Tag: recommendations

5 Books Inspired by Dungeons and Dragons

Anyone who is a fan of fantasy will have likely interacted with Dungeons and Dragons in some form. Dungeons and Dragons, also known as D&D, has been around for decades now. In more recent years, shows like Harmon Quest and Critical Role have been produced, and podcasts like The Adventure Zone and The Glass Cannon Podcast have further popularized the game. Video games also owe a huge debt to D&D, and this debt is visible in games like Dragon Age, Knights of Pen and Paper, Baldur’s Gate, and even Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Some of these games are practically D&D campaigns in their own right.

Fantasy literature is no exception to this debt either. In the past few decades, authors have written books based on their D&D campaigns, or these writers will create their own original story and use the preexisting rules and geography of a world created for a game module. The Forgotten Realms, which was established during the 3rd edition of D&D, has been used as the backdrop for many campaigns, books, and video games.

Here are five books inspired by Dungeons and Dragons.

 

 

1. The Colour of Magic

 

image via goodreads

 

Written by Sir Terry Pratchett, The Colour of Magic is a chaotic delight that takes place in a world that practically begs to be made into a D&D campaign setting. The Discworld series is set on a disc-shaped world, set on the backs of four elephants who stand on the shell of a gigantic turtle swimming through space. The Colour of Magic, which is the first book in the series, follows Rincewind, a wizard who only knows one spell, and Twoflower, an insurance clerk on holiday. Twoflower hires Rincewind to be his tour guide, and shenanigans ensue. In this book alone, they meet Hrun the Barbarian, are captured by dragon riders, and are nearly sent off the edge of the world. The God Fate also wants Rincewind and Twoflower sacrificed to him because he blames them for losing a game that is eerily similar to Dungeons and Dragons. 

 

 

2. The Legend of Drizzt

 

image via goodreads

 

R.A. Salvatore had written an expansive series that follows the Drow Elf Drizzt Do’ Urden. While he was originally introduced in The Icewind Dale Trilogy, Homeland is the first book that details Drizzt’s origin story. This tale takes place in the Forgotten Realms’ Underdark, a place that the Drow Elves call home. While his mother had originally intended to sacrifice him to a deity, Drizzt is spared from this fate. However, while he is not killed, he still has to fight for his survival on a daily basis. And ultimately, this is the story of the events that led to him departing from the Underdark and never returning.

 

 

3. Dragons of autumn twilight

 

image via amazon

 

Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman wrote The Dragons of Autumn Twilight as the first entry in a four book series. Based off of their own D&D campaign, this story follows a party of adventurers who reunite after several years apart. Though they didn’t have any plans on going on another quest together, these companions must do exactly that when they learn that the Dragon Highlords are preparing to take over the entire continent. With the plains people Goldmoon and Riverwind joining them, the adventuring party journeys forward to stop the Dragon Highlords from achieving their goals.

 

 

4. She kills monsters

 

image via amazon

 

This one has actually made me cry, in a good way. This book is a play, and I can definitely tell you, it is as funny as it is heartbreaking and wonderful—and if you ever get the chance to see it on stage, do it. Thank me later. I accept epic poems that discuss my beauty as payment. Qui Nguyen‘s play She Kills Monsters follows Agnes Evans, a young woman who is grieving the death of her little sister, Tillie, after a fatal car accident. While going through Tillie’s things, Agnes finds a home brewed D&D module that Tillie wrote for herself and her friends. Since Agnes was never close with her sister, she decides to play through the campaign. She learns about the difficulties that Tillie experienced at school because of her sexuality, and she comes to have a better understanding of her sister on a whole. Be aware that there are two versions of this play–one that is geared towards and adult audience, and one that is meant for high school students. Based on which one you read, there are some distinct differences. Agnes, in the adult version is a high school English teacher, and in the version for younger audiences, she is a high school student. The play is altered accordingly as well.

 

 

5. Nimona

 

image via goodreads

 

This is the debut graphic novel from Noelle Stevenson, and while it is meant for YA readers, that should definitely not stop older D&D fans from checking it out! Nimona follows the titular protagonist, a shape-shifter who enjoys wreaking havoc. She joins forces with Lord Blackheart, and together, they intend on proving to the world that the hero Ambrosius Goldenloin and the other members of the Institute of Law Enforcement and Heroics aren’t quite as lawful good as the rest of the world might think. However, something is going on with Nimona, and she is proving to have a dangerous, unwieldy side to herself.

 

Featured Image Via IGN

 

 

 


Bookstr is community supported. If you enjoy Bookstr’s articles, quizzes, graphics and videos, please join our Patreon to support our writers and creators or donate to our Paypal and help Bookstr to keep supporting the book loving community.
Become a Patron!




5 Poems To Get You In The Mood For Winter

The seasons have always been a point of interest for poets, writers, and artists. Winter, of course, is no exception to this rule.

So, to get you in the mood for winter, here are five poems (with links provided) that you should read this season.

 

 

1. Winter: My Secret by Christina Rossetti

 

image via Britannica

I tell my secret? No indeed, not I;

Perhaps some day, who knows? But not today; it froze, and blows and snows,

And you’re too curious: fie!

You want to hear it? well:

Only, my secret’s mine, and I won’t tell.

 

 

2. The Snow Fairy by Claude McKay

 

image via poetry foundation

Throughout the afternoon I watched them there,

Snow-fairies falling, falling from the sky,

Whirling fantastic in the misty air,

Contending fierce for space supremacy.

And they flew down a mightier force at night,

As though in heaven there was revolt and riot,

And they, frail things had taken panic flight

Down to the calm earth seeking peace and quiet.

I went to bed and rose at early dawn

To see them huddled together in a heap,

Each merged into the other upon the lawn,

Worn out by the sharp struggle, fast asleep.

The sun shone brightly on them half the day,

By night they stealthily had stol’n away.

 

 

3. Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening by Robert Frost.

 

image via Britannica

Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

Very much so a classic!

 

4. A Winter’s Tale by Dylan Thomas

 

image via walesonline

IT is a winter’s tale

That the snow blind twilight ferries over the lake

And floating fields from the farm in the cup of the vales,

Gliding windless through the hand folded flakes,

The pale breath of cattle at the stealthy sail,

 

 

5. Winter Love by Linda Gregg

 

image via the new yorker

I would like to decorate this silence,

but my house grows only cleaner

and more plain. The glass chimes I hung

over the register ring a little

when the heat goes on.

I waited too long to drink my tea.

It was not hot. It was only warm.

 

 

Featured Image Via Public Domain Pictures

 

 


Bookstr is community supported. If you enjoy Bookstr’s articles, quizzes, graphics and videos, please join our Patreon to support our writers and creators or donate to our Paypal and help Bookstr to keep supporting the book loving community.
Become a Patron!




 

Pick a Setting, We’ll Recommend the Perfect Book

No matter where you’re spending the holidays, we’ve got a book to put you where you WISH you were.

 

Bookstr is community supported. If you enjoy Bookstr’s articles, quizzes, graphics and videos, please join our Patreon to support our writers and creators or donate to our Paypal and help Bookstr to keep supporting the book loving community.
Become a Patron!

 

Images via Goodreads 

Featured image via Helping Writers Become Authors

The 2 Books Bill Gates Says You Absolutely Must Read

Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, has always been an avid reader, and he’s not one to shy away from recommending books he finds thought-provoking. During a speech at his old high school where he met Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, Gates highlighted two books he thinks are “pretty fundamental” to read for the people he hires.

image via amazon

Factfulness, the first book on Gates’ recommended list, is about ten instincts that distort our perceptions of the world and how to overcome those distortions. In a 2018 blog post about the book, Gates had this to say:

Hans [Rosling], the brilliant global-health lecturer who died last year, gives you a breakthrough way of understanding basic truths about the world—how life is getting better, and where the world still needs to improve. And he weaves in unforgettable anecdotes from his life. It’s a fitting final word from a brilliant man, and one of the best books I’ve ever read.

Gates noted that Factfulness is especially valuable to anyone graduating from college and making the transition into the next phase of life.

image via amazon

The Better Angels of Our Nature, written by Steven Pinker, is the other book on Gates recommended list. In another blog post, Gates wrote that it “offers a really fresh perspective on how to achieve positive outcomes in the world”

Steven Pinker shows us ways we can make those positive trajectories a little more likely. That’s a contribution, not just to historical scholarship, but to the world.

Gates has said that these couple of books are key to his mission as a philanthropist. But overall, the “key metric” that Gates says everyone needs to develop in order to be successful is “self-confidence as a learner and willingness to keep learning.”

image via cnbc

Have you read any of these two books? Do you think you’ll follow Gates’ advice and pick them up? Let us know on Instagram and Facebook!

Featured image via CNBC

Improve Your Life With These Awesome Book Recommendations!

Each week, Bookstr scans bestseller lists across the Internet to learn what people are reading, buying, gifting, and talking about most — just so we can ensure consistent, high quality recommendations. This week’s nonfiction picks are self development picks to improve your quality of life! Dig in and enjoy!

 

 

5. ‘How to be bawse’ by Lilly Singh 

image via Amazon

 

How To Be Bawse by Lilly Singh offers her advice on success and shares what she learned on her way to internet superstardom. Her tips are both conventional (things like “say what you mean”) and unconventional (“be the dumbest person” in the room — aka, learn from those who are smart than you).

 

4. ‘Presence’ by Amy Cuddy

image via amazon

 

Presence by Amy Cuddy shows how to get the best of those stressful situations without doing a lot of life-changing and soul-searching. Instead, she delves into research about how things like body language, posture, and other mind-body techniques can banish the butterflies from our stomachs.

 

3. ‘Deep work’ by Cal Newport

image via amazon

 

Deep Work by Cal Newport, a professor of Georgetown, outlines the benefit of really tuning out all distractions, and gives four rules to help re-wire yourself so you can deeply focus again. (Check now: How many browser tabs do you have open?)

 

2. ‘creativity inc.’ by ed Catmull

image via amazon

 

Creativity INC. by Ed Catmull tells of the process of creativity and inspiration through the eyes of Pixar. People think of Pixar as a company that creates great art — and it is — but it’s also a business. One of the co-founders of the animation studio goes into the company’s nerve center to show how Pixar’s leadership and management styles protect and nourish its creative output. Whether you’re a Woody or a Buzz, you can learn something about heading up a team from Pixar’s unique organizational structure.

 

1. ‘the little book of hygge’ by meik wiking

image via amazon

 

The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking is all about the cozy Danish philosophy of hygge. But what exactly is it again, apart from being, well, cozy? And how do you achieve it at home in your chaotic, not-all-that-cozy life? Meik Wiking demystifies it all, showing how light, food and drink, and togetherness can make for a happier home.

 

 

Featured Images Via Amazon