2024-12-29 2024 Book Log

I’ve kept a log where I write about some of the books I read since some time in 2017. I present here my entries in my book log for 2024, unedited, and with some additional errors from transcription.

1. Stranger Shores Literary Essays 1986-1999
2. A Sorrow Beyond Dreams
3. Zama
4. The Quest for Roots The Poetry of Vasko Popa
5. Shadow of Heroes
6. The Nick Adams Stories
7. My Brilliant Friend
8. Midaq Alley

Stranger Shores: Literary Essays 1986-1999

by J.M. Coetzee, finished 2024-02-05

I really enjoyed these essays, and found them inspirational, though I don’t think I’d have found them as interesting had they not been written by Coetzee. He’s really well read, and it makes me want to read more. Partly, I found his writing intimidating. I’d like to write this sort of thing but it feels like I’de have to read so much…

One thing I found interesting is that, although there are a number of essays on white South African authors, there are none on black South African authors. I was initially confused by this, but I think there’s a good reason. I believe Coetzee is working out in this writing what it means to be a white African, and, particularly, a white African writer. I don’t know what conclusion he comes to, if any. He’s very critical of these writers, and I wonder how he feels about his own writing.

A Sorrow Beyond Dreams

by Peter Handke, finished 2024-02-12

Read this in two days, it’s quite short - only 70 pages. The book is a biography of Handke’s mother who killed herself in her 50’s. I’m not sure if this is framed as autofiction or memoir. I guess I’m not sure what the difference is.

I’ve never read any Handke before, and this book doesn’t reccommend him. He does this thing that feels like apologia for his intentions. I’m not sure why he does this exactly, but it drives me crazy

Zama

by Antonio Benedetto, finished 2024-06-21

This was a book Coetzee reviewed in one of the two collections of literary essays I read earlier this year. I didn’t really enjoy this book, but I powered through. It was quite short but still took me a few weeks to finish.

The book follows the inner life of the titular Zama as he tries to get a nut off. In the end, he volunteers to help capture a bandit who tortures Zma before the novels end.

The novel was too navel-gazing for my taste, and the reactions and behavior of the characteres was too dreamlike. The whole thing was very strange. I don;t think I get the point of this book, but it definitely has a vice similar to L’Étranger.

The Quest for Roots: The Poetry of Vasko Popa

by Anita Lekić, finished 2024-07-10

Took me a while to finish this, but I’m glad I did. My copy of Popa’s Complete Works is still in Berlin so I couldn’t reference it, but a lot of the quoted poems were familiar to me. My feelings about the author’s analysis of Popa’s early work is mixed: on the one hand we’re in agreement on the subject being the confrontation between the inner self and a hostile external world. On the other, Lekić fails to understand the driving irony of Far WIthin Us and the implied failure to conquer that hostile external world. In my opinion this gives added depth to Popa’s relationship with the violence around him.

I was happy for some of the historical context given for his middle works which are somewhat mysterious to me. Still Lekić’s analysis is a little suspect.

Shadow of Heroes

by Robert Ardrey, finished 2024-09-03

This play is about László Raijk and Janos Kadar, the Hungarian communists, and about Julia Rajk, László’s wife. It is also about the failed social democratic revolution of 1956. I read this after having seen it mentioned on Wikipedia while I was riding the bus up to Ithaca to hang with Scott and boys on the Finger Lakes. I spent a bunch of time that ride reading about Kadar and the history of Communist Hungary.

It’s all pretty sad. At the end of the play Julia is back in prison, and was still there when the play was produced in 1958. The play really tells the story of man’s imperfection, our inability to govern justly or to act on our own principles.

I thought it did a good job of humanizing the history it portrays. The voice of the author thing was a little weird but what can you do?

The Nick Adams Stories

by Ernest Hemingway, finished 2024-09-10

I’d read a bunch of these before, probably in Mom’s book of his collected stories. But there were new ones like “The Last Good Place” which I loved. Reading these stories brought me back to when I was seventeen, reading those other stories. The wistfulness and meaning, and how much I love Hemingway’s prose.

Some of the Nick Adams stories are about writing and I’d like to take something away from them but I don’t know what. Confidence, maybe, which I never really had. I’m 34 - Nick is 38 in the last story - twice again as old as I was when I started really reading and thinking about life and the world. What really has changed?

My Brilliant Friend

by Elena Ferrante, finished ~2024-09-25

I really enjoyed this book, not least because I’m reading it with Lauren and Manan. I think the psychology of the involved characters was so real and well-communicated, and the very mundane drama of the story nevertheless managed to maintain interest. Really well-executed story.

One aspect I found interesting was the spectre of the second world war. Like so much in the book, it is consigned to an ambiguous time before the narrative, but its impact is seen now and then.

Lauren: “There’s a lot of grudges, people still remember whose side everybody took, what they did, even though they don’t seem to talk about it.”

Midaq Alley

by Naguib Mahfouz, finished 2024-11-25

Mostly a boring book so it took me a while to finish. Coetzee wrote about Mahfouz in one of those books of his I read earlier this year is what inspired me to pick this up. Having read this just after My Brilliant friend - another book in which not much happens - I found myself comparing them quite a but much to this novel’s disadvantage. Whereas Ferrante made me invested in Lila and Lènu’s lives so that the mundane drama is more immediate and gripping, I didn’t care at all for any of the characters in this novel, not least because there are many of them and none takes center stage.

Special Rooms: Pools Magical and Otherwise

An entry in an ongoing project to generate "special" rooms

Section 1: Pools, Magical or Otherwise

Pools in dungeons function as important sources of water and therefore get a lot of traffic. The original function of the pool, however, may have been different, e.g. it might have been used for bathing.

Section 1A: Pool Room Contents

d12	Pool Room Contents
2-3	Pool, no monster
4-5	Pool, monster
6-10	Pool, monster, & treasure
11-12	Magical Pool, see Section 1B

Adapted from ADnD DMG Appendix A Table VIII A p 172

Section 1B: Magic Pools

d6	Magic Pool Effect
1	Magic Pool Type 1
2	Magic Pool Type 2
3	Magic Pool Type 3
4	Magic Pool Type 4
5	Magic Pool Type 5
6	Magic Pool Type 6

1. Turns gold to platinum (1-11) or lead (12-20), 1d6x100 coins
2. Will, on a one-time only per character basis, add (1-3) or subtract (4-6) from one characteristic. Add or subtract 1-3 points. It will behave identically for everyone (1-12), or be determined by individual (13-20).

d6	Characteristic
1	Strength
2	Intelligence
3	Wisdom
4	Dexterity
5	Constitution
6	Charisma

3. Talking pool which will grant one wish (1-5) or 1d4 wishes (6) which are judged to be consistent with its alignment. The pool’s alignment is (1-13) lawful, (14-18) neutral, or (19-20) chaotic. The wish can be withheld for up to (1-10) one day, (11-12) forever, or (13-20) must be used immediately
4. Functions as Teleportation Chamber
5. Functions as Portal to Another Plane
6. The pool permits those who gaze into it to either (1-4) witness ongoing events elsewhere or (5-6) view past events as well as ongoing events.

Section 1C: Source of Water

d8	Source of Water
1-3	Natural Spring
4-5	Piping
6-7	Aqueduct
8	Enchantment, water appears magically

An Accounting of the Victory of Serga Ulmus over the Treacherous Elves

Sometime around March of 2023, Attronarch ran a one-shot, reversing an old dragon magazine dungeon and having us, the players, play as orcs come to reclaim an old orcish stronghold (and the magical weapon within). I played Serga Ulmus, a half-orc cleric/thief who ended up scampering away over a cliff. Below is an after-action report written in the voice of another character that survived.

HEAR THIS, the age of Serga is upon us! I, Uglamm the Wretched, have been tasked with the glorious honor of chronicling his tale.

It was the retrieval of Alkarg, the Elf-Destroyer, that brought this age to ripeness. I was honored to be among those tasked with delving into the lost citadel of Alhurmus, the bastion of his revered ancestor Mondru IV (may Gruumsh glorify his name!), and there to combat the many traps and deadly beasts. Yet it was through Serga’s strength that we were victorious!

Be it remembered that the numerous clever traps of Mondru’s fortress felled brave orcs who gave their life for Serga! And it was their blood that stoked the fire of Serga’s resolve. The halls of the fortress were lined with statues of the honored dead, and trophies torn bloodily from the hands of slaughtered elf-kind. And each of them seemed to bow and cheer “Serga!” as he passed. Enshrined among the great halls were heroes of old, and their treasures, and they too looked upon their descendant with admiration and respect. For Serga is the chosen of Gruumsh!

Let the name of the vile lycanthrope who defiled those hallowed halls be forgotten, only the glory of Serga remains. Through violence and treachery, many of Serga’s servants were slain. So it was that only his brother Baktar, and his servants Durz and Nogurgh survived to accompany Serga to the lowest level of the fortress, where resided the Bane of Elves. How beautiful were those lower halls which glorified Gruumsh! And yet, even here, the brilliance of Mondru’s defenses cost incautious Durz his life. There were many riddles there, engraved upon black iron gates. And yet, for one as clever in words as Serga there was nothing hidden! For he was wise in the written form. Cautiously did he, his brother, and his servant enter to that final chamber. And yet seeing the prize in front of him, the Elf-Destroyer, Serga strode forward bravely. And the honored dead that lined the hall there were glad to see him, and they proferred to him the spear itself which he had sought.

The three heroes rose victorious through the labyrinth to where they had entered into the fortress, and where awaited Serga and Baktar’s father Thaagwa, who had taught Serga the ways of Gruumsh, and his retinue of brave Orcs. Yet when they entered into the plain air they discovered treachery! A band of men, led by hateful elves, had put to the sword Serga’s faithful followers, and even his father (though his father lived just long enough to see his son emerge).

Seeing this evil before him, and the blood spilled by those that would oppose him, there rose in Serga a righteous fury. And he strode into the field, glowing a brilliant red, a sign of his hatred for the treacherous elves! There he did battle with those villains, I saw it with my own eyes! He slew them to the last one. And though Baktra and Nogurgh could not withstand the hateful violence of the elves, Serga emerged, all drenched in the blood of his enemies. Let it be known! All who oppose the chosen of Gruumsh will find only destruction.

Special Rooms: Alchemic Laboratories

An entry in an ongoing project to generate "special" rooms

Similar to Magical Item Creation Facilities, Alchemic Laboratories provide both facilities and material for the production of potions. It is assumed that whatever items and installations constitute the facilities are difficult to move while the material is easier to transport.

Section 17A: Quantity of Available Resources

d8	Value of available facilities
1-4	1d6 x 100GP
5-7	1d4 x 500GP
8	1d4 x 1000GP

d8	Quantity of available material
1-4	Sufficient material for 1d6 potions
5-7	Sufficient material for 1d10 potions
8	Sufficient material for 2d10 potions

Section 17B: Age/quality of facilities and material

2d6	Age/quality of facilities and material
2	Ancient/destroyed: either the lab is truly ancient or some force has intentionally destroyed it or both. The facilities are worth 10% of their rolled value, there is a 90% chance per potion’s worth of material that the material is not fit to purpose.
3-6	Aged/ruined: the lab is very old and sufficiently out of date that it’s technologies are unfamiliar, or some natural damage (e.g. leaking water) has ruined a substantial portion of the lab. The facilities are worth 50% of their rolled value, there is a 50% chance per potion’s worth of material that the material is not fit to purpose.
7-11	Abandoned: the lab has been recently abandoned and left to decay. The facilities are worth 80% of their rolled value, there is a 20% chance per potion’s worth of material that the material is not fit to purpose
12	Pristine/in use: the lab is still in use or has been supernaturally preserved. The facilities are worth 100% of their rolled value, and all material is usable

Section 17C: Area of alchemic research

Labs may be used not only for the creation of known potions but for the discovery of novel potions. Such labs are likely to have texts or notes relevant to this research.

d6	Area of alchemic research
1	Perception, as in potions of clairvoyance or esp
2	Detection, as in potions of treasure finding
3	Control, as in potions of control animal or control undead
4	Transformation, as in potions of diminution or gaseous form
5	Healing, as in potions of healing or those used for curing diseases
6	Poison, as in potions of poison or any other sorts of poisons

Special Rooms: Portals to Another Plane

An entry in an ongoing project to generate "special" rooms

This section details the possible functioning of a portal to another plane, but attempts to be agnostic as to what the plane might be, and defers to other texts for the detailing of the physical portal itself.

2A: Can the other side of the portal be perceived without entering?

d2	Nature of Portal
1	No
2	Yes, by looking through the aperture

2B: What does the portal connect to?

The implication of the portal not connecting to anything should be clear: it is effectively one-way. This should be hinted at if the other side of the portal can be perceived.

d20	Portal Connects to...
1-8	Nothing, the portal drops entrants off in open terrain in the target plane
9-19	Another portal, roll to determine it's nature
20	A dedicated portal facility, see Section 2C

2C: Portal facilities

Such facilities are purpose built to provide transport throughout the planes.

d20	Number of Portals in Facility
1-9	1d4+1
10-14	1d6+2
15-18	1d10+4
19-20	1d20+6

2D: How is the portal activated?

d20	The portal is activated...
1-4	By entering it, no special action is otherwise required
5-7	With a key of some sort, which must be (1-2) presented at some sort of device in the same chamber, (3-4) be on the person of an entrant into the portal, (5) be on the person of each entrant (multiple copies of the key are required), or (6) be presented elsewhere in the dungeon.
8-11	With ritual magic, which is either (1-4) described in the same chamber, or (5-6) must be discovered elsewhere.
12-15	With a non-magical ritual which is either (1-4) described in the same chamber, or (5-6) must be discovered elsewhere.
16-19	Only at a certain time each day
20	Only on a certain day each year

2E: Other considerations

For tables detailing the physical characteristics of portals and their keys, see Kefitzah Hederach: Incunabulum of the Uncanny Gates and Portals. Consider that the portal might be hidden or trapped. Table IIIc from Tricks, Empty Rooms, & Basic Trap Design by Courtney Campbell might be useful here.

Special Rooms: A Generator

Special Rooms: A Generator

 I use a bunch of the tables from the AD&D DMG Appendix A: Random Dungeon Generation. Particularly, I use the table for stocking rooms - Table V. F.: Chamber or Room Contents. Setting aside issues I've had using this method, the table appears as follows:

The entry for a roll of 18 is "Special," which, as far as I can tell, has no elaboration in the DMG (of course I might just have missed it). In any case, a while ago I started working on a set of tables for generating "special" rooms, starting by ripping off the DMG's description of rooms with pools. My master table looks like this:

d20	Room Seed	Completed	Link
1	Pool, magical or otherwise	X	Section 1
2	Portal to Another Plane	X	Section 2
3	Summoning Chamber
4	Channeling Room
5	Plant Life	X	Section 5
6	Impossible/Alien Architecture
7	Crypt
8	Illusion
9	Magical Item Creation Facilities
10	Mundane Dramatic Architecture
11	Entry to the Underdark
12	Teleportation Chamber
13	Riddle
14	Physical Puzzle
15	Ore Vein
16	Entry to Another Dungeon
17	Alchemic Laboratory	X	Section 17
18	Intact/Functional Library
19	Game Animal Grounds
20	Farm/Greenhouse

Each of these entries links to a sub-table detailing the variety of special room. I'll add more details here as the project continues.

Special Rooms: Plant Life

An entry in an ongoing project to generate "special" rooms

5A: Type of Plant Life

d20	Type of Plant Life
1-8	Hostile Plant Life, see procedure in Section 5B
9-11	Harvestable Magical Plant, see procedure in Section 5C
12-15	Impediment, area is difficult to traverse due to plant-life
16-18	Wondrous Plants, appearance of plants is strange or beautiful
19-20	Mundane or Magical area effect while near plants, see procedure in Section 5D

5B: Hostile Plant Life

The plant is either (1-15) immobile and hostile (behaving like a trap or trick), or (16-20) is a hostile plant monster of some sort. If the plant life is immobile there is a 2-in-6 chance of treasure being present. If it is a monster there is a 4-in-6 chance of treasure being present.

Section 5C: Harvestable Magical Plant

This section details plant life that can be used in one way or another in the creation of potions. Plants used for more mundane needs are detailed elsewhere, but notably absent from this section is plant life that can be used in the creation of other magical items, such as weapons or armor. Roll on Table 5C II once for each harvestable plant present.

Table 5C I:  Number of Harvestable Plant Types Present

d20	Number of Harvestable Plant Types Present
1-12	1
13-18	2
19-20	3

Table 5C II: Units Harvestable Per Plant Type

d20	Units Harvestable Per Plant Type
1-12	1
13-16	1d3
17-19	1d6
20	2d6

See Tome of Adventure Design Table 3-70 for Plant Generation or use the following procedure:

1. First determine if the plant is (1-18) used as a component in a potion or (19-20) has the effect of a potion when consumed
2. Next determine if the plant (1-12) must be used fresh or (13-20) can be preserved and used in a preserved state.
   1. If it must be used fresh, it must be used (1-5) within 24 hours, (6-12) within 5 days, (13-18) within 30 days, or (19-20) whenever, no matter how advanced the degree of decay
3. To determine which potion the plant is a component in or has the effect of, the author suggests using a preexisting potion table such as the Magic Potions table found in Old School Essentials Classic Fantasy Treasure p. 14

Section 5D:  Area Effect of Plants 

This section details plants that affect an area in a manner similar to magical effects.

d100	Area of Effect
1-25	1 room
26-50	1d4+1 rooms
51-75	2d6+2 rooms
76-85	3d8+3
86-95	entire dungeon region
96-100	entire dungeon

For suggestions on the nature of the magical effect, see Filling in the Blanks by Third Kingdom Games, page 64.

 Two Magic Items from Hitherland

As part of Attronarch's blog carnival, I went through my notes for my Hitherland setting and pulled out some magic items. I only found two (2) that were fully fleshed out and were worth sharing! I was pretty surprised. I really like the spine, but I think the chainmail is probably overpowered.

Ironwood Chainmail

This chainmail is crafted from enchanted ironwood. It provides AC as plate, but affects movement like leather. The rattling of the wooden links decreases the chance of surprising the enemy by 1-in-6.

The Spine of Rshsinni

The relic of a Sahuagin saint, this spine is a powerful magic item that grants the following abilities to chaotic clerics:

• Allows the casting of Remove Fear/Cause Fear by level 1 clerics
• Improves the performance of the Remove Fear/Cause Fear spell when held by a chaotic cleric
• Remove Fear: saving throws against magical fear are modified by +2 per caster level (above first level) instead of +1
• Cause Fear: Saves against this spell are at -1 per caster level (above first level)