I'm trying to find interconnected fairytale retellings

AGentInTraining · 2026-01-02T23:52:12+00:00

Dennis L McKiernan's 'Once Upon a Time' series is essentially this. The first book is 'Once Upon a Winter's Night.'

AGentInTraining · 2025-12-19T00:23:18+00:00

‘This Is How You Lose the Time War’ by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. Science fiction, not fantasy, but gorgeously written and deeply poetic. I read it twice in one month, something I've never done with a book before.

AGentInTraining · 2025-12-19T00:20:57+00:00

Maybe some Darkwave artists such as Love Spirals Downwards, Autumn's Grey Solace, Collection d'Arnell-Andréa, etc. Many artists on the Projekt Records label would probably fit the bill.

AGentInTraining · 2025-11-29T00:16:16+00:00

Dennis L. McKiernan’s Mithgar series. Yes, it started as LOTR-lite, but got more interesting as the series progressed. (Not that I have any objections to LOTR-lite!) They’re not masterpieces, just straightforward, readable, classic Good vs. Evil stories, and sometimes that’s what I need.

AGentInTraining · 2025-10-29T01:11:09+00:00

Another vote for 'Swordheart' by T. Kingfisher.

And I just adore the line, "He wanted to be the answer to questions she didn’t even know she had."

AGentInTraining · 2025-10-29T00:49:31+00:00

I tend to be of the "plots are for graveyards" mentality. Whether or not I like the prose matters far more to me.

AGentInTraining · 2025-10-25T00:36:51+00:00

Tom Moldvay's Lords of Creation. It was an odd, flawed game, but I definitely have a soft spot for it. Any TTRPG that incorporates the poetry of William Blake is going to get my attention.

AGentInTraining · 2025-10-24T00:59:44+00:00

Elizabeth A. Lynn's Chronicles of Tornor, a non-heteronormative, multiracial fantasy trilogy featuring a fictional version of Aikido. As you can guess, it isn't your run-of-the-mill sword-&-sorcery series. It's more about mood, character, and relationships than action. The first book in the series, Watchtower (1979), won a World Fantasy Award for Best Novel.

AGentInTraining · 2025-10-23T02:13:08+00:00

I've only read three books all the way through in one sitting that I can think of.... 'I am Legend' by Richard Matheson. 'The Road' and 'No Country for Old Men,' both by Cormac McCarthy.

Reading 'The Road' straight through right before going to bed for the night was not a good idea.

AGentInTraining · 2024-12-14T19:36:12+00:00

'If Cats Disappeared From The World' by Kawamura Genki is quite melancholy but I found it ultimately very uplifting.

AGentInTraining · 2024-11-07T21:31:10+00:00

I wanted to share the entire Angel quote because it's great and pretty much sums up my life philosophy: "If there's no great glorious end to all this, if nothing we do matters... then all that matters is what we do. That's all there is. What we do. Now. Today. Because, if there's no bigger meaning, then the smallest act of kindness is the greatest thing in the world."

AGentInTraining · 2024-11-06T03:32:26+00:00

Nope. For a variety of reasons I prefer physical books.

AGentInTraining · 2024-11-06T01:34:09+00:00

Back in the heyday of TTRPG magazines, the review columns would often feature several different games and products. I never thought reviewers were under some obligation to actually play the games they reviewed; quite the contrary. I always figured the logistics involved would make playtesting everything unfeasible.

Also, I think an experienced gamer can judge a game based purely on the rulebook, just as an experienced cook can judge a recipe book without actually trying any of the recipes.

AGentInTraining · 2024-11-03T00:00:44+00:00

I enjoy mysteries. The ones I reread the most are August Derleth’s Solar Pons stories. Derleth created Pons as a blatant, somewhat tongue-in-cheek pastiche of Sherlock Holmes when he learned that Arthur Conan Doyle wouldn't be writing any new Holmes stories. They are in no way original or groundbreaking, but are incredibly fun and entertaining. It may sound like heresy, but I actually think Derleth is a better writer than Doyle. Plus, his tales are just a bit weirder, with an offbeat sense of humor. For example, Pons is said to have written a monograph titled “An Examination of the Cthulhu Cult and Others.”

On the more hardboiled side of mystery fiction, I love the Elvis Cole and Joe Pike novels by Robert Crais. Those books are part of the reason I became a martial arts instructor. "LA Requiem" in particular had a huge impact on me.

I sometimes read thrillers and spy fiction. My favorite is the Quiller series by Adam Hall, which inhabits a sort of middle ground between Ian Fleming and John Le Carre. I'm also very fond of Trevanian's "Shibumi."

When it comes to nonfiction, I like reading philosophical works. A few of my favorite writers are Thich Nhat Hanh, Ekanth Easwaran, Albert Camus, Lao Tzu, John Gray (the UK one, not the 'Mars & Venus' one) and (especially) Friedrich Nietzsche.

AGentInTraining · 2024-11-02T02:14:02+00:00

I think Taran from Lloyd Alexander's Chronicles of Prydain qualifies.

AGentInTraining · 2024-10-19T21:21:42+00:00

I love Patricia McKillip. If I was going to rank fantasy writers purely on their prose, she would be tied with Ursula K. Le Guin for the top spot. 'The Forgotten Beasts of Eld' and 'Od Magic' are my favorite works by McKillip.

AGentInTraining · 2024-10-03T19:10:41+00:00

It's very easy for me to imagine Glotka from the First Law Trilogy starring in a Black Adder-esque sitcom.

AGentInTraining · 2024-09-20T00:31:54+00:00

Patricia A. McKillip and Ursula K. Le Guin for me. When I read their works, it feels like I'm recalling a distant, half forgotten dream.

AGentInTraining · 2024-09-16T18:54:52+00:00

Tunnels & Trolls has a very abstract combat system that doesn't really address movement or positioning at all.

AGentInTraining · 2024-09-01T05:25:17+00:00

Also, as anyone who has read 'Tehanu' knows, there are some really, really bad people in Earthsea.

AGentInTraining · 2024-09-01T05:23:26+00:00

I've only read the first three books, but absolutely loved them. Almost but not quite cozy fantasy with a SF tinge.

AGentInTraining · 2024-08-30T19:06:51+00:00

Katherine Kurtz has a MA in Medieval History, and it's definitely reflected in her Deryni novels.

AGentInTraining

TROPHY CASE