Gurp's Places of Mystery

I am extremely impressed with "Places of Mystery," and for several reasons.First, the writing is excellent. Many GURPS supplements (and supplements for other RPGs for that matter) contain excellent material but are poorly reason. That's not the case here. Phil Masters and Alison Brooks are very good writers, so the text itself is enjoyable to read. The sentences are lucid and entertaining, one paragraph follows the other in reasonable succession, and the arc of each chapter leaves me deeply satisfied.Strage thing to say about a book that lists a bunch of weird places.But it's true. These writers have applied their skillful pens to elucidating many of the most interesting historail, fantastic, and natural places on Earth.Here's my second reason for loving this book: they've clearly done their research. I've read a lot about many of these places, but they've read more, and they've distilled what they've read to provide the reader with that which the gamer will find most useful.They've explored the histories and legends of all the places they examine--and similar places. They examine these places as they appear in fiction, new age writing, or wherever they may have shown up. They offer theories in support of rumors, but also provide the skeptic's point of view.My third reason for loving this book is the excellent job the authors have done in suggesting game applications for these sites. They offer extensive suggestions for each of the sites, and a lot of the suggestions are really very good. This book is useful for any GM of any game in any genre. I'm not kidding. Even if you're running a strictly realistic campaign set on a planet that never had anything to do with Earth, you'll find absolutely terrific inspiration here.I'd give it more than five stars if I could.(The chapters, by the way, are: Atlantis, Stone Circles, The Pyramids, Desert Cities, The Far East, The Near East, Darkest Africa [a chapter title I do find mildly offensive], The Mediterranean, The British Isles, Europe, Australia & Oceania, The New World, and Using Mysterious Sites. There are more than thirty maps, most of them quite useful. To list the actual places they examine would make this review too long. Do check it out!)