Michael Reaves’ novel, Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter, really wants to be a good book, but it fails to achieve that goal for the exact same reason that many fans believe the film Star Wars Episode I – The Phantom Menace disappointed on so many levels…both were tragedies that had no idea that they were tragedies!

Be warned, the following contains numerous MAJOR SPOILERS and does so only because they are integral to telling why this book ultimately fails.

Review by Joe Rixman

A new horror novel from Permuted Press by Wayne Simmons!

As tattoo artist Star begins to ink her first client on a spring Sunday morning, something goes horribly wrong with the world… Belfast’s hungover lapse into a deeper sleep than normal, their sudden deaths causing an unholy mess of crashing cars, smoldering televisions and falling aircraft. In the chaotic aftermath a group of post-apocalyptic survivors search for purpose in a devastated city. Ageing DJ Sean Magee and shifty-eyed Barry Rogan find drunken solace in a hotel bar. Ex-IRA operative Mairead Burns and RIR soldier Roy Beggs form an uneasy alliance to rebuild community life.

Drop Dead Gorgeous by Wayne Simmons is available at Amazon.com.

Book three of this series has Tavi being sent out of the way (both because of who he is, and to get training) to infiltrate a new legion being created. Since most lord’s have their own legion, a new one was being created to try to serve no political uses. But Tavi is supposed to see if anyone in the legion is in fact a spy. That is what he does since he is a Cursor (also a spy) for the First Lord.

Quickly, things escalate. Lord Kalare, whom has eyes on the First Lord’s throne, launches an attack and starts civil war in the realm. He also kidnaps other high ranking nobles, and holds them prisoner at his fortress.

Review by Stacey Chancellor

White Wolf Publishing has a new eBook bundle available for a limited time only at the Flames Rising RPGNow Shop. This week explore the what it means to be a soldier in the World of Darkness. This bundle includes both World of Darkness: Dogs of War and the SAS Adventure Ruins of Ur.

These materials normally retail for $31.98, but in PDF form for the next seven days, you can acquire both products for $18.99 (USD), a savings of 41%.

The service trains you to be strong. It teaches you teamwork, how to rely on others and how to rely on yourself. Which is a damn good thing. You need every edge you can get. You’ll see for yourself when you discover what else is out there in the night…

The World of Darkness: War is Hell bundle is available at the Flames Rising RPGNow Shop.

The definitive collection of Tolkien’s classic “fairie” tales, in the vein of The Hobbit, illustrated by Oscar winner Alan Lee.

Never before published in a single volume, Tolkien’s four novellas (Farmer Giles of Ham, Leaf by Niggle, Smith of Wootton Major, and Roverandom) and one book of poems (The Adventures of Tom Bombadil) are gathered together for the first time, in a fully illustrated volume. This new, definitive collection of works — which had appeared separately, in various formats, between 1949 and 1998 — comes with a brand-new foreword and endmatter, and with a series of detailed pencil illustrations by Alan Lee, in the style of his other award-winning Tolkien work, most recently in The Children of Húrin.

Tales from the Perilous Realm is available at Amazon.com.

“Vampires’ Quest” is a card game about competing vampires and is the first offering from Headless Games. In “Vampires’ Quest” players compete to match Bite cards with Victims, turning them into vampires and racing to create an army of the undead.

The game is played in rounds, scoring points based on the number of bitten victims claimed.

There are 15 different kinds of cards (including Bite and Victim cards) that can affect game play. Some allow you to steal claimed victims from other vampires, send claimed victims back to the deck or counter other players’ cards.

Review by Michael Erb

One of the challenges of any fantasy role-playing game is coming up with new, unpredictable and fearsome foes to tangle with your heroes.

“The Random Esoteric Creature Generator” by Goodman Games is sub-titled “For Classic Fantasy Games and their Modern Simulacra.” Simply put, it’s a monster-maker for d20 and similar fantasy
role-playing games.

The 31-page .PDF document is filled with random roll charts to help you design bizarre and unique creatures, giving you everything from size and body shape to special attacks and defenses.

Review by Michael Erb

Come Join the Fight to Protect Earth!

Monsters and demons have existed on Earth since its inception, terrorizing humanity throughout history. But some of them decided to fight back, creating a company of like-minded beings (even other demons) to defend the Earth from supernatural threats. Today, the shadow company has it’s hands in every facet of life all around the globe, using this grasp to police supernatural activity. Demon races that live on Earth (i.e. the aquatic Lochs, shape-shifting Changelings, or even the pyrotechnic Burners) have joined the company as well, ensuring their safety as well as humanity’s.

Apocalypse Prevention, Inc. is available at Lulu.com and RPGNow.com.

Just one day of our super end of the year holiday sale left! We have, just in time for sale pricing, the long awaited new edition of Titan from Valley Games, Hedge Magic for Ars Magica, Dead Reign from Palladium, Thaumotology for GURPS, The Keepers of the Tradition expansion for the Vampire CCG, the new […]

Irish writer, Derek Gunn, has sold a new novel entitled The Estuary, to US publisher, Permuted Press for publication in 2009.

According to the author, The Estuary is a fast-paced, horror adventure tale, about a desperate plan formulated in the darkest years of an evil empire, which now threatens to engulf the residents of a small community in Southern Ireland.

“I’m delighted that The Estuary is going to be published by Permuted Press who are making tremendous strides forward in publishing horror/post-apocalyptic genre fiction” says Derek.

The war-torn world of Simarra is filled with many horrors. Some are creatures who have plagued the inhabitants of this world for countless centuries, others nightmares unleashed upon this world with the invasion of the Keza-Drak. Tainted beasts – once locked in the threshold realm – have found their way into the world through the stone gates. In addition, the dead lands have opened once more, unleashing hordes of undead into the world. Not all of the strange and horrific creatures that can be found in this world are otherworldly in nature, however.

Written by Mathew Kaiser and David Jarvis, the Book of Bones is 69 pages of new creatures and templates for your True20 Game! While all of these creatures are set in the war-torn world of Simarra, they can easily be used in your own amazing campaign worlds!

The Book of Bones is available at the Flames Rising RPGNow Shop.

I first came across Kay about three years ago when someone from out sci-fi/fantasy book club chose one of his books. Tigana. It was such a rich and beautiful book that I immediately went out and read the Fionavar Tapestry (a three book trilogy) and really liked it as well. So, I have been waiting for this to come in trade peperback for a while and finally bought it recently.

The story revolved around a fifteen year old boy named Ned. He is from Canada and the son of a famous photographer. They are in France, and on site at Aix-en-Provence’s Saint-Saveur Cathedral.

Review by Stacey Chancellor

The gods of the Shroud know that names give you power over them. So it is that they are not called by their true names, but instead by their titles within the sacred zodiac. The Silent Sister. The Rider. The Bone Witch. The Shadow Above. The Root. And more… Thirteen gods in all, though their newest member is an upstart, fresh-born of a once-low race now taking its place among the tribes of men. All vie for power and position through their faithful intermediaries, each one shaken by the coming of the Shroud — or perhaps secretly its source.

Gods of the Shroud is available at the Flames Rising RPGNow Shop.

The ancient dead keep their own counsel, and they have learned from bitter experience to hold onto any advantage to avoid Oblivion. The Charms within represent such advantage in the Underworld, a means of bringing powers unknown to most of its denizens to bear when necessary. Once practiced only by the dark realm’s elite, these […]

Nearly all RPGs have a section devoted to the theory of how RPGs should be played. In fact, this is the part of a corebook I find myself rereading for inspiration. The skill of these chapters range from the banal to sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll goodness. If you want how-to theory that feels like Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club, then John Wick’s Play Dirty is the book for you. Making connections between the two proves simple. Heck, both books have a series of rules to follow. While we won’t talk about the rules of Fight Club, I will share Wick’s two rules:

Rule One: There are no rules.
Rule Two: Cheat anyway.

Review by Todd Cash

The one word that comes to mind when I talk about this novel is Revenge. It was with a capital R since it was such a strong part of this read. Almost every plot line could be brought back to this one basic principal. You mess with me or mine and you will pay. It may be tomorrow or even 20 years from now…but it will happen.

Locke is a fun character. I have to admit I love the smart ass characters that even in the face of danger, are still talking a serious amount of trash. It isn’t the smartest plan to say the least, but I do understand it being a smartass myself. But beyond that he is really a well written character. He is in charge of a group of thieves that he has known since he was a child called the Gentlemen Bastards.

Review by Stacey Chancellor

Noble Knight Games is pleased to announce its massive year end holiday sale!! If you haven’t browsed in awhile be sure to spend some time with our catalog, never in our history has our stock been better or our selection wider, and your sure to find some gems. Check out the specials and sales section […]

“Crimson Orgy – Best New Thriller of ’08?” read the headline on Amazon.com’s forums. User C. Avery said, “For my money, this is the best new thriller of 2008 (so far, anyway),” and I, after reading Austin Williams’s debut novel, Crimson Orgy, immediately thought, “publisher plant?”

Dubbed as a thriller, and quite often described as a horror novel, Crimson Orgy follows the filming of a fictional exploitation film of the same name during the 1960s. The intro to the book sets the story up as potentially true (although we know it’s a work of fiction), explaining that the final print never saw the light of day.

Review by William F. Aicher

White Wolf Publishing has all kinds of new books in the horizon, be sure to pre-order your copies today!

World of Darkness: Slasher

Blood Splatter

There’s a different breed of killer out there. They aren’t driven by the need to drink blood or the pulse of the full moon. They kill because they have to, because murder is the only thing they know. Will you hunt the slashers — or join their ranks?

A Chronicle Book for World of Darkness and Hunter: The Vigil

Pre-Order World of Darkness: Slasher today at Amazon.com.

Can we trust our senses? How do we know that what we see is real? Are our eyes inherently deceptive and prone to misdirection? If so, then such flawed organs must be removed, for only in blindness can one perceive the truth: that all the world is horror.

Sight Unseen is a LARP experience like no other. When an assortment of Arkham citizens check into the local hospital for surgery, they find themselves blinded by a madman and forced to confront the unearthly terror he has unleashed upon the world. Sight Unseen is a game script for Cthulhu Live 3rd Edition and requires the Cthulhu Live 3rd Edition game rules.

Sight Unseen is available at the Flames Rising RPGNow Shop for only $4.99.