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Good Reading for the Traveller GM

Yeah, what Mr. Appel Said.

Although if you get your hands on ANY Bujold book don't wait for the others to show up before you start reading. I'm morally certain you'll find the book enjoyable. I don't know how she managed it but I've yet to catch her on a coninuity glitch. At the same time for her books continuity is like... an inside joke. It enhances the fun but is not necessary to the successful enjoyment of the story within.

IMO anyway.

BTW. While Miles is the focus character for many of the books, Do not neglect the 'prequels' or 'Ethan of Athos' ... er.. I mean the choice is yours but you'll be denying yourself some serious fun if you do neglect the Bujold books that don't actually contain Miles.

All that said I highly reccomend The Warrior's Apprentice as your first read. ( Though... I think I started with 'Shards of Honour' myself. Miles' Parents are FASCINATING people)

Anyway. Hope you enjoy.
 
I just started re-reading Frank Herbert's Dune and I think that's a must-read for the Traveller GM. I know it makes me itch (even more than I already am) to get my campaign going.

Sure, the focus of the book is on Arrakis, but there is an amazing amount of general detail as background, and the political schemes and plans within plans are fantastic.
 
LWM:
Good call on the Dune books. The "feel" of Traveller isn't quite there - travel between systems seems much too fast - but the political shenanigans are a must for a Ref who wants to run that sort of a campaign.
 
Don't forget the 'prequels' that his kid and that other guy are writing. They are VERY good...almost up to the level of the original...

I just finished Elizabeth Moon's Heris Serrano series - Hunting Party, Sporting Chance, and Winning Colors...I've already read the rest of the 'Familias Regent Universe' books- Once a Hero, Rules of Engagement, Change of Command, and Against the Odds...Granted the lead characters are women, but they are pretty good...A solid universe and interesting characters...

BUT DON'T FORGET 'The Order of the Pheonix' :D
you can't go wrong reading the fastest selling book of history... :D

-MADDog

-------------------------------------------------
"And from now on, I don't care if my tea leaves spell 'Die, Ron, Die' - I'm just chucking them in the bin where they belong."
 
Not a sciffy title, but a damn good set of reads is the "Amanda Garret" series by James H Cobb

Choosers of the Slain
Sea Strike
Sea Fighter
Target Lock
 
For non-fiction, I'd recommend James Clavell's Asian Saga, _anything_ by Collen McCullough (ESPECIALLY _The Thorn Birds_ and the Roman series) and anything by Robert Graves (especially I, Claudius and Claudius the God).

I just realized, I tried to read Elizabeth Moon's book (uuuhhhh... thinking... what was that title?!?) oh yeah, _Once a Hero_ and couldn't get into it. I'm going to eventually sell it to a used book store. The same thing with Lois Bujold's _Borders of Infinity_ - couldn't get into it 'cause it wasn't the first one.
 
Hey, listen, Garf, I AM A BLASPHEMER! And besides, I need the room. ;) And the money, to get Warrior's Apprentice...

What, one wonders, does haggis have to do with my blasphemy?
 
It's a good thing we all don't like the same things.

Think of what a haggis shortage there would be.

(Wish I could remember who I was quoting)
 
Brian Daley's Terran Trilogy, the whole feel of the trilogy is Traveller itself (just faintly over-the-top space opera).

Requiem for a Ruler of Worlds
Jinx on a Terran Inheritance
Fall of the White Ship Avatar

Completed back in the late 80s, I have always wished he’d written more. If more source material had emerged, I think I might have had a run at a Traveller campaign based on the setting.


Although it has little to do with Traveller, Christopher Stasheff’s Wizard books present the idea of a single world of Fantasy amidst a vast Science Fiction milieu. Now that T20 is out, and its already existing fantasy source material is readily available, the idea of dropping a Fantasy world somewhere in the Imperium has occasionally fired through the old neurons. I have this vision of its total incongruity driving Imperial scientists and military thinkers nuts.


Dan Simmons Hyperion books, although not quite Traveller in feel, the story of a vast highly technological empire locked in a war with an external enemy, behind the scenes conspirators, and friends and enemies not being exactly what the seem, represent some of the best sprawling Science Fiction. My favorite character, of course, is the little ol’ Shrike.

1: Hyperion (Hugo & Nebula Award Winner)
2: The Fall of Hyperion

3: Endymion
4: The Rise of Endymion


Poul Anderson’s Flandry books.


John Barnes recent:
Although taking place only in the Sol system, it might be what Traveller would be like at TL-17 or 18 (with novelty 19) and no jump drive.

The Duke of Uranium
A Princess of the Aerie
In the Hall of the Martin King


Chris Bunch and Alan Cole
The Sten Books.

Sten
The Wolf Worlds
The Court of a Thousand Suns
The Fleet of the Damned
Revenge of the Damned
The Return of the Emperor
Vortex
Empire’s End


Simon R Green
For way over the top space opera:

Deathstalker


Harry Harrison
The Stainless Steel Rat books.
(and a whole lot of others . . .)


And others, of course, that have been mentioned already, and that I can’t think of right now.


Sincerely,

Chris O.
 
Originally posted by Garf:
Brian Daley's books...

le sigh..

somewhere in my old CT notes were rules for 'The Captain's Sidearm'
Click to expand...
Yup, I had always wanted a copy of Fitzhugh's sidearm in a game . . .
 
I'm surprised no-one has mentioned anything by CJ Cherryh.

The Chanur series maps loosely to the Aslan (there are differences between Aslan and Hani, but not too many for a determined DM).

Try Rimrunners and the others from that series for human-based adventures.

Cheers

David
 
Originally posted by David Elrick:
I'm surprised no-one has mentioned anything by CJ Cherryh.

The Chanur series maps loosely to the Aslan (there are differences between Aslan and Hani, but not too many for a determined DM).

Try Rimrunners and the others from that series for human-based adventures.

Cheers

David
Click to expand...
Hello David..might I steer ye to the Coti archives on this very page..
http://www.travellerrpg.com/cgi-bin/Trav/CotI/Discuss/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=000477

you'll see CJ-cherryh gets a lot of votes/ recommendations.
--said author of said thread...aka
 
Has anyone mentioned Keith Laumer's Retief series yet? If not, I will.

Seeing as each story pretty much deals with him interacting with a new/different alien race, there's plenty of goodness for plundering ...um... borrowing!
 
Very Travelleresque books..
The Liaden Universe series by
Sharon Lee and Steve Miller.
Agent of Change
Carpe Diem
Plan B
I Dare

There are a few others I haven't read yet. These are pretty awesome, with First-in Scouts, Traders, Mercs, and a really neat alien species. A good adventure with conflict between divergent Humaniti species, Interdicted worlds, and some combat...Highly recommended.
:D
-Maddog

-------------------------------------------------
Sig? What Sig? We don't need no stinking Sig Lines!
 
I'm a big Keith Laumer fan and his writings
always screamed Traveller to me.. ;)

Keith Laumer was a well-known and respected science fiction writer who, during the 1960s, began writing short stories featuring sentient robotic tanks known as Bolos, huge and powerful combat machines that often seemed to understand such concepts as "honor" and "duty" better than some of their human commanders.

Laumer died a few years ago, and his work will be missed . . . especially his stories and novels about Retief, the always-ready, always-brilliant galactic diplomat.
 
Liam,

Thanks for the heads-up. As I'm at work, I only manage to look at the COTI site during my lunch-hour, so there's always going to be stuff I've missed.

Mind you, at least I was right about CJ Cherryh...

I wrote some TNE stats for her Chanur series aliens once. They were published in an early issue of Valkyrie magazine (issue #4 I think). If anyone is interested, I could see if I still have the source files on a backup somewhere.

Cheers

David
 
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