The Merchants' War, subtitle:Book Four of the Merchant Princes, copyright 2007 by Charles Stross; Tor/Tom Doherty Associates, LLC; 1st mass market edition October 2008; ISBN-10: 0-7653-5589-2, ISBN-13: 978-0-7653-5589-2.

Another enjoyable entry in Stross's alternate universes series.

The Steel Remains, copyright 2009 by Richard Morgan; Ballantine Books/Del Rey/Random House Publishing Group/Random House Inc; ISBN 978-0-345-49303-3.

An interesting non-{extruded fantasy product} fantasy.

The Draco Tavern, copyright 2006 by Larry Niven; Tor/Tom Doherty Associates, LLc; 1st edition January 2006; ISBN 0-765-30863.

Somehow I completely missed all of the series:Draco Tavern stories until reading this compilation. Niven is still one of my favorite science fiction authors, and I enjoyed these tremendously.

Deader Still, copyright 2009 by Anton Strout; Ace Books/The Berkley Publishing Group/Penguin Group (USA) Inc/Penguin Books Ltd; Ace mass-market edition March 2009; ISBN 978-0-441-01691-4.

I found the main character of this supernatural adventure interesting, but also annoying at times.

The Ends of the Circle, by Paul O. Williams, copyright 1981; Del Rey/Ballantine Books, April 1981; ISBN 0-345-29551-X. Book Two of The Pelbar Cycle

This was the book in the series that I read first, many years ago. I'm in the process of rereading the series in order for the first time.

The Breaking of Northwall, by Paul O. Williams, copyright 1981; Del Rey/Ballantine Books, First Edition February 1981, Fifth Printing October 1984; ISBN 0-345-32434-X. Cover art by Darrel K. Sweet, Map by Chris Barbieri. Book One of The Pelbar Cycle.

Back in the eighties, when these were first published, I read the second book of The Pelbar Cycle before I read this, the first book, and I remember it was a little bit hearing legends in the second book, and then getting to meet some of the legends in the first book.

I like books these for the interesting post apocalypse societies.

Double Adventure 1: Shadows & Annic Nova, by Marc W. Miller; copyright © 1980 by Game Designers' Workshop; 7th printing; Product #312. Art on page 19 by Liz Danforth.

It is interesting to see how these adventures differ from current adventure design. Both of these adventures present a location with details about its contents, and give a way that a group of player characters might get involved. One of the adventures gives a page of historical background of the location for the GM, although the background doesn't directly affect play. The other gives no history at all, other than what can be gleaned from observing the location.

The trend in commercial RPG adventure design has been to deliver more and more detail for the GM, culminating in the current D&D adventure format that attempts to provide, on a two-page spread, absolutely everything that a DM has to have to run a tactical encounter, from the tactical map to the exact details of each and every NPC involved, so that the DM doesn't have to look anything up. Moreover, in many modules, perhaps starting with the Dragonlance modules in the 1980s, there is a story supplied, which the player characters are expected, more or less, to follow and figure out, and some more-or-less obvious goal.

Shadows & Annic Nova certainly don't supply a pre-built story — any story will be generated by the referee and players at the gaming table, with possibly some pre-game activity by the referee while reading the adventure beforehand. And there are no obvious goals, just situations to explore.

I actually find this rather liberating, compared to the more detailed adventures that are more common today. There is something about the things that aren't there in Shadows & Annic Nova that fires up my imagination and draws me into the situation. It's probably the same sort of thing that makes me see the original Greyhawk folio as more interesting that the later Living Greyhawk Gazetteer.

I mention Liz Danforth in the info about the book above because ever since I ran across her art in 5th edition Tunnels & Trolls I've enjoyed it immensely.