tamsin’s appendix n

One of the most influential books on a young and impressionable Tamsin back in the halcyon days of the early 1980s was the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master’s Guide, a book of rules, advice, suggestions, and inspiration for the role-playing game’s referee/storyteller. At the back of the book are a series of appendices, largely comprised of optional rules and suggestions for your game. One of these was Appendix N: Inspirational and Educational Reading, Gary Gygax‘s list of the works of fantasy and science fiction which shaped what he brought to the creation of the game, and what the game would become over time.

I was listening to the Appendix N Book Club podcast a while ago and ruminating on the similarities between the various subcultural communities of which I’m a part, and the thought occurred to me: what’s in my Appendix N? Who are the artists and creators and what are the works which, as Gygax writes, “were of particular inspiration to me?”

And then, as is my wont, I started making a list, which you may peruse below.

This is, of course, a living document, to be changed and expanded as mood and inspiration dictate. Cheers!

Nota bene: Links marked with a † include content which might be considered “not safe for work” (NSFW). Caveat lector.

fiction

Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice.
Bujold, Lois McMaster. Cordelia’s Honor.
Coehlo, Paulo. The Alchemist. The Pilgrimage.
de Lint, Charles. Moonheart. Dreams Underfoot.
Gaiman, Neil. Neverwhere.
Heinlein, Robert A. The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress.
Herbert, Frank. Dune.
Jones, Diana Wynne. Fire and Hemlock.
Le Guin, Ursula K. A Wizard of Earthsea. Very Far Away from Anywhere Else.
Moorcock, Michael. Elric of Melniboné.
Tolkien, J. R. R. The Lord of the Rings.
Zelazny, Roger. The Chronicles of Amber.

non-fiction

Bornstein, Kate. Gender Outlaw: On Men, Women and the Rest of Us. My Gender Workbook: How to Become a Real Man, a Real Woman, the Real You, or Something Else Entirely.
Fisher, M. F. K. How to Cook a Wolf. Serve It Forth.
Tamm, Eric. Robert Fripp: From King Crimson to Guitar Craft.

spirituality

Acher, Frater. Holy Daimon.
Adler, Margot. Drawing Down the Moon.
Chesterton, G. K. Orthodoxy.
Coelho, Paulo. The Pilgrimage.
Coyle, T. Thorn. Evolutionary Witchcraft.
Lewis, C. S. Mere Christianity.
Sayers, Dorothy. Creed or Chaos?
Starhawk, The Spiral Dance.
Stratton-Kent, Jake. Geosophia: The Argo of Magic.

music

Amon Tobin, Out from Out Where.
Arvo Pärt, Da Pacem.
The Beatles. Rubber Soul. Revolver. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The Beatles (a.k.a. “the White Album”).
Blue Öyster Cult. Blue Öyster Cult. Secret Treaties. Agents of Fortune. Imaginos.
Brother Sun Sister Moon, The Great Game.
Camper Van Beethoven. Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart. Key Lime Pie.
The Cure. Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me. Disintegration.
Curve. Doppelganger. Pubic Fruit. Gift.
David Bowie. Aladdin Sane. Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps). Earthling. ★.
The Future Sound of London, Lifeforms.
Iron Maiden. Somewhere in Time. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son.
Jane’s Addiction, Nothing’s Shocking.
Jethro Tull. Aqualung. Thick as a Brick. Songs from the Wood. The Broadsword and the Beast.
Kate Bush. The Dreaming. Hounds of Love. Aerial.
King Crimson. In the Court of the Crimson King. Lark’s Tongues in Aspic. Red. Discipline.
Marillion. Misplaced Childhood. Brave. Marbles.
Massive Attack, Mezzanine.
nine inch nails. Pretty Hate Machine. The Downard Spiral.
Portishead, Dummy.
Prince and the Revolution, Purple Rain.
Prince, Sign ‘O’ the Times.
Queen. A Kind of Magic. Innuendo.
Rush. Moving Pictures. Signals. Presto. Counterparts. Clockwork Angels.
Steely Dan. Countdown to Ecstasy. The Royal Scam.
Tori Amos. Little Earthquakes. Under the Pink. Boys for Pele.
VNV Nation, Empires/Building Empires. Matter + Form.
The Who, Who’s Next.
Wolves in the Throne Room. Diadem of 12 Stars. Thrice Woven.
Yes. Fragile. Close to the Edge.

movies

Alien • Arrival • Alita: Battle Angel • Atomic Blonde • Casablanca • Carol • Disclosure • Excalibur • The Hidden Fortress • Julie & Julia • The Last Unicorn • Ma vie en rose • the Matrix quadrology • Mean Girls • Pan’s Labyrinth • Paris Is Burning • The NeverEnding Story • the Samurai trilogy • Seven Samurai • Suspiria • Tangerine • The Witch