The Monsters Know What They're Doing

The Monsters Know What They're Doing
Author: Keith Ammann
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 560
Release: 2019-10-29
Genre: Games & Activities
ISBN: 1982122684

From the creator of the popular blog The Monsters Know What They’re Doing comes a compilation of villainous battle plans for Dungeon Masters. In the course of a Dungeons & Dragons game, a Dungeon Master has to make one decision after another in response to player behavior—and the better the players, the more unpredictable their behavior! It’s easy for even an experienced DM to get bogged down in on-the-spot decision-making or to let combat devolve into a boring slugfest, with enemies running directly at the player characters and biting, bashing, and slashing away. In The Monsters Know What They’re Doing, Keith Ammann lightens the DM’s burden by helping you understand your monsters’ abilities and develop battle plans before your fifth edition D&D game session begins. Just as soldiers don’t whip out their field manuals for the first time when they’re already under fire, a DM shouldn’t wait until the PCs have just encountered a dozen bullywugs to figure out how they advance, fight, and retreat. Easy to read and apply, The Monsters Know What They're Doing is essential reading for every DM.

The Will O'Wisp

The Will O'Wisp
Author: Sharon Ann
Publisher: Lulu.com
Total Pages: 308
Release: 2013-01-01
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1105993353

As Sharon Ann traces her family's transition from real happiness to an illusion of wealth and high status, The Will O' Wisp moves beyond the memoir of a young daughter to the penetrating story of a lost era.

MOAR! Monsters Know What They're Doing

MOAR! Monsters Know What They're Doing
Author: Keith Ammann
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 624
Release: 2022-01-04
Genre: Games & Activities
ISBN: 1982171340

From the author of The Monsters Know What They’re Doing comes a follow-up strategy guide with MOAR! monster tactics for Dungeon Masters playing fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. Keith Ammann’s first book based on his popular blog, The Monsters Know What They’re Doing, unpacks strategies, tactics, and motivations for creatures found in the Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual. Now, in MOAR! Monsters Know What They’re Doing, he analyzes the likely combat behaviors of more than 100 new enemies found in Volo’s Guide to Monsters and Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes. Your campaign will never be the same!

Ring of Bright Water

Ring of Bright Water
Author: Gavin Maxwell
Publisher: David R. Godine Publisher
Total Pages: 346
Release: 2016-04-15
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1567924840

This volume weaves together the Scottish otter stories from Gavin Maxwell's three non-fiction books, Ring of Bright Water (1960), The Rocks Remain (1963), and Raven Meet Thy Brother (1969). Maxwell was both an extraordinarily evocative writer and a highly unusual man. While touring the Iraqi marshes, he was captivated by an otter and became a devoted advocate of and spokesman for the species. He moved to a remote house in the Scottish highlands, co-habiting there with three otters and living an idyllic and isolated life – at least for a while. Fate, fame, and fire conspired against this paradise, and it, too, came to an end, though the journey was filled with incident and wonder. Maxwell was also talented as an artist, and his sinuous line drawings of these amphibious and engaging creatures, and the homes they occupied, illustrate his story. This book stands as a lasting tribute to a man, his work, and his passion. It was received and has endured as a classic for its portrait not only of otters but also of a man who endured heartaches and disappointments, whose life embodied both greatness and tragedy. He writes with rare eloquence about his birth, his devotion to the beloved Scottish highlands, and the wildlife he loved, while refusing to ignore the darker aspects of his nature and of nature in its larger sense.

The Will-o'-the-Wisps Are in Town

The Will-o'-the-Wisps Are in Town
Author: Hans Christian Andersen
Publisher: Lindhardt og Ringhof
Total Pages: 17
Release: 2020-11-18
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 8726417065

Once upon a time there was a man who knew how to tell stories better than anyone – until the day he knew no more. Even though he spent the whole day looking for stories, he still had no story to tell when he came home in the evening. But another discovery allowed him to meet someone who could perhaps help him! Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) was a Danish author, poet and artist. Celebrated for children’s literature, his most cherished fairy tales include "The Emperor's New Clothes", "The Little Mermaid", "The Nightingale", "The Steadfast Tin Soldier", "The Snow Queen", "The Ugly Duckling" and "The Little Match Girl". His books have been translated into every living language, and today there is no child or adult that has not met Andersen's whimsical characters. His fairy tales have been adapted to stage and screen countless times, most notably by Disney with the animated films "The Little Mermaid" in 1989 and "Frozen", which is loosely based on "The Snow Queen", in 2013. Thanks to Andersen's contribution to children's literature, his birth date, April 2, is celebrated as International Children's Book Day.

Another Kind

Another Kind
Author: Trevor Bream
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 292
Release: 2021-10-26
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0063043556

Six kids search for a new place to call home in this middle grade graphic novel debut by comic creators Cait May and Trevor Bream, for fans of Marvel’s Runaways and The Witch Boy by Molly Knox Ostertag. Another Kind is not your average monster story. Tucked away in a government facility nicknamed the Playroom, six not-quite-human kids learn to control their strange and unpredictable abilities. Life is good—or safe, at least—hidden from the prying eyes of a judgmental world. That is, until a security breach forces them out of their home and into the path of the Collector, a mysterious being with leech-like powers. Can the group band together to thwart the Collector’s devious plan, or will they wind up the newest addition to his collection? An ALSC Graphic Novel Reading List Title

Onibi: Diary of a Yokai Ghost Hunter

Onibi: Diary of a Yokai Ghost Hunter
Author: Cecile Brun
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
Total Pages: 132
Release: 2018-08-07
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 1462920284

*Winner Japan International Manga Award* *Honorable Mention for 2018 Freeman Book Awards for Children's and Young Adult's Literature on East and Southeast Asia* *Short-listed for the 2019 Dwayne McDuffie Award for Kids' Comics* Part fantasy, part travelogue--this graphic novel transports readers to the intersection of the natural and supernatural worlds. Onibi: Diary of a Yokai Ghost Hunter follows the adventures of two young foreigners as they travel to a remote and mysterious corner of Japan. Along the way, they purchase an old camera that has the unique ability to capture images of Japan's invisible spirit world. Armed with their magical camera, they explore the countryside and meet people who tell them about the forgotten ghosts, ghouls and demons who lie in wait ready to play tricks on them. These Yokai, or supernatural beings, are sometimes kind, sometimes mischievous, and sometimes downright dangerous! Readers young and old will enjoy following along on this journey of mystery and discovery. The comic book format will appeal to anime and manga fans, while introducing the ancient spirit world that is such an important part of Japanese culture. With the help of Atelier Sento's gorgeous watercolor and colored pencil artwork, you can't help but feel immersed in this fantasy.

Beyond Faery

Beyond Faery
Author: John T. Kruse
Publisher: Llewellyn Worldwide
Total Pages: 252
Release: 2020-11-08
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 0738766356

Behold the Mysteries of the Faery Beasts Beyond the faery realms, all sorts of magical creatures lurk. This book explores the most fearsome beasts that have been known to meddle in human affairs. Renowned faery expert John T. Kruse reveals the secret lives of merfolk, meremaids, river sprites, kelpies, hags, banshees, and many more. These are not the fanciful faeries and kindly beings found in light entertainment. Instead, you will discover hobs, goblins, bogies, and daemon dogs—magical creatures that are more apt to terrify than to help. Beyond Faery shares the features, habits, and history of dozens of these otherworldly beasts, since learning their ways may be just what you need to survive an encounter of your own.

The Book of Dust: The Secret Commonwealth (Book of Dust, Volume 2)

The Book of Dust: The Secret Commonwealth (Book of Dust, Volume 2)
Author: Philip Pullman
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Total Pages: 658
Release: 2019-10-03
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 0553510665

The #1 New York Times Bestseller! Return to the world of His Dark Materials—now an HBO original series starring Dafne Keen, Ruth Wilson, Andrew Scott, and Lin-Manuel Miranda—in the second volume of Philip Pullman’s new bestselling masterwork The Book of Dust. The windows between the many worlds have been sealed and the momentous adventures of Lyra Silvertongue’s youth are long behind her—or so she thought. Lyra is now a twenty-year-old undergraduate at St. Sophia’s College and intrigue is swirling around her once more. Her daemon Pantalaimon is witness to a brutal murder, and the dying man entrusts them with secrets that carry echoes from their past. The more Lyra is drawn into these mysteries, the less she is sure of. Even the events of her own past come into question when she learns of Malcolm Polstead’s role in bringing her to Jordan College. Now Lyra and Malcolm will travel far beyond the confines of Oxford, across Europe and into the Levant, searching for a city haunted by daemons, and a desert said to hold the truth of Dust. The dangers they face will challenge everything they thought they knew about the world, and about themselves. Praise for The Book of Dust “It’s a stunning achievement, this universe Pullman has created and continues to build on.” —The New York Times “Pullman’s writing is simple, unpretentious, beautiful, true. The conclusion to The Book of Dust can’t come soon enough.”—The Washington Post