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Other Stuff => General Wargames and Hobby Discussion => Topic started by: Mr.J on March 27, 2023, 07:07:48 PM
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Hi all
Looking for good black powder fantasy novels. Ideally something inspirational for wargaming…
I’m quite enjoying the Shadow and Bone Netflix series and have started on the books, just as a sense of where I am.
Thank
Mr.J
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Promise of Blood, first book in the Powder Mage trilogy by Brian McClellan was pretty good. Need to pick up the rest.
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Twelve by Jasper Kent. Topnotch Horror novel, very inspiring for The Silver Bayonet or any game with undead types about.
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke. Hefty tome, lots of magic in the Napoleonic Wars.
Temeraire (series) by Naomi Novik. Napoleonic Wars with dragons.
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Thank you all. I can’t contribute but am happy to read about all these suggestions!
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Another vote for Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, as it is a magnificent story.
I will however warn you that it plays deliciously coy with the way magic works in that universe, coming close many times but (deliberately) never quite explaining how it really works. Makes for a lovely tale that keeps the magic, well, magical, but won't be of much help if you're looking for some sort of hard and fast rules inspiration.
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I've read the first of this trilogy and have the second to follow up on: https://www.goodreads.com/series/57223-iron-elves
It took a bit to get into, but I warmed to it as I understood more of the setting.
This is another, don't know if there are more books - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15810910-the-thousand-names
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Another vote for Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, as it is a magnificent story.
I will however warn you that it plays deliciously coy with the way magic works in that universe, coming close many times but (deliberately) never quite explaining how it really works. Makes for a lovely tale that keeps the magic, well, magical, but won't be of much help if you're looking for some sort of hard and fast rules inspiration.
And thirded - great book!
I'm all for keeping the magic magical - long live the gentleman with the thistledown hair!
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Another vote for Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell! It's also very funny.
There's also the Alvin Maker series by Orson Scott Card set on the American Frontier in the early 19th century but with a very different history than our own and with very extensive magic.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tales_of_Alvin_Maker
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The Stress of Her Regard and On Stranger Tides both by Tim Powers.
Nic EUREKA MINIATURES
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Shadow and Bone was awesome. I wish they'd come out with some more seasons.
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The Stress of Her Regard and On Stranger Tides both by Tim Powers.
Nic EUREKA MINIATURES
Tim Powers is awesome! On Stranger Tides is one of my favorites. And the archetype for both Monkey Island and Pirates of the Caribbean! Both thumbs up.
Haven’t read The Stress of Her Regard, but his The Anubis Gates are also brilliant and suitably black power. And if black powder era includes landsknechts, the The Drawing of the Dark is fabulous!