A Travel Guide to Neverness, version 2.0

A very long time ago, in a blogosphere far, far away, I gushed about my appreciation of the Neverness stories of sci-fi author David Zindell.  Then, about 13 years ago, I posted a PDF of what I called a Neverness FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) document.

Now, since Zindell recently came out with a new novel set in this universe, I thought it was time to update that very old PDF.  I'm happy to announce version 2.0, linked here...

If links get broken, please also try:  https://tinyurl.com/nev-faq-2025

As before, this FAQ is spoiler-free for the plot, and it's split into four main parts:

1. The Geography of Neverness (with a new & improved map)
2. The Calendar of Neverness
3. The Professions of the Order
4. Glossary of Miscellaneous Neologisms

It's awesome that Zindell included his own glossary, timeline, and some other juicy behind-the-scenes material at the end of The Remembrancer's Tale, but I still think there's some unique value in my fanboy-ish production.  :-)

I'm also excited to see hints that Zindell is going to continue writing new books... there are hints out there of a Canterbury Tales-ish round robin, with The Scryer's Tale coming next, possibly followed by The Eschatologist's Tale, The Timekeeper's Tale, The Hakuist's Tale, and so on?

Oh, also, a quick bonus quote from The Remembrancer's Tale, just to make sure I never forget to highlight Zindell's transcendent prose...

His newly found zest seemed to create around him a sphere of diamond that shielded him from the stares of the passers-by no less than the wind.  And so he skated and skated, up through the Old City and the sparkling red glidderies of the Pilots' Quarter.  And up through a rising current of hope, as well, up through the deep blue sky and straight into the stars.

Anyway, that's all I've got for now.  Now I need to hunt down those old blog posts and add updates that point to the new version of the FAQ.  But more will be coming with this ol' blog, hopefully later this month.

All Roads

You know what they say about best laid plans.  In late January, I announced my intention to enter William Dowie's contest to craft an old-school role playing game adventure with an ancient Roman theme.  I got a cool idea, and began running with it, but the contest deadline (the Kalends of Febrvarius) was just too soon.  The contest finished up with my minim opus only about halfway done.  The winners of the contest were announced a few weeks ago, and I'm curious to see what they came up with.

However, never one to let good sense be my guide, I kept working on the darn thing, and finally finished it.  Thus, I give you XVI Troop, a free 16-page adventure setting guide for old-school D&D (or compatible rules).  I've uploaded the PDF file to Google Docs, or whatever they're calling it now, at this URL.  I've also modified the top bar of this blog to collect together all of the "Free RPG adventures" that I've produced and am distributing, well, for freeee.

Fans of a certain moldy old TV show will no doubt groan at my punnish title.  But the idea of an out-of-the-way army fort -- with lax military discipline and too much fraternization with the natives -- was too irresistible not to adapt to the wilds of northern Britain (just beneath Hadrian's Wall) circa 140 AD.  What I've put together has a bit of a mini-gazetteer for this fort and its environs, a bit of detail on how to adjust D&D character generation to give your fictional alter egos some ancient Roman flavor, and a bit of help for the Dungeon Master in coming up with interesting scenarios, events, and non-player characters.

As a teaser, here's a table of Roman character quirks that will surely get the "Life of Brian" jokes running fast and loose...

Biggus Clickus

I didn't stay pure to F-Troop, by the way.  Plots and characters from M*A*S*H, Hogan's Heroes, Caddyshack, Animal House, and Mulan were also plundered with equal opportunity bad taste.  Caveat Emptor!  :-)

New PDF: Travel Guide to Neverness

As promised in a post back in May, I've finished my so-called "Neverness FAQ." This is a 10-page guide to David Zindell's fictional universe from the Neverness stories published between 1985 and 1998. I hope it's useful as a spoiler-free way to introduce new readers to the awesome, but possibly bewildering, array of ideas that come pouring out of the pages when one picks up one of these books. The PDF is on Google Docs, which you can link to directly HERE or by clicking the cover image below:

The four main parts of the document are:

1. The Geography of Neverness (island and city)
2. The Calendar of Neverness
3. The Professions of the Order (not all 118 of them, alas, but all 30 or so that were described in the books)
4. Glossary of Miscellaneous Neologisms

This document may even contain enough inspirational detail to serve as a bare-bones setting guide for a GM running a science fiction RPG like Traveller or Stars Without Number. If anyone decides to give that a whirl, I'd be curious how it turns out.

I should also clarify, as it does in the document, that my FAQ is a not-for-profit, non-commercial fan work that mentions characters, names, and concepts from the original stories in ways that are believed to reside within the bounds of fair use. "Shanidar," Neverness, The Broken God, The Wild, and War in Heaven remain fully copyrighted by their author, David Zindell. No challenge or claim to the ownership of this or any other copyright or trademark is intended or implied.

2025 EDIT: the above links now go to version 2.0 of the FAQ!