Book Sale Finds

I went to a book sale today that the county library administration holds twice a year. They have millions of books all at very cheap prices. I’m probably gonna go back on “10 cents per book” clearance day where the unwanted leftovers are sold off. But today was the first day, which is one of the optimal days to go to find things. I had a sharp lookout for history books, with India, China, Japan and Africa in particular, as those are the places that I inject culture from for Spirits of Eden. I found something else while I was there though…

Apparently first owned by a certain Robert Bart and then by ”Raven” this book was on sale for 3 bucks, so I picked it up. I’m going to swing back on 10-cent day to see if I can pick up the Dungeon Master’s Guide for cheap. I couldn’t swing for it for 12 dollars. That’s way too much for me to pay for an artifact which aside from humorous nostalgic value I have no use for. But the PHB at 3 dollars was just in the range of what I would pay to look at funny little artwork and read that Raise Dead can only raise dwarves, gnomes, half-elves, halflings and humans. I guess it’s because elves don’t have souls. I took the picture up there with my 4e PHB1 because that’s like the picture that always tempts anyone who owns both books.

Other things I picked up worth noting:

History of Food by Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat: I picked this up since I’m still trying to find time to write the Cultural Article on Food in the Spirit’s of Eden setting. I thought this would not only give information but also inspiration. I’m not that firm a believer in just transcribing fact into fiction for campaign settings. I think coming up with some beautiful white lies for your setting is what gives it color, and the fact that some elements just don’t work in reality is a feature rather than a bug. Nonetheless, having some measure of information to draw upon creatively is also important. I can’t come up with implausible hunter-gatherer cultures without knowing a lick about what was optimally hunted or gathered. This book is on my priority list to read, but the intro made me hungry.

Geisha by Liza Dalby: I’ve always found Geisha fascinating, but my only actual cultural contact with them was from Memoirs of a Geisha and I thought that had to change. I don’t know if I can make use of this in a game at all: unlike what many seem to believe, Adel is not ancient Japan. It does not really look like the duck or quack like the duck in that case, even if it takes some inspiration from the duck’s manner. So whether I can gain inspiration from this for Spirits of Eden is left to be seen. But nonetheless it should be a great read.

To The Ends of the Earth: The Great Travel and Trade Routes of Human History by Irene M. Frank and David M. Brownstone: This book really caught my eye. The title alone should tell anyone what position it could have as material for a game. It is divided into chapters about several different routes, from the Burma Road, to the Cape Horn Route, to the Inca Royal Road, the Mohawk Trail and the Silk and Spice Road, and many others modern and ancient. It includes histories and maps for each. The preface begins: “Much of the romance and adventure of human history flows from the world’s great travel and trade routes, and much of the stuff of human history stems from the development of these routes.” I couldn’t agree more, nor dismiss it as a great source for gaming ideas.

The Library of Nations India and Great Ages of Man: Historic India: Like I said I’d been looking for stuff on India. India is a big inspiration for Spirits of Eden also. These books have great illustrations even if the history is not as thick as some of the books I bought on Japan and China (I bought about 2 Chinese history texts and 4 Japanese ones) but I love the illustrations and photographs. It’s good to get a picture of the place, perhaps not as useful as history, but still something very important.

I got a bunch of books besides, but these are some I plan to read with an eye towards what I can potentially use as inspiration for games.