Tom Moldvay's reading list

[Deleted]

Lesser known/discussed on the internet than the iconic holy grail of the OSR, Gary Gygax's iconic "Appendix N" from the AD&D DMG, is the list Tom Moldvay made for the Basic D&D (B/X) line. 

I'm only about halfway through Appendix N myself, although there's some overlap here. Reading every author on Moldvay's list will be a daunting task, but one I intend to eventually complete as well. Has anyone here read many of these authors? What are your impressions of how they differ, tonally, from the ones exclusively on Gary's list? How does this fiction influence the DM to approach the game differently from an AD&D DM steeped in Appendix N? 

[Vile Traveller]

Well, that's quite a list! Let's see what we've got (my "read" listing in red text):

FICTION: YOUNG ADULT FANTASY
Alexander, Lloyd — The Book of Three; Black Cauldron; Castle of Llyr, et al.
Baum, L. Frank - The Wizard of Oz; The Emerald City of Oz; The Land of Oz, et al.
Bellairs, John - The Face in the Frost; The House Without a Clock on Its Walls; The Figure in the Shadows, et al.
Burroughs, Edgar Rice — A Princess of Mars; At the Earth's Core; Tarzan of the Apes, et al.
Carroll, Lewis — Alice's Adventures in Wonderland; Through the Looking Glass
Garner, Alan — Elidor, The Weirdstone of Brisingamen; The Moon of Gomrath, et al.
Le Guin, Ursula K. - A Wizard of Earthsea; The Tombs of Atuan; The Farthest Shore, et al.
Lewis, C. S. - The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe; Prince Caspian; The Voyage of the "Dawn Treader", et al.

NON-FICTION: YOUNG ADULT
Barber, Richard — A Companion to World Mythology
Buehr, Walter - Chivalry and the Mailed Knight
Coolidge, Olivia — Greek Myths; The Trojan War; Legends of the North d'Aulaire, Ingri and Edgar Parin — Norse Gods and Giants; Trolls
Hazeltine, Alice — Hero Tales from Many Lands
Hillyer, Virgil - Young People's Story of the Ancient World: Prehistory - 500 B.C.
Jacobs, Joseph - English Folk and Fairy Tales
Macauley, David - Castles
McHargue, Georgess — The Beasts of Never: A History Natural and Unnatural of Monsters, Mythical and Magical; The Impossible People
Renault, Mary — The Lion in the Gateway
Sellow, Catherine F. — Adventures with the Giants
Sutcliff, Rosemary — Tristram and Iseult
Williams, Jay - Life in the Middle Ages
Winer, Bart - Life in the Ancient World

FICTION: ADULT FANTASY
Anderson, Poul - Three Hearts and Three Lions; The Broken Sword; The Merman's Children, et al.
Anthony, Piers — A Spell for Chameleon; The Source of Magic; Castle Roogna
Asprin, Robert — Another Fine Myth
Brackett, Leigh — The Coming of the Terrans; The Secret of Sinharat; People of the Talisman, et al.
Campbell, J. Ramsey — Demons by Daylight
Davidson, Avram — The Island Under the Earth; Ursus of Ultima Thule; The Phoenix in the Mirror, et al.
de Camp, L. Sprague - The Fallible Fiend; The Goblin Tower, et al.
de Camp, L. Sprague and Pratt, Fletcher — The Incomplete Enchanter; Land of Unreason, et al.
Dunsany, Lord — Over the Hills and Far Away; Book of Wonder; The King of Elfland's Daughter, et al.
Eddison, E. R. - The Worm Ouroboros Eisenstein, Phyllis — Born to Exile; Sorcerer's Son
Farmer, Phillip Jose — The Gates of Creation; The Maker of Universes; A Private Cosmos, et al.
Finney, Charles G. - The Unholy City; The Circus of Dr. Lao
Heinlein, Robert A. - Glory Road
Howard, Robert E. - Conan; Red Nails; Pigeons from Hell
Lee, Tanith - Night's Master; The Storm Lord; The Birthgrave, et al.
Leiber, Fritz — The Swords of Lankhmar; Swords Against Wizardry; Swords Against Death, et al.
Lovecraft, H. P. - The Doom that Came to Sarnath; The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath; The Dunwich Horror
Merritt, A. E. - The Moon Pool; Dwellers in the Mirage; The Ship of Ishtar, etal.
Moorcock, Michael — The Stealer of Souls; The Knight of the Swords; Gloriana, et al.
Mundy, Talbot — Tros of Samothrace
Niven, Larry — The Flight of the Horse; The Magic Goes Away
Norton, Andre - Witch World; The Year of the Unicorn; The Crystal Gryphon, et al.
Offutt, Andrew — The Iron Lords; Shadows Out of Hell
Pratt, Fletcher - The Blue Star; The Well of the Unicorn
Smith, Clark Ashton - Xiccarph; Lost Worlds; Genius Loci
Stewart, Mary — The Crystal Cave; The Hollow Hills; The Last Enchantment
Stoker, Bram — Dracula
Swann, Thomas Burnett — Cry Silver Bells; The Tournament of the Thorns; Moondust, et al.
Tolkien, J. R. R. - The Hobbit; The Lord of the Rings (trilogy)
Vance, Jack — The Eyes of the Overworld; Dying Earth; The Dragon Masters, et al.
Wagner, Karl Edward — Bloodstone; Death Angel's Shadow; Dark Crusade, et al.
White, Theodore H. - The Once and Future King
Zelazny, Roger — Jack of Shadows; Lord of Light; Nine Princes in Amber, et al.

Some additional authors of fantasy fiction are:
Beagle, Peter S.
Bok, Hannes
Cabell, James Branch
Carter, Lin
Cherryh, C. J.
Delany, Samuel R.
Fox, Gardner
Gaskell, Jane
Green, Roland
Haggard, H. Rider
Jakes, John
Kurtz, Katherine
Lanier, Sterling
McCaffrey, Anne
McKillip, Patricia A.
Moore, C. L.
Myers, John Myers
Peake, Mervyn
Saberhagen, Fred
Walton, Evangeline
Wellman, Manly Wade
Williamson, Jack

SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS:
Carter, Lin (ed.) — The Year's Best Fantasy Stories (in several volumes); Flashing Swords (also in several volumes)
Offutt, Andrew (ed.) — Swords Against Darkness (in several volumes)

NON-FICTION
Borges, Jorge Luis — The Book of Imaginary Beings
Bullfinch, Thomas — Bullfinch's Mythology: The Age of Fable, The Age of Chivalry
Leach, Maria & Fried, Jerome — Funk and Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and Legend

Looks like I've read perhaps more than I expected from this list, given that I don't think I've ever sought out any of them specifically unlike with Appendix N. I tend to read authors by the batch, so I've read more books than the ones listed behind each name - with some I've read pretty much everything they've written that I could get my hands on. Mostly I'll keep reading an author until I run out of books by them, or they get boring. Sadly, the latter happens quite often when I read like that. Authors tend to be quite formulaic and repetitive if you don't wait years and read lots of other authors between releases.

Predictably the non-fiction ones are the ones where I missed out most, mainly because I would have read different books on the same topics based on availability at the the and place.

I do think there's definitely a more "modern" feel to the Moldvay list than Appendix N, much more than you'd expect for a 4-year publication difference. Probably because Moldvay was younger, as well as all the new stuff that came out (or old stuff that became popularised) in the time between the two.

[Deleted]

Just as an aside, and strangely - perhaps it's an age thing - Vile Traveller hasn't read C.S. Lewis or Frank Baum, and I have, quite accidentally, years before knowing any such reading list exists.

I feel the same about the non-fiction ones. I've read books on every single one of those subjects, especially as a kid from the school library, but not these books or these authors necessarily.

[stevemitchell]

"Campbell, J. Ramsey — Demons by Daylight"

That's an odd choice, considering it is a collection of horror stories, all with a modern setting. A good book, but there's really no overlap at all with fantasy adventure. It wasn't available at the time, but Campbell's collection of sword & sorcery stories, Far Away and Never, would be a much better addition to an updated Moldvay list.

[jeffb]

As a kid and teen, I went through books like crazy: a trait I got from my Mother, as my Father only had a few years of elementary grade education and preferred not to read other than look at his stock values in the Newspaper.

BUT- I have to admit, I'm extremely NOT well-read, when it comes to appendix N or Tom's list. I hit all the big ones, Leiber, CS Lewis, Howard, some Vance, Burroughs, Moorcock, Lovecraft, Tolkien, and some others through the pages of The Dragon (or more often probably, Sorcerer's Apprentice) but my taste in fiction quickly changed and I began to pursue Ian Fleming's Bond, Frederick Forsyth, and "low grade, high kill" mercenary/paramilitary/counter terrorist fiction ala "Executioner" (Mack Bolan) series, "Phoenix Force" series , "Able Team" and others- which is also how my gaming began to shift from D&D and then RQ to MSPE, Espionage!, Aftermath, Justice, Inc, TW2K, and James Bond 007.

Post becoming a Father-as soon as I get actual QUIET time around my house where I could concentrate on reading a novel, I lay down and pick up a book, and either it's on my face and I'm out within 5 minutes, or my Wife decides to chat me up about whatever.

I keep making an attempt to even just *start* getting through some of these authors, but I'm guessing it won't be until my youngest is out of the house that I can approach it in earnest LOL.

So I'm jealous, but enjoying the discussion nonetheless.

[Vile Traveller]

Re: Robert Asprin, I see the Thieves' World anthologies aren't on the list. I love those books.

[jeffb]

Dec 24, 2020 14:20:12 GMT -6 Vile Traveller said:

Re: Robert Asprin, I see the Thieves' World anthologies aren't on the list. I love those books.

Agreed. Picked that up after seeing all the ads for the Chaosium boxed set (and then bought that too when I first saw it on a shelf)

[asaki]

Fiction: Young Adult Fantasy
Baum, L. Frank - The Wizard of Oz, The Emerald City of Oz, The Land of Oz, et al. - I was collecting all of these for a while, the last one I bought (and read) was Patchwork Girl of Oz.
Bellairs, John - The House Without a Clock on its Walls, The Figure in the Shadows
Burroughs, Edgar Rice - Tarzan of the Apes - I'm maybe halfway through the first book ¬_¬
LeGuin, Ursula - A Wizard of Earthsea
Lewis, CS - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - I've been meaning to read the rest for a very long time, but just never got around to it.

Fiction: Adult Fantasy
Anderson, Poul - Three Hearts and Three Lions - Just bought this one recently, started reading it, really good so far.
Howard, Robert E. - Conan, Red Nails, Pigeons from Hell - Only read a little bit here and there, need to read more.
Lieber, Fritz - The Swords of Lankhmar, Swords Against Wizardry, Swords Against Death, et al. - I've got a bookmark almost halfway through the first three-book collection, but I really don't remember reading that much of it. I wonder if it fell out.
Lovecraft, H.P. - The Doom that Came to Sarnath, The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, The Dunwich Horror - I've read tons of Lovecraft. Not everything, but most of it.
Stoker, Bram - Dracula
Tolkien, J.R.R. - The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings (Trilogy)

Fox, Gardner - He used to write Batman in the early early days, if that counts But I much prefer Bill Finger's stories.

[Deleted]

Batman always counts. A lot of Batman's DNA is in D&D, I feel. Comic book heroes are the overlooked/unsung element to these Appendices. It's clear how deep the influence goes from the very beginning. Look at how much of OD&D artwork was traced from comics, for instance. Also stuff like ESP and medallions of thought control are straight Doctor Strange.

[jeffb]

Dec 25, 2020 7:07:50 GMT -6 @ampleframework said:

Batman always counts. A lot of Batman's DNA is in D&D, I feel. Comic book heroes are the overlooked/unsung element to these Appendices. It's clear how deep the influence goes from the very beginning. Look at how much of OD&D artwork was traced from comics, for instance. Also stuff like ESP and medallions of thought control are straight Doctor Strange.

FWIW- Ken St. Andre was a librarian and well read in "appendix N" type books before he saw D&D, but he has indicated the S&S/Adventure comics of the day were a bigger influence on him, not only fictionally but also in designing the combat system (which is another thread).

[Parzival]

Of the YA Fantasy list, I’ve read all of them except Alan Garner (never heard of him), and a few of the Bellairs titles (though I have read The Face in the Frost and The House with a Clock in Its Walls). (My taste tends to run to “younger” literature as it places a premium on plot, characterization, and story over adult books’ tendencies to go into a morass of philosophy, moodiness, and graphically detailed violence and sex, which rarely advance either story or plot.)

Of the YA Non-Fiction, I’ve read only David McCauley’s Castle )(and, not mentioned Cathedral). But I have read considerable non-fiction on the subjects, so I don’t feel a need to pursue these.

Adult fiction, I’ve read a number of them, but not nearly all. I’m not big on dystopia, or the “failing world” settings, or psychedelic fantasy, or gritty dark fantasy (so the list is getting thinner for me). I’m a rarity in not really liking Conan stories, though I will read them. But I’ve still read a decent mix of these, and I’m interested in looking closer at some titles I wasn’t aware of, even though they are by writers I like.