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The Great Book Alphabet Game


Pariah

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For the letter C, I recommend Carl Sagan's excellent movie script-turned-novel Contact.

 

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What would happen to our society if we ever did make contact with an extraterrestrial intelligence?  This book explores some of the possible implications, on both personal and national/international levels.  

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City State of the Invincible Overlord by Bob Bledsaw. Either the original version or the remake by Necromancer Games

 

Call of Cthulu and other tales by H P Lovecraft

 

Circus of the Damned by Laurel K Hamilton

 

The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett. The first of the Discworld books introducing Rincewind, The Unseen University and Death.

 

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. A set of tales by various travellers while on the pilgrimage trail.

 

The Cold Six Thousand. Book 2 of the trilogy begun in American Tabloid. From the aftermath of Kennedy's assassination 

 

Conan by Robert E Howard

 

The Cruel Sea by Nicholas Monserrat

 

Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson

 

Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmund Rostand

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I'll second Contact and anything with Conan in the title.

 

The Campaigns of Napoleon by David Chandler. 50 years after it was first published it's still pretty much the definitive look at Napoleon's military exploits.

 

Conquest: Montezuma, Cortes, and the Fall of Old Mexico by Hugh Thomas. A great look at the Spanish conquest of Old Mexico, told from both sides of the conflict.

 

Changes by Jim Butcher. The 12th Dresden Files book is the one that overturns all the apple carts and unalterably changes the course of the series.

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There are two more books I think must be addressed for the letter C:

 

 

Champions, 4th Edition by George MacDonald, Steve Peterson, and Rob Bell

 

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Call me a relic, call me what you will, but this is still my favorite edition of Champions. To me, it was the perfect blend of utility and ease-of-use. Many of my most cherished and longest running characters were created with these rules.

 

 

Of course, it's also good to keep current:

 

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Alas, I have neither the budget nor the gaming group to justify buying a lot of stuff from 6th Edition. But I made sure to pick up Champions Complete. It is exactly as advertised: everything necessary to play Champions under the newest edition of the rules. It's a great resource to have on hand.

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Apprentice Adept (Piers Anthony's novels can be hit or miss, but this trilogy was good)

 

A Brief History of Time (Stephen Hawking did a good job of summarizing science and communicating it simply)

 

Honorable Mentions:

Aesop's Fables (hares, geese, grasshoppers, grapes, etc.)

Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter (the funniest of the Quirk titles is Android Karenina, but the book isn't quite as entertaining)

Catch 22

Charlotte's Web

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

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Vampire the Masquerade The Clan books. A look at each clan in the Camarilla and Sabbat and independents in turn.

 

The Book of Exalted Deeds and the Book of Vile Darkness for AD+D

 

Also from the Scarred Lands the Creature Collections which have lots of nice beasties.

 

John Connolly's Charlie Parker books The Burning Soul and The Black Angel. And Bad Men. These books verge into the supernatural as well as being detective stories.

 

The Confusion by Neal Stephenson part of his Baroque cycle featuring Isaac Newton.

 

Between the Woods and Water by Patrick Leigh Fermor. This is the second part of his recollections of a trip taken across Europe in 1934 and shows a land that will disappear in a decade. One of the best things I have ever read.

 

Cat and Mouse by James Patterson. This is one of the Alex Cross books and is an easy read.

 

Crocodile on the Sandbank, The Ape Who Guards the Balance and Curse of the Pharoahs by Elizabeth Peters. These are Amelia Peabody investigating in Egypt at the turn of the 20th Century

 

Chain of Dogs by Steven Erikson. Part of the Malazan Book of the Fallen. If you liked the first two books in the sequence (this is no 4) then you'd like this.

 

The Black Echo, Black Ice and Concrete Blonde by Michael Connolly. These are Harry Bosch novels available in a set.

 

Creed by James Herbert. A photographer gets more than he bargained for in one of James Herbert's horrors.

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Dungeon, Fire & Sword: The Knights Templar In The Crusades by John Robinson. A terrific and highly-entertaining piece of popular history about the Templars, focusing on their role during the crusades.

 

Deathworld by Harry Harrison. A visit to a world where every plant, animal & insect is trying to destroy humanity, what type of people live there anyway, and what they have to do to survive. You can skip the sequels IMO, but the first book is great fun.

 

The Daleth Effect also by Harry Harrison. One of Harrison's lesser-known works. At the height of the Cold War, a Danish scientist discovers a "gravitational anomaly" that makes spaceflight cheap & easy, and struggles to keep the technology out of the hands of both the Soviets and the Americans.

 

Dracula by Bram Stoker. Nuff said.

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The book I'm reading for my current astrophysics class: Death from the Skies! by Philip Plait.

 

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So far, we've only looked at the first three chapters, which cover meteor impacts, coronal mass ejections, and supernovae and their accompanying gamma ray bursts, respectively.  Fascinating stuff!

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I've read Bimbos of the Death Sun. Short and entertaining.

 

Various books on D-Day spring to mind for D. Different Seasons by Stephen King. 4 stories from King with three of them made into movies. Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption was made into The Shawshank Redemption, Apt Pupil was made into a film of the same name and The Body was made into Stand By Me. I have the book and the stories are all good. The last story is The Breathing Method and if you have read it you will understand why it has not been made into a film. It's not quality but the subject matter.

Talking of King we missed Christine the one about a killer car. I prefer the book to the film.

I've not read Cujo but a St Bernard goes bad ? No thank you.

 

The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson is another good read.

 

Death Duel with the Destroyers and Crisis at Crusader Citadel just about qualify as books and are great superhero inspirations. They are Villains and Vigilantes modules but have a nice bunch of characters to convert which is what I did.

 

Dark Hollow by John Connolly. This is the second Charlie Parker book. It and its immediate predecessor will decide whether or not you like the series enough to continue.

 

The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. Dante has to travel through Hell and Purgatory to get to Heaven. The first part is the most entertaining as you see people in torment and what got them there in the first place.

 

There is also a book called Catch 22 which I have seen the film but not read the book.

 

Comics wise how about Crisis on Infinite Earths and Confession which is an Astro City collection

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Dream Park by Larry Niven. Although some of it has been overtaken by technology it is still a good read.

 

Descent into the Depths of the Earth. Who sent those rotten giants to attack everyone ? The Drow ? Right ! Let's get them ! This module the first in the D series has players getting past the bugbears and troglodytes.

 

Delta Green One of the best source books I have ever seen and this one is for modern Call of Cthulhu play

 

Die Trying by Lee Child. This is the second of the Jack Reacher books. Our hero is helping a woman when she is kidnapped and he is brought along with her. Small scale and shows hoe one man can make a difference.

 

The Duncton books by William Horwood. These are a trilogy starting with Duncton Wood about a community of moles.  It deals with religion and what moles might believe in.

 

Dream Spheres by Elaine Cunningham. This is one of the Harper series and features Danilo Thann and Arilyn Moonblade two of the most popular characters in the series.

 

Day of the Destroyer wherein Dr Destroyer tries to destroy the world. And Deathstroke where Frost and Requiem get their organisation.

 

and we missed Book of the Destroyer, Book of the Empress and Book of the Machine also Champions Villains Volumes 1-3

 

I also missed A Canticle for Liebowitz by Walter M Miller which is post apocalyptic and looks at religion.

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The Chinese Agent by Michael Moorcock

Yes, Michael Moorcock actually wrote a cockney absurdist spy spoof.

 

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The Disappearing Dwarf by James P Blaylock

It's the second in the series, but the first one that I read.

It's low fantasy / low steampunk with a quaint homey feel, along the lines of Huckleberry Finn.

 

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Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams

Hitchhiker's Guide is the best of course, but I recommend the two Dirk books. And the recent TV series captures the same wacky bizarre worldview and outrageous situations.

 

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The Elfstones of Shannara was the second fantasy novel I ever read (sword of shannara was first and I picked up Elfstones as soon as it came out) and I thought it was Brooks best novel.  His writing definitely went downhill after that.  He's obviously derivative, but I didn't know that at the time so he was amazing to me.  I'd only known about fantasy from mythology and D&D until I was 12 or so.

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Eric and Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett. The second is the first of the witches books and introduces Nanny Ogg and Granny Weatherwax. The first one has Rincewind and is his fourth appearance.

 

The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan. The first of the Wheel of Time books. This introduces you to the idea and the first of the main characters especially Moiraine and her bodyguard Al'Lan Mandragoran. It also brings us the Whitecloaks. This was a present from a friend in America. It got me addicted to the series.

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Obviously a little biased, but let me recommend The Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe by Theodore Gray

 

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Beautiful photography and engaging prose make this a wonderful introduction to the chemical elements. 

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The Eternal Champion and Elric of Melnibone by Michael Moorcock. These deal with the Eternal Champion idea. And Elric brings you the most evil of all swords Stormbringer in its first appearance.

 

The Early History of Rome by Livy. This is the surviving account of the earliest history of Rome

 

Every Dead Thing by John Connolly. This is the first Charlie Parker book. If you don't like this one then you won't like the rest. Charlie Parker is on the hunt for the killer of his wife and child. He was a cop and is now starting as a Private Eye.

 

Expedition to the Barrier Peaks. Dungeons and Dragons versus Sci Fi in the third of the S series of modules. There is lots of fun in this book as the heroes must deal with robots and other things in a crashed spaceship.

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