This review is spoiler-free. Last year, fantasy monolith Brandon Sanderson revealed that he'd been cheating on fans of his in-progress series by writing even more books. This culminated in a record-breaking Kickstarter which raised millions of dollars to fund four new novels in high quality premium editions. As a complete and total Sanderson fanboy, obviously … Continue reading REVIEW: Tress of the Emerald Sea
Category: Reviews
REVIEW: Duckpac
In 1982 Chaosium published the innovative species-specific "splatbook" Trollpak. This boxed set detailed the culture, religion, history, and society of the Uz—called trolls by humans—thereby fleshing this species out as a player option, rather than a statblock. It seems rather fitting that a nice, round forty years later indie publisher Legion Games began to release … Continue reading REVIEW: Duckpac
REVIEW: Yamadonga
This review contains general spoilers for the film Yamadonga, but tries not to reveal specific twists. My introduction to Indian cinema came through the Glorantha community's recommendation of the fantasy epic Baahubali. I fell in love with director S. S. Rajamouli's vibrant duology almost immediately. In short, it feels like an Indian Lord of the … Continue reading REVIEW: Yamadonga
REVIEW—Akborítha
For this week's book I've got a lovely small-press treasure by Tolkien scholar Richard W. Rohlin: Akborítha, to which is appended The Songs of the Seven Cities. I stumbled across this work courtesy of the God Learners podcast interviewing JM DeFoggi and Evan Franke, because JM mentioned a forthcoming roleplaying game which intrigued me, Amboria: … Continue reading REVIEW—Akborítha
FIRST IMPRESSION—Elkoi Expansion
Elkoi Expansion is a new Jonstown Compendium release by Anders Tönnberg which bundles a variety of full-color maps in multiple styles together with a 34-page PDF providing additional details about the Balazaring clans near Elkoi, and mapped-out sites of interest inside the city. It is written for use with Griffin Mountain from Chaosium. I kept … Continue reading FIRST IMPRESSION—Elkoi Expansion
REVIEW: Children of Hykim
2022 was a phenomenal year for RuneQuest releases. With several books in the DuckPac and East Isles series from Legion Games, the finale of Andrew Logan Montgomery's acclaimed Six Seasons in Sartar series, Harald Smith's Edge of Empire exploring a Lunar Province, and all the other goodness which came out last year, I honestly think … Continue reading REVIEW: Children of Hykim
FIRST IMPRESSION—Fall RuneQuest Bundle
This article contains spoilers for the discussed adventures. The Storytelling Collective's "Write Your First Adventure" workshop produced four new adventures for RuneQuest, published over the last few months. They're now available as a bundle on the Jonstown Compendium! Let's take a look inside. As a reminder, this is a "First Impressions" article, which is somewhere … Continue reading FIRST IMPRESSION—Fall RuneQuest Bundle
REVIEW: Bug Fables
The 2019 videogame—I know, a videogame, from a tabletop guy?—Bug Fables: the Everlasting Sapling first caught my attention because of it's open inspiration by one of my all-time favorite games: Paper Mario for the Nintendo 64. There's just something special and nostalgic about that game for me, much in the same way many people feel … Continue reading REVIEW: Bug Fables
REVIEW: Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
This review is spoiler-free. Despite having a cinephile as a close friend, I don't see a lot of movies in an actual theater. Even discounting the last few years of shutdown, going to a theater was still fairly rare. It only happened when there was a film interesting enough to get one person riling everyone … Continue reading REVIEW: Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
REVIEW: Origins of the Wheel of Time
Robert Jordan's megalithic fantasy series, The Wheel of Time, holds a special and complicated place within my heart, like it does for many modern writers of fantasy. It's a series which I love, but never dare recommend due to its length and inconsistent pacing. Michael Livingston's recent release, Origins of the Wheel of Time, is … Continue reading REVIEW: Origins of the Wheel of Time
Akhelas 