What Would Your Campaign/Setting's Inspirational Reading List Be?

[Desdichado]

I've often described my favorite homebrew as a combination of Burroughs' Barsoom, Sergio Leone's spaghetti westerns, H. P. Lovecraft and Charles Dickens with exaggerated steam-powered technology ala Iron Kingoms or Steamboy.

So yeah--I suppose I'd recommend any and all of those for my setting.

 

[GlassJaw]

Have you read Perdido Street Station?

No, but I just read some descriptions of it on Amazon and it sounds cool.

 

[Desdichado]

Rafael Sabatini Captain Blood (and the sequels, if you really get into it)

You, sir, are a true officer and a gentleman. Captain Blood is one of my favorite books. I also highly recommend Sabatini's Black Swan and I think I actually like Scaramouche better than Captain Blood.

Dumas may be the King of swashbucklers, but if so, then Sabatini is at least the Prince of Wales of Swashbucklers, IMO.

 

[Desdichado]

No, but I just read some descriptions of it on Amazon and it sounds cool.

I'm not sure if I want to get into this here, but just having similar setting elements does not guarantee that you'll like it. My setting has a lot in common with PSS too, and while I did enjoy the book somewhat and think it was brimming with good ideas, I don't think it was particularly well written: I didn't much like the characters, the plot took nearly an entire third of the book before it even started, it meanders in and out of unnecessary detours, and near the end there is an egregious case of deus ex machina.

The most engaging thing about the book the setting itself. Check out the Dragon Magazine articles in the new Dragon (#352, IIRC) for more info, too.

 

[AFGNCAAP]

The following list includes webcomics as well as books (basically, anything in a genuinely readable format):

• Tolkien, J. R. R.: The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings
• Leiber, Fritz: Fafhrd & Grey Mouser stories (Swords Against Death, Swords of Lankhmar, etc.)
• Asprin, Robert: Myth Adventures series
• Salvatore, R. A.: Icewind Dale trilogy
• LeGuin, Ursula: Earthsea trilogy/series
• Alexander, Lloyd: Chronicles of Prydain
• Weis, Margaret, and Hickman, Tracy: Dragonlance Chronicles, Dragonlance Legends
• Gygax, E. Gary: Saga of Old City
• Moorcock, Michael: Elric of Melnibone series
• Williams, Aaron: Nodwick
• Burlew, Rich: Order of the Stick
• Moseley, Tony: Zogonia
• Hunt, Tarol: Goblins: Life Through Their Eyes

 

[eris404]

My D&D game takes place in Victorian England. Here are an assortment of books I have stolen ideas from:

by Erik Larson
The Devil in the White City

by Caleb Carr
The Alienist

by Phillip Pullman
His Dark Materials Trilogy

by Michael Faber
The Crimson Petal and the White

by Greg Keyes
Newton's Cannon

by Susanna Clarke
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell
The Ladies of Grace Adieu

by Alan Moore
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

by Edgar Rice Burroughs
The John Carter of Mars series

by China Mieville
Perdido Street Station
The Scar
The Iron Council

J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series

by Bram Stoker
Dracula

by Mary Shelley
Frankenstein

by Jules Verne
Journey to the Centre of the Earth
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
The Mysterious Island

HG Wells
War of the Worlds
The Invisible Man

by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde

by Jeff Vandermeer
City of Saints and Madmen

 

[Prince of Happiness]

Coloring books, pictographs.

 

[VirgilCaine]

My CoC game's list would include the TV shows Supernatural and Night Stalker. And perhaps the movie Prince of Darkness.

edit: Eris404: Look up Mark Frost. He has written a couple of pulp-horror books starring 24 year old Dr. Arthur Conan Doyle set in late 19th century London.

 

[adwyn]

For my recent urban campaign the reading list I gave my players was;

Gharret series by Glenn Cook
Thieves World series, esp books 1-3 edited by Aspirin
Lankmar novels
Man in the Iron Mask by Dumas
Life in a Medieval City

and not to derail the thread, but as they rarely read the books, the movie list was;
Witchhunter General with Vincent Price
Cyrano DeBergerac with Gerard Depardieu
Rome, season 1 from HBO
The Order
Day of Wrath

 

[Whisper72]

Well, for new players I'd recommend some of the 'TSR' books (the various Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance novels etc.) to get a feel for DnD

Liavek series (various authors)
Malazan, Books of the Fallen series (Steven Erikson) (My all time favourite series, absolutely damn brilliant stuff)
Wheel of Time series (Robert Jordan), especially the earlier books
Black Company series (Glen Cook)
Lord of Rings etc. (Tolkien naturally)