Victor Lazlo's Books

[Razorwing]

According to the information I've been able to gather so far, before his "in game" disappearance in 1984, Victor Lazlo wrote 9 books on the Supernatural. Unfortunately I've only been able to find the name of one of these books... World Within Worlds.

Have any of the other books written by Victor Lazlo been named or referenced (in any Palladium games)?

I ask because I am thinking of having my players (well... their characters actually) using these books as reference material in their investigations. Also, these works may show up in other settings that deal with magic and the supernatural (Nightbane, Rifts, even Heroes Unlimited) as part of the library of magical characters (I'm sure Erin Tarn has a copy of all of his books).

Yes, this is more to add to the atmosphere of my games than any real discussion on what the books may contain, but then not every thread on these forums needs to be about game mechanics and such, right?

[gaby]

I wanted to,known too.
Maybe ther can be named in BtS,s Stories in Rifter,following Lazlo,s Investigations before 1984.

[Razorwing]

So far, going through all the material I can have (where I think I've saw something referencing him), the only named book I can find is Worlds Within Worlds.

Admittedly, I only have BtS and most of the Rifts books (upto WB30) and all but the newest Rifters (67 is the last one I currently have)... and I haven't searched every one of those books for the smallest reference (most of them make no reference to Victor Lazlo), so it is difficult to be sure if this is the only one of his books that is currently titled. I have found references to other articles and discussions he apparently had before his disappearance from BtS, but currently no other titled books.

If anyone has come across any other references from some of the books he is said to have written (especially if they have the book's title), don't be afraid to give the title and where you found the reference.

It's getting to be a little difficult to say to my players every time they want to reference a different phenomina that they find the reference in "Worlds Within Worlds" (its doubtful that Victor could have included every bit of information he uncovered on the supernatural in a single book, especially when it has been stated he wrote 9 books).

[gaby]

I think Victor Lazlo will write about some things like psionic,magic and some of his cases,ther needs to be a timeline naming the books he maded and the year they come out,I hope someone at palladium books is reading this or maybe we need to sead a BtS,s Campaigns idea to Rifter,that have this in it.
The players need to find One of Lazlo,s book to get the weakness of the Monster,that Lazlo face before.
Any ideas for the subject of Lazlo,s books?

[Razorwing]

We already know that Worlds Within Worlds discusses Lazlo's discovery of Potential Psychic Energy, Ley Lines and such. There is also a reference in the original Rifts corebook that he also talked about the Astral Plane (and that this book was published in 1977). So it is possible to assume that this book focused mostly on his discovery that Magic and Psychic phenomena were real (setting wise at least) and the different realms that are closest to Earth (the Astral Plane) and dimensional rifts in general.

It is possible that other books dealt with more... specific phenomena such as various predators, ghosts and other creatures that prowl the night. He may even go into greater depth with various magics that he has discovered, those who practice such magics (including various cults). There is also a very likely possibility that some of his books dealt with very specific regions... and what can be found there (supernatural wise), such as places of powerful magic like Stonehenge and similar sites.

Unfortunately what little information we are given about Victor Lazlo's works is spread out over so many books that is very difficult to track down every reference and cross reference those with what we already know. It is possible that each of his books has already been named... but finding those names could take a long time (especially if one doesn't have all the books that reference such material).

Mostly, I'm not interested in making up the names of these books myself... more to see if anyone has managed to gather some of the information to help me gather what information we currently have on his written works. Unfortunately, so far I have only managed to find the name of one of his books... Worlds Within Worlds. You would think that at least a few others would have been mentioned and someone noticed.

[Sir Neil]

As far as I know, there are three named books.

Worlds Within Worlds, ?? (BtS)
Splintered Souls & Broken Auras, 1981 (Mystic China)
Final Words of Victor Lazlo, 1987 (posthumous)

[Glistam]

I agree with Sir Neil, that's all that's been mentioned so far in any of the game lines as far as I've seen. I find it interesting that Worlds Within Worlds, one of Victor's "earlier" books, has such a positive tone (according to the excerpts) while the excerpt for Splintered Souls and Broken Auras (a "later" book) made him seem, in my opinoin anyway, more jaded and doubtful.

Razorwing, you may find this general forum topic/project I started some time ago (and had to pause indefinitely) to be of interest to you in your game: Fictional Books