Mage's Blood & Old Bones: A Tunnels & Trolls Anthology

by Elizabeth Danforth

Contains:

Foreword by Dennis L. McKiernan
"Imp-Possible Situations" by Elizabeth T. Danforth
"Two Worst Thieves in Khazan" by Ken St. Andre
"Where There's a Wizard There's a Way" by Bear Peters
"One Small Detail" by Katharine Kerr
"Under Khazan - Naked Doom" by Ken St. Andre
"Campatriot Games" by Mark O'Green
"Wind Tiger" by Michael A. Stackpole
Afterword by Michael A. Stackpole

Genres: Fantasy

180 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1992

Reviews

[Derek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tunnels and Trolls has always struck me as a game with a strange, different aesthetic: freewheeling and experimental, but with a rich background and history. So I was eager to try out what the writers would do with it.

The answer is that you could have a story that is tied to the setting or to the presentation of the game itself--"Compatriot Games", the "Khazan" pair--but are not very good at all, or you can have a decent story only tied by for reference or backstory--"Wild Tiger", "One Small Detail", "Where There's A Wizard...", and "Imp-Possible Situations".

The curiosity is that the Afterword paints the setting as completely non-cohesive, with no central plan or canonical set of events for a history. Each participant/writer pushes his or her own version of events based on his or her geographical pet project, and sometimes these versions are in violent disagreement. These disagreements carry across to the various game materials.

[Ian Burrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based on the role-playing game, Tunnels & Trolls, these short stories have a similar feel to dungeon delving adventures of the game. High adventure spiced with humour, not high literature but high jinx and fun.