Customer Reviews

Mitlanyál, Vol. 1: The Gods of Stability (Tekumel)

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I have been interested in Tekumel since playing Empire of the Petal Throne when it first came out and particularly enjoyed the first novels, Man of Gold and Flamesword. I have always been fascinated by the elaborate religious system and was happy to find more about it, especially the gods of stability (gods of chaos seem to get more space in the novels despite one of the major characters being a priest of Thumis).
It is clear that a great deal of time and thought went into developing a coherent religious system with appropriate theologies, rituals, institutions and ethical considerations. Its an application of all the principles of sociology of religion towards creating a new religion. It truly expands one's insight into the world of Tekumel. The information covered is quite extensive. After a general introduction to Tekumel and its religions each god is presented with basic elements of theology and history, ceremonial worship, principal manifestations, clan affliations, magic, details of signficant worshippers and finally a short story touching upon the god in question (these are wonderful in themselves, begging to be expanded upon). At the conclusion are materials for integrating these gods into a current game version of role-playing for Tekumel.
I found all the material enjoyable, adding to the knowledge of what has only been hinted upon in the novels, giving much scope to the imagination.
Of course this only leaves you wanting more. There are details yet to be worked out and only hinted at or just mentioned in passing in the text. Some things are simply presented without much explanation. Sadly there are a a number of editorial glitches (repetitions, lack of clarity, typing errors)that occasionally distract.
For gamers this is a treasure trove of possibilities and game material. For readers of the novels this helps to fill in the background of an original and fascinating fantasy world, making one look forward to more.