□ Burroughs, Edgar Rice: “Pellucidar” series; Mars series; Venus series
□ Carter, Lin: “World’s End” series
□ de Camp, L. Sprague: LEST DARKNESS FALL; THE FALLIBLE FIEND; et al
□ de Camp & Pratt: “Harold Shea” series; THE CARNELIAN CUBE
□ Derleth, August
□ Dunsany, Lord
□ Farmer, P. J.: “The World of the Tiers” series; et al Read Riverworld
□ Fox, Gardner: “Kothar” series; “Kyrik” series; et al
□ Howard, R. E.: “Conan” series
□ Lanier, Sterling: HIERO’S JOURNEY
□ Leiber, Fritz: “Fafhrd & Gray Mouser” series; et al
□ Lovecraft, H. P.
□ Merritt, A.: CREEP, SHADOW, CREEP; MOON POOL; DWELLERS IN THE MIRAGE; et al
□ Moorcock, Michael: STORMBRINGER; STEALER OF SOULS; “Hawkmoon” series (esp. the first three books)
□ Norton, Andre
□ Offutt, Andrew J.: editor of SWORDS AGAINST DARKNESS III
□ Pratt, Fletcher: BLUE STAR; et al
□ Saberhagen, Fred: CHANGELING EARTH; et al
□ St. Clair, Margaret: THE SHADOW PEOPLE; SIGN OF THE LABRYS
□ Tolkien, J. R. R.: THE HOBBIT; “Ring trilogy”
□ Vance, Jack: THE EYES OF THE OVERWORLD; THE DYING EARTH; et al
□ Weinbaum, Stanley
□ Wellman, Manley Wade
□ Williamson, Jack
□ Zelazny, Roger: JACK OF SHADOWS; “Amber” series; et al

~ Ref AD&D Dungeonmasters Guide (1979; page 224, Appendix N)

Of those I've read some or all of

Edgar Rice Burroughs
August Derleth (sadly)
Lord Dunsany
REH
Fritz Leiber (hooray!)
HP Lovecraft (duh)
Michael Moorcock
Tolkien
Jack Vance (quite recently - it was pretty much exactly what I expected except way more rape-y)
Zelazny

Do I think I see D&D differently to people who haven't read them? Only in one major respect, oddly enough - Moorcock. I think there's like a stark divide between people who have read Moorcock and how they understand Law/Chaos, and well, everybody else. A lot of the rest are pretty cool books, but I don't think any of them fundamentally change how you see a major aspect of D&D. Tolkien is easily substituted by watching LotR. The only thing you'll get from the books that isn't there is a lot of singing and the scouring of the shire, which has nothing to do with D&D, and may even be antithetical to it, and Tolkien's self-insert character, Tom Bombadil, who is fascinating and I can talk about all day (basically the good-guy version of the Unabomber), but is DEFINITELY antithetical to D&D.

I think D&D itself hasn't derived much from any of those except really Tolkien, Moorcock and Leiber in a serious way for decades. Like 30 years easy. Leiber only because Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser were, in many ways, ridiculously ahead of their time (not in all ways, but many), and are still sort of in tune with the vibe of a lot of fantasy. Tolkien and Moorcock because they both inform vast swathes of D&D's world design.

But tonally 3/4/5E owed nothing to that list, basically, and 2E barely did.

 

[Radaceus]

1) my list:

• Anderson, Poul
• Burroughs, Edgar Rice
• Carter, Lin
• de Camp, L. Sprague
• Dunsany, Lord
• Farmer, P. J.
• Howard, R. E.
• Leiber, Fritz
• Lovecraft, H. P.
• Moorcock, Michael
• Norton, Andre
• Offutt, Andrew J.
• Saberhagen, Fred
• Tolkien, J. R. R.
• Vance, Jack
• Zelazny, Roger
  
  Several of the authors cited in said appendix were from Sci-fi/fantasy 'zines' from the golden age of comics and the ilk.
  As an avid comic book collector, I'm sure I've read some of them back int he day ( Weinbaum, Lanier, and Brown specifically)
  
  Authors who should have been on this list include:
• C.S. Lewis
• H.G. Wells
• T.H. White
• Anne McAffery
• Ursula K. LeGuin
• Piers Anthony
• Richard Adams
• Jack Chalker *
• Stephen R. Donaldson*
• Terry Brooks*
• Tanith Lee*
• Orson Scott Card*
• Patricia A. McKillip*
  
  and two more who arrived late in early 80's deserve honorable mention:
• Glen Cook ( not heavily published until early 80's, but had published int he early 70's)
• C.J. Cherryh

* all published late 70's, but hadn't earned their chops in time for the 1st edition of the DMG

That's all I can recall atm, as a kid, in the late 70's and 80s I was reading at minimum a book a week, and I am sure several other deserving authors should have made the list for inspiration of a fantasy adventure/ setting ( Phanton Tolbooth? James and the Giant Peach? The Littles?)

2) Do you feel you see D&D differently than people who have not read these?
This question is subjective,

I feel that, as an avid reader my take is slightly jilted, in that I've read most of the scenarios in one form or another, and I cannot stand most of the later pulp spawned by D&D (Looking at you Salvatore! Thieve's World and Dragonlance getting a pass here mostly because I read them hot off the press).
Furthering this vein, there are many great authors who have appeared on the scene to inspire newer generations.

Secondly, I've DM'd and played with people who have read little, several whom have not read any off this list, and still had an amazing grasp of the genre and an imagination to go with it.

So, in short...subjective.
Possibly, a better question, is~ 'Having grown up with D&D since the 70's, did you read the books mentioned in the Appendix, before or after you realized they were mentioned in the Appendix?"

Spoiler: Answer

Mostly before