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?

[Sacrosanct]

I've read 11 in that original list, and the most influential to DnD 1e, IMO, was Jack vance. Even more than Tolkien. Not just how magic works, but the vernacular. Gygax feels much more Vance to me reading the 1e books than he does to Tolkien.

That being said, one of my first fantasy series isn't even on that list by the OP but was written in the 60s--The Prydain series by Lloyd Alexander. Which is how I based much of my fantasy impressions on.

 

[Hex08]

I've read the Edgar Rice Burroughs stuff, most (if not all) of Howard's Conan stories, all of Leibers's Fafhrd & Gray Mouser, most of Lovecraft's stuff, Morcock's Elric and (possibly, it's hard to remember all of the stuff I've read as I have gotten older) Hawkmoon, Saberhagen's Empire of the East and The Books of Swords series, Tolkien's The Hobbit and Zelazny's Amber series.

I have tried to read the Lord of The Rings books three times and could never get more than a few chapters in, they just never grabbed me.

Like a few others have mentioned, I was playing D&D before I ever read any of those books.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Q1 A: Looking at that list, I know I’ve read works by at least 12 of the writers listed.

Q2 A: I’ve never asked anyone about their readings from that list…because I think until tonight, I’ve never looked at that list for more than a few seconds at a time. Usually, I was just checking to see if something I saw in the game was actually inspired by what I thought it was. The only thing on the list I read because I saw it on the list was Vance’s Dying Earth.

IOW, other gamers’ exposure to Gygax’s inspirations never been an issue largely because I’ve never cared much about my own.

 

[delericho]

I've read "The Broken Sword" by Anderson, "The Long Tomorrow" by Brackett, and the two Elric books by Moorcock, plus all the listed works by Lieber, Tolkien, Howard, and Vance. With the exception of Tolkien, I'd been playing for at least a decade before reading.

I would like to have read more, but a lot of the works were always fairly obscure, and are either hard or expensive (or both) to acquire.

One thing that I've taken away from most of these works (Tolkien apart) is that the emphasis tends very much to be on a central idea and then the specific adventure, and much less on building a complete world around it - for instance, although the city of Lankhmar is fairly well defined, the world around it is vaguely sketched at best. I think perhaps that Tolkien, being by far the most read author on the list, gives something of a false impression of how things 'should' be done.

 

[Ath-kethin]

I've read works by 13 of the authors on that list, and like others here I would add a few more influences to it: Raymond Feist's Riftwar, Melanie Rawn's Dragon Prince and Dragon star series, Lloyd Alexander, the Lords of Dûs series by Lawrence Watt Evans, Robert Asprin's Myth series, and more.

Absolutely I think I view D&D differently than folks who haven't read any of those; our knowledge and preferences inform how we play or run the game, and that's how we all bring different stuff to it. How dull would it be if we all just read and emulated the same things!

 

[Hussar]

I've read a number on that list.

But, then again, I started gaming at about age 10. I was learning D&D at the same time as reading those books, so, it's kinda circular.

Moorcock would be probably my most memorable influence I suppose. Other than Tolkien obviously.

But, then again, I'd say that Terry Pratchett probably influences me more than anyone else on that list and, over the years, I've gravitated far more into SF than fantasy, so, no, I'd say that it doesn't impact my games too much.

 

[Azzy]

Of that list, I've only read Tolkien, Zelazny, Lovecraft, and maybe some Dereleth. I really have never had a desire to do a deep dive into DMG's list.

 

[Odysseus]

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?

1. I've read one or more from 23 of the 29 Authors.
2. I'll say yes. I do believe you can see where the game from , inside these books.

 

[Lord Shark]

I've read most of them. I haven't read any Brackett or St. Clair or much of Burroughs, Saberhagen, Williamson, or Fox (whose novels were mostly Conan knockoffs anyway).

In any case, as good as most of the Appendix N books may be individually, most of them are not standing the test of time other than Tolkien, Burroughs, and Howard; even Lovecraft is known today more from modern creators using his work for inspiration and/or subversion (Matt Ruff, Victor LaValle, the various Cthulhu-based games, etc.) than his own dubious virtues. D&D, or D&D-esque fantasy, can't be tied forever to books that the majority of players aren't reading.

 

[Voranzovin]

I’ve read maybe half of the listed authors and works, but I don’t think they’ve had much effect on my conception of Dnd. If I try to tease apart the various things that have inspired characters, campaigns, and the general tone of the game for me, it would be more like Dumas (and the many adaptations of his work), Neil Gaiman, Lois McMaster Bujold, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Bruce Sterling, and Tamsyn Muir.

The only authors from the list who I’d say are relevant to my Dnd play are Tolkien (because he’s inescapable), Lieber (for Fafrd and the Grey Mouser, who as I believe another poster has pointed out we’re way ahead of their time), and Morcock and Zelazny (who are so influential that it’s impossible to imagine the modern fantasy I am drawing from without them).