From one extreme to another. Two volumes of historical themed fantasy followed by a book of gods: Monster Mythology (1992), a kind of companion to Legends & Lore.

First, I think the 2E version of Legends & Lore is a snooze fest. There’s just no mystery in it, it is just fact after stat after fact, written in a drone. Bores me to tears. At the time, I thought it was because it was just focused on human deities drawn from real world mythology. I love that stuff, but come on, where’s Blibdoolpoolp?

In Monster Mythology! And it should be a slam dunk — the monster gods are the weirdest, most interesting part of Deities & Demigods — but nope, this one is just about as boring as the main god book. How did they mess this up?

One way: by not putting nearly enough art in here. And what art there is feels — non-specific. Which is a terrible squandering of Terry Dykstra’s talents. And it is written by Carl Sargent, who I generally esteem. Another way: by trying to pass off the gods of dwarves, elves, gnomes and other demi-humans as Monster Mythology. They’re actually my least favorite D&D deities, but a large count of pages here. I dunno, it just isn’t exciting. I’d rather read a mythology textbook.