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Compiled by:
Sam Ott and Laura Wise
Mapmaking Guides
The Art of Map Illustration: A Step-By-Step Artistic Exploration of Contemporary Cartography and Mapmaking

James Gulliver Hancock
(Adult Nonfiction - 526 Art)

Embark on a unique artistic journey with The Art of Map Illustration! In this stunning book, visual storytellers, artists, and map enthusiasts alike will discover how to create a variety of bold, colorful, and lively maps using pen and ink, watercolor, mixed media, and digital art tools - step by step!


Fantasy Mapmaker: How to Draw RPG Cities for Gamers and Fans

Jared Blando
(Adult Nonfiction - 743.87 Bla)

Create authentic-looking maps of fantasy cities, hamlets, fortifications and more in a popular tabletop, RPG style. 30+ step-by-step demonstrations show you how to create your own unique RPG maps.


How to Draw Fantasy Art and RPG Maps: Step-by Step Cartography for Gamers and Fans

Jared Blando
(Adult Nonfiction - 743.87 Bla)

This book will teach you to bring your fictional realm to life with simple step-by-step instructions on how to draw authentic fantasy maps.


How to Make Hand-Drawn Maps: A Creative Guide with Tips, Tricks, and Projects

Helen Cann
(Teen Nonfiction - )

With wonderful examples and easy-to-follow instructions, this beautifully illustrated how-to book makes it simple and fun to create one-of-a-kind hand-drawn maps. Helpful templates, grids, and guidelines complement a detailed breakdown of essential cartographic elements and profiles of talented international map artists.


The Writer's Map: An Atlas of Imaginary Lands

Huw Lewis-Jones
- Editor
(Teen Nonfiction - 809.93372 Wri)

Maps have a unique power to transport us to distant lands on wondrous travels. Put a map at the start of a book, and we know an adventure is going to follow. Displaying this truth with beautiful full-color illustrations, The Writer’s Map is an atlas of the journeys that our most creative storytellers have made throughout their lives. This magnificent collection encompasses not only the maps that appear in their books but also the many maps that have inspired them, the sketches that they used while writing, and others that simply sparked their curiosity.


Fiction
Adventure Zone, Vol. 1: Here There Be Gerblins

Clint McElroy
(Graphic Novels - GN Adventure Zone v. 1)

oin Taako the elf wizard, Merle the dwarf cleric, and Magnus the human warrior for an adventure they are poorly equipped to handle AT BEST, guided ("guided") by their snarky DM, in a graphic novel that, like the smash-hit podcast it's based on, will tickle your funny bone, tug your heartstrings, and probably pants you if you give it half a chance.


Coda. Volume 1

Simon Spurrier
(Graphic Novels - GN Coda v. 1)

In the aftermath of an apocalypse which wiped out nearly all magic from a once-wondrous fantasy world, an antisocial former bard named Hum seeks a way to save the soul of his wife with nothing but a foul-tempered mutant unicorn and his wits to protect him.


Critical Role Vox Machina: Origins Vol. 1

Matthew Colville
(Graphic Novels - GN Critical Role Vox Machina Origins v. 1)

The band of adventurers known as Vox Machina will save the world. Eventually. But even they have to start somewhere. Six would-be heroes on seemingly different jobs find their paths intertwined as they investigate shady business in the swamp town of Stilben. They'll need to put their heads--and weapons--together to figure out what's going on, and keep from being killed in the process.


Descender. Book One, Tin Stars

Jeff Lemire
(Graphic Novels - GN Descender V. 1)

One young robot's struggle to stay alive in a universe where all androids have been outlawed and bounty hunters lurk on every planet.


Die. Volume 1, Fantasy Heartbreaker

Kieron Gillen
(Graphic Novels - GN Die v. 1)

DIE is a pitch-black fantasy where a group of forty-something adults have to deal with the returning, unearthly horror they only just survived as teenage role-players.


The Druid's Call

E.K. Johnston
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Johnsto)

Tucked among the ancient pines of the Ardeep Forest hides the Emerald Enclave, an order of warriors tasked with preserving the natural world. Among their order, Doric begins to find power in her differences. But not all her fellow initiates are so capable of new growth, and as her training continues, Doric is forced to confront the very beliefs that brought her into the Enclave's fold.


Dungeon Critters

Natalie Riess, Sara Goetter
(Juvenile Graphic Novels - J-GN Riess Dungeon Critters)

Join the Dungeon Critters--a tight-knit squad of animal companions--on a wild adventure investigating a sinister botanical conspiracy among the furry nobility. As they risk their lives traveling through haunted dungeons, swamps, and high society balls--they also come closer together as friends.


The Fellowship of The Ring: Being the First part of the Lord of the Rings

J.R.R Tolkien
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Tolkien)

The first volume in the trilogy, tells of the fateful power of the One Ring. It begins a magnificent tale of adventure that will plunge the members of the Fellowship of the Ring into a perilous quest and set the stage for the ultimate clash between the powers of good and evil.


Foundryside

Robert Jackson Bennett
(Science Fiction & Fantasy - SF Bennett)

Sancia Grado is a thief, and a damn good one. And her latest target, a heavily guarded warehouse on Tevanne's docks, is nothing her unique abilities can't handle. But unbeknownst to her, Sancia's been sent to steal an artifact of unimaginable power, an object that could revolutionize the magical technology known as scriving.


Gideon the Ninth

Tamsyn Muir
(Science Fiction & Fantasy - SF Muir)

The Emperor needs necromancers. The Ninth Necromancer needs a swordswoman. Gideon has a sword, some dirty magazines, and no more time for undead nonsense. Brought up by unfriendly, ossifying nuns, ancient retainers, and countless skeletons, Gideon is ready to abandon a life of servitude and an afterlife as a reanimated corpse.


How Long 'Til Black Future Month?

N.K. Jemisin
(Science Fiction & Fantasy - SF Jemisin)

In the first collection of her evocative short fiction, Jemisin equally challenges and delights readers with thought-provoking narratives of destruction, rebirth, and redemption. Dragons and hateful spirits haunt the flooded streets of New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. In a parallel universe, a utopian society watches our world, trying to learn from our mistakes. A black mother in the Jim Crow South must save her daughter from a fey offering impossible promises.


Invisible Kingdom. Volume 1, Walking the Path

G. Willow Wilson
(Graphic Novels - GN Invisible Kingdom V.1)

In a small solar system in a far-flung galaxy, two women-one a young religious acolyte and the other, a hard-bitten freighter pilot-uncover a conspiracy between the leaders of the most dominant religion and an all-consuming mega-corporation.


The Last Session, Vol. 1: Roll for Initiative

Jasmine Walls
(Graphic Novels - GN Last Session v. 1)

Jay, Lana, Drew, Walter, and Shen have played Dice & Deathtraps together since high school. Now, on the verge of graduating college and scattering, they've decided to finally complete their unfinished first campaign. But when Jay's partner Cassandra joins as a new player, Lana's afraid the party won't ever finish their quest.


Monstress. Volume 1, Awakening

Marjorie Liu
(Graphic Novels - GN Monstress v. 1)

Set in an alternate world of art deco beauty and steampunk horror, Monstress tells the epic story of Maika Halfwolf, a teenage survivor of a cataclysmic war between humans and their hated enemies, the Arcanics.


Nimona

ND Stevenson
(Graphic Novels - GN Nimona v. 1)

Nimona is an impulsive young shapeshifter with a knack for villainy. Lord Ballister Blackheart is a villain with a vendetta. As sidekick and supervillain, Nimona and Lord Blackheart are about to wreak some serious havoc. Their mission: prove to the kingdom that Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin and his buddies at the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics aren't the heroes everyone thinks they are.


The Priory of the Orange Tree

Samantha Shannon
(Science Fiction & Fantasy - SF Shannon)

The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction--but assassins are getting closer to her door.


Roll Call

Molly Knox Ostertag
(Juvenile Graphic Novels - J-GN Dungeons and Dragons Dungeon Club v. 1)

"Middle school is a dungeon ... At least, that's how Jess sees it. Luckily, she and her best friend Olivia know how to escape into the sprawling worlds of their own imaginations. The two friends have always loved making up stories, first with little kid games of make-believe, and more recently with the fantasy roleplaying game, Dungeons & Dragons. But when Olivia wants to add new players to their group, Jess finds herself struggling to share their game--and her best friend.


The Savage Beard of She Dwarf, 1

Kyle Latino
(Graphic Novels - GN Savage Beard Of The She Dwarf v. 1)

She Dwarf believes herself to be the last dwarf in existence. Hoping to find evidence to the contrary, She Dwarf sets out on a mission to find the lost dwarven city of Dammerung. Begrudgingly forced to take on a partner to aid in her mission, She Dwarf is joined by war barbarian, Hack Battler. Together, the pair will face vengeful shorcs, sludge demons, mutant bear monsters, and more.


The Sunbearer Trials

Aiden Thomas
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Thomas)

Transgender demigod Teo is unexpectedly selected for the Sunbearer Trials, a fierce competition among demigod heroes where the winner sacrifices the loser to Sol, their blood fueling the Sun Stones that protect Reino del Sol.


Nonfiction
The Art of Magic the Gathering: Dominaria

James Wyatt
(Adult Nonfiction - 793.93 Wya)

Step aboard the legendary airship Weatherlight and explore Dominaria, an ancient world whose stories are known throughout the Multiverse. Dominaria has weathered one apocalypse after another and emerged into a time of rebirth and renewal.


Book of Beasts: The Bestiary in the Medieval World

Elizabeth Morrison, Larisa Grollemond
- editor
(Adult Nonfiction - 704.9432 Boo)

This catalogue, accompanying an exhibition of the same name at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, examines the type of illuminated manuscript called the bestiary and explores its lasting legacy.


Enchanted: A History of Fantasy Illustration

Jesse Kowalski
- editor
(Adult Nonfiction - 704.947 Enc)

This highly-illustrated volume reveals how artists have brought to life mythology, fables, and fairy tales, as well as modern epics.


The Handy Mythology Answer Book

David Adams Leeming
(Adult Nonfiction - 201.3 Lee)

The Handy Mythology Answer Book examines and explains, in plain English, numerous myths and mythology. From the ancient Greek and Roman to Egypt and Babylon, from Native North American Indian to Celtic, Middle Eastern, Indian, Asian, African, and the lesser known myths from around the world,


The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy: The Definitive Illustrated Guide

David Pringle
- Editor
(Teen Nonfiction - 809.3876 Ult)

A detailed look at every aspect of modern fantasy, including detailed entries on books, films, TV and creators, as well as the greatest fantasy characters and worlds. This essential reference book details everything the novice needs to know about the genre and everything the well-read fan is calling out for.


The Ultimate Random Encounters Book: Hundreds of Original Encounters to Help Bring Your Next RPG Adventure to Life

Travis Wheeler
(Teen Nonfiction - 793.93 Whe)

This is a big book of ideas designed to slot right into your existing campaign, organized into neat little tables. If you salivate at chaos magic effect tables and daydream about wild, unexpected die results, you already know it can also be fun to throw caution to the wind and let randomness determine as much as possible.


Ultimate RPG Gameplay Guide

James D'Amato
(Adult Nonfiction - 793.93 Dam)

The Ultimate RPG Gameplay Guide provides practical advice for everything from pre-game preparations and in-game improvisation to working out a plan of attack with your teammates to learning how to lean into the setting of your game. Including instructions, prompts, and activities, it offers everything you need for successful, fun role-playing with your friends every time you play.