Uknown Armies Suggested Reading

[Kevin Mowery]

----------
> From: Rick Neal <grendel at pangea.ca>
> To: UA at purpletape.cs.uchicago.edu
> Subject: Re: Uknown Armies  Suggested Reading
> Date: Monday, February 01, 1999 9:39 PM
> 
> I'm home, now, so I will add a few sources as I promised.
> 
> First, the second Sean Stewart book is "Night Watch", not "Night Music". 
> Sorry.
> 
> Other stuff:
> - "Drawing of the Dark" by Tim Powers. I think it's his first book, but 
> you can see the threads that are picked up in "Last Call" and the other 
> two. The Fisher King vs Suleiman in Vienna, with Merlin and Arthur 
> guarding the true Holy Grail: a vat of special beer. Do you think Mr 
> Tynes read this one before coming up with dipsomancy?

	This one might be a bit hard to find.  It's been out of print, as far as I
can tell, for approximately forever.  I haven't been able to read it
because I can't find a copy.

> - Neil Gaiman. Damn near anything by him, but "Neverwhere" is a good look

> at a very extensive occult underground, with some cool characters. For 
> those of you who have read the book, yes, the pun was intentional.

	Damn.  I forgot "Neverwhere" on my list.  Yes.  Get it.  Read it.  Watch
the series if you can find it.

> - A case can be made for the Alvin Maker series by Orson Scott Card. 
> Hexes and knacks during the settlement of the US.
> 
> - For a look inside the mind of people who deliberately manipulate others

> to great effect, pick up anything by Robert A. Nelson, but especially 
> "The Art of Cold Reading" and its sequel. Among other things, I'm a stage

> magician, and these are the handbooks for faking psychic powers. Some of 
> my friends are employed by psychic hotlines, based solely on the things 
> they learned in these two books. Be warned: they are hard to find and 
> rather expensive for the size of them. You will have to go to a _serious_

> stage magic dealer, but you won't regret it. Just do me a favour, and 
> don't tell anyone what you learn from them.

	Heh.  James Randi has an encyclopedia of hoaxes that explains cold reading
pretty well.  Also check out Shermer's "Why People Believe Weird Things". 
Use your newfound, uh, psychic powers to befuddle your GM and fellow
players.  Have your character "intuit" things about NPCs.

> - "Someplace to be Flying" by Charles de Lint. An amazing look at the 
> society of animal spirits living in a medium-sized city. Any of his 
> books, especially his Newford stuff would also be good. Oh! "Memory and 
> Dream"! I've developed an idea for an archetype just remembering the
book.

	The short story collections set in Newford are especially good: "Dreams
Underfoot", "The Ivory and the Horn", and "Moonlight and Vines" (the last I
admit I haven't read, but only because the library hasn't got a copy yet).

Kevin "Professor Bobo" Mowery _____________________ profbobo at io.com
"The entire dismemberment of Vash Gar reveals an ignorance of anatomy so 
deep that I begin to question whether the author does, indeed, have a
body."
                       --ratmm's Norb on the "Seven Stars MSTing"
     **See the "Seven Stars MSTing" at http://www.io.com/~profbobo **