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The Science Fiction In Traveller: A Reader’s Guide to Traveller Role-Playing Fiction
Award-winning reviewer Shannon Appelcline (Designers & Dragon) investigates the science-fiction literature that shaped the structure and content of the Traveller science-fiction role-playing game. He reviews and discusses the broad expanse of SF that influenced Marc Miller as he designed the massive background universe of Traveller, and then gives equal consideration to the novels and short stories that were inspired by Traveller.
197 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 26, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 9, 2023
I've spared no praise regarding what is one of my favorite roleplaying game systems, even claiming that it is The Simplest RPG System Out of this World, and by "Simple," I really mean versatile. But this review isn't about the game itself, it's about the book The Science Fiction in Traveller: a book about books about the game which is contained in books. Let's go down the rabbit hole.
The title might as well have been "The Traveller in Science Fiction". While the first section reviews books that Marc Miller claimed were inspirational to him (some of which I also thought were good, some not so good), this section is actually quite short. This isn't Appendix N, by any means, and I was honestly surprised by the scantiness here. But Appelcline is careful not to impose his own thoughts of what might have influenced Miller. Rather, he defers to Miller's own claims on the subject. As a strict exercise, I see why Appelcline did what he did, but I would like to have seen more of his insights into what might have influenced traveller. I think there's a lot more that can be seen between the lines of the published game material itself.
The vast majority of the book is taken by reviews of books and stories either influenced by Traveller (Jefferson P. Swycaffer's Condordat series, derived from Swycaffer's Traveller campaign, has an entire section dedicated to it) or written for the actual Traveller universe. Or universes, if I'm being proper, as the fiction reviewed here covers the breadth of all eras of Traveller (Classic Traveller, Megatraveller, The New Era, T4). Appelcline rates all of the works here by their literary merit and their applicability to the Traveller game (whether in terms of direct gameability or just inspiration/atmosphere). I've learned that there is a lot of really bad fiction associated with Traveller, most especially the "gaming fiction" that seems to compose the majority of the work. There are also a few titles that I will likely pursue for a read at some future date.
I wouldn't call The Science Fiction in Traveller "essential" reading for players or referees of Traveller. But sifting through the titles and using Appelcline's ratings as a guide is . . . an okay idea. I hestitate because, at times, I feel he contradicts himself. The ratings, as with any person rating books (myself included) are subjective and inconsistent with one another. I also noted several editing errors throughout the book, which gives me pause because I have copyedited several books and am particularly bothered by lazy editing, which is evident here. So don't take the ratings as gospel-truth. Your opinions may vary wildly from Appelcline's, but I feel this is a good starting point for your explorations into science fictional work associated with the game.
The title might as well have been "The Traveller in Science Fiction". While the first section reviews books that Marc Miller claimed were inspirational to him (some of which I also thought were good, some not so good), this section is actually quite short. This isn't Appendix N, by any means, and I was honestly surprised by the scantiness here. But Appelcline is careful not to impose his own thoughts of what might have influenced Miller. Rather, he defers to Miller's own claims on the subject. As a strict exercise, I see why Appelcline did what he did, but I would like to have seen more of his insights into what might have influenced traveller. I think there's a lot more that can be seen between the lines of the published game material itself.
The vast majority of the book is taken by reviews of books and stories either influenced by Traveller (Jefferson P. Swycaffer's Condordat series, derived from Swycaffer's Traveller campaign, has an entire section dedicated to it) or written for the actual Traveller universe. Or universes, if I'm being proper, as the fiction reviewed here covers the breadth of all eras of Traveller (Classic Traveller, Megatraveller, The New Era, T4). Appelcline rates all of the works here by their literary merit and their applicability to the Traveller game (whether in terms of direct gameability or just inspiration/atmosphere). I've learned that there is a lot of really bad fiction associated with Traveller, most especially the "gaming fiction" that seems to compose the majority of the work. There are also a few titles that I will likely pursue for a read at some future date.
I wouldn't call The Science Fiction in Traveller "essential" reading for players or referees of Traveller. But sifting through the titles and using Appelcline's ratings as a guide is . . . an okay idea. I hestitate because, at times, I feel he contradicts himself. The ratings, as with any person rating books (myself included) are subjective and inconsistent with one another. I also noted several editing errors throughout the book, which gives me pause because I have copyedited several books and am particularly bothered by lazy editing, which is evident here. So don't take the ratings as gospel-truth. Your opinions may vary wildly from Appelcline's, but I feel this is a good starting point for your explorations into science fictional work associated with the game.
August 5, 2023
TRAVELLER & RPG Fans get this
If you like Role Playing Games in general, and Traveller in particular then this should be an essential book in your library. Get it while it's free, because this is information will be worth a lot to players and Referees alike.
This is the second time I've read this, and continue to get more out each time.
The best thing I found out this time is that many of the source influence books are now out on Amazon Kindle FOR FREE!
Start here with Shannon Applecline, and be on the lookout for his other works.
If you like Role Playing Games in general, and Traveller in particular then this should be an essential book in your library. Get it while it's free, because this is information will be worth a lot to players and Referees alike.
This is the second time I've read this, and continue to get more out each time.
The best thing I found out this time is that many of the source influence books are now out on Amazon Kindle FOR FREE!
Start here with Shannon Applecline, and be on the lookout for his other works.
August 16, 2016
A look at some of the books that inspired the Traveller RPG and the books and stories that borrowed either the setting or rules of the game.
The former is a bit cursory, covering just seven of the many books that inspired Traveller, but two of them are by H. Beam Piper, probably the most influential author on the game, and an "Inspirational Reading" appendix fills in the blanks.
I thought that I would be mainly interested in the inspirational books, but found myself at least as interested in the reviews of the books that were inspired by Traveller. I was not surprised to find that many of them were not rated highly, but it was still interesting to find out just what their failures were, and the publication history of how they came to be (the books, not the failures, although there are sometimes clues to the latter).
I was surprised to find that the more recent ones are rated fairly high, especially since one is a first novel by Marc Miller, the designer of Traveller (something that would normally cause me to have very low expectations). The cynical view would be to acknowledge that this book was commissioned by Mr. Miller as part of the promotional material for that novel, but based on the author's previous work, I don't think he'd let that influence his review of the book, at least not to the point of claiming it was the best of the Traveller books if it was really a terrible book.
As a result, I have at least a couple ebooks to check out now.
I do have to mention that there are quite a few typos in this book. It could have greatly benefited from another editing pass. I also really wish it were available in printed form. Ebooks are fine for fiction, but this is a book I could easily find myself wanting to reference in the future, and doing so on a Kindle is a pain.
Edit: Since reading this I've read some of the books reviewed in it, and I generally agree with the reviews. In particular I agree that Agent of the Imperium: A Story of the Traveller Universe by Marc Miller is worth the rating given.
The former is a bit cursory, covering just seven of the many books that inspired Traveller, but two of them are by H. Beam Piper, probably the most influential author on the game, and an "Inspirational Reading" appendix fills in the blanks.
I thought that I would be mainly interested in the inspirational books, but found myself at least as interested in the reviews of the books that were inspired by Traveller. I was not surprised to find that many of them were not rated highly, but it was still interesting to find out just what their failures were, and the publication history of how they came to be (the books, not the failures, although there are sometimes clues to the latter).
I was surprised to find that the more recent ones are rated fairly high, especially since one is a first novel by Marc Miller, the designer of Traveller (something that would normally cause me to have very low expectations). The cynical view would be to acknowledge that this book was commissioned by Mr. Miller as part of the promotional material for that novel, but based on the author's previous work, I don't think he'd let that influence his review of the book, at least not to the point of claiming it was the best of the Traveller books if it was really a terrible book.
As a result, I have at least a couple ebooks to check out now.
I do have to mention that there are quite a few typos in this book. It could have greatly benefited from another editing pass. I also really wish it were available in printed form. Ebooks are fine for fiction, but this is a book I could easily find myself wanting to reference in the future, and doing so on a Kindle is a pain.
Edit: Since reading this I've read some of the books reviewed in it, and I generally agree with the reviews. In particular I agree that Agent of the Imperium: A Story of the Traveller Universe by Marc Miller is worth the rating given.
August 19, 2023
A reference book for published Traveller fiction
This is essentially a repacking of reviews the author originally published on RPG.net of a smattering of books that inspired the Traveller RPG universe and almost all of the non-source book works of fiction that came directly from it. The reviews aren't particularly deep or analytical, just a quick plot synopsis followed by the author's opinion of the quality of the work and then how well the author felt it related to Traveller. At most a page or two is dedicated to each work.
This would be useful for creating a reading list except many of the direct Traveller works are no longer reasonably acquirable.
I would have liked a bit more content considering Traveller's inspirations. As it stands this feels more like I was reading an index of the authors reference notes concerning the matter rather than the actual work.
This is essentially a repacking of reviews the author originally published on RPG.net of a smattering of books that inspired the Traveller RPG universe and almost all of the non-source book works of fiction that came directly from it. The reviews aren't particularly deep or analytical, just a quick plot synopsis followed by the author's opinion of the quality of the work and then how well the author felt it related to Traveller. At most a page or two is dedicated to each work.
This would be useful for creating a reading list except many of the direct Traveller works are no longer reasonably acquirable.
I would have liked a bit more content considering Traveller's inspirations. As it stands this feels more like I was reading an index of the authors reference notes concerning the matter rather than the actual work.
July 21, 2019
I'm a sucker for annonated bibliographies and when I stumbled on Applecline's books I was excited to see this survey of science fiction. Having played Traveller back in the "early days", I was fascinated to learn of the fiction that inspired the "realistic" space gaming genre. I probably misinterpreted the description, but I was anticipating the main focus to be on classic science fiction and works that would be contemporary at the time Marc Miller conceived of Traveller. I was a bit disappointed to discover that, while a handful of these are covered, the vast majority of the focus is on Traveller-inspired fiction. The book reviews a number of novels and short stories that were officially and unofficially based in the Traveller universe. This is certainly of interest to Traveller players, but not the expectation I had somehow formed.
The book definitely has the hallmarks of a self-published fan-produced work, including (sometimes very) rough editing and some inconsistency in the depth of the reviews.
If you are a Traveller fan, you'll probably learn something.
The book definitely has the hallmarks of a self-published fan-produced work, including (sometimes very) rough editing and some inconsistency in the depth of the reviews.
If you are a Traveller fan, you'll probably learn something.
December 24, 2018
Bird dogs some excellent reading
Good resource, points out some very good thoughtful fiction. Vpit th i already read almost all of it, but that's not the authors fault. You will probably greatly benefit from this book of you are looking for superb sci fi.
Good resource, points out some very good thoughtful fiction. Vpit th i already read almost all of it, but that's not the authors fault. You will probably greatly benefit from this book of you are looking for superb sci fi.
January 25, 2023
Helpful Reading Guide, could use editing
A helpful summary of the books that inspired, and were inspired by, the Traveller TTRPG.
It's a bit rough, and could have used a bit more editing. Could be helped by another update, too.
A helpful summary of the books that inspired, and were inspired by, the Traveller TTRPG.
It's a bit rough, and could have used a bit more editing. Could be helped by another update, too.
March 19, 2021
Informative if you want to learn about the influences of the Traveller RPG.
April 8, 2016
A good overview of Traveller fiction, and the fiction that inspired Traveller. Traveller is one of those RPG's I've always wanted to play, but never have. It was fun to get an idea of the type of fiction that inspired the game. There were a few editing problems here and there, but nothing that kept me from enjoying the book. And now I have more books I want to read!
August 7, 2017
Reviews of Traveller RPG related fiction. Well done but of limited interest for non-players.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews