el-remmen
Moderator Emeritus
The two inspirational reading threads started me thinking on what I would have on my list of inspirational reading my Aquerra campaigns, and got me curious as to what others might include on their own list.
So below you’ll find my list, but I am interested in seeing yours. So which books, both fiction and non-fiction would be considered “inspirational” for someone else (not yourself, remember, you are doing the recommending) who might play in your game, or run a game in your setting.
If you run your games in a published setting, feel free to include “Player’s Guide to X” kind of books, or even fiction published in that setting – but generally I am not looking for game books here.
Inspirational and Educational Reading for Aquerra Campaigns
Adams, Richard: Watership Down
Conrad, Joseph: Heart of Darkness
Graves, Robert: I, Claudius
Haley, Alex: Roots
Howard, R. E. "Conan" Series
LeGuin, Ursula K.: The Earthsea Series (particularly the first two books), The Left Hand of Darkness
Marquez, Gabriel Garcia: One Hundred Years of Solitude
Martin, George R.R.: The Song of Ice & Fire Series, the Hedge Knight, et al.
Mieville, China: Perdido Street Station, The Scar, et. al
Norman, John: Tarnsman of Gor (just the first one)
Tolkien, J. R. R. THE HOBBIT; "The Lord of the Rings"
Zelazny, Roger. "Chronicles of Amber" Series;
Now, not all of these books are even fantasy, and some of them are pretty far removed from the typical D&D adventuring world, but all of them inform the games I run and the setting I have built (and am forever building). I think reading them would help set the tone for the world and the kinds of characters and situations you’d find in there.
Just to hit some of the reasons I would include some of the less obvious choices:
Watership Down: One of my most favorite books of all time, but in terms of its arc (the heroes leaving home to face trials, establish themselves and then setting out to make their own world better) it is parallel to a lot of D&D games I run. Also, the way the rabbits deal with things they don’t (and won’t ever) understand, and deal with threats that appear beyond them is very inspirational as a way to approach playing your D&D character. Also, Hazel is one of the best leaders presented in fiction.
Heart of Darkness: I run a game where the precepts of civilization are a veneer that is in constant danger of being devoured by the darkness, not only of the monsters you find in the D&D world, but men themselves, and of course nature.
I, Claudius: Politics and family dynamic. This (along with Martin) was the blueprint for my current “Second Son of a Second Son” campaign.
Roots: This is a book every American should read. Heck, everyone should read it period. My favorite thing about it may have been unique to my experience with it, which was I began reading it thinking it was merely the tale of the life a slave and his descendants, and was annoyed at first because it was spending so much time talking about Kunta Kente’s life in Africa and I wanted to read a story about a slave – but just when I got used to his way of life, his familial relations, his dreams for the future, his being a devout follower of Islam, and was enjoying it as a book about a person living a life so different from mine, and yet so familiar, he was taken as a slave. It made that moment of capture and the life that followed it all the more tragic and powerful because the build up of his life before and the reader’s familiarity with his family and friends. In terms of games I run, the normal life turned upside down and the resulting tragedy is a common theme, as is the idea of being caught up in events outside your control. If Kunte Kente had led a revolt on the ship and had become a pirate on the high seas, or had gotten to America to start a war to free his fellow slaves, maybe he would be more like a D&D character, but most people aren’t anything like D&D characters. Anyway, this book reinforces the sense of the world being bigger than you are, which is another theme I reinforce in my games. Even if your character becomes a great hero by virtue of being a character in a game we are playing, I think it is important to keep in mind that in the context of the setting, the vast majority of people around you are more like slaves than heroes, and what motivates them are things like home, family, tradition, comfort, and a lack of understanding of the great scope of the events surround their life - whether it be the institution of slavery in American history, or the great hobgoblin hordes of 563 H.E. that drove peasant families to seek out new lands to farm
The Left Hand of Darkness: This is my favorite sci-fi book of all time. I include it because of its detailed and beautiful depiction of a strange and alien culture and the way the main character gets caught up in its workings.
One Hundred Years of Solitude: I hate to use the term “sense of wonder” because of the bad rap it gets around here, but this phenomenal book has it in spades, even though often the wonder comes from what are to us common objects, like ice, trains, and hot air balloons. It is a reminder that familiarity does not mean the magic of things is absent.
“Song of Ice & Fire” and “Perdido Street Station”: I include these because in Aquerra life is gritty and tough and the odds are against you and people die and your characters aren’t going to suffer a little, they are going to suffer a whole hell of a lot. And there is little in the way of cut and dry good and evil (though there is some) and you can never be sure you are doing the right thing.
Tarnsman of Gor: Sexual themes. Nuff said.
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So there you have it. Gimme you list and a handful of explanation. I'm curious.
So below you’ll find my list, but I am interested in seeing yours. So which books, both fiction and non-fiction would be considered “inspirational” for someone else (not yourself, remember, you are doing the recommending) who might play in your game, or run a game in your setting.
If you run your games in a published setting, feel free to include “Player’s Guide to X” kind of books, or even fiction published in that setting – but generally I am not looking for game books here.
Inspirational and Educational Reading for Aquerra Campaigns
Adams, Richard: Watership Down
Conrad, Joseph: Heart of Darkness
Graves, Robert: I, Claudius
Haley, Alex: Roots
Howard, R. E. "Conan" Series
LeGuin, Ursula K.: The Earthsea Series (particularly the first two books), The Left Hand of Darkness
Marquez, Gabriel Garcia: One Hundred Years of Solitude
Martin, George R.R.: The Song of Ice & Fire Series, the Hedge Knight, et al.
Mieville, China: Perdido Street Station, The Scar, et. al
Norman, John: Tarnsman of Gor (just the first one)
Tolkien, J. R. R. THE HOBBIT; "The Lord of the Rings"
Zelazny, Roger. "Chronicles of Amber" Series;
Now, not all of these books are even fantasy, and some of them are pretty far removed from the typical D&D adventuring world, but all of them inform the games I run and the setting I have built (and am forever building). I think reading them would help set the tone for the world and the kinds of characters and situations you’d find in there.
Just to hit some of the reasons I would include some of the less obvious choices:
Watership Down: One of my most favorite books of all time, but in terms of its arc (the heroes leaving home to face trials, establish themselves and then setting out to make their own world better) it is parallel to a lot of D&D games I run. Also, the way the rabbits deal with things they don’t (and won’t ever) understand, and deal with threats that appear beyond them is very inspirational as a way to approach playing your D&D character. Also, Hazel is one of the best leaders presented in fiction.
Heart of Darkness: I run a game where the precepts of civilization are a veneer that is in constant danger of being devoured by the darkness, not only of the monsters you find in the D&D world, but men themselves, and of course nature.
I, Claudius: Politics and family dynamic. This (along with Martin) was the blueprint for my current “Second Son of a Second Son” campaign.
Roots: This is a book every American should read. Heck, everyone should read it period. My favorite thing about it may have been unique to my experience with it, which was I began reading it thinking it was merely the tale of the life a slave and his descendants, and was annoyed at first because it was spending so much time talking about Kunta Kente’s life in Africa and I wanted to read a story about a slave – but just when I got used to his way of life, his familial relations, his dreams for the future, his being a devout follower of Islam, and was enjoying it as a book about a person living a life so different from mine, and yet so familiar, he was taken as a slave. It made that moment of capture and the life that followed it all the more tragic and powerful because the build up of his life before and the reader’s familiarity with his family and friends. In terms of games I run, the normal life turned upside down and the resulting tragedy is a common theme, as is the idea of being caught up in events outside your control. If Kunte Kente had led a revolt on the ship and had become a pirate on the high seas, or had gotten to America to start a war to free his fellow slaves, maybe he would be more like a D&D character, but most people aren’t anything like D&D characters. Anyway, this book reinforces the sense of the world being bigger than you are, which is another theme I reinforce in my games. Even if your character becomes a great hero by virtue of being a character in a game we are playing, I think it is important to keep in mind that in the context of the setting, the vast majority of people around you are more like slaves than heroes, and what motivates them are things like home, family, tradition, comfort, and a lack of understanding of the great scope of the events surround their life - whether it be the institution of slavery in American history, or the great hobgoblin hordes of 563 H.E. that drove peasant families to seek out new lands to farm
The Left Hand of Darkness: This is my favorite sci-fi book of all time. I include it because of its detailed and beautiful depiction of a strange and alien culture and the way the main character gets caught up in its workings.
One Hundred Years of Solitude: I hate to use the term “sense of wonder” because of the bad rap it gets around here, but this phenomenal book has it in spades, even though often the wonder comes from what are to us common objects, like ice, trains, and hot air balloons. It is a reminder that familiarity does not mean the magic of things is absent.
“Song of Ice & Fire” and “Perdido Street Station”: I include these because in Aquerra life is gritty and tough and the odds are against you and people die and your characters aren’t going to suffer a little, they are going to suffer a whole hell of a lot. And there is little in the way of cut and dry good and evil (though there is some) and you can never be sure you are doing the right thing.
Tarnsman of Gor: Sexual themes. Nuff said.
-------------------------------------------------
So there you have it. Gimme you list and a handful of explanation. I'm curious.
