Recomended Reading List

[Fifth]

Books You Should Read:

Perdido Street Station
The Scar
The Years of Rice and Salt - Kim Stanley Robinson
A Game of Thrones and it's sequels
Distraction - Bruce Sterling
Heavy Weather - Bruce Sterling
Islands in the Net - Bruce Sterling
Lucifer's Hammer
A Canticle for Leibowitz
Stephen King's Dark Tower Series
Illusion - Paula Volskyy
Player Piano
The Iron Lance

Authors Whose Books You Should Read:

Neal Stephenson
Bruce Sterling
George RR Martin
China Mieville

Anything to add?

[luke]

i really liked Canticle for Leibowitz when i read it back in highschool.
i should read it again.

i'll post the BW bibliography shortly.

[Fifth]

Most of the inspiration for my campaign came from "The Years of Rice and Salt". It's an alternate history which assumed that the first black plague killed everyone in Europe. The two dominate cultures become Arab and Chinese. The author seems to have done alot of research into the cultures and religions.

[Catalyst]

The Robert E. Howard Conan stories (not the hacks that came later)
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories by umm... I don't remember now.1st book is best, it gets worse as they continue.
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
For interesting dialog and info on where some things from D&D such as the Ioun Stones and Prismatic Spray came from, the Dying Earth books by Jack Vance. 1st book is more odd than the other ones, but sets up pieces of setting that increase the depth of the other books.
The Amber books by Roger Zelazny

[Malcoros]

One author I would definately reccomend is Gene Wolfe. Anybody here who has read him will know what I mean but he writes fantasy that crosses over into science fiction in a very interesting way. Probably not for everyone but you should give it a try.
By the way, George RR Martin is great!

[Mad Hatter]

You should also check out Tim Powers. I really like The Anubis Gates and Last Call.

[Drozdal]

Gates of Anubis are so Call of Cuthulhu :) (btw. he wrote another book worth mentioning - The Stresss of her Regard starring Lord Byron :))

Dro

[Gumby]

Hobgoblin by John Coyne was cool. Its what happens when gamers have a tick...

Ummm lord of the rings is a given.
The brother's war in the magic the gathering saga is cool. But that one was the only one out of that seris I liked..


Gumby
Regent of the Gumbinites

[Pheel]

Fritz Lieber wrote the Fafhrd and Grey Mouser stories.

I must second the call for ANYTHING written by Robert E. Howard, not just Conan, but also his CORMAC MAC ART stories, SOLOMON KANE, KULL, etc.

Also, please consider (in the fantasy/historic novel vein):

THE EARTHSEA TRILOGY, by LeGuin (best book on magic, EVER)
HIS DARK MATERIALS, by Pullman (despite the marketing, not just for kids)
THE MERLIN TRILOGY and THE WICKED DAY, by Stewart
THE KING MUST DIE, by Renault
KING HEREAFTER, by I F***ing Forget (arcane sentence structure, GREAT story)

And if you are not reading Neil Stephenson's System of the World trilogy (2 books out now, QUICKSILVER and THE CONFUSION), for shame. I thought Tyrion Lannister was the greatest fantasy character to come along since F&GM (what? 30+ years?). And then I met Jack "Half-Cocked" Shaftoe, syphilitic King of Vagabonds. Even if you find the excursis into the revolutions of science and politics that swept through the 17th century not to your liking, there's enough Half Cocked Jack to keep you laughing through the whole damn 800+ book.

"Half Cocked Jack." Sounds like a pirate drink.

Etc.

[Thor]

Hmmm...

The Three Musketeers, by Alexandre Dumas (best adventure novel ever written, IMHO).

Bloodstone (and all the other Kane stories), by Karl Edward Wagner (this guy knew his sword and sorcery!)

Tomoe Goezen (and the other Tomoe stories) by Jessica Amanda Salmonson (awesome Japanese sword and sorcery, starring the deadliest female samurai you've ever read about!)

The Winter King, Enemy of God, and Excalibur (by Bernard Cornwell (real blood, mud and guts Arthurian fantasy. awesome)

Pretty much the entire Richard Sharpe series (by Bernard Cornwell, historical, follows Richard Sharpe through his career as a soldier during the Napoleonic Wars -- truly awesome. Sharpe and his Irish sergeant Harper have some seriously tight Beliefs, Instincts and Traits. Also, be sure to check out the BBC movies based on the novels, starring Sean Bean!)

The Anvil of Ice, by Michael Scott Rohan (this is what enchanting and sorcery is all about!)

Fafhrd and The Gray Mouser (everything you can get your hands on), by Fritz Lieber (nothing more need be said).

Conan (everything you can get your hands on that was actually written by Robert E. Howard and wasn't violated by de Camp or Carter)

The Char Woman's Shadow (and, let's face it, everything else by the real father of fantasy), by Lord Dunsanay. This is a real god-damned sorcerer!

Tales of the Flat Earth, by Tanith Lee (not a lot of blood and guts, but this is seriously flavorful fantasy, and one of the coolest portrayals of demons you'll ever see).

That's probably enough for now. :lol:

[Durgil]

Hmmm...

The Three Musketeers, by Alexandre Dumas...
It's funny that you bring this up considering what you have written in your signiture. :wink:

[mike_ravenwood]

Anything by Michael Moorcock is worth a read, but branch out and don't just read Elric. Good source for Dark Fantasy (any author who shares my general dislike for Hobits has to be good). Von Bek is probably my current favorite.

[Thor]

Hmmm...

The Three Musketeers, by Alexandre Dumas...
It's funny that you bring this up considering what you have written in your signiture. :wink:

I try to be consistent. :lol:

[friartuck]

I'm not sure the books already mentioned are meant to inspire ideas for BW play, but in case they're not, I'll recommend some more:

The City of Saints and Madmen, by Jeff VanderMeer
The Resurrection Man's Legacy, by Dale Bailey
Move Under Ground, by Nick Mamatas
The Etched City, by K.J. Bishop
Homunculus, by James P. Blaylock (Tim Powers' fans will enjoy this)
Arc d'X, by Steve Erickson (out of print, but worth tracking down)
Things That Never Happen, by M. John Harrison

In the interests of full disclosure, I'll admit that the first two writers on the list are friends of mine; however, the fact that they have, between them, two World Fantasy Awards and an International Horror Guild Award should indicate that these recommendations are not motivated by cronyism.

In the interests of blatant self-promotion, I can also recommend a story called "You Go Where It Takes You" which is included in the current volume of The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror, and is archived in the fiction section of SCIFI.COM. It's by me, and I think it's pretty great.