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Numenera
Tales from the Ninth World
THERE HAVE BEEN EIGHT PREVIOUS WORLDS.
Each world stretched across vast millennia of time. Each played host to a race whose civilizations rose to supremacy but eventually died or scattered, disappeared or transcended. During the time that each world flourished, those that ruled it spoke to the stars, reengineered their physical bodies, and mastered form and essence, all in their own unique ways.
Each left behind remnants.
The people of the new world—the Ninth World—sometimes call these remnants magic, and who are we to say they’re wrong? But most give a unique name to the legacies of the nigh-unimaginable past. They call them...
NUMENERA
Tales from the Ninth World is an anthology of three hefty short stories set against the evocative world of Monte Cook's Numenera roleplaying game. In these stories, you’ll get a peek into the lives of isolated nobles, urban thieves, and a band of adventurers unlike any you’ve encountered before.
The Ninth World is filled with stories. Come explore it.
Each world stretched across vast millennia of time. Each played host to a race whose civilizations rose to supremacy but eventually died or scattered, disappeared or transcended. During the time that each world flourished, those that ruled it spoke to the stars, reengineered their physical bodies, and mastered form and essence, all in their own unique ways.
Each left behind remnants.
The people of the new world—the Ninth World—sometimes call these remnants magic, and who are we to say they’re wrong? But most give a unique name to the legacies of the nigh-unimaginable past. They call them...
NUMENERA
Tales from the Ninth World is an anthology of three hefty short stories set against the evocative world of Monte Cook's Numenera roleplaying game. In these stories, you’ll get a peek into the lives of isolated nobles, urban thieves, and a band of adventurers unlike any you’ve encountered before.
The Ninth World is filled with stories. Come explore it.
83 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 2013
77 people want to read
About the author
Monte Cook
211 books125 followers
The game designer
Monte Cook started working professionally in the game industry in 1988. In the employ of Iron Crown Enterprises, he worked with the Rolemaster and Champions games as an editor, developer, and designer. In 1994, Monte came to TSR, Inc., as a game designer and wrote for the Planescape and core D&D lines. When that company was purchased by Wizards of the Coast, he moved to the Seattle area and eventually became a senior game designer. At Wizards, he wrote the 3rd Edition Dungeon Master's Guide and served as codesigner of the new edition of the Dungeons & Dragons game. In 2001, he left Wizards to start his own design studio, Malhavoc Press, with his wife Sue. Although in his career he has worked on over 100 game titles, some of his other credits include Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, The Book of Eldritch Might series, the d20 Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game, The Book of Vile Darkness, Monte Cook’s Arcana Evolved, Ptolus, Monte Cook's World of Darkness, and Dungeonaday.com. He was a longtime author of the Dungeoncraft column in Dungeon Magazine. In recent years, Monte has been recognized many times by game fans in the ENnies Awards, the Pen & Paper fan awards, the Nigel D. Findley Memorial Award, the Origins Awards, and more.
The author
A graduate of the 1999 Clarion West writer's workshop, Monte has published two novels, The Glass Prison and Of Aged Angels. Also, he has published the short stories "Born in Secrets" (in the magazine Amazing Stories), "The Rose Window" (in the anthology Realms of Mystery), and "A Narrowed Gaze" (in the anthology Realms of the Arcane). His stories have appeared in the Malhavoc Press anthologies Children of the Rune and The Dragons' Return, and his comic book writing can be found in the Ptolus: City by the Spire series from DBPro/Marvel. His fantasy fiction series, "Saga of the Blade," appeared in Game Trade Magazine from 2005–2006.
The geek
In his spare time, Monte runs games, plays with his dog, watches DVDs, builds vast dioramas out of LEGO building bricks, paints miniatures, and reads a lot of comics.
Monte Cook started working professionally in the game industry in 1988. In the employ of Iron Crown Enterprises, he worked with the Rolemaster and Champions games as an editor, developer, and designer. In 1994, Monte came to TSR, Inc., as a game designer and wrote for the Planescape and core D&D lines. When that company was purchased by Wizards of the Coast, he moved to the Seattle area and eventually became a senior game designer. At Wizards, he wrote the 3rd Edition Dungeon Master's Guide and served as codesigner of the new edition of the Dungeons & Dragons game. In 2001, he left Wizards to start his own design studio, Malhavoc Press, with his wife Sue. Although in his career he has worked on over 100 game titles, some of his other credits include Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, The Book of Eldritch Might series, the d20 Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game, The Book of Vile Darkness, Monte Cook’s Arcana Evolved, Ptolus, Monte Cook's World of Darkness, and Dungeonaday.com. He was a longtime author of the Dungeoncraft column in Dungeon Magazine. In recent years, Monte has been recognized many times by game fans in the ENnies Awards, the Pen & Paper fan awards, the Nigel D. Findley Memorial Award, the Origins Awards, and more.
The author
A graduate of the 1999 Clarion West writer's workshop, Monte has published two novels, The Glass Prison and Of Aged Angels. Also, he has published the short stories "Born in Secrets" (in the magazine Amazing Stories), "The Rose Window" (in the anthology Realms of Mystery), and "A Narrowed Gaze" (in the anthology Realms of the Arcane). His stories have appeared in the Malhavoc Press anthologies Children of the Rune and The Dragons' Return, and his comic book writing can be found in the Ptolus: City by the Spire series from DBPro/Marvel. His fantasy fiction series, "Saga of the Blade," appeared in Game Trade Magazine from 2005–2006.
The geek
In his spare time, Monte runs games, plays with his dog, watches DVDs, builds vast dioramas out of LEGO building bricks, paints miniatures, and reads a lot of comics.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
August 3, 2013
While these stories were fairly enjoyable and well-written, I feel they failed to convey a sense of what Numenera's gameplay might be like. I can only assume this was the main purpose of this work, and if so I don't believe the authors were very successful.
Certainly, these glimpses into the lives of (ostensibly) "ordinary" Ninth World denizens help to frame this setting, but only the third story featured an adventurous set of individuals going about their business. Hopefully, future installments of stories or novels will be a little more action-filled and exploratory.
Certainly, these glimpses into the lives of (ostensibly) "ordinary" Ninth World denizens help to frame this setting, but only the third story featured an adventurous set of individuals going about their business. Hopefully, future installments of stories or novels will be a little more action-filled and exploratory.
June 24, 2014
Though the back of this e-book is full of writing credits for both of the authors, it has an amateurish feel throughout, like stories submitted to a high-school lit-mag. They have a lot of the right parts (character development, plot escalation, etc) but lack polish and spark.
Cook writes the first story, which is serviceable despite awkward scene transitions and a too-simple plot.
Shanna Germain, who writes the second, just seems like she's trying too hard with lines like, "...the sharp truth of that made her throat itch and pulse." I get what she's going for, but I don't even know how that's actually supposed to work. Her prose is better than Cook's, though.
My favorite was the third story, co-written by Cook and Germain and featuring a sarcastic, likable narrator. If its ending hadn't been so abrupt and its character details so vague, it might have pulled the book's overall rating up to three stars.
Cook writes the first story, which is serviceable despite awkward scene transitions and a too-simple plot.
Shanna Germain, who writes the second, just seems like she's trying too hard with lines like, "...the sharp truth of that made her throat itch and pulse." I get what she's going for, but I don't even know how that's actually supposed to work. Her prose is better than Cook's, though.
My favorite was the third story, co-written by Cook and Germain and featuring a sarcastic, likable narrator. If its ending hadn't been so abrupt and its character details so vague, it might have pulled the book's overall rating up to three stars.
October 7, 2020
This short story collection must not under any circumstances be mistaken for a anything written by a professional author of grand or epic novels. It's co-written by a role playing game maker and a writer of racy entertainment. There is absolutely no disrespect meant by any of this, for as you can see from my rating I found it very enjoyable.
Although Monte didn't invent anything new with this RPG system or universe that he created, it was a refreshing blend and a new take on the classic motifs. This publication was meant not only to
promote/advertise his new RPG book but to spark the imagination of future game masters and players alike, to help them broaden their perspective and how they would go about on their new adventures.
To summarise: It was exciting, intriguing, and I felt I wanted to know more about the protagonists in each story. In other words, it fuelled my imagination, just as it was meant to do. - - - - Ferdinand.
Although Monte didn't invent anything new with this RPG system or universe that he created, it was a refreshing blend and a new take on the classic motifs. This publication was meant not only to
promote/advertise his new RPG book but to spark the imagination of future game masters and players alike, to help them broaden their perspective and how they would go about on their new adventures.
To summarise: It was exciting, intriguing, and I felt I wanted to know more about the protagonists in each story. In other words, it fuelled my imagination, just as it was meant to do. - - - - Ferdinand.
September 3, 2017
Una serie de cuentos cortos ambientados en el Noveno Mundo (Ninth World). del juego de rol Numenara. Monte Cook diseñó Numenara para que fuese un mundo de fantasía en un futuro lejano, en donde el objetivo es ser una suerte de arqueólogo de tecnologías pasadas, para redescubrirlas y manejarlas cual hechiceros de un mundo alienígena. El Noveno Mundo está lleno de numenaras, vestigios de los mundos anteriores en forma de tecnologías, lugares, materiales y artefactos. Los cuentos son efectivos en dibujar lo extraño y familiar, lo inesperado, y la sensación de asombro y descubrimiento de los personajes interactuando con la numenara y la ecología de este extraño mundo. Es una buena manera de entender e imaginarse este setting, antes de adentrarse en el juego de rol.
December 17, 2017
Recently I've been playing Torment: Tides of the Numenera. I like it, I like the world but I don't really feel it. To that end I decide to read this one... and I still can't truly say I "get" this setting. It isn't to say it's nonsensical or bad, I just can't really get around in it, see patterns, know what is just weird, what is weird to us but normal in that world and what is completely bonkers. Still, it is a good start and I can't say I didn't enjoy the Tales. I need to explore the setting a bit more.
January 25, 2019
Prestoze jsem svet numenera neznal, povidky se mi libily. Pribehy mi prisly originalni a ctive.
April 9, 2021
One rather bland taster tale from Cook. One deeply intriguing short tale by Germain. One "ok" teeny adventure from Germain. Essentially teaser stuff for the Numenera RPG.
February 8, 2025
It's fine. I read the first story and DNF @ 26%. I suspect its more rewarding to read Gene Wolfe and other source materials for the setting rather than this one. Even if it's decent.
July 27, 2013
3 short stories in the Ninth World, each telling us a little bit of the strange an alien world that Earth had become after 1 billion years. Some things are the same, same old humanity, even if it’s not exactly as we are, there are some common factors that can't go away in the intent of having the reader get involved with the characters. Yet there is still enough weirdness and novelty to show is the alieness of the world.
-The Smell of Thunder show us into the interior of a growing castle, much like Stephen King's Rose Red that continued recreating itself, creating new rooms or increasing old ones, there is a mystery involved, but maybe much less nefarious as in King's story. Interesting narrative, but I feel the end was weak, maybe it was the twist that pushed us away from real truths or simply something about the take of the character that lost me in the end.
-The Taste of Memory takes us into a different kind of trip, a personal one into the path of addiction and how deep and low can a person go for their next fix, and how... maybe just maybe... old feeling and might take you out from that long enough to keep going. The story is deep and emotional and the journey it takes us into is hard one, yet the invitation to take it is as dangerous as that of the inks presented in it.
-The Sound of a Beast presents us with the more traditional role of the adventurer that is common to these fantasy worlds, but the presentation is what makes it unique a party of 3 taking a captive to gods know where and they need to keep him safe for long enough to make the delivery, but the unique and weird weather and creatures of the land are keeping them from reaching their destiny until they found a strange tower that will push them to the limit of both their bodies and their sanity. All in all a great story and Deni is a really interesting and investing character to deal with.
Let’s see what the future brings us from Numenera and is strange lands. Hopefully only better things.
-The Smell of Thunder show us into the interior of a growing castle, much like Stephen King's Rose Red that continued recreating itself, creating new rooms or increasing old ones, there is a mystery involved, but maybe much less nefarious as in King's story. Interesting narrative, but I feel the end was weak, maybe it was the twist that pushed us away from real truths or simply something about the take of the character that lost me in the end.
-The Taste of Memory takes us into a different kind of trip, a personal one into the path of addiction and how deep and low can a person go for their next fix, and how... maybe just maybe... old feeling and might take you out from that long enough to keep going. The story is deep and emotional and the journey it takes us into is hard one, yet the invitation to take it is as dangerous as that of the inks presented in it.
-The Sound of a Beast presents us with the more traditional role of the adventurer that is common to these fantasy worlds, but the presentation is what makes it unique a party of 3 taking a captive to gods know where and they need to keep him safe for long enough to make the delivery, but the unique and weird weather and creatures of the land are keeping them from reaching their destiny until they found a strange tower that will push them to the limit of both their bodies and their sanity. All in all a great story and Deni is a really interesting and investing character to deal with.
Let’s see what the future brings us from Numenera and is strange lands. Hopefully only better things.
February 18, 2017
Set in a world billions of years in the future, these three short stories are wonderfull little snapshots of a strange world full of weird and wonderfull devices and similarly strange species. They're less complete stories, and more vignettes that give a taste of the setting, since these are all set in the world that's been built for the Numenera RPG.
I enjoyed them. I see there's a novel just been published that I'll probably dive into sooner or later too.
I enjoyed them. I see there's a novel just been published that I'll probably dive into sooner or later too.
September 2, 2013
So, I downloaded and read the Tales From The Ninth World short story collection. I enjoyed the short stories, especially the second one about the inks, and I think they succeed very well as entertaining short stories that exist as character studies for the characters they feature. That said, I think they completely fail as examples of what the game Numenera will be like. Now, I'm not saying this is a bad thing - I'm not even sure they authors meant for them to be used for more than just good stories. But, they don't contain enough world-building for me to extrapolate really anything about the game or game world as a whole. Sure, each story has some setting details, but not really the sort of detail through which I can form accurate impressions or generalizations. Now, this failing could be mine, and not the authors', so there is that. But, as they were out prior to the release of the game, it at least appears to me as a missed opportunity.
This is not to say like I'm down on the game or even these stories. Its just telling the reaction I had to the stories.
December 12, 2016
This is a collection of just a few short stories, and in that sense it feels a little "light". Still, it's also inexpensive, so there's a limit to how far that complaint goes. Still, these stories are great introductions to the feel and overall "vibe" of the world of Numenera, and could also certainly serve as inspiration for Numenera GMs who wanted to add their own flavour to their campaigns. Do they stand up as short stories in their own right? Yes and no. They're all somewhat fragmentary, in ways that mostly make sense if you're looking at them as accessories to the game, but which I think make less sense if you were reading this as a totally separate thing. Other than giving you some neat background on the game, they would seem to lack the overall arc of a truly independent story, and I think readers taking them that way would be left slightly unsatisfied. Still, as accessories to a role playing game, they're much better than they really had to be. So I'd put them kind of between the two, and I happily enough sought out the next two short volumes as soon as I finished this one.
May 29, 2016
This collection of three short stories from the setting of the Numenera RPG is really an excellent way to get a feeling for the setting as such. Set in three different locales, they all definitely enhance the 'weird' element of the Ninth World. The first story is set in a castle that grows every day, the second deals with a rogue addicted to inks in Kaparin, and the final story records that taking shelter from a storm of jellyfish in a strange tower can lead to horrible discoveries.
I liked the storm of jellyfish. It's going to happen in one of my games. For tie-in fiction, this was excellent, if you enjoy weird stuff teetering on the edge of horror.
I liked the storm of jellyfish. It's going to happen in one of my games. For tie-in fiction, this was excellent, if you enjoy weird stuff teetering on the edge of horror.
January 4, 2017
Un recueil de trois nouvelles situées dans l'univers du jeu de rôles Numenera, par les auteurs du jeu. La première nouvelle m'a beaucoup plu, la deuxième moins, et la troisième presque autant que la première. Sympathique dans l'ensemble, et utile pour comprendre l'univers assez particulier de Numenera.
November 4, 2014
A couple of slices of Numenera action. Enjoyable enough, and great as a Kickstarter reward, but i'll probably recommend them more as a GM inspiration than as a good collection in themselves. I would love Numenera to get big enough for an expanded/follow-up collection
December 20, 2013
This was a short, perfect for the road trip I was on when I read it. Even though it was brief, it hasn't been as ephemeral a read as I would have guessed it would be.
December 1, 2016
These short stories are a great introduction to the ninth world and will be useful for setting the tone of any games I play in that setting.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews