Elections are coming! Will you step up April 20, 2019?

The future of KaCSFFS is on the Line
Where: 6819 Johnson Drive, Mission, KS--the Natural Grocers, in their in their "kitchen classroom" at the back of the store.
When: April 20, 2019, 5:00pm to 8:30pm
Program: SAVING THE CLUB! Let the candidates present themselves! KaCSFFS Elections
Food theme: Turns out we can have food after all! Bring (or buy at the store) your favorite finger-foods: neat to eat, tasty and fun!

Let the Candidates Step Forward!
Only candidates who voluntarily self-nominate are eligible to become officers of KaCSFFS. They also should have been an active member of the club for at least a year.

According to the 2018 Bylaws, "The voting officers of KaCSFFS shall consist of a Director, a Treasurer, a Secretary, a Communications Officer, a Quartermaster, and a Program Director."

The only current officer who's agreed to stay on for another term is Quartermaster Ty Gephardt. We have two candidates who have stepped forward so far, but there are other positions to fill! If two people volunteer for the same position, we'll vote at the meeting Saturday.

Here's Rosemary Williams, a couple of years ago at Costume Con 34, in a photo by April Cornette.

Director: Rosemary Williams has nominated herself for this important position. She's currently proving her administrative capabilities as Chair of ConQuesT 50! Outgoing Director David Means has agreed to stay on until she's free to take over after ConQuesT ends next month. changes. According to the Bylaws, the Director shall:

• Preside at regular and Special Meetings of KaCSFFS;
• Preside at meetings of the Executive Board;
• Appoint a representative who shall act in their stead when they are unable to be present;
• Appoint any pro tem officers as needed for the business of KaCSFFS; and
• Perform such other duties as may be necessary.

Tom Meserole, courtesy of the Shawnee Mission Post.

Treasurer: Tom Meserole has stepped up to place himself under consideration for the Treasurer's position. He held this office earlier in the club's history, and has volunteered to engage his organized mind and financial skills again, if the club agrees. According to the Bylaws, the Treasurer shall:

• Maintain the financial records of KaCSFFS;
• Collect dues and notify members who are in arrears;
• Keep the membership roll;
• Make a financial report at the Annual Meeting;
• Submit a financial report in writing to the Executive Board at least once each year, and at other times when specifically requested by the Board or Director; and
• Perform such other duties as may be necessary.

Quartermaster: Ty Gephardt is willing to serve another term. He has held this position since it was created in 2018. He oversaw the search for and rental of the current storage unit, and organized it for save storage and easy access to all of KaCSFFS' equipment and supplies. According to the Bylaws, the Quartermaster shall:

• Keep track of and maintain all equipment and supplies purchased by KaCSFFS;
• Arrange for their safe storage and transportation to and from whatever locations they are needed;
• Oversee the set-up, tear-down, and packing-away of said equipment and supplies; and
• Perform such other duties as may be necessary.

Secretary: OPEN Marisa Means has been Secretary since 2016, when she generously stepped in after Bryan Thomas Schmidt was unable to serve. Through her influence, her husband David also joined the Board as Director for the past two years. We KaXFEN deeply appreciate the Meanses' service to the club, but their lives have grown busier with new jobs and other changes. According to the Bylaws, the Secretary shall:

• Take and publish minutes of the official business meetings of KaCSFFS, the KaCSFFS Executive Board, and the ConQuesT committee;
• Carry on the correspondence of KaCSFFS as required;
• Maintain records of the corporate business;
• Certify any written ballots taken by KaCSFFS, except those affecting them personally; and
• Perform such other duties as may be necessary.

Communications Officer: OPEN Outgoing officer Jan S. Gephardt will gratefully train her replacement and entrust him/her/them with all the passwords, but her life has changed too, especially with her sf novel What's Bred in the Bone set to be published May 22 and her new role with the small press Weird Sisters Publishing. She's held the Communications Officer's post continuously since 2011 (8 years). According to the Bylaws, the Communications Officer shall:

• Be responsible for managing and coordinating all official club communications;
• Maintain oversight over all online and print publications, club podcasts, and publicity efforts; and
• Perform such other duties as may be necessary.

Program Director: OPEN Other officers have filled in since Beth Moscato had the audacity to accept a much-better-paying job in another city, and skipped town. (She lined up a marvelous list of program speakers before we left, though, and we wish her all the best!) Beth proved what great programs can be developed, if you have a dedicated officer on the job. Now we need someone to follow in the same tradition. According to the Bylaws, the Program Director shall:

• Be responsible for coordinating and/or facilitating activities for the regular monthly meetings;
• Arrange for, and contact if necessary, any scheduled speakers or presenters to ensure their attendance;
• Notify the Communications Officer of the activities planned; and
• Perform such other duties as may be necessary.

Our Gracious Host 

Thanks once again to the good work of Tim Keltner, this month's meeting will be held at another Natural Grocers, the one at 6819 Johnson Drive, Mission, KS. It's between Metcalf and Lamar, on the south side of the road.We'll meet in their "kitchen classroom" at the back of the store.

IMAGES: Many thanks to April Cornette, via the publicly-shared album of Costume Con 34 photos on her Facebook Page, for the photo of Rosemary Williams, and to the Shawnee Mission Post for the photo of Tom Meserole. The Natural Grocers Logo is from the parent company's Facebook Page. 

Writers' groups--and local authors, reading--headline 4/21/2018 meeting

Local writers, writers' group panel, and officer elections on tap for April
What: Kansas City Science Fiction & Fantasy Society "Annual" Meeting 
Where: The Writers Place
3607 Pennsylvania Ave., Kansas City, MO 64111
When: April 21, 2018
6:00 set-up, 7:00 Self-nominations (and voting for officers, if necessary), followed by Program
Program: Panel discussion: How does a writers' group work? Followed by 20-minute readings by three local authors.
Food theme: Finger food to eat while reading

Officer elections

According to the new 2018 Bylaws, voted in by a quorum of dues-paid members at the December, 2017 meeting, there are two new officer jobs to fill on the KaCSFFS Executive Board.

We'll still have a Director, Treasurer, Secretary, and Communications Officer, whose job descriptions have not changed in several years. However, the new Bylaws state that the ConQuesT Chair will no longer have a voting position on the Board.

Instead, the new voting positions to fill will be Quartermaster (in charge of managing and storing KaCSFFS property, as well as transporting it to and from meetings as needed) and Program Director (in charge of developing program content for monthly meetings, communicating with speakers or presenters, coordinating with party-planners, and keeping the Communications Officer abreast of developments).

If you think you have the right stuff to fill one of these positions, please come to the April meeting! Nominate yourself! If two or more persons self-nominate for the same office, a quorum of the dues-paid members in attendance will vote to choose between them.

Robert Chilson and Dora Furlong will join
the panel discussion about writers' groups.

Local writers take the spotlight
Kansas City has a long, rich tradition of being the home of science fiction and fantasy writers. This continues today: many writers live and work in the Kansas City metro or nearby parts of the region; many of them, in turn, are members of writers' groups.

The Program portion of our meeting, to take place directly after the short business meeting, will consist of a panel discussion about writers' groups, and three readings by local authors.

We heard readings by a couple of Noble Fusion writers last October; in April the guest writers are members of the Writers-in-Rob's-Living-Room group, hosted monthly by Robert Chilson, a longtime author of science fiction, fantasy, and horror novels and short stories.

For the panel discussion and readings, we'll move to the Library upstairs. Rob himself and science fiction author Dora Furlong will join our three guest readers, Holly Messinger, Lynette M. Burrows, and Jan S. Gephardt to talk about writers' groups and how they function (or malfunction, sometimes).

Holly Messinger

Readings by Messinger, Burrows, and Gephardt:
After the panel discussion, three of the panelists with new projects on the horizon will read short selections from them.

Holly Messinger

Holly Messinger, author of gothic horror novel set in the old west  The Curse of Jacob Tracy (2015 from Thomas Dunne Books), will read from the upcoming sequel, Curious Weather (due in 2019 from St. Martin's Press). 

Here's a brief description of the book:
"When Jacob Tracy—Civil War veteran, ex-seminarian, and reluctant psychic—agrees to move into Miss Fairweather’s St. Louis mansion and study magic with her, he has one purpose in mind: to hunt down and destroy the necromancer Mereck, a predatory madman who has twice tried to make a meal of Trace and trapped Trace’s partner Boz in a monstrous half-life.

"Sabine Fairweather has her own grievance with Mereck, though Trace doesn’t know the details and doesn’t particularly want to. The woman may be a brilliant scientist and a powerful witch in her own right, but there is darkness in her and bitter secrets that threaten the tenuous faith Trace has in her.

"With Mereck’s minions circling ever closer, and old allies posing unexpected threats, Trace knows he and Sabine have no choice but to trust each other. But for that to happen, he will have to lay bare all the deepest secrets of her soul…and quite possibly her heart."

Lynette M. Burrows

Lynette M. Burrows

Lynette M. Burrows  is the author of My Soul to Keep, an alternate-history thriller set for release from Rocket Dog Publishing this summer (stay tuned to her website for details).

Here's a brief description of the book:
"Miranda Clarke lives a charmed life . . . until she breaks the rules.

"It is 1961 but the world isn’t the one you know. The Prophet Josiah Shepherd, backed by billionaire J. D. Wagner and the Isolationist movement, kept the United States of America from entering World War II. The Nazis control Great Britain, Europe, and Northern Africa. Unopposed, Japan rules the east. America is a theocracy, a land of righteous repression led by the Fellowship and its council of greedy white men.

A concept drawing of one of the deadly Azrael, by Lynette's 
husband, artist Robert Burrows.

"Miranda’s parents are part of the Fellowship's elite, the inner circle. Her father, the nation’s premier preacher-politician, is on his way to the presidency. And Miranda's hope of living a quiet, private life vanishes. But when Miranda makes a break for freedom, she learns everything she thought she knew is a lie:

"Her vengeance-seeking aunt isn’t dead.

"Her parents and the supposedly benevolent Fellowship Council aren’t benevolent.

"And the terrifying tales of the angel-assassins called Azrael aren’t just stories.

"Miranda must escape a religious re-education prison, discover the truth behind her horrifying nightmares, outwit her mother’s deadly ambitions, and destroy the ruthless, cloned angel-assassins who pursue her—or die."

Jan S. Gephardt

Jan S. Gephardt,
by Colette Waters

Jan S. Gephardt is the author of What's Bred in the Bone, a space opera/mystery set in a future when Humans have found or created other habitats in the reaches of space. If all goes well, it'll be available in summer or early fall 2018:

Here's a brief description of the book:
"XK9 Rex is a dog who thinks too much.

"When a spaceship blows up among the docks at the Hub of Rana Habitat Space Station, the implications reach to the highest levels of the tiny sovereignty. But Rex is sidelined by a rookie mistake that has put his Human partner Charlie in the ICU.

"Now he’s on the outside looking in: worried, lonely, desperate to get back to his Pack and his life’s-work. He and his Packmates have been engineered and cyber-enhanced to be the most advanced forensic tools available to law enforcement, by a famous genetics lab—underwritten by the military intelligence of Transmondia, the Chayko System’s dominant power.

Rex in a happier moment: giving Charlie's niece Sophie a
doggie-back ride, as envisioned by Lucy A. Synk.

"But the XK9s are more than forensic tools, and more than their owners, the Ranan Orangeboro Police Department, ever bargained for. When Rex strives to prove just how capable he and his Packmates truly are, he unmasks a secret that could destabilize the entire System—and places all XK9s everywhere in mortal peril."

IMAGES: Many thanks to the Monterrey Peninsula Water Management District, for the "Elections" logo; Robert Chilson and Dora Furlong, for their photos; to Holly Messinger for the photo of her; to Macmillans for the Curious Weather cover image; to Lynette M. Burrows for the photo of her, as well as the photo of the Azrael by her artist husband Robert Burrows; to Colette Waters Photography for my head shot; and to Lucy A. Synk for the whimsical vision of XK9 doggie-back riding.

Following up: 45 Recommended Authors, plus our October guest readers

The KaCSFFS Thanksgiving Feast at The Writers Place is now in the rear-view (it was taking place when this post went live), but there are some updates due, from recent meetings past.

Recommended Reading

Back in September, inspired by our program of a reading by Christine Taylor-Butler, we posted this notice:

"You wouldn't be a KaXFAN if you didn't love reading. Whose fiction gets your juices flowing or inspires your imagination? We'll have a place where you can share a list of your favorite books and authors, too. We'll publish the list in a future blog post. If you can't make the meeting--or even if you can--please feel free to post a comment that shares some of your reading favorites! KaCSFFS is all about sharing our love of reading."

We got several pages of recommendations from our members (though no comments on the blog post--y'all are falling down on the job!). You'll find a lot of so-called Golden Age SF in this list, but also an eclectic mix of others. Remember, this list is not exhaustive, so we apologize if we left off your favorites: you should have left a comment! (You can do that now, in the place below this post!) Also, not to seem as if we're playing favorites, the recommendations are listed in alphabetical order by the author's last name. 

Poul Anderson: The Flandry stories; Three Hearts and Three Lions. 

Ilona Andrews: The Magic series.

Isaac Asimov: The Foundation Trilogy; The Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun, I, Robot, plus "the rest of the robots and many more."

Robert Aspirin: The Myth Series.

Robin Wayne Bailey: The Saga of Frost Series, Shadowdance, "and many, many others."

David Brin: The Uplift Series.

Lois McMaster Bujold: "Especially the Vorkosigan Saga and the Chalion Series."

Emma Bull: War for the Oaks. 

Edgar Rice Borroughs:  The Barsoom (John Carter/Mars) stories, and Tarzan.

Jim Butcher: The Dresden Files.

Octavia Butler: "Oh, my God, everything!"

Rob Chilson: Black as Blood, Men Like Rats, "and others."

Arthur C. Clarke: Rendezvous with Rama, 2001: A Space Odyssey, "and many others."

Glen Cook: The Garrett, P. I. Series 

James S.A. Corey: The Expanse novels.

E. Everett Evans: Man of Many Minds. 

Alan Dean Foster: The Tar-Ayim Krang, and the rest of the Flinx series and associated stories

Neil Gaiman: Stardust, American Gods, The Graveyard Book, "and many others."

Zenna Henderson: The Books of The People, especially Pilgrimage, and No Different Flesh. 

Robert A. Heinlein: Stranger in a Strange Land, the Heinlein Juveniles, "and many more."

Robert E. Howard: The Conan stories.

N. K. Jemisin: The Broken Earth Series. 

Gini Koch: The Alien Series, especially Alien Nation, Alien Education, Alien Tango, and Alien in the House. 

Ursula K. Le Guin: The Left Hand of Darkness and other Hainish novels, the Earthsea books, and many others.

Madeleine L'Engle: The Wrinkle in Time books. 

Anne McCaffrey: The Dragonriders of Pern Series.

George R.R. Martin: Of course A Game of Thrones, but also Wild Cards, "and earlier works."

Holly Messinger: The Curse of Jacob Tracy.

Elizabeth Moon: The Serrano series the Paksenarrion books, and Vatta's War series.

Andre Norton: The Last Planet, The Zero Stone, Breed to Come, the Witch World Series, Beast Master, and "most everything else." 

Naomi Novik: Uprooted, and the Temeraire novels.

Nnedi Okorafor, The Binti series, Akata series, and "pretty much everything she writes."

Spencer Quinn: The humor-suspense Chet and Bernie mysteries "not normally marketed as fantasy, but when they're narrated by a dog . . . "
J. K. Rowling: The Harry Potter Series, "especially as read by Jim Dale on audiobooks."

John Scalzi: Old Man's War, Redshirts, "and many others."

Lawrence M. Schoen: The Buffalito books, and Barsk: The Elephants' Graveyard.

James H. Schmitz: The Witches of Karres, and the Telzey Amberdon stories. 

Clifford D. Simak: Time Is the Simplest Thing, Way Station, and The Werewolf Principle. 

Wm. Mark Simmons: the Half/Life Chronicles Series, the Dreamland Chronicles. 

E.E. "Doc" Smith: The Lensmen Series, Spacehounds of IPC, The Galaxy Primes, the Skylark Series, the Subspace duo.

George O. Smith: Pattern for Conquest.

Christine Taylor-Butler: The Lost Tribes Series.

J. R. R. Tolkein: The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings.

A. E. van Vogt: Slan, The World of Null-A.

David Weber: The Honor Harrington Series, Out of the Dark, Path of the Fury (and its expanded version), The Hell's Gate Series, and the War God's Own.

As we've said--if you don't see a favorite on this list, please comment below!

Revised Readers

Before our October meeting, we announced that our program would feature short fiction or excerpts by three authors--but as it turned out, one of them had to cancel at the last minute, and another agreed to step in. Our final lineup consisted of Sean Demory, Sherri Dean, and Allison Stein.

The fiction was delightful, although the space was a bit tight--our venue had made an "oops" and booked another event during our time slot (we've since worked that out!). But we all managed to be cozy in the Library (what better spot for a reading, after all?).

Local author Sean Demory read an intriguing chapter from a current work-in-progress, to set the mood for the evening. Standing: KaCSFFS Director David Means. In the background: Allison Stein and Sherri Dean.

Sherri Dean read an as-yet-unpublished story (pages custom-edged with appropriate Halloween-themed designs) that managed to be both gruesome and humorous at the same time.

Allison Stein rounded out the evening with a seasonally-appropriate story, Field Test #421, from the Yard Dog Press anthology Flush Fiction Vol. II: Twenty Years of Letting it Go! edited by Selina Rosen; cover art by Sherri Dean.

IMAGES: Many thanks to Goodreads, for the Asimov Foundation cover image; to Barnes & Noble Booksellers for the Corey Leviathan Wakes cover art; and to Amazon for the Schoen Barsk: The Elephants' Graveyard cover art. The photos of our October readers were all taken with permission, by Jan S. Gephardt, for use in KaCSFFS communications such as this. If you wish to use one, we request a credit and a link back to this page. Thanks!

Meeting Follow-up

KaCSFFS' 46th Birthday Party is now part of history, but it needs a few follow-ups. The July meeting was held 7/15/2017 in our usual venue, The Writers Place, in midtown Kansas City, MO.

Third-place
"Out of This World" cake.

The pastry chefs of KaCSFFS rock!
We had a nice assortment of cakes for this birthday party, which were formally presented before the tasting. Then we tasted, voted, and here are the winners:

Second-place
"Artificial Gravity"
cake.

Third place: The Means Family, for their "Out of This World" cake (lemon cake with dark chocolate frosting).
Their prize: A copy of the Rocket Jockey card game.

Second place: Liz Gooch and Luke Plumb, for their "Artificial Gravity" cake (Banana with coconut and walnut topping, "adjusted for the spin"--i.e., sort of lopsided. But tasty!)
Their prize: A DVD of Aeon Flux, a movie from 2005.

First-place
"Rum-Soaked Fruitcake"--
Not a crumb left behind!

First place: Beth Moscato, for her runaway favorite, the adults-only "Rum-Soaked Fruitcake."
Her prize: a pair of tickets to the historic Screenland Armour Theatre (films), plus a coupon for popcorn.

These bested a field of other entries that ranged from an imaginatively-decorated cake featuring a rocket surrounded by little green (gummy bears) men, to a package of Fig Newtons ("It's not a cookie--it's fruit and CAKE!")

Special thanks go to Earline Beebe, and David and Marisa Means, who secured the prize donations.

Puerto Rico NASFiC presentation
Jan and Ty Gephardt put together a photographic presentation about their trip to NorthAmeriCon '17, the 2017 North American Science Fiction Convention, held July 6-9 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. We've included it below, for your potential enjoyment:



Great stories from KaCSFFS' past!
We capped the evening with a funny and enlightening panel discussion by four longtime KAXFEN, Ken Keller (one of the co-founders), Robin Wayne Bailey, James "Jim" Murray (AKA Dr. Paisley), and Paula Helm Murray.

L-R: Ken Keller, Robin Wayne Bailey, Jim Murray, and Paula Helm Murray told some great stories from KaCSFFS' past.

They regaled us with stories of how the club was founded, friendships and a mutually-supportive community established, and also some humorous and/or hair-raising tales from the rich history of BYOB-Cons, ConQuesTs, and other notable events through more than four-and-a-half decades.

Members! Check your emails!
The summer 2017 selection for the Reviewers' Reading Circle, Stupid Humans by V. R. Craft, is now available for free download as a reviewer's copy.

This offer is open for all dues-paid KaCSFFS members. We are featuring this book starting with the July meeting through a live author interview with V.R. Craft at the August meeting, and concluding with the September meeting.

IMAGES: All the photos on this web page, and at least half of those in the NASFiC presentation, are by Jan S. Gephardt. Most of the remaining photos in the presentation are by Tyrell E. Gephardt; the remaining photos (credited at the end of the NASFiC presentation) are from the official website of the Sheraton Puerto Rico Hotel & Casino, where the NASFiC was held. The Stupid Humans book cover image is from Amazon. Many thanks to all!

We're Young Adult at heart, for the April meeting's program--plus, we get a new Board!

What: Monthly KaCSFFS Meeting
When: Saturday, April 15, 2017, 6:00 p.m.
Where: The Writers Place, 3607 Pennsylvania Ave., Kansas City, MO 64111
Food Theme: Favorite "Spring Things" to eat or drink

What's the buzz with YA science fiction and fantasy?
A year ago, David Means volunteered to make a presentation about YA (Young Adult) science fiction and fantasy. It is a growing field, but also one that has attracted some of the field's most esteemed writers for decades.

The Chronicles of Narnia, the Harry Potter books, the Hunger Games series--it pays, to pay attention to this niche! But how exactly is it defined? What are the hallmarks of a great YA book and who are the hottest new writers in the field?

We hope you'll enjoy this discussion!

Time to renew the Board of Directors!

Who will replace Margene at the podium in

2017-2018?

Changes are in the works, on the KaCSFFS Board. This month, Margene Bahm will complete her second year as Director, and she's formally stepping down.

Who will replace her? While it's not too late for a contested race, so far David Means has been brave enough to step up for KaCSFFS Director. Looks as if this could be a really busy night for him!

All of the other current Board members have self-nominated to remain in their positions, although any other dues-paid member who's been in the club for at least a year may self-nominate on Saturday. If someone does, we'll vote to decide the matter.

For the record, your current Board Members are: Earline (Cricket) Beebe, who's been our Treasurer since 2014; Marisa Means, Secretary since 2016; Jan S. Gephardt, Communications Officer since 2011; and William McCullough, Registered Agent (a non-voting position) since 2016.

"Spring Things" Food Theme 
A lot of us are seasonal eaters. We look forward to tummy-warming comfort food for winter, seasonal fruits through the warm months, cooling drinks in summer, and so on. What are your favorite foods in springtime? We hope you'll bring some to share!

IMAGES: Many thanks to Bookish for the YA banner (featuring selections from Summer, 2016). The photo of Margene at the podium (by Jan S. Gephardt) is from the June 20, 2016 meeting. And many thanks to Amy Loves It, for the beautiful "Spring Produce" image.

Game Profiles of Small World and Mystery of the Abbey

Not Your Parents’ Board Games

By David Means

Small World

Small World is an area-control game. Players vie for conquest and control of a world that is simply too small to accommodate them all. SmallWorld is inhabited by a zany cast of characters such as dwarves, wizards, amazons, giants, orcs, and even humans, who use their troops to occupy territory and conquer adjacent lands in order to push the other races off the face of the earth.

The base game has 14 different fantasy races and 20 unique special powers, which are randomly paired each game. Players use their special abilities to expand their empires -- often at the expense of weaker neighbors. Yet they must also know when to push their own over-extended civilization into decline and ride a new one to victory.

Each race has a set number of population markers which players use to conquer adjacent territories. Once those markers are used up, you give up on your race, letting it go “into decline.” At the end of your turn, you score one point (coin) for each territory your races occupy.

Small World is one of the few games that has a double-sided board; the number of players determines which side of the board is used. There are also two variants and nine expansions, each of which adds three to five new races and an equal number of new powers.

You might like this tutorial:

Mystery of the Abbey 

Mystery of the Abbey is a whodunit game with a twist. If you are a fan of the Brother Cadfael books by Ellis Peters, the PBS series, or the book and/or movie The Name of the Rose, you would probably enjoy Mystery of the Abbey.

The premise is that someone has pushed poor Brother Adelmo off the roof of the abbey onto the rocks far below. You are one of several monks tasked by the Abbott with finding out who the murderer is. 

The suspects are twenty-four monks of three different orders (Templar, Franciscan, Benedictine), and are either fat or thin, tall or short, bearded or clean-shaven, and hooded or not. 

By examining the suspect cards in the other players’ hands you need to deduce who the culprit is by process of elimination (the actual suspect card is placed under the board before play, like Clue). The game is a combination of the mechanics of Clue and Who Am I?

The game's publisher, Days of Wonder, has provided a short video overview:

ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND SERIES: In January 2016, KaCSFFS member and notable board game collector David Means gave a presentation to the club about his collection. It was so interesting, I asked for permission to reprint it as a series of posts on this blog. He graciously agreed, and supplied me with his script. I have divided it into several posts and added the illustrations, hyperlinks, embedded videos, etc. as seemed appropriate. --Jan S. Gephardt 

IMAGES: Many thanks to Board Game Geek for the photo of the Small World game cover and the photo of game pieces, to Amazon for the photo of the Small World game board with some of the pieces, and to Clever Move Quick Play for the three-minute tutorial. Many thanks to Board Game Family for the photo of the Mystery of the Abbey cover, to Thirsty Meeples for the photo of the board and some of the pieces, and to Days of Wonder for the short introduction to the game.