Off the Bookshelf: WRITING ABOUT MAGIC, by Rayne Hall

Very useful research and resource book for those who are writing in the fantasy genre.

Organized into topics that need to be considered -- and sometimes I suspect that writers don't consider, don't plan out, they just figure they'll wing it and make up their magic system as they go.

Or what's worse, they don't realize they NEED a system, they need to establish rules, before they start writing. When they come up against a problem in the story, they just throw magic at it.

And as the author points out, what's more boring than being able to fix every single problem with magic?  So you have to have limitations and consequences and rules and conflicts and barriers and ... Yeah, writing is a lot of work, but it's also dang fun!

Chapter Titles: Magician Characters; Magic Systems; Training and Initiation; Ritual and Power-Raising; Location and Circle-Casting; Costuming and Equipment; Phrasing the Spell; Correspondences; Love Spells; Sex Magic; Magical Weapons and Warfare; Healing and Protection; Ethics, Conflicts and Secrecy; Illusionists and Charlatans; Magic in the Future.

Plus the author gives exercises to make you think, and assist you in using what you've just learned, and lists of books on the topics, for further reading and research. There's a LOT of useful information packed into the book. Well worth the money and time. I can predict going back to this one a LOT when I do worldbuilding.

Off the Bookshelf: FAIRIES: MYTHS, LEGENDS AND LORE, by Skye Alexander

Sometimes research can be fun. And frustrating. Especially when you're looking for books in the library, and the search function of the computer index doesn't want to cooperate. Most of the books I found on fairies, faeries, the fair folk, and such *sigh* were fiction, mostly romance, some kids' stories. That's not what I was looking for.

So when I found this one, as I prepare to start a new series of books, it was a major relief. And a treasure trove.

Dealing with fairy lore from around the world, it discusses different classes of fairies, legends, their functions within the magical realms as well as dealings with lowly mortals, and what was really fascinating, a discussion of how the legends have changed through the years, as society changed. This is one I really think I need to find in print, rather than ebook, so I can flag pages for future reference, because I can see going back to this again and again, for inspiration.

Off the Bookshelf: MILITARY MACHINES

Subtitle: Combat Vehicles for Land, Sea & Air.

I'm going to get a lot of use out of this book. The title might make you think of just a catalog of fighter jets and battleships and tanks, but this handy little reference book loaded with detailed drawings as well as photos and discussions of how the different vehicles are/were used. There are "cutaway" views of things like siege engines and chariots, pirate ships and bi-planes.

Divided between land, sea and air, there is some history of warfare, as well as diagrams of battles. The back flap of the cover lists all the machines discussed, ranging  from Egypt, Rome, Greece, and Korea, to Italy, Russia, Germany, and the USA. Specs, notable military figures, details of engines, flight patterns. Pretty cool.

I can see role playing gamers using this book, as well as military history buffs and writers of both fantasy and futuristic military novels.

Published by Parragon Books, there were no editors listed. Publication date is 2015. It's a small book, and I bought it at a discount store, but for those who need this kind of information at their fingertips, a book like this could prove to be priceless.