Appendix N: The Literary History of Dungeons & Dragons

I would have to say that I really enjoyed this book. The book, as everybody knows, consists of essentially reviews of Gary Gygax’s Appendix N. It most resembles a series of blog posts thrown into book form. What I found rather amusing is how the author constantly exclaims how the stories are so great and why in the hell didn’t anybody point these books out to him when he was younger. He is probably close in age to me and well I have read at least half of these books and they were on the book racks at the local grocery store when I was growing up. He must of been stolen by fairies and taken to the otherworld to not have seen the books!
You do have to admit though there is alot going for the list that Gygax had put together. Poul Anderson, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Roger Zelanzy, Robert E Howard, Gardner Fox, L. Sprague de Camp, Fritz Leiber, Michael Moorcock, and the list goes on and on. Many of these I have read but there are several I have found in the list that I haven’t and will rectify in the future most assuredly.
All throughout he constantly shows how the ideas of each book could of been the main influence for many parts in D&D, and other games as well at the time. I did enjoy reading his thoughts on this because while reading them I was able to picture when I was young playing the old versions of the game, remembering every incident he detailed from the modules like it was yesterday. Funny how memories like that remain after all those years.
So overall I recommend this book not only for historical background of one of the greatest games every made but also to enjoy when somebody’s mind gets expanded with each book he reads and the excitement they have after reading them. It makes one nostalgic most definitely for past days and gives one a reason to go back and enjoy all those old stories once again for old times sake.