Appendix C: Inspirations (that are not games)

For personal reference.

Updated: 2025-03-15.

Art and Artbooks

  • David A. Carter and James Diaz. The Elements of Pop-Up: A Pop-Up Book for Aspiring Paper Engineers.
  • Nen Chang.
  • Meredith Dillman. Inkwork: Led by Mothlight.
  • Lydia Fenwick. Lyfe Illustration.
  • Franz Collection. Phoenician Flight. Booklet for porcelain collection designed by Johnny Ho.
  • Stephanie Law. An Odyssey.
  • David Mack. Reflections.
  • Hilary Roe Metternich, illus. Norovsambuugiin Baatartsog. Mongolian Folktales.
  • Yuumei. Sanctuary: The Art Book of Yuumei.

Fiction

  • Lloyd Alexander. The Kestrel. (Westmark Trilogy #2.)
  • Nick Bantock. Griffin and Sabine: An Extraordinary Correspondence.
  • Greg Bear. The Infinity Concerto and especially its sequel The Serpent Mage (duology).
  • Fredric Brown. “Letter to a Phoenix” (Astounding Science Fiction, Aug. 1949). Parts of this story haven’t aged well, but the concept still takes my breath away, especially in the context of when it was published.
  • C. J. Cherryh. Cyteen.
  • Carolyn Clowes. The Pandora Principle. Star Trek: The Original Series tie-in novel. “Of memory and memoring.”
  • Tony Daniel. “A Dry, Quiet War” [Infinity Plus] (Asimov’s, June 1996).
  • Gordon R. Dickson. Soldier, Ask Not.
  • David Drake. Rolling Hot. The first Hammer’s Slammers book I read.
  • Harlan Ellison. “The Deathbird.”
  • Alan Garner. Red Shift.
  • Parke Godwin. Firelord. Yes, this is historical (ish?) Arthurian fantasy. 🙂
  • Geraldine Harris. Seven Citadels Quartet: Prince of the Godborn, Children of the Wind, The Dead Kingdom, The Seventh Gate. I have whole segments of this series straight-up memorized.
  • Joseph Heller. Catch-22.
  • Douglas Hill. Galactic Warlord. I love the Last Legionary series generally, but the first one is what haunts me.
  • Henry Kuttner (and, likely, also C. L. Moore). The Dark World.
  • C. S. Lewis. Till We Have Faces.
  • Romeo Muller. Puff the Magic Dragon. Based on the song by Peter Yarrow and Leonard Lipton, with pictures and songs from the TV special. I’m listing this rather than the TV special because it’s the storybook I imprinted on as a child, especially the sad fate of Jackie Paper.
  • K. J. Parker. Purple and Black and “A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong.”
  • Elizabeth Marie Pope. The Perilous Gard.
  • Roger Zelazny. “The Engine at Heartspring’s Center.”
  • Roger Zelazny. Nine Princes in Amber. (Chronicles of Amber #1.)

It feels weird to cite myself but since this is based on my books…I’m mainly noting this for my own reference because I forget things if I don’t note them somewhere!

  • YHL. “The Black Abacus” (F&SF June 2002). There’s a useful bit from this that’s getting folded in.
  • YHL. “The Hundredth Question” (F&SF Feb. 1999). My first sf story sale; but there’s a specific aspect of it that is Useful.
  • YHL. The Machineries of Empire: Ninefox Gambit; Raven Stratagem; Revenant Gun; Hexarchate Stories.

Film/TV

  • 86 (anime).
  • Angel 4.11 “Soulless.”
  • Arcane: League of Legends. All of it. 🙂
  • Battlestar Galactica (reboot).
  • Code Geass R1 and R2 (anime).
  • Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (anime; also the manga).
  • “The Inner Light.” Star Trek: The Next Generation #125 (5.25).
  • Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans (anime).
  • Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury (anime).
  • Mobile Suit Gundam SEED (anime).
  • Paths of Glory (1957).
  • Princes et Princesses (2000).
  • The Sandbaggers.
  • Shoujo Kakumei Utena (anime).
  • Star Trek: Discovery, especially S1.

Poetry

  • Mike Allen. “Metarebellion” (Strange Horizons, 4 November 2002).
  • Bryher. “Arrow Music.”
  • Sarah Campbell. We Used to Be Generals (chapbook).
  • Julia Drescher. VIZ (chapbook).
  • Geoffrey Hill. “The Mystery of the Charity of Charles Péguy.”
  • A. E. Housman. “I to my perils.”
  • Lord Macaulay. Horatius.
  • Matthew Mahaney. Word Problems (chapbook).
  • Wilfred Owen. “Dulce Et Decorum Est” [Poetry Foundation].
  • Algernon Charles Swinburne. “The Garden of Proserpine” [Poetry Foundation].
  • Alfred, Lord Tennyson. “The Charge of the Light Brigade.”

Tarot Decks, Cards, Oracles

  • Fatum.
  • Mystical Manga Tarot by Rann.

Zines

  • Shing Yin Khor. Objects of Performance Rendered Static. My favorite zine of all time.
  • Khiri Lee. 52 Feathers: Phoenix.

What the Heck Category Is This?!

  • Voynich Manuscript. Look, if you know what the heck this is, please publish your dang paper already so we can all stop dying of curiosity. :3