Tales From the Magician's Skull

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to try out an RPG called Dungeon Crawl Classics- for those of you who don't know what the game is, it's a D&D-based RPG which seeks to capture (quite successfully, in my opinion) the spirit and 'feel' of the fantasy stories that inspired the original edition of D&D- authors like Howard, Lovecraft, Vance, and Moorcock (for a full list, try searching on D&D appendix N). This particular branch of fantasy happens to be one of my favorites, second only to Tolkien, and so DCC is proving an excellent fit with my tastes. I'll try and get a full review of DCC up once I've gotten another game or two under my belt, but, in the mean time, I'll talk a bit about a connected magazine- Tales From the Magician's Skull.

I'll preface this with a short disclaimer- like I've mentioned on here before, I don't tend to read a lot of really recent fantasy- it's not because I dislike what's currently published, it's simply that my particular tastes tend to lead me to older authors- like those which inspired DCC- so I'll be comparing Magician's Skull to these authors, rather than to its contemporaries. This shouldn't be a problem, however, as the magazine intentionally harks back to this era anyway.

It's a fantasy fiction magazine after the general fashion of Weird Tales, published by the same company (Goodman Games) as DCC and has a definite link to the game- stats for everything that appears in the stories are in the back- but it can certainly be read without having any knowledge of DCC- or even RPGs. The printing and binding are high-quality, more like a slim paperback than a standard magazine. I especially appreciated the heavy, almost parchment-like paper- very unlike the pulp magazines! My one issue (and this is fairly minor) is the use of a thin, laminated plastic over the cover- while this makes it look great when new, once the magazine starts taking some wear the laminate begins to peel at the corners (as it has on mine), and can be very difficult to deal with.

The art is also high-quality, in the style of early D&D art- this is something of a trademark with DCC, and one I like. Each story has a full-page illustration proceeding it, and map-like illustrations for some major locations. This last, I would imagine, is primarily to aid those (like myself) who may try and run the stories as an RPG module, although it is also a help to the mere reader as well.

There are seven stories- all by different authors and in a variety of different styles, although all harking back (more or less) in substance to the 'swords and sorcery' fantasy published in the first half of the 20th century.

The influence of RPGs is also strong in these- the first story, "What Lies in Ice", is especially easily transferable to a adventure format and all, to a greater or lesser extent, draw on the lore of D&D. Perhaps my favorite part of early fantasy is its often startling originality and creativity- while none of these authors extend to the ranks of a Howard or Moorcock in creating these strange scenes and creatures, there are still some glimmerings of the same ability here- like the Kraken's "chapel" in "What Lies in Ice", or the assault of the guai on Long-He in "Beneath the Bay of Black Waters".

My two favorites from this issue (I won't spoil either) would be "Beneath the Bay of Black Waters" and "There was an Old, Fat Spider"- the first of these features an Imperial commissioner taking down a drug gang with very interesting allies in a Chinese inspired setting, the latter has a nicely portrayed relationship between a vengeful woodcutter and an aged giant spider.

There are also directories of fantasy discussion groups and bookstores from all over the US- I appreciated this addition, as I'm always on the lookout for more used bookstores!

All in all, Tales from the Magician's Skull proved a very enjoyable read- I look forward to reading more issues soon.

Elric!

A while ago, I posted a picture of Michael Moorcock's book, The Silver Warriors. That was the first Moorcock I had read, but it was certainly not the last! Since then, I've read just about the whole of the original six book series starring Moorcock's greatest protagonist, Elric- this series has quickly become one of my favorites. Elric is an albino, the last Emperor of a decadent, elf-like race, the Melniboneans. I'll try not to give the story away, but, before long, Elric is in a self-imposed exile, and has gained a sentient soul-drinking runesword called Stormbringer, which urges Elric towards his final doom.

The books highlight the eternal struggle of two opposites- but, rather than the usual Good and Evil, this battle rages between the Lords of Law and Chaos- neither of these factions are good or evil, but balance between the two. In fact, it's suggested that the victory of either would result in the cessation of life. Elric reflects this conflict, constantly see-sawing between a fairly well-developed conscience (not as much a good conscience, as a lawful one) and the bloodthirsty and Chaotic urgings of his heritage and hellsword.

One of my favorite parts of 'swords and sorcery' style fantasy is the extremely memorable monsters and villains- Moorcock has an excellent imagination for these, and creates some of the most vivid adversaries I've heard of. Two of my favorites would be the Hill-King of Org from Bane of the Black Sword, and Voilodion Ghagnasdiak's Vanishing Tower, from the book of the same name.

All the book covers (save the last, by Michael Whelan) shown in this post are by Robert Gould. I really enjoy his art, and his depictions of Elric are spot-on.

On a final note, these books are a foundation of modern role-playing games, especially Dungeons and Dragons. I use them frequently when Dungeon Mastering (even going so far as to run entire stories), and I'd suggest anyone with an interest in these games to try these books out.

Ringbearer

I've been re-reading The Lord of the Rings yet again! It always astounds me that, although I've already read it nine times, there is always more layers to uncover, more depth to the narrative than I had remembered. This time around (I'm at Cirith Ungol), I am struck by the centrality of the Ring's journey into Mordor, and especially Frodo's courage and responsibility throughout Book IV- he is truly 'one who shall find a way'. 

This particular Frodo is supposed to be from somewhere between Rivendell and Lothlorien- he has Sting, but no Elven cloak or brooch. While I took the basic color scheme from the Jackson films, I added some details, and changed around colors to suit my taste. I tried to capture some of the 'Elvish air' mentioned in the book about his face with sharper and lighter skin tones.

Here you can see the two largest changes I made to him. First, his coat is a tweed material- this was surprisingly easy to paint, I simply shaded it as normal, and then added very small lines in a lighter color. Sting has also been changed, with a golden hilt and blue detailing on the blade. This reflects Sting's glow whenever Orcs are near, as they will be in most wargames.

The cloak is a simple, faded green, travel worn like my Dunedain's cloaks. I'm really pleased that the sculptor included packs on all the GW Fellowship Hobbits- it adds a great deal more realism to the sculpts.

Uton Herian Holbytlan!

It's in the Cards

While most of what I post involves tabletop games, I also enjoy playing a variety of board and card games. One of these is Fantasy Flight's Arkham Horror LCG. Something I like about the game is its high-quality card art- I make a point of checking out all the art as I play, although I never anticipated that I would recognize one of the locations...

Since I was a child, my family has vacationed in the North Georgia mountains, mostly around Helen GA, and Unicoi State Park. This continues a tradition that has been ongoing since my mother was a child. When we go, we always make sure to visit the Old Sautee Store, an old country store in the small town of Sautee. The store is known for its troll statue, which currently resides on the store's counter. Somewhere I even have a picture of myself, at the tender age of nine months, with the troll.

About six months ago, I was playing the Blood on the Altar mythos pack, and noticed, on the Osborn's General Store card, a very familiar troll! I was intrigued, and decided to find out more about the artist, one Mark Molnar. He is a self-described illustrator and concept artist based out of Budapest, and does excellent work in both fields. I emailed him to find out if the troll was an intentional reference, and received a prompt response-

"Yes, it was absolutely intentional.
I used the Old Sautee store as my main reference for that illustration, as I felt it resembles perfectly, what a place like this should look like - or looked like in the '20s. (...) When I got the assignment for this card, I started to do a research, this is what I do before starting any illustration. During my research I just stumbled into one photo about the store on Pinterest I think and I instantly felt that this is what I am looking for. After that I specifically searched more references about this actual store and used them as an inspiration / general direction to paint the picture for the card."

I'll actually do something similar with my miniatures- a lot of my inspiration comes from other sources. For example, my sig figure-

-is inspired by Tom Baker's outfit as the Fourth Doctor Who!

Later, a couple of weeks before Christmas, I had the opportunity to take the card to the Old Sautee Store itself. I showed it to the owner and his son. They were very interested in the card, and were able, at a glance, to identify other features of the store in the many details of the illustrations. Oddly enough, the son's daughter had just written a school report on Lovecraft's poetry. I sent the above picture to Mark Molnar, who replied-

"Oh wow, that's great to hear and awesome image with the troll!
Please let them know I am an absolute fan of their shop and I find the atmosphere they created really inspiring and unique."

It's been fascinating getting to see just how much goes into a single card- and I have hundreds! I wonder how many more stories like this there are, waiting to be told...

Birthday Wishes

Today is the 93rd birthday of Christopher Tolkien, son of J.R.R. Tolkien. He grew up surrounded by his father's creations, and when Tolkien died, he gave up a lecturer's post at Oxford and became his literary executor, publishing his father's unfinished work, like The Silmarillion, Beowulf, and most recently, Beren and Luthien. For years he has been at the front of Tolkien studies, not only by the monumental labor of publishing that he has undertaken, but by seeking to propagate his father's true and unaltered legacy to the many admirers of his books.

I'm sure that most of those reading this are aware of the recent LotR Amazon rights deal (if not, check out this press release). Basically, Amazon has purchased from the Tolkien Estate the global TV rights for both LotR and The Hobbit (not the Silmarillion), and is planning on producing a multiple season show. That bit about the Tolkien Estate is worth revisiting, as it is important to understand the other, lesser-known piece of news that I'll mention below. In 1969 Tolkien himself sold the film rights (not including TV rights) to LotR and the Hobbit to United Artists (later bought by Saul Zaentz, who created Middle-earth Enterprises). This is what allowed Peter Jackson to make his film series, in addition to the earlier Rankin Bass and Ralph Bakshi animated films, and is distinct from the Tolkien Estate, which handles the book rights, and, until recently, the television rights. I was astounded when I discovered that the Christopher Tolkien-led Estate, which had been completely at odds with Jackson over his interpretation ("They gutted my father's book and made it into an action film" was one statement Christopher Tolkien made) would allow Amazon to buy the television rights- it was a very hopeful sign for the show to have Tolkien's son supporting it.

However, far from supporting it, Christopher has resigned from the Estate, which he had led since his father's death. This is very important news, not just because it involves the virtual retirement of the foremost advocate of Tolkien's legacy, but because, as the Amazon deal proves, the Estate is now much more willing to licence Tolkien properties than under Christopher's management.

This probably means that we'll be seeing many more such deals, and a change in what could be called the 'Middle-earth franchise' approaching the changes Disney's takeover made to Star Wars. What the quality of these productions will be is yet to be seen, but after the Jackson films I would say many, including myself, feel pretty pessimistic about their chances.

With all this going on, I thought it fitting that we Tolkiendili should remember Christopher Tolkien and his work- no matter what changes the public perception of Lord of the Rings undergoes, thanks to Christopher, Tolkien's true legacy has been preserved, and is accessible to all who want to discover it.

For this, heartfelt thanks and a hope for a happy birthday!

Times without Number

I first encountered John Brunner in his short story In the Season of the Dressing of the Wells in the anthology After the King. After enjoying that tale, I picked up a few novels by him in my last used book store trip, including Times without Number.

The book is a collection of three stories originally published in three consecutive issues of the British magazine Science Fiction Adventures in 1962, collected into a novel the same year, revised by Brunner in 1969. The copy I read is the 1969 revision.

It's an alternate history book, set in a 1989 where the Spanish Armada conquered England, paving the way for an empire spanning the whole of the western hemisphere. While conventional technology is at a severely lower level than our timeline, there have been major advancements in one area- time travel, controlled by a government-supported Society of Time. All three stories (really sections) deal with a young junior officer in this order, Dom Miguel Navarro, and his gradual (although spotty) understanding of the workings of time.

While a very enjoyable read, especially the middle section, the chief interest for me was the ideas contained in it. Brunner is really good at writing historical background and making it very organic and accurate, it felt like something that could have happened, even the time travel, at least the idea. There is one slight issue: as is made clear in the end, there can only be one actual timeline- alternate worlds don't stretch to infinity in this book- however, in part 2 people pass through a time machine into this reality from an alternate one. This can be explained by the inexperience of Dom Miguel, he still hasn't learned the innermost secrets of the Society, but a bit of explanation from a higher-ranking member would have been welcome.

Still, I really enjoyed this book, and will definitely be reading more by the author.

Splinter of the Mind's Eye

Star Wars, even the originals,  may not be my favorite films, that title going to 2001: A Space Odyssey, but I have had a soft spot for much of its Expanded Universe for some time. So, when searching for copies of some Thrawn novels I found a 1978 Star Wars novel with a Ralph McQuarrie cover, I snatched it up!
Foster's name was familiar, although I can't remember actually reading anything by him, he's best known to me for his Star Trek and Alien novels- other adaptions and Fan Fiction-type books.

The Star Wars EU, although Disney has recently thrown a good bit of it out, is one of the most developed of any Sci-Fi universe- every throw-away line and background character has its story- and this, the first novel written, is where it starts. According to that supreme source Wikipedia (backed up by Star Wars Insider) Foster not only had access to many of the early drafts and story ideas, but this novel was to be a cheap sequel if the first film was a flop. This would have lead to a very different development of the series, as I'll expand on later.

The novel itself is a good light read, don't be expecting much in the way of prose style, but it does have something of a swords and sorcery feel to parts, especially towards the end, where Luke and Leia fight their way through a system of caves to reach an ancient temple dominated by a giant Cthulhu statue, wherein lies a gem with Force-controlling powers. This actually works pretty well with the space opera of the films.

The most interesting thing to me is to see how exactly this novel influenced and is different from what could be called 'mainstream' or at least more recent EU material. There are two major deviations from the norm:

Han is only mentioned in a throw-away line on the last page, taking his and Ben Kenobi's  place is Halla, a smart-alec witch woman. There are two Chewie-type strong arm aliens that ally themselves with Luke and co., reminding me of the later Gamorrean guards.

"No Luke, I am your father" and especially Luke and Leia's relationship was obviously as big a surprise to Foster as anyone else. Luke has some more than brotherly feelings towards Leia, which can make for some odd reading.

Some other differences include:

The casual mention of female Stormtroopers, not to mention some surprisingly intelligent (and talkative) guards,

The constant reference to the Lord Darth Vader,

Leia explaining she joined the Rebels due to their less degenerate art!

It also has some parallels with the later films. The setting alone is a lot like ESB's Dagobah with an Imperial presence, while the Coway are similar to troglodyte Ewoks, especially in their fighting style. The ending showdown between Luke and Lord Darth Vader also plays out in some ways like a reversed version of the Cloud City duel. It would be interesting to know how much Lucas (or Foster) actually borrowed from each other.

All in all, if you like the films and would like to see a different handling of them it's well worth a read, after you have gone through some of the more 'canon' works.

Rendezvous With Rama

The first Arthur C. Clarke I read was his short story, The Star, in the Asimov-edited Hugo winners anthology. I liked it, so when I happened upon a copy of Childhood's End a few weeks later, I snatched it up and read it in the next day or two. It had the steady, organic procession of Greek tragedy, and the description of alien vistas and technology were breathtaking and very cohesive. Clarke excels at first contact stories, whether it involves giant saucers or monoliths and Rendezvous with Rama is no exception.

A big part of the novel is the slow discovery of what lies inside Rama, so I'll try not to give away too much. The set-up's simple, a large object is discovered moving at an astounding rate towards the solar system, a probe discovers that it's a massive spaceship and the only Earth vessel in range goes to investigate.

The best portion of the book for me was the middle, as the spaceship crew enter Rama and begin to explore Clarke delivers some of his great description- it's completely alien, unknowable, but it all fits together, what little we understand makes sense. It's the same feeling one gets with the monoliths in 2001, especially the first encounter on the moon.

It almost reminded me of Lovecraft's Elder Ones, so high above and beyond humanity that we might as well be insects. The Ramans, what ever they are, don't really care about humanity's contact with them.

He paces himself well too, there's no real sudden jerk as something's discovered or explored, it flows at a steady pace. This makes it easier, I suppose, to digest the incredible things he's talking about.

Clarke makes comparisons between the exploration of Rama and Earth-bound archaeology- this is very fitting. There is no life here, it's sterile, at least at first.

As the novel progresses the first mysteries are more-or-less solved, but this only digs up new ones, another Clarke standard (curiouser and curiouser!). After the slow build-up, however, the eventual discovery of life in the form of 'biots', while intriguing, didn't quite live up to my expectations- no monoliths! While an interesting idea and well-done it seemed too much like a science fiction conceit, not a part of the discoveries that have gone on before. It made Rama become a little too human, especially since several of the biots, including the first encountered, came close to actual creatures.

Clarke picks back up soon after the first biot scene, with a crewmember's journey through a suitably strange landscape. It may just be me, but this sequence (and the biots), seemed really close to the stories and ideas written a generation before Clarke, Stanley Weinbaum's short story A Martian Odyssey, for example. While I enjoy reading this kind of Sci-fi, it felt a little out of place in Rama.

Still, it was an excellent book, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It ranks with Childhood's End and 2001: A Space Odyssey as some of Clarke's best work, the atmosphere of the first half alone is well worth the read, and I'll definitely be re-reading it.

Have thoughts of your own on this or others of Clarke's work? Leave a comment!

Book cover art

I like buying used books. Something about the act of hunting through shelves of books, never knowing quite what you're going to find, the history behind every beaten-up paperback, and the smell of old books- not to mention the prices- appeals to me a lot more than simply going down to a chain bookstore and getting exactly what you came for. I also like to read older books, mostly Science-fiction and Fantasy from the turn of the last century up to the early 80's, so used bookstores tend to have more of what I like to read than new ones. One of the interesting features of used books is all the different cover art available. Most of these are frankly mediocre at best, but sometimes you find a gem- here are three of my favorites:

First- The Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin, cover by Yvonne Gilbert. This is one of the best non-Tolkien high fantasies. She creates a well thought-out world, with perhaps the best handling of magic I've ever seen. The cover captures the story well, I like its muted colors, Ged's clothing, in particular, looks like it belongs together and has seen some wear. It really captures what I try to do on most of my fantasy paint-jobs, especially my Dark Tower miniatures.

 Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov, cover by Michael Whelan. My favorite volume of the classic series, the cover illustrates the Mule in the disguise of Magnifico playing his Visi-Sonor in the Ruins of Trantor. It's almost surreal with its yellow and green highlights, contrasted with the bright colors of Magnifico's clothes.

The Silver Warriors by Michael Moorcock, cover by Robert Gould. I actually haven't finished this one, having just gotten it Friday. It's the first Moorcock I've read and I'm really enjoying it. It has the trapping of a good Robert E. Howard story, with a well done atmosphere. The cover is set up almost like a medieval manuscript, and reminds me of Tolkien's Thror's map from the Hobbit.

Disagree with my choices, or have a favorite of your own to share? Leave a comment!