Appendix N Bookclub - Stormbringer by Michael Moorcock
Details
đź“š Appendix N Book Club: Reading the Fiction That Inspired Dungeons & Dragons
What Is Appendix N?
At the back of the 1st Edition AD&D Dungeon Master's Guide (1979), Gary Gygax included a reading list known as Appendix N — 28 authors, 22 specific titles, and 12 book series that directly inspired the roleplaying game we still know and love today: Dungeons & Dragons. This book club is your invitation to explore those foundational works.
Together, we will:
- Read a selection of Appendix N works and related fiction, and gain an appreciation for their stories, themes, and worlds
- Discuss how they influenced the monsters, magic systems, themes, and play styles of D&D
- Consider how we might bring those ideas into the campaigns we're running now
How It Works
Each month we read either a couple of short stories or a novel from one of the Appendix N authors, then meet up to talk about it. Discussion also continues asynchronously in our Discord server for those who prefer online conversation or can't make every session: https://discord.gg/ma4V95uRKr
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📅 Next Meeting: Michael Moorcock's Stormbringer -- Sunday, March 8, 2026 · 1:00–3:00 PM 📍 Location: BonTree Cafe, Brooklyn (see location details)
For our next meeting, we'll be reading Michael Moorcock's Stormbringer, the climactic finale of his famous Elric of Melniboné series!
About Elric, the Eternal Champion
Elric is a tortured antihero — the reluctant albino Emperor of decadent Melniboné. As a Melnibonéan sorcerer, his people made a pact with the Lords of Chaos. Elric learns he is the "Eternal Champion," destined to balance Chaos and Law across Moorcock's multiverse. Throughout the series, he encounters other Eternal Champions, makes allies and enemies, and wields his cursed sentient sword Stormbringer, which hungers endlessly for souls.
About the Novel
Stormbringer sees the albino emperor in a Ragnarök-like battle to save the world from Chaos. First published in 1965, Moorcock revised the text in 1977, creating the definitive version we'll be reading for book club.
Getting a Copy
Best option: Stormbringer: The Elric Saga, Vol. 2 (Saga Press, 2022) https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Stormbringer/Michael-Moorcock/Elric-Saga-The/9781534445710
Note: This compilation is a big fat hardcover containing four separate Elric novels — you only need to read the final one, actually titled Stormbringer, for book club.
Where to buy:
- The Strand (Manhattan)
- Love & Legends (Brooklyn)
- Libraries: Brooklyn Public Library, Queens Public Library, NYPL
- Online: AbeBooks, etc.
Used copies of older standalone editions of Stormbringer are also cheap online.
Additional Resources
If you want to go deeper before or after the meeting:
- Elric's origin story — Elric of Melniboné (1972 prequel novella): https://readerslibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/Elric-of-Melnibone-1.pdf
- "Epic Pooh" — Moorcock's famous critique of Tolkien: https://worldwithoutmoneyarg.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/moorcock-1978-epic-pooh-in-arena-2-anarchists-in-fiction-2011.pdf
- New Yorker profile of Moorcock — "Anti-Tolkien": https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/anti-tolkien