From role-playing games to television series, Flames Rising horror webzine offers hundreds of reviews on products from every world of horror imaginable. We feature nationally-distributed and licensed products like Hellboy, to small press ventures like the game InSpectres from Memento Mori.

Our philosophy on reviews is simple: we encourage our horror reviewers to channel their inner Poe to write reviews that are easy-to-read and provide you, the horror fan, with the best information possible.

Whether you enjoy paranormal romance or post-apocalyptic horror, this list has a little something for the monster in all of us. If you would like to be a horror reviewer for Flames Rising, we encourage you to visit our submission guidelines. We go out of our way to reward our regular horror reviewers, and encourage you to add your voice to our choir.

Our reviews are listed in alphabetical order by type of review category. For an alternative means of navigation, feel free to take advantage of the search box on our site to find what you’re hunting for.

Comic Book/Graphic Novel Reviews:

Anita Blake: The First Death (Marvel Comics)
Axiom Man: Of Magic and Men (Coscom Entertainment)
Dark Hunger (Del Rey)
Death Walks the Streets 0 (Scream Factory)
Dresden Files Comics (Dabel Bros.)
Fall of Cthulhu: The Fugue (Boom! Studios)
Hack/Slash Omnibus (Devil’s Due)
Lovecraft (Vertigo)
Ramayan 3392 AD (Virgin Comics)
Razor Kid (Marcus Almand)
Shadowgirls (Rodriguez & Reynolds)
Welcome to the Jungle (Dabel Bros)
Witchblade Volume 5: Firstborn (Top Cow Entertainment)

Fiction Reviews:

13 Bullets (David Wellington)
Accursed (Ghosts of Albion) (Amber Benson & Christopher Golden)
Anansi Boys (Neil Gaiman)
Another One Bites the Dust (Jennifer Rardin)
Armageddons Children (Terry Brooks)
Armed & Magical (Lisa Shearin)
Awaken Me Darkly (Gina Showalter)
Battle Royale (Tokyo Pop)
Bestial (William Carl)
Bitten (Kelley Armstrong)
Biting the Bullet (Jennifer Rardin)
Bled Dry (Erin McCarthy)
Blood In, Blood Out (Lucien Soulban)
Blood Noir (Anita Blake) (Laurell K. Hamilton)
Blood Price (Tanya Huff)
Book of Nod (Sam Chupp)
Burning (Bentley Little)
Chaos Bleeds (Buffy) (James Moore)
Chosen Sin (Anya Bast)
City of Saints and Madmen (Jeff Vandermeer)
Claimed by Shadow (Karen Chance)
Countdown (Michelle Maddox)
Dead Girls Dance (Morganville Vampires) (Rachel Caine)
Dead to Me (Anton Strout)
Definitely Dead (Charlaine Harris)
Departure (Alana Abbott)
Down the Road (Bowie Ibarra)
Down the Road: On the Last Day (Bowie Ibarra)
Dragon Champion (E.E. Knight)
Dragon of the Mangroves (Yasuyuki Kasai)
Dreaming Void (Peter F. Hamilton)
Dying to Live (Kim Paffenroth)
Eat the Dark (Joe Schreiber)
Electric Church (Jeff Somers)
Elves of Cintara (Terry Brooks)
Empire (David Dunwoody)
End of Heroes (Kevin J. Herbst)
Eryn (Keri Arthur)
Every Sigh, the End (Jason S. Hornsby)
False Gods (Graham MacNeill)
Feast of Fools (Morganville Vampires) (Rachel Caine)
From Dead to Worse (Charlaine Harris)
Gangrel (Dark Ages) (Tim Waggoner)
Gehenna: the Final Night (Ari Marmell)
Gypsy Morph (Terry Brooks)
Halfway to the Grave (Jeaniene Frost)
Happy Hour of the Damned (Mark Henry)
Happy Hour of the Damned (Mark Henry)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows (J.K. Rowling)
Haunted (Angel) (Jeff Mariotte)
Hell to Pay (Simon Green)
Hell’s Belles (Jackie Kessler)
Hell Week (Rosemary Clement-Moore)
Heralds of the Storm (Andrew Bates)
Heretic (Templar Chronicles) (Joe Nassissie)
Heroes Adrift (Moira J. Moore)
Hidden (Eve Kenin)
Historian (Elizabeth Kostova)
Horus Rising (Dan Abnett)
Host (Stephenie Meyer)
House of Leaves (Mark Z. Danielewski)
A Hunger Like Fire (Greg Stolze)
Ill Wind (Rachel Caine)
Into the Reach (Alana Abbott)
Iron Angel (Alan Campbell)
Ironside (Holly Black)
Key to Conflict (Talia Gryphon)
Kitty and the Midnight Hour (Carrie Vaughn)
Knights of the Cornerstone (James P. Blaylock)
Legends: the Orion Project (Dav Harnish)
Lies of Locke Lamora & Red Seas Under Red Skies (Scott Lynch)
Magic Bites (Ilona Andrews)
Magic Burns (Ilona Andrews)
Magic Lost, Trouble Found (Lisa Shearin)
Man With the Golden Torc (Simon R. Green)
Marriage of Virtue & Viciousness (Greg Stolze)
Marriage of Virtue & Viciousness (Greg Stolze)
Midnight Alley (Morganville Vampires) (Rachel Caine)
Midnight Brunch (Marta Acosta)
Monster Island (David Wellington)
Moon Called (Patricia Briggs)
Myth Hunters (Christopher Golden)
Name of the Wind (Patrick Rothfuss)
Name of the Wind (Patrick Rothfuss)
Night Child (Jes Battis)
Old Man’s War (John Scalzi)
Plague of the Dead (Z.A. Recht)
Plague of the Dead 2: Thunder & Ashes (Z.A. Recht)
Prince of Lies (Forgotten Realms) (James Lowder)
Prom Dates from Hell (Rosemary Clement-Moore)
Ravens of Avalon (Diana Paxson)
Reincarnationist (M. J. Rose)
Scar Night (Alan Campbell)
Scent of Shadows (Vicki Pettersson)
Season of the Witch (Natasha Mostert)
Seraphs (Faith Hunter)
Serenity (Keith R.A. DeCandido)
Shadowbred (Forgotten Realms) (Paul S. Kemp)
Shadowplay (Tad Williams)
Shield of Weeping Ghosts (Forgotten Realms) (James P. Davis)
Small Favor (Dresden Files) (Jim Butcher)
Solstice Wood (Patricia A. McKillip)
Spook Country (William Gibson)
Street: Empathy (Ryan A. Span)
Succubus Blues (Richelle Mead)
Tantalize (Cynthia Leitich Smith)
Taste of Night (Vicki Pettersson)
To Charles Fort, With Love (Caitlin R. Keirnan)
Tower (Simon Clark)
Tremere (Dark Ages) (Sarah Roark)
Twilight of the Dead (Travis Adkins)
Two Plays for Voices (Neil Gaiman)
Unleashed (Kristopher Reisz)
Vampire Academy (Richelle Mead)
Way of the Wolf (E.E. Knight)
White Night (Dresden Files) (Jim Butcher)
Wicked Game (Jeri Smith-Ready)
Witch Blood (Elemental Witches) (Anya Bast)
Witch Fire (Elemental Witches) (Anya Bast)
Witchling (Yasmine Galenorn)

Fiction Anthology/Collections Reviews:

Blood Lite (Horror Writer’s Association)
Clan Novels (Vampire: the Masquerade (White Wolf Publishing)
Complete Chronicles of Conan (Robert E. Howard)
Dark Tyrants (White Wolf Publishing)
Dark Theatres (Delta Green) (Pagan Publishing)
Dead Men (and Women) Walking (Bards & Sages)
For a Few Dead Guys More (Pinnacle Entertainment)
Frontier Cthulhu (Chaosium)
Haunting the Dead (Orpheus) (White Wolf Publishing)
Man Made Monsters (Mad Marv)
Many Bloody Returns (Charlaine Harris, Toni L. P. Kelner – Editors)
Three Shades of Night (White Wolf Publishing)
Undead 2:Skin & Bones (Permuted Press)
Undead 3: Flesh Feast (Permuted Press)
Waking up Screaming (H.P. Lovecraft)

Music Reviews:

13th Hour (Midnight Syndicate)
Blood of Angels (Michelle Belanger & Nox Arcana)
Carnival of Lost Souls (Nox Arcana)
Culture of Unaccountability (Spirit Creek)
Darklore Manor (Nox Arcana)
Desecrated Ashes (URN)
Fade to Black (Virgil)
Mythmaker (Skinny Puppy)
Necronomicon (Nox Arcana)
Out of the Ether (Virgil)

Non-Fiction Reviews:

Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures (John and Caitlin Matthews)
Gothic Tarot Compendium (Joseph Vargo and Joseph Iorillo)
One Who Walked Alone (Robert E. Howard) (Novalyne Price)
Wisconsin Road Guide to Haunted Locations (Chad Lewis and Terry Fisk)

Other Game Reviews:

Battlestar Galactica: Board Game (Fantasy Flight Games)
Dracula’s Revenge (Human Head Studios)
Give Me The Brain! (Cheapass Games)
Gloom (Atlas Games)
Haunting House (Twilight Creations)
Magentic Monsters (Mudpuppy Press)
Munchkin Bites (Steve Jackson Games)
Munchkin Bites 2: Pants Macabre (Steve Jackson Games)
Munchkin Cthulhu (Steve Jackson Games)
Reaper Horror Minis (Reaper Miniatures)
Swords & Dragons (Emperor’s Choice Games
Unspeakable Words (Playroom Entertainment)
Vampire: Dark Influences (White Wolf Publishing)
Zombie Cinema (Arkenstone Publishing)
Zombie Fluxx (Looney Labs)
Zombies!!! (Twilight Creations)
Zombies!!! (Twilight Creations)

Role-Playing Game Reviews:

a|state (Contested Ground Studios)
AEternal Legends (Mob United Media)
Agon (One Seven Design)
Aletheia (Abstract Nova)
All Flesh Must Be Eaten (Eden Studios)
All Flesh Must Be Eaten (Revised) (Eden Studios)
Arduin Grimoire IX: End War (Dave Hargrave)
Army of Darkness (Eden Studios)
Blight Elves (Reality Deviant Publications)
Blood! (Postmordem Studios)
Blood and Brains: The Zombie Hunters Guide (RPGObjects)
Blood Games (Flying Mice LLC)
Blood Games II (Flying Mice LLC)
Bloodlines (d20) (12 to Midnight)
Book of LARP (Interactivities Ink)
Book of the Arcane (Dark Matter Studios)
Brainwashed (d20) (12 to Midnight)
Buffy: the Vampire Slayer (Eden Studios)
Bust (Cold Blooded Games)
Cadwallon (Rackham)
Call of Cthulhu (6th Edition) (Chaosium)
Chaos University (FireWater Pro)
Changeling: the Lost (White Wolf Publishing)
Chicago Workings (World of Darkness) (White Wolf Publishing)
Chronicles of Ramlar (Whitesilver Publishing)
CJ Carella’s Witchcraft (Eden Studios)
Cold, Hard World (Atomic Sock Monkey Press)
Cold Space (Flying Mice LLC)
Colonial Gothic Primer (Rogue Games Inc.)
Colonial Gothic Rulebook (Rogue Games Inc.)
Conspiracy of Shadows (Bob Goat Press)
Creep Chronicle (Timeless Games)
Crossroads of Enternity (Arcadiam Games)
Cthulhu Live (2nd Edition) (Fantasy Flight Games)
Cthulhu Live (3rd Edition) (Skirmisher)
Cursed Empire (2nd Edition) (Spartans Unleashed)
Cursed Empire (2nd Edition) (Spartans Unleashed)
Dark Ages: Inquisitor (White Wolf Publishing)
Dark Heresy (Warhammer) (Black Library)
Daughter of Nexus (Exalted) (White Wolf Publishing)
Dead Inside (Atomic Sock Monkey Press)
Dead of Night (Steampower Publishing)
Dog Town Core Rules (Cold Blooded Games)
Donar’s Hammer (Arc Dream)
Don’t Lose Your Mind (Evil Hat Productions)
Don’t Rest Your Head (Evil Hat Productions)
DragonMech (Goodman Games)
Dread: The First Book of Pandemonium (Neoplastic Press)
Dread: The First Book of Pandemonium (Neoplastic Press)
Dungeon Bash (Other Game Company)
Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edtion (Wizards of the Coast)
Dungeons & Zombies (Eden Studios)
Epic Role Playing (Dark Matter Studios)
Epic Role Playing Bestiary (Dark Matter Studios)
Exalted (White Wolf Publishing)
Exalted (2nd Edition) (White Wolf Publishing)
Exquisite Replicas (Abstract Nova)
Fae Noir (Green Fairy Games)
Faith & Fire (White Wolf Publishing)
Forgotten Heroes: Fang, Fist, and Song (Goodman Games)
Ghost Stories (Politically Incorrect Games)
Gilded Cage (White Wolf Publishing)
Godlike (Arc Dream)
Grimm (Horizon d20) (Fantasy Flight Games)
Gumshoe – Esoterrorists/Fear Itself/Unremitting Horror RPG (Pelgrane Press)
Heroes of Horror (Wizards of the Coast)
Horrors of the Shroud: The Death-Mother (One Bad Egg)
Hunter Sheets 1 (Cubicle 7 Entertainment)
In the Darkness (Morrigan Press)
Initiates of The Art (White Wolf Publishing)
Inquisitor’s Handbook (Black Library)
Inside the Zone (Apophis Consortium)
InSpectres (Memento Mori Theatricks)
InSpectres (Memento Mori Theatricks)
Kult: Beyond the Veil (3rd Edition) (7th Circle Games)
Laws of the Resurrection (White Wolf Publishing)
Legend of the 5 Rings (3rd Edition) (AEG)
Legends: the Orion Project (Apophis Consortium)
Libris Mortis (Dungeons & Dragons) (Wizards of the Coast)
Little Fears (Key 20 Publishing)
Lostfinder’s Guide to Mire End (Contested Ground Studios)
Manual of Exalted Power: Abyssals (White Wolf Publishing)
Mechanical Dream (SteamLogic)
Mind’s Eye Theatre (White Wolf Publishing)
Mountain Witch (TimFire Publishing)
My Life with Master (Half Meme Press)
Myriad (Sane Studios)
Mystery Codex (Eden Studios)
Obsidian: the Age of Judgement (2nd Edition) (Apophis Consortium)
OctaNe (Memento Mori Theatricks)
Old Man of Damascus (Cthulhu Live) (Skirmisher Publishing)
One of the Living (Eden Studios)
Orbit (Jeff Diamond)
Orpheus (White Wolf Publishing)
Posioncraft: The Dark Art (Blue Devil Games)
Promethean: the Created (White Wolf Publishing)
Prouty Island (Flying Mice LLC)
Qin: the Warring States (7th Circle Publishing)
Races of the Shroud: The Apelord (One Bad Egg)
Random Esoteric Creature Generator (Goodman Games)
Rapture: The Second Coming (d20) (Holistic Design)
Ravenloft Gazetteer V (Sword & Sorcery Studios)
Requiem for Rome (White Wolf Publishing)
Resurrectionists (Vampire) (White Wolf Publishing)
Rose-Bride’s Plight (Changeling) (White Wolf Publishing
Savage World of Solomon Kane (Pinnacle Entertainment)
Schism (Memento Mori Theatricks)
Scion Companion (Part I) (White Wolf Publishing)
Scion Companion (Part II) (White Wolf Publishing)
Scion Companion (Part III) (White Wolf Publishin)
Scion: Hero (White Wolf Publishing)
Sentinel’s Bible (Creative Illusions)
Seventh Seal (Creative Illusions)
Shab-al-Hiri Roach (Bully Pulpit Games)
Shining Host (White Wolf Publishing)
SLA Industries (Cubicle 7 Entertainment)
Sorcerer (Adept Press)
Spellcraft & Sorcery (Elf Lair Games)
Spirit of the Century (Evil Hat Productions)
Squeam 3 (Memento Mori Theatricks)
Steamworks (12 to Midnight)
Stunning Eldritch Tales (Pelgrane Press)
Suzerain (Talisman Studios)
Thousand Hells (White Wolf Publishing)
Tome of Horrors Revised (Necromancer Games)
Unbidden (Precis Intermedia)
Vampire by Gaslight (White Wolf Publishing)
Vampyre: Dark Genesis (Twisted Chronicles LLC)
Victoriana (2nd Edition) (Cubicle 7 Entertainment)
Weapons of the Gods (Eos Press)
What Lurks Beyond (d20) (Cutter’s Guild Games)
World of Darkness: Antagonists (White Wolf Publishing)
World of Darkness: Ghost Stories (White Wolf Publishing)
World of Darkness: Mysterious Places (White Wolf Publishing)
Wraeththu (Immanion Press)
Wraith: the Oblivion (2nd Edition) (White Wolf Publishing)
Wraith Players Guide (White Wolf Publishing)
Zorcerer of Zo (Atomic Sock Monkey Press)

TV Series and Movie Reviews:

1408 (Weinstein Company)
2001 Maniacs (Lions Gate)
28 Days Later (20th Century Fox)
28 Weeks Later (20th Century Fox)
30 Days of Night (Sony Pictures)
300 (Warner Home Video)
4400 (Season One) (Paramount Pictures)
Aliens vs. Predator (20th Century Fox)
An American Haunting (Lions Gate)
Batman: The Dark Night (Warner Bros)
Beckoning (Zan Media)
Beyond the Wall of Sleep (Lions Gate)
Blood & Iron (Hellboy) (Starz / Anchor Bay)
Better Off Undead (Newbeat/ Head Trauma)
BloodRayne (Uwe Boll Productions)
Cemetary Gates (Kismet / Graveyard)
Cigarette Burns (Masters of Horror)
Cloverfield (Paramount Pictures)
Darkness (Dimension)
Devil’s Rejects (Lions Gate)
Doctor Strange (Lions Gate)
Dominion vs. Excorcist: the Beginning (Warner Bros.)
Dresden Files: The Series (Lions Gate)
Final Fantasy: Advent Children (Sony Pictures)
Fountain (Warner Bros.)
Grindhouse (Weinstein Company)
Grudge (Sony Pictures)
Halloween (Remake) (Weinstein Company)
Hellboy: the Movie (Columbia Pictures)
Hellboy II: The Golden Army (Columbia Pictures)
Highlander (Starz / Anchor Bay)
Hitcher (Universal Studios)
Hostel (Sony Pictures)
Kakurenbo (Us Manga Corps)
Pan’s Labyrinth (New Line)
Psycho (Universal Studios)
Quarantine (Screen Gems Pictures)
Ring 2 (Dreamworks / Universal Studios)
Saw II (Lions Gate)
Serenity (Universal Studios)
Silent Hill (Sony Pictures)
Sin City (Dimension)
V (Mini-Series) (Warner)
Vampire Hunter D (Urban Vision)
Wanted (Universal Pictures)
Werewolf Hunter (Lions Gate)
Wind Chill (Sony Pictures)

Video Game Reviews:

Assassin’s Creed (UBI Soft)
Bioshock (2K Games)
Clocktower 3 (Capcom)
Dark Corners of the Earth (Call of Cthulhu) (Bethesda)
Evil Dead: Fistful of Boomstick (THQ)
Mass Effect (BioWare)
Resident Evil: Outbreak (Capcom)
Rule of Rose (Atlus)

Related posts:

1. Love Horror? Join Flames Rising on Twitter and Facebook!
2. Flames Rising’s Reviewer Rewards Program
3. Flames Rising Favorite Horror Game Contest!

Available at the RPGNow.com

The Dark Tower CD from Nox Arcana was developed solely by Joseph Vargo as a themed complement to The Dark Tower anthology series. The music composed for this particular collection seems to be more understated than their other offerings. There are two types of experiences I’ve had with Nox Arcana’s music. The first is evident through Blackthorn Asylum, The Necronomicon, Phantom of the High Seas, and the Theatre of Illusion.

After you hear the opening refrain, there’s typically a story threaded throughout the music so it’s often a bad idea to play the CD at random if you want the full experience. I found this was especially true for Grimm Tales, which is one of my favorite Nox Arcana CDs. In these cases, you become a more active (rather than passive) listener because you have to pay attention to not only the notes — but also the order of the arrangements and the story arc, too.

Mood-setting and ambiance is, what I would consider, the second way listeners can dive into this band’s music. I’d put this particular compilation squarely in the mood music camp because I felt Dark Tower was less complex and had less variety than their other CDs. When paired with the fiction and Vargo’s signature art style, Dark Tower is the perfect accompaniment to help readers embrace a Gothic horror mood while focusing on a story. On its own, I felt this would be a good introduction to Nox Arcana’s overall style, but may not necessarily stand out as much as their previous offerings that demand a listener’s full attention.

If you’re searching for dark and delectable music to play in the background, then Dark Tower is a good CD to help you do just that.

Review by Monica Valentinelli

Related posts:

1. Blackthorn Asylum CD Review
2. Shadow of the Raven Nox Arcana Music Review
3. Vampyre: Dark Genesis RPG Review

Available at RPGNow.com

Mistborn Adventure Game: Sample Heroes

Whether you are looking for inspiration, want a few well-detailed NPCs to act as associates or rivals, or need a character (or whole party) in a hurry, this product will fill your purposes admirably.

Herein are eight fully-developed characters, set up as an integrated crew. Each one gets a couple of pages – one a filled-out character sheets with all the necessary game stats, and the other a write-up of the character’s background, including a brief history, notes on personality and motivations and even what he thinks about the other members of the group. There is also a sketch of the character to enable you to visualise him.

A fairly shady group they are, too. The leader is one Beck, a fixer – the sort of fellow who can get you whatever you want, no questions asked, provided you are willing to pay his price. The others are the crew who procure the whatever it is… a crew called Nine Eyes. Most people will find a character they’d like to play, if you are using them as your ready-made party. A wandering scholar, an urbane steward (or is he?), a kandra longing to return to her Homeland but honour-bound by her contract, a fugitive Mistborn noble lass, a Skaa con-woman who insinuates herself into noble society, a thief who is rarely as drunk as he appears to be, and a watchful bodyguard who burns with barely-controlled rage.

Between them, they form a group that is more than its individual members. They’d certainly make a good starting group (especially if you want to dive straight in to the game), else they may be exemplars of how you might create your own crew, or a rival crew to pit against your own players…

Mistborn Adventure Game Novel Characters: Vin and Sazed

Continuing the series of free ‘tasters’ for the Mistborn Adventure Game, here are two major characters from the novels on which the game is based, completely written up with game statistics and background details. Risky, as lovers of the stories likely have their own ideas – but for the enterprising GM who would like some of the characters from the novels featuring in their game, very useful. Anyone who has not read the novels yet should avoid this, thought, there are major plot ‘spoilers’ in the background text.

The first character portrayed is Vin. Her powers are at their height, with many of her defining exploits now in her past. After a full-page portrait, the first part of the write-up details her past up to the point chosen for the exemplar character. Next come her full game statistics, then a section on ‘Playing Vin’ which will help any GM to make her come to life as a powerful, potentially deadly, NPC – even as an ally, characters are advised to be careful, and she could make a formidable foe if they were to get on her wrong side… and rather helpfully, there are sections on how she’d behave as ally or enemy to make things easy for you. And there’s more… this is followed by notes and stats if you’d prefer to use her earlier in the story, as a young and inexperienced member of a crew, with little to hint of what she will become… could be interesting, and a route for drawing your own characters into pivotal events later on, when that unassuming Skaa girl they knew on the streets blossoms into her power!

The other character featured here is Sazed. Again, the main write-up is at the same time in the plotline as Vin’s, when he was an advisor and friend to her. The background explains how he got to that stage, while the notes on playing him bring out his tendency to be a voice of reason, a source of quiet and thoughtful advice. It’s quite hard to make an enemy of him. The second build depicts him earlier in life, when he was going through an interesting time.

If you intend on weaving the novels’ plotline through your game, rather than just using the setting to tell your own stories, these could be useful NPCs. Even if not, characters who become themselves pivotal figures might meet them, or they can serve for ideas about how really powerful characters might develop. Plenty of scope here!

The Mistborn Adventure Game is available at the Flames Rising RPGNow Shop.

Review by Megan Robertson

Related posts:

1. Epic Role Playing Game Manual Review
2. Interview with Game Designer Brett M. Bernstein

Available at Amazon.com

Title: The Hammer Vault
Author: Marcus Hearn
Publisher: Titan Books
Release Date: 2011
Pages: 176
Price: $34.95

This remarkable journey through the Hammer vault includes props, annotated script pages, unused poster artwork, production designs, rare promotional material and private correspondence. Hundreds of rare and previously unseen stills help to create a rich souvenir of Hammer’s legacy, from the X certificate classics of the 1950s to the studio’s latest productions.

Written and compiled by the official Hammer Films historian Marcus Hearn, and featuring exclusive contributions from the actors and filmmakers associated with the company, this is the most lavish book ever published on the legendary House of Horror.

Dying Breath: 4.5 out of 5
I have to be honest and admit I am not a big horror movie buff. I grew up watching some great films in the 80?s and 90?s, but not the Hammer movies. So when I was presented with this amazing book to review I was looking for 2 things, history and a list of what movies were Hammer Horror. This book delivered on the list front, and man did it deliver. Out of the 176 pages over 160 of them are dedicated to the films. I will get to the page design in a second, but basically this book is a timeline from start to finish, giving some information on the movies and showing off some of the great press material that was put out. So in terms of history you don’t get too much, but you do get enough to be content with. It’s like a tease that will lead you to want to know more and more. The design of this book is GORE-Geous. As a Graphic Designer, I can spot a great layout and the way these spreads are put together is a work of art. I found myself spending so much time just taking in all the material presented. From the posters, to the press books, to the on-set photographs this was just a great collection of items. I know that any Hammer Horror or even Horror Movie buff will need to have this as a part of their collection, and I am happy to say it is now a part of mine. This book presents a visual history of the Hammer Franchise that will now be preserved forever. Now if you will excuse me I need to go watch about 100 different movies.

Layout: 4.5 out of 5
Story: 4.0 out of 5

If you would like to buy or know more about The Hammer Vault you can find it at Amazon.com.

Review by Dan Royer

Related posts:

1. 2001 Maniacs Film Review

Ilona Andrews is probably best known for her Kate Daniels series, but she is also (along with husband and co-author Gordon) the author of a paranormal romance series about life on “the Edge,” a borderland between a world full of magic (the Weird) and our mundane reality (the Broken). (It should be noted that while I’m classifying the books as paranormal romance, due to the structure of each novel — the books each feature the love story of a couple who end up in a happily ever after at the conclusion — other reviewers have considered them “rustic fantasy” or “unclassifiable.” Thus, your mileage may vary.)

Edgers are a unique bunch, full of enough magic that they can pass between parallel worlds — usually. Some have too much magic to survive crossing into the Broken. Others don’t have enough magic to survive crossing into the Weird. Thus, the Edge is full of exiles, con artists, criminals, and people who are generally down on their luck. Those misfits make for compelling heroes, and with book three, the series has just started to hit its stride into an overarching plot, giving it a great potential to draw readers from beyond the paranormal romance readership.

On the Edge

When Rose graduated from high school, she made a mistake: at the party for all the Edger seniors graduating from Broken high school, Rose showed off the full extent of her magical talent. She flashed white — which means that she showed her magic was just as strong and skilled as the “bluebloods,” the nobles of the Weird. This made her a prize not only in the Edge, but also for prospective suitors (read: breeders) in the neighboring Weird. After attempts to kidnap and coerce her, Rose has given up on trusting anyone, and is focused on providing a home for her two younger brothers, George and Jack, with what little money she makes in the Broken. When Declan, a blueblood from the Weird, shows up on her door step, she thinks he’s just another source of trouble.

In fact, Declan and trouble show up in the Edge at the same time, but the real danger isn’t a blueblood interested in winning Rose’s hand, it’s a pack of evil, magic-eating hounds raised by a powerful magical artifact that has fallen into the wrong hands. Keeping her friends and family safe will take all of Rose’s magical talent — and will require her to put a little bit of faith in the mysterious blueblood. Unlike most paranormal romances, On the Edge never reveals Declan’s perspective, so while it’s no surprise that he’s the hero, his motivation is kept delightfully secret. The characters are fun, and Rose’s brothers feel like real children plagued by magical problems. The novel is a fun entry into a cool new world.

Bayou Moon

The second book in the series stars William, a changeling who shape shifts into a wolf, who was a pivotal secondary character in On the Edge. Raised in an orphanage and then a military boarding school that trained him to be a killer, William doesn’t believe he’ll ever be the type of man to have a family. He certainly doesn’t expect to get involved in a romance while he’s on a secret mission for the Mirror, the spies who work for the Weird kingdom of Adrianglia. Having been burned by the Adrianglian government once before, William isn’t eager to get involved, but the Mirror gives him the opportunity to hunt down a changeling butcher from the Dukedom of Louisiana, a monster named Spider who has literally traded his humanity for monstrous abilities. While William was in the Adrianglian military, he fought Spider twice before, failing to kill him both times, but surviving their encounters — a feat no other soldier or agent has matched.

The mission leads him to Cerise Mar, whose parents have been kidnapped by Spider and the Hand, the Dukedom of Louisiana’s secret service. Cerise and her family are fighters, descendants of exiles from the Dukedom of Louisiana and native magic users of the Mire, a swamp region where only the toughest can survive. Cerise practices an old form of swordplay — bending her flash around her sword blade to make it sharp enough to cut through any man or monster — that makes her almost as deadly as William.

The narrative switches perspectives to include both hero and heroine as they try to figure each other out — the more traditional paranormal romance style — but remains adventure (and horror) heavy for the genre. Spider and his minions are all modified by magic — some of them have tentacles, others have gills, and all of them are twisted beyond humanity into nightmarish creatures. But with heroes who are deadly — and who don’t mind killing when it’s called for — it’s good to have villains that are so utterly in need of killing.

Fate’s Edge

Book three ties together the first two novels by bringing Jack and George — now twelve and fourteen — back as major characters, while continuing the plot where Bayou Moon left off. The Hand and the Mirror remain engaged in their cold war, and the theft of an artifact from a neighboring nation sends both organizations scurrying to recover it. Kaldar, Cerise’s cousin and a scoundrel, is the Mirror agent sent to make sure it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. When he finds the thief, Audrey, he discovers that not only is she amazingly gifted as a lockpick, but she’s completely uninterested in a life of crime and is determined to go straight with a job in the Broken. The theft of the artifact was her last job — one she did only to keep her father and brother out of trouble. Because she refused to take part in the hand off after the job was finished, Audrey had no idea of the object’s power, or that so many governments would want it back. If the Hand were to get the artifact, all of the Edge would be in danger, and Audrey’s guilt over her part in the theft makes her agree to join Kaldar in getting it back. Stowaways Jack and George also make their first attempts as agents for the Mirror, making the romance novel into a spy thriller and a coming of age story wrapped into one.

The stakes rise throughout the novel, pointing to coming war between Adrianglia and the Dukedom of Louisiana. With two years of time passing in the world between each book, it won’t take long until the two scene-stealing kids of On the Edge grow up enough for their own adventures. In the meantime, it will be a long wait for book four — especially since the release date has yet to be announced!

Review by Alana Abbott

Related posts:

1. Flash Fire Mini-Reviews! (Second Attempt)

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Issue: One Model Nation OGN
Writer: Courtney Taylor-Taylor
Artist: Jim Rugg
Publisher: Titan Books
Release Date: Jan 2012
Pages: 160
Price: $24.95

“From US rock band The Dandy Warhols’ frontman Courtney Taylor-Taylor comes an original graphic novel illustrated by indie super star Jim Rugg. A work of historical fiction set in Germany in 1977, it follows four young men who were to become the voice of their generation. This is the epic journey of art noise band One Model Nation, the final dark days of the Baader-Meinhof Gang, and the band’s mysterious disappearance only months later. Features a host of bonus extras: sketches, director’s commentary, deleted scenes and more.”

Dying Breath: 4.5 out of 5
If you want to talk about removing oneself from their comfort zone, than you can look no further than me taking a look at One Model Nation. Typically, I review horror books, this is not one of them. I am a Metal Head, this book is not about that genre of music. So why on Earth would I even take a peak at
this new OGN book from Titan Books and love it like I did?

Easiest way to start is to admit, I am not a big fan of the character designs here. While the style did not appeal to me personally, it did do something very right, which was fit the tone of the book. Rugg’s artwork does more than set the scenes, it captures a tone that I can only compare to something you would get from a movie soundtrack. High moments are depicted in colors to reflect the scene, while the down moments hit lower tones on the color scale. Visually this book is on point from start to finish.

The story though is the real winner. The sense of history, even though the band is fictional, places the reader (in this case an American reader) into a world that they might not be familiar with. I don’t know much about the music scene in Germany, but after reading this I get a feeling of what it might have been like. Taylor-Taylor crafts some fantastic dialogue that moves the story forward as it covers music and politics at a time where a movement was needed.

The more I find myself recalling this book, the more I see it playing out as a movie. I can’t say who this book would directly appeal to, but I think that anyone with any kind of interest in music and comics should check this one out. I am so happy I was given the opportunity to read this, because it has broadened my love for the music culture and how it has progressed to what we have today. An amazing read!

Artwork: 4.0 out of 5
Story: 4.5 out of 5

If you would like to buy or know more about One Model Nation OGN you can find it at Amazon.com.

Review by Dan Royer

No related posts.

Available at Amazon.com

Story: A teenage girl, Tory Brennan (related to the famous –or infamous—Temperance Brennan of BONES) becomes curious about a mysterious disappearance that happened well before her time. With several of her friends (Sheldon, Ben and Hi) they all begin to search for clues. To complicate matters, the kids hang out on an island that is home to numerous scientific experiments. Before long, they stumble upon more than they expect. Due to a series of events related and unrelated to their investigations, they become infected with an experimental virus that transforms them into werewolves – of a sort. Now, instead of being just friends they are a pack, bound to each other through good and bad. There’s a good mix of the scientific and the supernatural in this novel.

Characters: Unlike the female leads in some YA books, Tory Brennan is a strong, intelligent girl that doesn’t let her emotions get in the way of discovering the truth. Her friends are all boys, but that doesn’t stop her from being herself. As for the rest of her crew, (Sheldon, Ben and Hi), they are equally interesting characters and it’s entertaining to read along with their adventures.

Overall: While the story itself was pretty good – who doesn’t like an underdog, heh, heh – I will say that I wasn’t too fond of the ending. It was pretty predictable and somewhat disappointing in that. But then, it’s YA, written for a tween/teen audience, so I guess a little predictability is to be expected. Also, the point of this novel is to establish characters and a situation that will play into other stories later, so again the weak wrapping-up of the ending can probably excused.

I would recommend it for anyone interested in YA, especially teens.

Review by Nancy Greene

Related posts:

1. Strange Angels Fiction Review
2. The Summoning Fiction Review
3. Midnight Alley Fiction Review

Available at RPGNow.com

As we have come to expect, a wealth of resources for fantasy games – what with archers (and arrows for them) heading up the character-based resources for players, adventures for GMs to run and ideas to help them hone their skills. The focus is on Pathfinder, but there is material for other rulesets (and much can be translated with little effort, provided you are reasonably familiar with the game mechanics of the system of your choice).

The Editorial introduces the issue focus on archery, with an account of how fictional archers inspired the editor, Wolfgang Baur, not only to play archer characters but to learn how to use a bow himself. He asks for our archery stories… um, well, I used to have a line manager who practised archery and occasionally threatened to shoot the site manager and told me that he reckoned he could hit him out of his office window… hmm, let’s get on with the review!

For those seeking to play really good archers, the best place to start is an elf. Archery kind of goes with elves, and so there’s a whole new racial base class, the Elven Archer, for Pathfinder. Suggestions are offered for ways in which the class could be varied: perhaps you don’t want pointy ears, or prefer to use the crossbow – the underlying mechanics can be readily amended (and you are shown how) to make the class work as well for your concept as for the original suggestion. There are also notes to help you embed your elven archer into Open Design’s Midguard campaign setting, even if your game is not set there the ideas can be modified to suit your campain world instead. If the new feats are not enough, the next article Arrows of the Arbonesse adds a wide range of arrows beyond your standard clothyard arrow with bodkin tip. Fill your quiver with the glass-tipped and magical acid splash arrow, fire a fisher’s filament arrow over the next battlement you wish to scale or play really nasty with the razor’s filament arrow or the silent night one (that flies so quietly it is hard to notice the archer who fired it). These and others enable the archer to do more than just shoot the opposition or bring down a deer for dinner.

If your characters prefer a more scholarly approach, the next article on Derro Ooze Magic is aimed at alchemists and mages seeking to improve their spell components by somewhat dubious means… the Ooze School of magic, complete with its associated powers and spell lists. But you may need to ‘harvest’ eyes or bile or other body parts from halpless humanoids to get it all to work properly. Sorcerers can take an Ooze Bloodline to access the same powers. If you have faced off against an ooze or similar and been jealous of their capabilities, fret no longer. You too may have them… and specialists in this magic may even attract one to become their familiar! I think I’ll stick to my owl, but it could be an interesting choice… just imagine having a gelatinous cube or an ochre jelly trundling alongside you.

If that’s too tame, the next article – Servants From Beyond – suggests some very unusual allies you might care to summon from the Lesser Planes, showing how you can engage with them to good effect. Each one is presented in full detail, not just stat-block but background, personality and motivations so that they can be role-played properly once summoned. Astute GMs can mine this for ideas for featured adversaries or at least beings that might be encountered, or they can go to the next article, which presents four creatures from nightmare, the Night Terrors of the changling moth chrysalis, the dire naked mole rat (escaped from Ron Possible’s pocket, no doubt!), the cephalic parasite, and the pishtaco – four monsters right out of the worst nightmare brought to life for your campaign, complete with ecology, life-cyle and a wealth of detail to enable you to make them an integral part of events, rather than just the next monster.

On to game theory, as Monte Cook talks about The Power of the Game Master. It’s something I’ve noticed, particularly as most of my games are now run online with people I don’t know outside of the gaming community on whatever site we are playing, how they regard their GM as someone special, rather than just another gamer who happens to be running the game rather than playing in it. This may be commonplace in groups where one person habitually GMs, but my local tabletop groups all consist of people who are equally happy either side of the GM screen. Is the GM God? Just another player but with a different role? Or is the GM God but only as long as the other players let him? Thought-provoking, and no real answer, at least not in the right or wrong sense – consider what works for the particular group and that’s the right answer for you.

Now, the first adventure, Captured in the Cartways by Christina Stiles (Pathfinder, 5th-level) based in the tunnels under Zobeck and letting the characters bargain their way out of trouble by undertaking a small task… Naturally, you could transplant it to any city with a sub-surface counter-culture if Zobeck’s not in your game world. A nice short jaunt to spring on characters who thought that merely exploring the Cartways was dangerous enough!

Back to game ideas… and are all adventurers fit young men and women out seeking fame and fortune? Putting the Band Back Together is an intriguing article about what happens when retired adventurers decide, for whatever reason, to get back into action… or have it forced upon them. One interesting thought is that you could dust off old adventures – particularly if you are using a party of characters that have actually been played by the group and since retired – and see how the locations and inhabitants have changed over the 20 years or whatever since the party last was there. Whilst older characters may now be less physically vigorous, they can draw on experience in ways that younger adventurers cannot: and several feats are presented that seek to codify the advantages that veterans have over their younger and more nimble counterparts. More ideas follow – fancy a hunt that takes you through the Margreve woods and beyond? Then read Fey Hunters and Shadow Hounds, finding that just who is the hunter and who the prey may be open to debate. Those fey have plenty nasty ideas and tricks to play, with spells, items and exotic poisons in their arsenal.

There’s a brief article about character specialisations for the AGE system, and an interview with Christina Stiles – fascinating, particularly as I once had the pleasure of co-authoring a book with her but have never actually met her! This is followed most appropriately (Christina and I both love the character class!) by The Bardic Arts, a piece about honing the abilities of your D&D 4e bard with some tangible rule mechanics built around the performer/entertainer aspect of being a bard, often left to the role-playing abilities of a bard’s player (I had a DM who made me sing at the table…) rather than made an integral part of the ruleset itself.

In Ask The Kobold, Skip Williams takes a detailed look at how poison actually works, then there’s a piece Small Spirits: 5 Nature Spirits for Any Campaign, some enchanting primal nature spirits that your characters might encounter if they are really observant. A nice touch is that good ideas are backed up by game mechanics for both Pathfinder and D&D 4e, and adventure hooks abound. If you are a gnome, tiefling or minotaur, there follows some racial powers (D&D 4e stats) that may be discovered by those ready to delve into their ancestral heritage. Next, back to game design theory with an article on how to create ‘time pressure’ in an adventure and use it to good effect with a haste point mechanic that can be applied whatever ruleset you are using. Now it is not pure GM fiat that determines if the characters arrive in time! And if hurrying makes you hungry, how about some magical seafood? No really, there’s an article on Fish of Legend (and yes, you can cook and serve some of them, if you catch them!).

This packed journal rounds off with a page about The Ruins of Arbonesse… and if you are a fantasy gamer, you are going to find at least one thing of interest within this issue. Me, a cheerful song whilst preparing a seafood dinner for a party of veteran adventures I’d like to coax out of retirement…

Review by Megan Robertson

Related posts:

1. The Kobold Guide to Board Game Design Review
2. Kobold Quarterly 16 Review

Available at Amazon.com

Gwen Frost is back at Mythos Academy, and she’s got a new attitude. In Touch of Frost (reviewed here), Gwen was a poor little Gypsy girl, stuck out of place at an academy full of warrior kids and wishing for her old life. While Gwen is still no warrior — and still wishes that her mother’s death had never happened — she’s got a new mission: get awesome, fast, so she can live up to the expectations of Nike, her patron goddess. At the end of the first book, Gwen was chosen to be Nike’s champion, and she has no intentions of failing.

Unfortunately, someone is trying to kill her.

Unwilling to run to the authorities for help, Gwen plans to solve the mystery of the person attacking her on her own. In order to keep herself relatively safe — and to keep tabs on her suspects — she has to go on the school winter holiday to a ski resort, which she’d previously been hoping to avoid at all costs. Valkyrie BFF Daphne is thrilled that Gwen is coming, and assures her that the trip will be just the thing she needs to get over the broody Spartan, Logan, who professed feelings for Gwen but insists on tongue wrestling with another girl. And, in fact, Gwen meets a cute guy on the trip, but he disappears any time he might be spotted with her. Something fishy is happening, and it’s up to Gwen to get to the bottom of it — and maybe find some new allies in the process.

In Touch of Frost, Jennifer Estep created a fun new world that mixes world mythologies in a delightful mashup, with Loki and his Reapers of Chaos as the ultimate villains. In Kiss of Frost, Estep raises the stakes: Gwen is more involved in the world now, and more willing to accept that this life-or-death situation is her new reality. For better or for worse, Gwen Frost is a part of something bigger than herself — and Estep does a great job of making that both a moral decision and a personal one. But although the main movement of the story is mythical, Gwen’s concerns are grounded in a teen reality: she feels like the third wheel when she hangs out with her friends; the boy she has a tremendous crush on doesn’t seem to want her that way; and her desire to put her nose into other people’s secrets always causes her more trouble than she wants. In Gwen’s case, that last normal problem is enhanced by her gift of psychometry — the ability to see memories held in an object — and it’s that gift that gets her off to a very dangerous start in Kiss of Frost.

One of the best parts of Kiss of Frost has less to do with Gwen’s personal tale and more to do with free will and fate. In one of Gwen’s classes, there is a discussion about how even monsters have free will — even the creatures twisted by the Reapers have the potential to choose their own fates. The idea of free will vs. fate is one that has strong mythic resonance; in Greek mythology, especially, a person is governed by the Fates and has no choice about his or her destiny. Estep’s work playing with this concept takes the books beyond a fun, lighthearted urban fantasy series for teens and moves it to the next level.

Kiss of Frost is a great sequel, and in many ways a stronger book than the first entry into the world. With four more books to look forward to in the series, it’ll be a fun ride — maybe with a topsy turvy version of Ragnarok to close things off!

FTC disclosure: I received the e-ARC of this novel from the author.

Review by Alana Abbott

Related posts:

1. Exploring the Mythos Academy with Jennifer Estep
2. Touch of Frost Fiction Review
3. The Darkest Kiss Fiction Review

Available at RPGNow.com

This is the England that ought to have been, rather than the history of the one in which I sit writing this review. This is the mediaeval England of legend, with Robin Hood scampering around Sherwood Forest, a Good King Richard off fighting the Infidel whilst Bad King John does his best to steal a kingdom, never mind everyone’s hard-earned gold… this is an England in which excitement and adventure are to be found, but where drains don’t smell and nobody worries about the Black Death!

The Introduction outlines this setting, the mediaeval England of stories, rooted firmly in the history of the 12th and 13th centuries but with an eye to the rise of the ideals of chivalry, to the world of ballad and folk-song, the sort of mediaeval England that you’d like to visit. Designed to be used in conjunction with Chaosium’s Basic Roleplaying (BRP) ruleset, there’s a handy list of what rules from that work will be of particular use when running this setting. Whilst there’s a whole section about running adventures and campaigns at the end of this product, it’s noted that Scenario Hooks are scattered throughout, to spawn ideas and help Game Masters come up with their own material, or players to develop their characters more fully. Next comes the historical timeline of the period, covering major events and many famous personalities. Perhaps the characters will participate in historical events… or perhaps they’ll rewrite history!

The first chapter is all about Player Characters, ranging from the concepts and types of characters that might prove interesting to the minutae of actually creating them, based around the core BRP character generation process but with the appropriate spin for creating one suitable for this specific setting. There’s an addition, you need to choose a Background – on offer are Norman, Saxon, Jewish, Welsh, Cornish, Scot, Irish, Marshman, Norse, Fairy, Moor, Saracen and Cleric; but you can develop your own in conjunction with the GM – and this can influence what skills and professions are more likely for your character. Wealth and social class are both important and intertwined. You can either track every last groat or abstract wealth depending on taste, but the aim is to provide a fairly realistic setting so people may prefer to maintain at least basic accounts for their characters. Next is a run-down on what your chosen Background will give you and on all the professions available, with a sidebar explain the role of the clergy (primarily Christian although Jewish and Muslim ones are covered) and the specific skills that a member of the clergy can acquire. Being part of the clergy is available via two routes, by choosing it as a Background, or deciding that a character from another Background has entered it as a profession. This allows for a lot of diversity, and reflects the importance that you want religion to play in your character’s life and outlook. Given that this is a mediaeval rather than a fantasy setting, there are quite a few new professions introduced, and not all the BRP ones are available. Some interesting historical ones are included such as Knights Templar and moneychangers. Naturally, there are plenty supernatural optinons, the stance being that all the things – spells, demon summoning and the like – that your average mediaeval person believed do indeed work! And a particular delight, the wayte – a peculiar mix of minstrel and town guard which did exist in mediaeval England, hired by a community to both watch over and entertain them. Languages and skills are also covered in greater detail at this point… and they have the linkages straight, Welsh being close to Breton and even closer to Cornish, for example. The chapter ends with a note on female, Jewish and Muslim characters, explaining how they were restricted in many ways in the historical mediaeval world and how best to play them to good advantage, to have fun with them without losing all semblance of realism.

Next, a chapter on Religion and Magic. The main relgion in England at this time was Christianity, taking the form of Roman Catholicism. It wasn’t just what you did on Sunday morning, it played a far greater role in day-to-day life – and indeed in the political landscape – and can be the source of many adventures and intrigues in your game. A Piety mechanism is introduced, which waxes and wanes according to a character’s actions and can even allow the granting of miracles at times of need. It is even possible to become a saint (while still alive, it’s not necessary to be dead in these times!). Relics and icons have great significance too, and mechanics for using them with Piety ratings are given. Divine magic, normally only available to ordained clergy (or equivalent for other faiths), functions by means of Blessings which are learned and cast, often with formal rituals. The number that can be known depends on the priest’s individual Holiness (based on his actions and standing in the religion), the number that can be cast is based on Piety. Holiness can be increased by the taking of Vows – provided, that is, that the terms of the Vow are adhered to during the course of the game. This can lead to entertaining role-play, even dramatic tension. Pilgrimages were important in mediaeval days, and are here too, both as a means of increasing individual pilgrim’s Piety and the wealth of those running pilgrimage sites! Magic, too, was widely believed in during the mediaeval period, and for game purposes is deemed to be real… even if frowned upon by established religions, especially Christianity. Along with the use of amulets and talismans, people may practise ‘folk magic’ as well as the regular sort of fantasy magic and sorcery – as described in the core BRP rulebook.

The next chapter, entitled Magical Science, looks at education and scholarship in the mediaeval world. It was an exciting time in learning, with the foundation of the first universities such as Oxford and Cambridge, as well as similar establishments on the Continent. Science as we know it didn’t really exist, but a lot of fun can be had with its precursor, alchemy. This melds magic and early scientific thought together, and can be used for the likes of making potions to mimic magical effects or for healing… or for more mundane substances such as soaps and perfumes! Islamic alchemists were particularly advanced. Another discipline that flourished at the time was astrology, the art of predicting the future by observing the heavens. There is plenty of detail – and a mechanism whereby Fate points can be used to make predictions come true, if you fancy that – provided to enable astrology to play as major a role in your games as it did in mediaeval life. If you do not want to stare at the stars, other means of divination are available – from reading palms to geomancy or gazing into a fire and seeing what patterns are made by the flames. More dubious individuals might be interested in the practice of demonology. As well as studying demons, demonologists can learn spells to summon, control and dismiss demons… if they dare! Others may choose to study medicine, which was slowly shaking off superstition especially with the influx of knowledge from the Arab world… but there are many who regard casting an astrological chart as an essential part of diagnosis.

Chapter 4 looks at Major Religions, beginning with the Catholic Church, a powerful influence in mediaeval times with temporal as well as spiritual power. Many monastic orders were wealthy landowners, and individual Churchmen served in important state positions alongside their religious roles. The concept of taking sanctuary in a church had legal effect, and excommunication was a real threat when the majority of people were Catholics and would shun the excommunicated in day-to-day life, never mind not permitting them to enter the church and receive the sacraments. Saints play a leading part in religious life, and devotees can receive specific blessings. Those who wish a religious life can enter one of the many orders, and the sight of monks and nuns is commonplace. More robust individuals may prefer a ‘military order’ such as the Hospitallers or the Templars, whose members are both monk and knight. There’s a lot of background information to help you make such organisations part of the fabric of your game, although it’s sometimes a little jumbled and patchy: for example we’re told Cistertians wear white habits to distinguish themselves from Benedictines… but nowhere does it mention that Benedictines wear black! Naturally, as well as orthodox worshippers, there are many groups who have off-beat, if not heretical, beliefs and these can be the source of robust debate if not outright violence… for where there is heresy, there the Inquisition shall surely follow! Again, plenty of detail if you wish to have the Inquisition feature in your game (including a rather unhealthy interest in torture… there again, I’ve had players who likewise were rather too interested in that particular subject!). The section on Christianity ends with a discussion of the magic condoned by the Church – a crucifix is a potent talisman, for example – and the other magics that might be found in otherwise Christian communities. Islam and Judaism are covered in similar detail… but it must be remembered that mediaeval Christians were far less tolerant of those who followed other faiths than we are today. Provided you and your players separate any real beliefs from in-game ones, you should not have problems, but discretion is advised, remembering that the past should never be viewed in the light of contemporary prejudice and opinion. Including the full sweep of mediaeval faith will enrich your game greatly, however.

Next, Chapter 5 looks at Nobles, Knights and the Crown. These were powerful individuals, backed with the full might of the feudal system, whose personal ambitions affected the whole country. The feudal system in full flower is complex, with a liege lord as obligated to his vassals as they are to him. Knights are a separate class of specialist armoured and mounted warriors, taking service with nobles. Both knights and nobles were supposed to be chivalrous, but not all of them were. Of particular note is the tourney, a way in which knights could demonstrate their prowess without the need to actually go to war – and a fine spectacle for everybody else! Considerable detail is given, much adventure can be had should you chose to stage one in the course of your game. With property and inheritance so important to nobles, marriage is a matter to be entered into with due consideration… and likely not for love. However, the concept of courtly love flourishes as a separate entity from the formalities of marriage, and again both can provide for many adventures. Should you wish for such heights of intrigue and politics, plenty of details about Crown and court are provided: perhaps your game is set at court, or your characters have dealings with those who are there, or even aspire to become leading nobles themselves.

Continuing the discussion of the backdrop to this setting, the next chapter is The Land and People. This sweeps through a range of subjects from the climate to day-to-day local administration. Castles dot the landscape, with a mix of villages and bustling small towns. Interestingly, many towns major then are not as important now, although most still exist – a point of interest if you or your players know contemporary England well. There’s a section on ‘pastimes’ to enable the characters to find ways of entertaining themselves, albeit often in bloodthirsty manner watching animals fight or hunting them for food or sport. Football is nothing like the game of today, more of a brawl with several hundred players that ends once the first goal is scored. Music abounds however for those who like more gentle pursuits and there’s a run-down of common instruments of the time. For working life, however, the Guilds played a major role and so extensive information is given on their organisation and operation. Whilst Guilds stage Mystery plays, groups of Morris Men and mummers are also found performing. Many ancient folk customs survive, lepers are found roaming or clustered in lazar houses… and naturally marriage features large in everyday life. A selection of folk tales and legends provides ample resource for weaving this all together into a heady (if somewhat rose-tinted) representation of mediaeval life. For those seeking matters more strange, information is provided about faeries and elves… before the narrative returns to detailed accounts of life in villages, towns, castles, and monasteries. All you need to make ‘Merrie England’ come to life in your game.

Chapter 7 is entitled Further Afield. There may be a lot to do in England, but the adventurous often found reason to travel abroad – perhaps for trade or a diplomatic mission, on a pilgrimmage or on Crusade. So this chapter serves as a gazetteer of the lands across Europe and over to the Holy Land, replete with adventure ideas for those who go there. You might want to hunt down Alephtar Games’s Stupor Mundi, which covers this period from the standpoint of the Holy Roman Empire, if you want adventures in Europe to be a major part of your campaign.

This leads neatly on to the next chapter, The Crusades. Even if your characters don’t want to take the cross themselves, the Crusades will feature large in the background, the backdrop of events that shape the entire setting. There’s plenty of detail here, useful if the characters decide to get embroiled in intrigue or are travelling anywhere near where the Crusaders were. The Albigensian Crusade is picked out as being particularly suitable as the basis for a campaign, particularly if you enjoy moral dilemmas in your game. Lovers of intrigue may also relish the complex relationships between the different Crusader Orders, which can make a good career choice for the ambitious knight, especially one without a noble family to provide him with ready-made lands.

For those of a mechantile bent, Chapter 8: Trading and Adventuring supplies other routes to excitement and success. After a survey of the money in use at the time, there’s a look at what was the very beginnings of the international banking system. Merchant leagues and trading ships are also important. This section continues with all the financial details you might want, from the appropriate wages for many trades to the cost of just about everything characters might require and details of travel: routes, timings, costs, etc. Things may not go smoothly, so you can find out how much your weapons will cost as well as how much harm they will do, and details of the equipment and tactics of various types of combatant. Ther e is also material about injuries and diseases, and about what law and order there is, at least, where the rule of law rather than noble whim and brute force hold sway.

If things do not go well, refer to Chapter 9: The Afterlife. As most everybody was religious, it’s also important to know what was believed even if you are not intending to brawl… and you may not get a choice, even if disease does not get you first. Christianity has the most detailed accounts, but Judaism and Islam also have clear ideas about what fate awaits the devout – and not so devout – after death. There are some notes on how to use these to effect in your game… it may even be possible to visit before you’re dead!

Chapter 10: Creatures begins with ‘normal’ creatures, especially that most useful animal, the horse – no less than three different types of warhorse as well as ordinary riding ones. A selection of Powers, not available in core Basic Roleplaying, are presented as an introduction to an array of legendary and faerie beasts, which might be able to, for example, become invisible or breathe flame. Most of these are quite malevolent, especially the faerie ones. There are also undead, water creatures, and the beasties commonly found in wilderness areas; as well as creatures from Jewish and Islamic folklore.

If that doesn’t provide enough opposition, move on to Chapter 11: Angels and Demons. Centred on traditional Catholic beliefs, there is a vast hierarchy of different types of angels before you even get round to looking at the demons. Jewish belief is different, yet just as complex. Islam also believes in angels, but regards their organisational structure as unimportant. It’s up to the Game Master which, if any, interpretation of the Otherworld is correct… or perhaps they all exist. There is an equally impressive array of demons who may turn up to tempt the faithful to sin (handled mechanically as a contest against Piety) as well as in response to the attempts of demonologists to summon them. There are literally pages and pages of them, reflecting their importance to the mediaeval mind. Islam also offers plenty, categorised by their powers rather than the elaborate hierarchy of the Christian ones.

Hopefully more pleasant to meet (at least in some cases) are the subjects of Chapter 12: Character Gallery. Here, notable individuals from history are discussed, and provided with relevant game stats should you include them as NPCs for your characters to meet and interact with. There is also a useful collection of ‘sample characters’ to provide quick generic NPCs, or as the basis for developing more rounded individual ones.

Next comes an extensive and wide-ranging discussion on Campaigns. There is a wide range of options, depending on the stories that the group wishes to tell together. There are opportunities to get embroiled in warfare or banditry, go on Crusade or engage in civil war, pitting baron against baron. Or characters may work for a county’s Sheriff, or the Church, or be travelling entertainers or merchants… the possibilities are endless. There’s a fairly detailed discussion on life and laws in the forest (for all those heading off Robin Hood style for the Greenwood!), and a well-developed location – the hamlet of Whitlingthorpe – complete with notable inhabitants and a story-arc involving the life and times of the village, all ready for you to weave into your adventures. There are even several complete scenarios to get you off to a flying start.

This work fair makes me want to grab my dice and round up a few friends: it’s a period that I like anyway, and this book puts a straightforward system to underpin it all ensuring a workable and enjoyable game. Those who enjoy mediaeval history will be able to slot in what they know, as will those who enjoy fiction set in this period. Overall an excellent setting, I can hardly wait to finish the review before scampering off to write some adventures for it!

Review by Megan Robertson

No related posts.

Available at Amazon.com

After I received an advanced copy of Ty Schwamberger’s novella The Fields, I turned the first pages and immediately began reading kudos by notable authors and magazines such as Gary A. Braunbeck and Shroud Magazine. I never judge a book by its cover, but I do start judging books by their praise. And with an introduction by Jonathan Maberry (Rot and Ruin, Patient Zero), I was excited to start reading.

Jonathan Maberry starts off his introduction stating “The Fields is a morality tale. With Zombies.” Maberry then explains to the reader that zombie tales are more than cannibalistic and mindless corpses. These tales, if written with feelings and responsibility, remind the reader zombies are people and they have life and their own stories. This is what Ty Schwamberger accomplishes with The Fields. He, as many authors have tried but failed, brings out the emotion of the characters but not just the living, but the dead also with much success.

The opening chapter sets The Fields pace; quick with that sense of emotion that is mentioned in Maberry’s introduction. The reader is drawn in as Billy Fletcher, son of plantation owner in the Deep South, is racing through the darkness with zombie in tow. Schwamberger describes Billy’s friendly relationship with the former slave now turned zombie Samuel. Yes, that could happen and yes, if you’ve studied American history, friendly relationship between slaves and owners did indeed exist. With not giving away too much of the plot, Billy survives the zombie encounter.

The novella moves on to an odd and unexpected meeting between Billy and a man named Abraham, a long since forgotten friend of Billy’s deceased and “hard son-of-a-gun” father. The plantation is in dire straits and Abraham promises Billy that with help, the plantation can once again be resurrected to its former glory, the days before the Civil war.

Unsure of Abraham’s motives, Billy keeps himself from revealing too much about the past few years of his life and about his father’s death until Abraham’s cryptic mannerisms gets the best of Billy. Billy then explains the past years and again, Abraham offers help. This help is sinister. To transform the plantation back its glory days involves exhuming the dead slaves from the plantation cemetery to revivify the slaves and the plantation.

Billy scoffs. But by the end of the day, he is overcome by exhaustion by tending to the tobacco fields and the livestock alone. He is clouded by flashbacks of his father’s brutality against the slaves. Billy relives moments of slaves being tied up and beaten. He even relives his own abuse by his father for simple mistakes such as arriving at school late.

The writing of the beatings is brilliant. The sounds of the whipping stick come to life through Schwamberger’s descriptive writing. The reader can nearly feel every whip and the pain that the slave and even Billy endure. More so, the reader is able to relate to Billy’s struggle for parental acceptance. Like many children today, Billy feels he hasn’t lived up to their parents’ expectations, especially his father’s.

And with another meeting with Abraham, Billy decides it’s time that he makes his deceased father proud of his son for the first time.

The pace of The Fields picks up from here. It was already fast-paced but now it’s an enjoyable and emotional rollercoaster. Billy knows he has to follow through with Abraham’s continuing offer of help, to exhume the dead slaves. What Billy will find out from Abraham though, it’s not the slaves or the plantation that Billy is truly resurrecting.

The chapters to follow describe the dead as they appear in old zombie movies from the 1940s and 1950s, mindless field workers who go about their work (ala White Zombie staring Bela Lugosi). Schwamberger even pays homage to the Haitian form of zombification, harmless zombies kept mindless in order for them to help their masters. This is where the originality comes in. Schwamberger doesn’t create typical flesh-eating zombies, he draws his influence from old school horror, a practice getting lost by today’s influence from AMC’s The Walking Dead and the George A. Romero generation. It’s Schwamberger’s ability to ignore the typical and easy copout of the modern zombies that leads to the surprise ending, which deserves its own praise. The reader will never see it coming.

The press release for The Fields, with its many well-know author kudos, is dead on with their praises. The Fields isn’t your average zombie tale. It’s much more. It’s a game changer. It delivers what the genre is suffering from, which is originality. It negates the typical overrun town and city streets of the gut-thirsty walking dead so typical of the majority of novels, novellas, and anthologies. The Fields brings emotion, ignites the need for unity, highlights the important struggle of family responsibility and above all, brings fun back into the zombie genre. Schwamberger also reminds us; the dead have a story to tell and to live.

Review by Howard Allan

Related posts:

1. The Zombie Feed Press announces the release of THE FIELDS by Ty Schwamberger
2. Revolt of the Dead Fiction Review
3. After Twilight Fiction Review

Review: A Tale of Two Savages
Agents of Oblivion and Peculiar Pentad

It’s no secret I’m a fan of horror RPGs and Savage Worlds, which makes these two entries especially appealing. Agents of Oblivion suggests a world where Jason Bourne gets put into a blender with HP Lovecraft and turns out rather interesting results. With the Savaged version of Peculiar Pentad, readers are given five entrepreneurs who have uncovered a troublesome niche market–those seeking items attached to the Cthulhu Mythos. I’m thinking a 401K isn’t a worthwhile investment.

Let’s start with the meatier of the two, the Agents of Oblivion. This game isn’t too far removed from Abstract Nova’s Alethea, Green Ronin’s Delta Green, or (with a stretch) White Wolf’s Project Twilight sourcebook. Mankind has held secrets best left forgotten, secrets that catches the attention of . . . something . . . during the mid-19th Century. A line gets drawn in the sand and you play the super spies capable not only of dealing with the most dastardly of humans, but also those things that are a little bit more superhuman.

All in all, I wanted the story to have more punch than it did. The authors devoted a great deal of thought towards the organization and how to run games with this mix of spies and monsters. Too be clear, the characters are playing some seriously talented men and women. Whereas Delta Green kept it real and MORTAL, Agents of Oblivion gives your characters more than enough opportunity to shine. I think it’s important that the writers focused on this aspect rather than get bogged down by being too similar to previous works.

Another strength to the writing rests in its overhaul of the character creation process. In this book are the tools towards creating super spies (super isn’t just a catch phrase either . . . supernatural powers are possible in these pages). Players can play white bread humans who are just the best of the best or they can tweak things further by introducing magic or hi-tech to their characters. A large portion of the book is devoted to making the kinds of characters people want to play.

Another big part of the book rests with how to run games like these. How much magic do you want in your game? Technology? Plug in the correct tier from all the questions and you’ll know exactly where you stand when you start playing. Quick and easy . . . just like Savage Worlds demands!

The artwork worked for me. The creepy cover art may keep Bond away from a Martini, but that’s okay. It has the perfect tone to the work. The interior art is wonderfully wild. It’s a funky Sixties style that reminds me of the Mod Squad or Flower Power posters of the period.

The second book, Peculiar Pentad, is much slimmer, but gets to save space by tying itself to the Realms of Cthluhu line. The premise for this book is deviously simple: all of those kooks your Investigators run into when they are trying to kill or stop That Which I Don’t Feel Like Naming are running businesses that should, in theory, keep running past one adventure. Yes, the line of Magic Box owners in Buffy was depressingly high, but that’s really besides the point.

The authors offer a little advice towards the shops as a whole. One, they suggest making them difficult to locate the first time they are utilized. Second, they offer some reminders about the people who populate these locations. “If you guys bring another running gun fight in here, I’m cutting up your membership card!” Simple, sound advice. They also describe a fittingly named Pentagon Place, a little cul-de-sac of oddities. It’s the kind of place where White Wolf’s Goblin Markets would set up shop.

A bookstore, small machine shop, herb shop, an art gallery, and a social club make up the five businesses Keepers can bring into their campaigns. Each store offers a great deal of information–history, prices of services, stats for the owners, and use in gaslight or modern settings–that make these quick plug-ins to any game.
The artwork to this supplement basically boils down to the faces of the store owners, which is a perfect use for the minimal art. The layout is great, letting a reader skim through quickly to find the info they need.

While these two games are of different flavors, they can also be linked. Maybe your spy needs to find some information about an European immigrant who frequents a certain New York social club. Maybe.

I enjoyed both reads this time, when I found time during the holidays. Now that winter is upon us in full force, the greatest time to role-play is here as well. I’d much prefer sitting around a table with friends while it snows . . . outside . . . where I’m not.

My overall scores for both games are:

Agents of Oblivion: Four out of Five Dice
A Peculiar Pentad: Five out of Five Dice (any game that does that much work for me . . . thanks)

Review by Todd Cash

Related posts:

1. Agents of Oblivion, a new Savage Worlds setting!
2. Savage Worlds Deluxe RPG Review
3. Savage Suzerain RPG Review

Available from RPGNow.com

Carthians
A Covenant book for Vampire: The Requiem
White Wolf Publishing
224 pages

Predators are competitors. They compete with other types of predators for food; they compete with others for territory. And they compete with others of their own kind for both food and territory as well. Sometimes, predators will form alliances with like-minded individuals to protect a larger area, making survival – even prosperity – more likely for all within the group. So it is with apex predators like vampires; they don’t care much to be around each other, but when faced with threats too big for one to handle, they band together to form protective groups. Those groups of like-minded vampires are called Covenants, and one of the most interesting of those is the Carthians. Based on the premise of greater equality and of emulating the institutions of their prey, Carthians hope to both blend in better – be less obviously a predator among the flock – and keep the stifling, unchanging nature of near-immortality at bay.

Carthians begins with a fine piece of fiction by Greg Stolze to set the mood, then launches into a dissection of the Carthian Movement – its history, goals, and styles of governance. Carthians are no less monstrous in nature than other vampires, but are more inclined to help other Kindred within the movement, fully expecting that, when those others are on their feet and doing well they’ll help their fellow Carthians in return. This is about as selfless an attitude as one can expect from Kindred in the World of Darkness, making them fairly unique.

Because of the Movement’s egalitarian notions, the Carthians are a popular covenant choice for Kindred only a few years into their Requiem. They tend not to have amassed the temporal control of other covenants, or have the monstrous supernatural abilities of ancient creatures found among the Invictus or the Circle of the Crone, but they do have one thing going for them: unity. Say what you will about factional in-fighting – and in any group of Kindred there’s plenty to say – but when the chips are down, Carthians will unite against common enemies more readily than other Kindred. Due to being favored by neonate Kindred, Carthians are frequently more up to date on popular culture – including the latest technology – than their more hidebound rivals. This is a quirk the covenant as a whole encourages for its obvious advantages.

One issue I had with this book is not trivial: I found myself feeling deja vu as I read through the free PDF copy graciously supplied by White Wolf/CCP; the first two chapters seem as though they repeat information somewhat extensively. The words may be slightly different, but it ends up feeling repetitive and dull, and makes for a tough slog as a read. It’s as if they felt the concept of vampires trying to adopt a parlimentarian style of government would be too alien to grasp all at once, repeating the information like zen masters trying to drum a lesson into a dull student. It made for a lackluster reading experience, though it’s likely most interest in this book will be for reference rather than solely as a pleasurable read. Unlike the Invictus covenant book I reviewed several months ago, Carthians failed to hold my interest for long; I fully admit that may originate from my own biases, but again the repetitive nature of the material as presented plays a part.

Another issue is chapter five’s definition of Carthian Law in a domain where Carthians hold praxis. Carthian Law in the instances given is a potent enough force unto itself to literally cancel out the attempted use of Theban Sorcery, Cruac, and other disciplines; this seems to wildly unbalance the game. Naturally, White Wolf repeats in each book the worthy mantra that these are not rules so much as guidelines – interesting suggestions a Storyteller may choose to incorporate if she so wishes. There is nothing forcing anyone to institute such rules regarding the psuedo-magical effects of Carthian Law. Perhaps this choice was seen as a measure to level the playing field against the powerful weapons at the disposal of the other covenants; point taken. Experimentation with rules in an RPG is a given so tossing out ideas is par for the course. Carthian unity is still a powerful weapon at the Movement’s disposal; even an ancient, evil Kindred will think twice about taking on a half-dozen younger Kindred. They may not be a match in terms of sheer power, but getting lucky and putting a stake into the heart of even so mighty a creature is vastly easier with more hands to try.

The Carthian Movement is an intriguing concept within Vampire: the Requiem. While the Carthians covenant book may have flaws, they don’t diminish the intriguing possibilities inherent in such a faction. Carthians does a solid job of informing the reader of the workings of the Carthain Movement, fulfilling its intended function more than adequately.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Review by Bill Bodden

Related posts:

1. Invite Only (Vampire) RPG Review
2. The Invictus (Vampire: the Requiem) Review
3. Keep Your Friends Close: An Ongoing Chronicle for Vampire: the Requiem

Available at DriveThruRPG.com

Night Horrors: Immortal Sinners
White Wolf Publishing

The amount of source material produced for the World of Darkness role playing universe is truly impressive. Not all of it is useful to players – much of it being useful primarily to the game master for the purposes of fueling any individual group’s adventures – and some is of benefit to all players. Night Horrors: Immortal Sinners is a book that is fascinating to read for any aficionado of the setting, but is likely best left to the GMs (or “Storytellers” in White Wolf’s World of Darkness parlance) as it spends most of its 160 pages detailing powerful vampires that the players’ characters could bump into in-game.

The personalities detailed here run the gamut of vampire experience. The book leads off with Solomon Birch, a notable in the Chicago area and leader of the local chapter of the Lancea Sanctum – vampires who believe they are God’s instruments, intended to torment humans in order to keep them on the straight and narrow. Birch is powerful and mean, but like most vampires he takes the long view; his plots and schemes take years to fully bear their tainted fruit.

There are many surprises to be found in this book. Some of the creatures within can pass for human; some are truly monstrous, their only real connection to the humanity they left behind ages ago is, perhaps, language and material goods. Their habits, their attitudes, their very thought processes are now so totally alien to humanity as to represent something entirely different. The final example in the book, The Unholy, is a creature out of a vampire’s worst nightmare. Terrifyingly fast even by a vampire’s standards, she is so ancient that mere human blood is no longer sufficient to sustain her – she requires the blood of vampires to keep her moving. She also has a nasty quirk that frightens vampires more than anything else; her regular habit of diablerizing other vampires; that is, draining them of their blood and consuming their very soul as well. She can occasionally be bargained with – as the running flavor text throughout the book artfully demonstrates – but in the end she will have her prey, come hell or high water.

Night Horrors: Immortal Sinners is part of a series of Night Horrors volumes, including Wicked Dead (also for Vampire: The Requiem); Grim Fears for Changeling: The Lost; The Unbidden for Mage: The Awakening and Wolfsbane for Werewolf: The Forsaken. Each is usable with any of the World of Darkness setting books, but the creatures presented within are most highly recommended as encounters for their primary setting by virtue of meshing more easily within that world. At the same time, it could be a dazzling conundrum for vampires to tangle with some ancient Fey creature, or for werewolves to have to come to grips with a coven of mages or an immensely powerful lone sorcerer; the possibilities are many, and hopefully inspiring.

Reading Night Horrors” Immortal Sinners is an intoxicating journey, drawing in the Storyteller and suggesting numerous plot hooks and storylines for years worth of game nights. Its relatively low rating is only because of its limited usefulness – intended for Storytellers rather than all players. Regardless, it’s an excellent read for any fan of vampires and the World of Darkness settings, and is a worthy addition to any bookshelf. Players, check with your Storyteller before reading about these nasties… you wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise, would you?

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review by Bill Bodden

Related posts:

1. Night Horrors: Unbidden Review
2. Night Horrors (Werewolf & Vampire) RPG Review
3. 30 Days of Night Movie Review

Available at RPGNow.com

This is a monumental work, a comprehensive and scholarly history of the role-playing industry from its inception in the early 1970s to the present day. The focus is interesting, concentrating on the individuals and companies that have made role-playing what it is today rather than looking at the games themselves.

Whilst detailed, the writing flows well, making it eminently readable and often entertaining, a fascinating survey of the companies and people who have shaped role-playing and are responsible for most of the books on my shelves (or, these days, lurking on the RPG hard drive) – and who have provided me with years of entertainment and passion. If your interest in role-playing goes anywhere beyond the next dungeon delve, if you like to know the background and history of the games you enjoy, you should find something here catches your attention… and once caught, be warned, it may be a while before you can tear yourself away!

The chosen approach gives an overview worthy of the most epic campaign showing how the waxing and waning of public interest in role-playing has affected and been affected by developments within the industry as a whole. Depending on your particular interests, you can follow a particular company’s or designer’s fortunes, explore the state of play of the industry at a time of your choice – an interesting place to start, perhaps, is what it was like when you first took die in hand – or see which developments or innovations in role-playing or even the world around it had the most significant effects.

There is even material here that could attract the sociologist or social historian, or the budding game designer who seeks to understand the heritage of his craft as well as learning the nuts and bolts of game design. Should anyone offer a course in role-playing games, this is likely to feature on the reading list! And if that isn’t enough, it does not presume any prior knowledge of the role-playing industry, introducing and explaining even the people who – to grey-haired ladies like me who grew up with role-playing and have been involved in it all their adult life – are notable industry personalities or even friends. None of the insider deigning to enlighten you here, but a clear exposition of the industry and those who shaped it.

For the scholar, there are quotes and references a-plenty – but entertaining and informative enough that the more general reader is not put off. If you delve far enough you can find out the context in which your favourite games or, often, individual books were published – fascinating insights that will ensure I return again and again as I develop my RPG Resource website.

Authoratative, entertaining, a fine and detailed survey of the development of this fine hobby from its earliest days to the present, filled with personalities and drama… this is a triumph of a work worthy of the highest praise.

Review by Megan Robertson

Related posts:

1. Bust: Explosive Roleplaying Review

Available at DriveThruComics.com

Carl Kolchak, hard-bitten reporter of the supernatural from the TV series “Kolchak: The Night Stalker” of the 1970s returns to action courtesy of an ongoing series of comic books and graphic novels from Moonstone Books. This time, Carl’s been fired by the owner of the newspaper that used to employ him, and he must find another way to make ends meet. He’s approached by a young couple, Otto and Mo Brerhahrer, who are ghost hunters in their spare time, and Kolchak can hardly say no, particularly when they offer to buy him lunch.

Through three related vignettes, the reader learns more about Kolchak, and why he has such a close connection to the supernatural. The first, titled “Fifteen Minutes,” find Kolchak at his wits end regarding where his next meal is coming from. He decides to get in touch with a young couple he met at a recent funeral – their interest in the supernatural seemed fortuitous, and at the time they had expressed an interest in hiring him to do some writing work for them. As it turns out, the offer wasn’t completely genuine but it was sincere, and Kolchak is intrigued.

In the second story, “Blood,” Kolchak is attempting to network with other reporters at a press conference to find work. The company holding forth, Windsor Chemical, is being investigated for illegal dumping. Abandoning the networking effort as a lost cause, Kolchak heads home; later that night, a mysterious and beautiful woman visits him, wanting to hire him to investigate the circumstances surrounding Windsor Chemicals. What Kolchak finds is murder, and more deaths to come.

In story number three, “A Clue To The Truth,” Kolchak is sent by Otto Brerhahrer – a ghost hunter from the first tale – to interview a local expert on the supernatural in order to give himself a better background understanding of ghosts. Kolchak finds himself losing track of the time during his lengthy conversation with Doctor Robert M. Carter; he finally excuses himself hours after he arrived, thanking Dr. Carter profusely for being such an engaging conversationalist. When he meets with Otto the next morning, Otto has news that shocks Kolchak to the core.

This is an entertaining series of tales, and I found myself at the end wishing there was more to read and enjoy. Comics are a fantastic medium for this type of story, and the crew presented here – writers Dave Ulanski, Tom DeFalco and C.J. Henderson, Pencilers Dan Dougherty, Ron Frenz and Ron Harris, letters Bill Halliard and Nate Pride and inkers Sal Buscema and Keith Williams – do a great job on this issue. The story “Blood” particularly reminds me of the classic style of the Creepy and Eerie magazines from the 1970s.

Perhaps cheesy and sometimes predictable, Kolchak stories still entertain by virtue of the namesake character, a good-hearted everyman who has an affinity for the strange and peculiar, and while not totally fearless, Kolchak has the guts to do the legwork and actually get to the bottom of the situation. Kolchak Tales: Ghost Stories is a fun read and a great way to spend a dark stormy night.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Related posts:

1. Jason Dark: Ghost Hunter Review
2. World of Darkness: Ghost Stories Review
3. Ghost Stories: Horror Mystery Adventures Review

Available at Amazon.com

Issue: Critical Millennium Hardcover
Writer/Creative Director: Andrew E. C. Gaska
Artist: Daniel Dussault
Letters: Nina L. Kester
Proofs: Duncan Mc Lachlan
Publisher: Archaia
Pages: 176
Price: $24.95

“Mankind’s rise and fall in space begins here! Two thousand years from now, the Earth is nearly dead. A bold group of explorers led by philanthropist Thomm Coney pushes forward to take the first tentative steps out of Earth’s solar system. Their quest: new worlds to colonize, so that humanity may yet have a chance at survival. Facing impossible odds, political agendas, and a fanatical terrorist regime bent on their destruction, Coney and his crew brave the dangers of a potentially volatile star drive in order to preserve a civilization intent not only on killing itself, but also on taking down every other living thing around it. Will mankind set aside its greed long enough to see a future amongst the stars? Collects Critical Millennium: The Dark Frontier #1-4 and contains extra material, including data sheets, sketchbook pages, starship information sheets and more.”

Dying Breath: 5.0 out of 5
Who would have thought a horror nut like me would fall in love with a Sci-Fi book like you? Critical Millennium is easily in this reviewer’s top 5 OGN’s/Trades of 2011. The artwork is nothing short of GORE-Geous on every single page. I talked about the panels in previous reviews, but being able to get so much art on a page that is covered in so much story is beyond me. The coloring has this colored pencil or charcoal look to it that makes it easily stand out in a crowd. I would honestly stare at these pages for hours, that way I could burn them into my retinas and stare at them all night long in my sleep. I do have on small issue though. With how great the artwork is, the dust jacket does not do this book any favors. The actual cover under the jacket is so much more appealing (but get the dust jacket for 2 awesome pull quotes anyways.) The story itself is just as on point as the artwork. For those who don’t know Drew Gaska also wrote Conspiracy of the Planet of the Apes, so he knows how to write long well written stories. That being said, you get one hell of a long story here. The amount of story goes back to me trying to figure out how they got all of this into 176 pages. It would take me 45 minutes to an hour to read one of the single issues! This book has more material than a quarter of the dictionary. I was hooked on this from page one and was so sad to see it end. While I do admit Space stories are not my cup of tea, a story like this has me easily second guessing myself. I can not recommend this book enough. It has everything I could have wanted in a story and soooooooooooo much more!

Artwork: 5.0 out of 5
Story: 5.0 out of 5

To find out more about Critical Millennium please go to Archaia.com or Amazon.com.

Review by Dan Royer

No related posts.

Available at Amazon.com

Issue: Skullkickers Vol. 2
Writer: Jim Zubkavich
Artists: Edwin Huang, Espen Grundetjern
Colors: Misty Coats
Publisher: Image Comics
Release Date: November 2011
Pages: 144
Price: $16.99

“The second SKULLKICKERS adventure is a wondrous tornado of action-adventure: a den of thieves, a city of danger, nobility, stupidity, plant monsters, dinner parties and bloodthirsty faerie folk.”

Dying Breath: 4.5 out of 5

CRASH! ROLL! LAUGH! STAND UP! FALL AGAIN! LAUGH! APPLAUD!

That about sums up what I think of this amazing second volume of Skullkickers from Image Comics (if you have read any issue you will get the opening line.) Vol. 2 takes the heroes and places them into even more fantastical trouble. As the story unfolded I was treated to so many laughs and even a scene that made me really uncomfortable to look at. Like past issues of the book, these pages are GORE-Geous. My jaw drops to the floor on practically every page from the line work to the colors there is not a single thing that does not shine. Trust me on this too, there are plenty of horror elements to be found.

A huge highlight is the big bad boss reveal towards the end of the story. The layout of that page alone is worth 1,000 Opas. The story is what really gets me though. The pacing at times seems to be so fast and action packed, and then you get a slower moment that is still action packed leaving you without a single dull moment. The jokes never stop either. Whether it’s Baldy or Shorty making a wise crack or the sound effects you will laugh while this book is in your hands. Plain and simple I love this title. I like books that can tell a great story, look amazing and make me laugh and Skullkickers covers all 3.

This is easily one of the best titles on the shelf today.

Artwork: 5 out of 5
Story: 4.5 out of 5

If you would like to know more about Skullkickers Vol. 2 you can find it at Skullkickers.com or buy the book at Amazon.com.

Review by Dan Royer

Related posts:

1. Sword & Sassery: The Source of Skullkickers
2. Skullkickers Comic Caption Contest
3. Skullkickers 3 – 4 Comic Review

Available at Amazon.com

Issue: Flesh and Blood Book 1
Writer: Robert Tinnell
Artist: Neil Vokes
Publisher: Monsterverse
Release Date: October 2011
Pages: 104
Price: $14.99

“From acclaimed writer and artist team Robert Tinnell and Neil Vokes (THE BLACK FOREST, THE WICKED WEST) comes a sensuous horror epic in the spirit of European horror cinema of the 1960s and ’70s. The death of Carmilla, the seductive vampire, sets in motion events that lead to a monumental struggle between the forces of darkness and a brave band of mortals. Its members include a reluctant young Abraham Van Helsing and a mysterious monster hunter struggling to keep his own inner monster at bay. When Baron Frankenstein is recruited to add his scientific genius to the group’s arsenal, Dracula and his undead kingdom face the possibility of total annihilation.”

Dying Breath: 4.0 out of 5
I really think that the only 2 main monsters not making an appearance in this book are The Mummy and The Creature from the Black Lagoon. This is a monster fun house that is waiting for your eyes and brain to come and join in on the fun. The artwork in this issue is GORE-Geous. I love the character designs. I love the fight scenes. I love the colors. I love it all. This book is so easy on the eyes that you have to remember to read the story as well. The story was a fast paced, in your face, hard-hitting thrill ride, and I think that is kind of what I found took away some of the build here. The story is so enjoyable from start to finish, don’t get me wrong, but I found that the pacing took away from some of the building and description of the cast that was needed. Over the course of the book I did get more of a feel for this large cast, but I think that taking a little more time in brief backgrounds when they first show up, or even a character glossary might have helped out a little but. Overall though this is a book and I can not recommend high enough. Any monster fan needs to have this book on their shelf, and every horror fan needs to check this one out. I can not wait to see what comes next because there is one hell of a great reveal at the end of this book. More please!

Artwork: 4.5 out of 5
Story: 4.0 out of 5

If you would like to know more about Flesh and Blood Book 1 you can find it at Monsterverse.com and Amazon.com.