My "Off the Shelf" book reviews

 All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.

And yet more crass self-promotion. From May 2006 through April 2013 I was the "Off the Shelf" columnist for Knights of the Dinner Table (aka KoDT), a comic book/game magazine published by Kenzer & Company. I wrote most of these columns during that period, but there were a handful, roughly one a year, written by others. Most of the columns were straight forward reviews, but I also wrote several as  review essays on several topics.

I felt that having a column like this was a privilege not to take lightly, and so I generally only reviewed works that I felt comfortable recommending to readers. I wanted to direct people to books worth reading rather then warn them from books that I may not have liked. After all, just because a work wasn't to my taste didn't mean others would not enjoy it. 

Because Knights of the Dinner Table was a comic and magazine aimed at table top roleplayers, I tried to include at least a paragraph in each review on what a gamer or gamemaster could pull from the work regarding inspiration and ideas for their games. 

One of my long term goals for ‘Off the Shelf’ was to work my way through the authors listed as ‘inspirational and educational reading’ in Appendix N of the 1st edition AD&D Dungeon Master’s Guide (p224, Gary Gygax, TSR (c) 1979). I didn't manage to get to them all, but I got to most of them. I wasn't always able or willing to review the books listed for the authors (some of them are fairly obscure today) so in some cases the author was listed but not the specific work I reviewed. I've marked works by Appendix N authors with a * at the end of the entry. In the years since I wrote my column, Appendix N has inspired many blogs and at least one rather bad IMO, book. A quick google search will turn all of these up, here is one example. 

The 1981 Tom Moldvay Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set included, on page 62, a bibliography of "Inspirational Source Material." I think it is actually a better, more comprehensive list than the more famous Appendix N (as do some others). I have indicated authors from that list with a # mark at the end of the entry.

In 2013 the editors brought on Noah Chinn to take over the column. Noah is an excellent author in his own right (I reviewed two of his books in the column) and a good friend of mine, he was an excellent choice to keep the column going. Noah has also been posting about his reviews since he took over the column. I encourage you to check out his work. 

Individual back issues of Knights of the Dinner Table magazine, including all of those listed below, can be found here for purchase.

KoDT #115 May 2006 Thieves’ World anthology series edited by Asprin and Abbey*# (revised and expanded here.) 

KoDT #117 July 2006 The Lankhmar aka Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser series by Fritz Leiber*#

KoDT #118 August 2006 The Corum Saga by Michael Moorcock*# (revised and expanded here.)

KoDT #119 September 2006 The History of Middle Earth and Unfinished Tales by J.R.R. Tolkien*#

KoDT #120 October 2006 Conan of Cimmeria by Robert E. Howard*# 

KoDT #121 November 2006 The Barsoom Series by Edgar Rice Burroughs*#

KoDT #122 December 2006 Black Seas of Infinity: The Best of H.P. Lovecraft *#

KoDT #123 January 2007 The King Must Die and The Bull from the Sea by Mary Renault#

KoDT #124 February 2007 The King of Elfland's Daughter by Lord Dunsany*#

KoDT #125 March 2007 Quag Keep by Andre Norton*#

KoDT #126 April 2007 Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke 

KoDT #127 May 2007 Three Hearts and Three Lions by Poul Anderson*#

KoDT #128 June 2007 The Children of Húrin by J.R.R. Tolkien*#

KoDT #129 July 2007 The Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander#

KoDT #130 August 2007 A Rendezvous in Averoigne by Clark Ashton Smith#

KoDT #131 September 2007  Goblin Quest and Goblin Hero by Jim C. Hines 

KoDT #132 October 2007 The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova 

KoDT #133 November 2007 The Face in the Frost by John Bellairs*#

KoDT #135 January 2008 Tales of the Dying Earth (aka the Compleat Dying Earth) by Jack Vance 

KoDT #136 February 2008 His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik 

KoDT #137 March 2008 The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher (revised and expanded here.)

KoDT #138 April 2008 Medieval Romances by Howard Pyle 

KoDT #139 May 2008 The Wardstone Chronicles aka The Last Apprentice by Joseph Delaney (revised and expanded here.)

KoDT #141 July 2008 That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis# (revised and expanded here.)

KoDT #142 August 2008 Flashman and the Redskins by George MacDonald Fraser 

KoDT #143 September 2008 The Last Mythal by Richard Baker 

KoDT #144 October 2008 Dracula by Bram Stoker# (revised and expanded here.)

KoDT #145 November 2008 Game Night by Jonny Nexus 

KoDT #146 December 2008 The Compleat Enchanter by L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt*# 

KoDT #147 January 2009 The Club Dumas by Arturo Perez-Reverte 

KoDT #148 February 2009 The Merlin Trilogy by Mary Stewart# (revised and expanded here.)

KoDT #149 March 2009 Lankhmar Book 8: Swords Against the Shadowland by Robin Wayne Bailey 

KoDT #150 April 2009 "Important Fantasy Writers"  (revised and expanded here.)

KoDT #151 May 2009 The Han Solo Adventures by Brian Daley 

KoDT #152 June 2009 The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore

KoDT #153 July 2009 The Wyvern's Spur by Kate Novak and Jeff Grubb 

KoDT #154 August 2009 The White Company by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 

KoDT #155 September 2009 She by H. Rider Haggard#  

KoDT #156 October 2009 The Werewolf of Paris by Guy Endore 

KoDT #157 November 2009 The Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan 

KoDT #158 December 2009 The Dark Is Rising series by Susan Cooper 

KoDT #159 January 2010 Peter & Max by Bill Willingham 

KoDT #160 February 2010 The Corps series by W.E.B. Griffin

KoDT #161 March 2010 The Legend of Sigrid and Gudrun by J.R.R. Tolkien*#

KoDT #163 May 2010 Shadow Hawk by Andre Norton*# 

KoDT #164 June 2010  The Moon Pool by Abraham Merritt*# 

KoDT #165 July 2010 The Last Seal by Richard Denning 

KoDT #166 August 2010 The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson*#

KoDT #167 September 2010 Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver 

KoDT #168 October 2010 Frankenstein by Mary Shelley 

KoDT #169 November 2010  Johannes Cabal: the Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard 

KoDT #170 December 2010 The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum#

KoDT #171 January 2011 Evermeet: Island of the Elves by Elaine Cunningham 

KoDT #172 February 2011 Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith by Matthew Stover and Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker by George Lucas and Alan Dean Foster 

KoDT #173 March 2011 The Magicians by Lev Grossman

KoDT #174 April 2011 The Original Shannara Trilogy by Terry Brooks

KoDT #175 May 2011 "AD&D Player's Handbook by Gary Gygax and others in a Genre Genesis article" aka "Genre Genesis: The Literary Foundations of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons in the Players Handbook"

KoDT #176 June 2011 "AD&D Dungeon Master's Guide and Monster Manual by Gary Gygax and others in a Genre Genesis article" aka "Genre Genesis: The Literary Foundations of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons in the Dungeon Master’s Guide & Monster Manual"

KoDT #178 August 2011 "Genre Genesis III" aka "Genre Genesis: The Literary Foundations of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons in the early AD&D Modules"

KoDT #179 September 2011 The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer

KoDT #180 October 2011 Master of the Macabre (lesser works of Edgar Allan Poe) (revised and expanded here.)

KoDT #181 November 2011 Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things and In Ghostly Japan by Lafcadio Hearn  

KoDT #182 December 2011 "Santa Claus in Fantasy Fiction" 

KoDT #183 January 2012 Bleeding Heart Yard aka A G**damned Love Story: The Curious Case of Bleeding Heart Yard by Noah Chinn

KoDT #184 February 2012 The Belgariad by David and Leigh Eddings

KoDT #185 March 2012 Swords Against the Darkness III edited by Andrew Offutt

KoDT #186 April 2012 The Doctor and the Kid by Mike Resnick

KoDT #187 May 2012 A Tale of the House of the Wolfings, and All the Kindreds of the Mark Written in Prose and in Verse by William Morris

KoDT #188 June 2012 Black Amazon of Mars by Leigh Brackett*#

KoDT #189 July 2012 Ready One Player by Ernest Cline

KoDT #190 August 2012 The White Raven by Diana L. Paxson

KoDT #191 September 2012 The Tempus novels aka the Sacred Band series by Janet Morris (revised and expanded here.)

KoDT #192 October 2012 A Guile of Dragons by James Enge

KoDT #193 November 2012 The Jewel of the Seven Stars by Bram Stoker#

KoDT #194 December 2012 Trooper #4 by Noah Chinn

KoDT #195 January 2013 The Lancashire Witches by William Harrison Ainsworth (revised and expanded here.)

KoDT #196 February 2013 The Express Diaries by Nick Marsh

KoDT #198 April 2013 Sanctuary by Lynn Abbey

It does seem fitting to me that I started and ended my tenure reviewing works from the Thieves' World setting.

 All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.