Our Appendix N Archaeology and Adventures in Fiction series are meant to take a look at the writers and creators behind the genre(s) that helped to forge not only our favorite hobby but our lives. We invite you to explore the entirety of the series on our Adventures In Fiction home page.Appendix N Archaeology: The Ballantine Adult Fantasy Seriesby Michael CurtisMore than a decade before Gary Gygax assembled his list of influential fantasy authors and titles—the famed “Appendix N” which appeared in the Dungeon Masters Guide published in 1979—another author was hard at work compiling a list of fantasy stories to introduce to the reading public. Both catalogs would include some of the same authors on their rolls, and it is safe to say that without the first list, Gary Gygax may never have discovered some of the names that helped influence fantasy role-playing. In the spirit of Goodman Games’ ongoing efforts to return to the roots of the hobby, we now go one step further to explore the fertile landscape from which those roots drew nourishment. This earlier catalog was the Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series. Edited by Lin Carter, an esteemed author of science fiction and fantasy in his own right, this literary series was comprised of more than sixty titles released between 1969 and 1974 by Ballantine Books. It brought to light both new authors and revived older works from the dustbin of history, exposing fantasy fiction to new audiences in both the United States and abroad. But before examining the works comprising the Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series, a little background history must be explored.In the mid-1960s, J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings appeared in paperback form in the United States, thanks to the somewhat dubious business practices of Ace Books. Tolkien had long resisted seeing his masterpiece printed in softcover, feeling it cheapened its literary importance. However, a loophole in US copyright law ostensibly meant the book was in the public domain in America and Ace Books produced an unauthorized paperback run of the trilogy. Tolkien was obviously upset and appealed to the fans of the story, whose efforts eventually forced Ace Books to cease publication of the books. However, the demand for Tolkien’s work in paperback was clearly there and he acquiesced to the desires of the marketplace, authorizing Ballantine Books to publish The Lord of the Rings in...