Books & A Week I Will Need Time To Forget

 It's been a tough week, all things considered.

On Sunday, my Western gunfight set-up arrived, but was tempered by news that one of my oldest clients is terminally ill.

Beyond the fact that I had to arrange bringing new clients on board, the news hit me rather hard at a personal level as we've become friends over more than a decade. Added to this, Facebook reminded me that it's six years since we had a get together to mark the passing of the late, great Peter 'Greblord' Armstrong, who was a seminal figure in my evolution as a painter.

It has me in something of a deep funk and Tuesday saw me finishing up work for the day and then asking my wife to hug me as I cried it out of my system. No shame in that.

Anyway, I have just finished 'Game Wizards' which is a superb academic look at the rise and fall of TSR, but given my mood it was even more poignant as I lived through those times and vividly recall the gossip in the press and the sensationalism of the Dallas Egbert case.

It's a 'must read' book.

Next up, Art & Arcana, a visual guide to the D&D game, which is the same size as the GW history 'Dice Men' but 50% thicker. It's a real romp down memory lane, that's for sure and Jon Peterson was a contributing author, so the quality is manifest.

Finally, I have managed to get a copy of' 'Slaying The Dragon', billed as the secret history of TSR which is not out in the UK in softback until later in the year, so I had to pull in a favour, and get a U.S hardback edition. I'm really looking forward to getting into this one.

The only let down in the book department has been Monte Cook's 'Your Best Game Ever' which is a painful 'how to guide' seemingly aimed at those delicate snowflakes who abound everywhere these days and who, have to be hand held through everything they do. A waste of time and money, with the patronising, 'there, there' style... One to avoid.

 

I'm not going to Salute. Frankly its an awful lot of effort to stand in the sweat of a gaming cattle market for a mere 6 hours. I last went in the early 2000s, and loathed every minute of it. People dashing around to but stuff from the same vendors they could buy from at leisure online.

I'm looking forward wrapping up my major wargames spending by the end of the year, which has been made even more essential by the week's news. I want to get on with just playing games. 

I've been reaching out to old gaming friends to see if we can arrange more get-togethers and games, and I've sent out a blanket apology to those I've been at loggerheads with down the years, after some reflection and a sense of need to tidy away the products of this time around on the wheel of life.

Well, if you will excuse me, I must crack on with the day's work.

TTFN