RPG Media Monday - The Name of the Rose

If you're familiar with the 1980 novel by Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose, or even the 1986 film adaptation of it, you will likely be glad to hear of an Italian mini-series retelling.  It stars an International cast but is geared toward English-speaking audiences and available on SundanceTV.com here.

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The Friday Grab Bag - Book It

Over on io9.gizmodo.com, they explain "How to Tell if the First Draft of Your Novel Just Isn't Worth Salvaging" here.

Also, on rebellesociety.com, they give us "Writing Tips: Kurt Vonnegut’s 8 Essentials for a Good Short Story" here.

Finally, on writersdigest.com, we learn "11 Steps to Finding the Agent Who’ll Love Your Book" here.

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The Friday Grab Bag - Museums, Munchies, & Manuscripts

Over on blog.laterooms.com, learn of "8 London Museums You’ve (Probably) Never Heard Of" here.

Also, on penn.museum, the folks at the Penn Museum tells us "How to Make Cuneiform Tablet Cookies" here.

Finally, on beinecke.library.yale.edu, "The Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library" sayd they will reopen early next month here.

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RPG Media Monday - Sci-Fi Art

Over on tor.com, an older article discusses "Art History Through Sci Fi-Colored Glasses" here.

Also, on io9.gizmodo.com, they give us "The Most Vibrant Pulp Science Fiction Art You'll See This Week" here.

Finally, on the Anders Ramsell YouTube channel, check out his take on Blade Runner in a short titled "Blade Runner - The Aquarelle Edition."  Enjoy!

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The Friday Grab Bag - Talkin Tolkien

Lots of big Tolkien news this week for fans and gamers alike.  Over on enworld.org, they ran a story this week titled "Middle-earth Comes to 5th Edition This Fall with Cubicle 7's Adventures In Middle-earth Player's Guide" here.

Also, on cubicle7.co.uk, you can get a bit more on the RPG from the horses mouth here.

Finally, on moviepilot.com, they tell us "The Silmarillion: Warner Bros. Multi-Film & TV Deal for J.R.R. Tolkien’s Classic!"  Get the details on that here.

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RPG Media Monday - Tolkien

Over on nytimes.com, they tell us "How J.R.R. Tolkien Found Mordor on the Western Front" here.

Also, on multiverse.world, we're told "How To Read Tolkien's Lord of the Rings" here.

Finally, on smithsonianmag.com, they present "The Tolkien Nerd’s Guide to The Hobbit" here.

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RPG Media Monday - Missing & Dying

Over on theonion.com, a recent headline read "Investigators: First 48 Hours Most Critical In Locating Missing Children Who Entered Portal To Fantastical World" here.

Also, on multiverse.world, they shared "Dying Fantasy Quotes Volume 1" here.

Finally, on moviepilot.com, they recap "Every Death in Game of Thrones Season 6" here.

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The Friday Grab Bag - Bookishness

Over on dose.com, comes the tense-challenged headline, "Book Owners Have Went Out Of Their Way To Create These 18 Creative Bookshelves."  Check them out here.

Also, on shelfmediagroup.com, they have a contest for the "Shelf Unbound Best Indie/Self-Published Book Competition" here.

Finally, on flavorwire.com, and although Banned Book Week is not until October, here are some "Famous Authors’ Funniest Responses to Their Books Being Banned."

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RPG Media Monday - Old Tomes

Over on listverse.com, check out "10 Ancient Books That Promise Supernatural Powers" here.

Also, on ancient-origins.net, have a look at the "Codex Gigas (the Devil’s Bible) - the largest manuscript in the world" here.

Finally, on livius.org, they discuss "The disappearance of ancient books" here.

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RPG Media Monday - British Lit

Over on historytoday.com, they rediscover "The Lost Literature of Medieval England" here.

Also, on bbc.co.uk, check out the line up for Shakespeare Lives 2016 here.

Finally, on americanplayers.org, there's still time to get 30% off on Summer tickets for American Players Theatre here.

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RPG Media Monday - Beowulf, Reboots, & Russian Guardians

I'm not sure where I first heard about "Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands" but it caught my attention and now I want to find a way to catch up with it.  Sadly, in my local area, the station on which it aired is not one I can readily get.  It's a serialized telling of the age old story produced by a British production company and from clips I have seen, looks to be of decent quality.  Will they tell it just as everyone imagines they would?  Not a chance.  Not that the version most folks know is actual the same as the original nor that any translation has ever been perfectly faithful to its source material (I've read several, they all differ in some ways).  Nevertheless, I enjoy a good serialized period drama where swords are wielded, like Vikings, so I don't doubt I'd probably enjoy this too.  The IMdB page is linked above but also check out the wiki page for it here and the tv.esquire.com home page for it here.

Also, on io9.gizmodo.com, they suggested "10 Public Domain Characters That Are Overdue For A Reboot" here.  Looks to me like there'd be quite a bit of work to do to bring those properties up to snuff but I see some diamonds in the rough there, for sure.

Finally, on theverge.com, they brought to our attention "the trailer for a Russian superhero movie featuring a machine gun-wielding bear" here.  I definitely want to see this, subtitles and all!

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RPG Media Monday - Inklings

When I brought up Tolkien Reading Day on Friday, my buddy T.R. Knight (see his blog here) tweeted that he was "just starting to read 'The Fellowship: The Literary Lives of the Inklings'" and shared a goodreads.com review link here so I looked into the book a bit further.  I had heard of the Inklings and knew Tolkien and Lewis were members but not much more than that.  It certainly looks like an interesting book that tabletoppers of many stripes would find enjoyable.

Of the other two Inklings mentioned on the cover of The Fellowship, Owen Barfield might be the better known because his daughter Lucy figured so prominently in the writing if C.S. Lewis.  Lewis named one of his main characters after her and dedicated The Lion Witch and the Wardrobe to her:

My Dear Lucy, 

I wrote this story for you, but when I began it I had not realized that girls grow quicker than books. As a result you are already too old for fairy tales, and by the time it is printed and bound you will be older still. But some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again. You can then take it down from some upper shelf, dust it, and tell me what you think of it. I shall probably be too deaf to hear, and too old to understand a word you say but I shall still be, 

your affectionate Godfather,

C. S. Lewis.

Even more information can be had on Owen Barfield at barfieldsociety.org here.

However, more germane to tabletop gamers might be the work of Charles Williams.  Like that of Tolkien and Lewis, he wrote some of his material in the fantasy genre.  I haven't read anything by him but now that I am becoming more familiar, I plan to rectify that in the future.  Some say Descent into Hell (1937) is his best work but after reading some summaries, I think I will start with his earlier Many Dimensions (1930) or maybe The Place of the Lion (1931).  I'm going to dig around for some more information and reviews before I decide so if you know anything, let me know in a spoiler-free manner, please.  Thanks!

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Throwback Thursday - Conan

Over on starburstmagazine.com and barbariankeep.com, there are a couple of histories of the character of Conan the Barbarian in publication with the first being "A Brief History of Conan the Barbarian" here and the other being "Sources for Robert E. Howard's Original Conan Stories" here.

Also, on ageofconan.com, you can play the current "Age of Conan (Unchained)" game here.

Finally, on cinemablend.com, they tell us "A Conan The Barbarian Game Is Coming, Get The Details" here.

Throwback Thursday on CreativeMountainGames.com 

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 or gaming-adjacent topics of the past.

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Saturday Crowdfunding Roundup - Traveller Novel, Napoleon Game, & Laser Terrain

Three from Kickstarter this week with the first being "Agent of the Imperium: Marc Miller's Traveller Novel" from Marc "Traveller" Miller here.

Also, have a look at "Victory and Glory: Napoleon" by Glenn Drover here.

Finally, check out "Laser Terrain Co - Tabletop Wargames Terrain System" by Laser Terrain Co here.

Saturday Crowdfunding Roundup on CreativeMountainGames.com 

Keeping an eye on those Kickstarter & IndieGoGo
projects plus other crowdfunding efforts.

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Media News Monday - Star Trek, Star Wars, & Fantastic Books

Over on hollywoodreporter.com, they report that a "New 'Star Trek' TV Series a Go at CBS All Access" here.

Also, on starwars.com, if you haven't gotten one by now, grab "Star Wars: The Force Awakens Theatrical Poster" here.

Finally, on fantasticbooks.biz, "Fantastic Books is a publisher of quality new and reprint speculative fiction. Some of our authors have been publishing and winning awards for decades. Others are brand new, and welcoming the arrival of their first books" here.

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The Friday Grab Bag - Imagination, Partners, & Take That!

Over on legionofleia.com, they interview "Michael Witwer On ‘Empire of Imagination: Gary Gygax and the Birth of Dungeons and Dragons’" here.

Also, on notsoboardgaming.com, they suggest the "Top 10 Games to Play with Your Partner" here.

Finally, on The Dice Tower YouTube channel, "Tom Vasel, Sam Healey, and Zee Garcia discuss their favorite games with a mean vein of 'take that!' gameplay!"  Enjoy!

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RPG Blog Carnival: Curses

This month's RPG Blog Carnival is being shepherded on the CMG Blog Triad and the topic is "Convention Gaming."  Folks can keep track this month by following this post.  I'll even add links for subsequent parts in the comments section below where readers will also find links to the many blogs participating this month.  To follow the RPG Blog Carnival each and every month, visit the new topics page and archives for the RPG Blog Carnival on roleplayingtips.com.

This month on the RPG Blog Carnival, the focus is on "Curses, Cursed Items, and Calamities in your Campaigns."  This covers a lot of ground but let me share a few articles on curses from the Medievalists.net with the first being "Who cursed whom, and when? The cursing of the hoard and Beowulf’s fate."  Check it out here.

Also, read about "Curse or Blessing: What’s in the Magic Bowl?"  Find out here.

Finally, discover the "Top 10 Medieval Book Curses" here.