Let’s have a quiet moment. This is The Sorcerer’s Enclave (2022), a narrative art book by Aaron Howdle. It isn’t really an RPG book, but it also isn’t not an RPG book.

Essentially, it is a very large cross-section illustration of a school of magic, secluded on an island, done in a style reminiscent of early Warhammer, or perhaps Fighting Fantasy. Each spread of the book zooms in on one particular area of the cross-section — the orrery, the golem manufactory and so on — and in brief prose details what goes on there. The world is both fanciful and dark (of course the island’s necromancer is up to no good). It’s brief, but beautiful and fascinating. There is seemingly an infinite amount of detail to pull from the illustration, something new for each browse. I keep pulling it off the shelf to look at, just one more time.

And while it isn’t formally an RPG book, it would take very little effort to make it one, the setting for an adventure or two. And if not that, there’s no shortage of inspiration to draw for other aspects of a game. I hope Howdle does more, I’d fill a shelf with these.