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  1. Ralif Redhammer

    You're approached by a Hollywood exec...

    Tarzan has, until relatively recently, been cyclical in the public eye. Apparently Sony now has the rights and is planning on having another go at the character. Like John Carter, Tarzan's stories influenced more than just genre fiction. Will ERB's stories have their time in the sun again...
  2. Ralif Redhammer

    White Dwarf Reflections #9

    Looking up her art, she's done a bunch of cool illustrations. She gives me a bit of a Virgil Findley / Sidney Sime vibe.
  3. Ralif Redhammer

    D&D General No One Reads Conan Now -- So What Are They Reading?

    I really enjoyed Nine Goblins and Minor Mage. Both are very, very charming.
  4. Ralif Redhammer

    White Dwarf Reflections #9

    Thanks! Still heckin' creepy.
  5. Ralif Redhammer

    D&D General No One Reads Conan Now -- So What Are They Reading?

    I've loved all the T. Kingfisher stuff I've read, and have enjoyed Sarah J. Maas' books (my wife loves the Court of Thorns and Roses). LitRPG won't necessarily kill the fantasy genre, but I could see too much of it making the genre less respected as a whole.
  6. Ralif Redhammer

    D&D General No One Reads Conan Now -- So What Are They Reading?

    I think in getting older, we can find our tastes crystallizing, oftentimes towards the stuff of yore. Which, if a person wants to just read old stuff, fine. But I would say that it is a deep mistake when "I like older stuff" slides into "new books are garbage." It's okay to have preferences, but...
  7. Ralif Redhammer

    What are you reading in 2025?

    How the Malazan Book of the Fallen series connects and weaves so many threads together impressed the heck out of me. It struggled a little bit towards the end, but still managed to thread the needle. The elder peoples of its world all mostly in decline or trapped away, were very well-written...
  8. Ralif Redhammer

    It's GM's Day! Tell us about your first GM!

    Playing a first level magic-user back in the day was rough. It was a real trial by fire to get out of those low levels. The "max HP at 1st level" concept is a good one, one I didn't come to until it was codified in the rules of 3e. But I also didn't make anyone start off with a character with 1...
  9. Ralif Redhammer

    D&D General No One Reads Conan Now -- So What Are They Reading?

    So by that standard, Conan's stories are adventure novels with a fantasy background, The Lies of Locke Lamora is a heist novel with a fantasy background, The Black Company is a war series with a fantasy background. Genre has ever been a fluid thing. Now, there is a ton of shovelware romantic...
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  12. Ralif Redhammer

    I found real studded leather in the Wallace Collection

    I did not know that! But I've also never been to Niagara Falls, something I really need to rectify.
  13. Ralif Redhammer

    D&D General No One Reads Conan Now -- So What Are They Reading?

    This video pairs nicely with that article:
  14. Ralif Redhammer

    I found real studded leather in the Wallace Collection

    I would second that it is well worth the stop if you ever find yourself in London. It's also pretty close to Madame Tussauds and the kitschy but fun Sherlock Holmes Museum.
  15. Ralif Redhammer

    D&D General No One Reads Conan Now -- So What Are They Reading?

    I didn't read Treasure Island until my late 30s, and I really regret not doing so sooner. This and the Forgotten Beasts of Eld are phenomenal. I know I was just talking about how much I prefer shorter novels, but The Burning series is one of the exceptions. Reading Rage of Dragons and The...
  16. Ralif Redhammer

    It's GM's Day! Tell us about your first GM!

    I was nine years old when a slightly older hessian kid introduced my brother and I to D&D. It was a completely bizarre version of the game, with stats and levels way beyond the standard range. The DMPC had a wizard that lived in his hair. I got a pair of lightning-charged crystal daggers that I...
  17. Ralif Redhammer

    D&D General No One Reads Conan Now -- So What Are They Reading?

    I just don't want to read these giant tomes of fiction anymore. So many of them to me feel like they could've had 100-300 pages trimmed off to make them better works. I would posit that had GRRM written A Song of Ice and Fire series as, say, a dozen 300-page novels, he would not have ended up...
  18. Ralif Redhammer

    D&D General No One Reads Conan Now -- So What Are They Reading?

    As much as I enjoy REH's works, they contain some deeply racist elements, full stop. Far more overtly than Tolkien's writings. If I recall correctly, he wrote the stories of Mirt the Moneylender and Durnan as his own riff on Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, too.
  19. Ralif Redhammer

    You're approached by a Hollywood exec...

    I would disagree. Having read every Barsoom novel, I think there's plenty complexity to John Carter's background. He's a straightforward character, but that doesn't make him boring. And on Barsoom, John Carter is an alien. Agreed. Even the stories that were eventually collected into novels...
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