James Herbert "Herbie" Brennan (born Ireland, 5 July 1940) is a lecturer and the author of over 100 fiction and non-fiction

books A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical ar ...

for adults, teens, and children.

Biography

Brennan's '' Man, Myth & Magic'' was published by

Yaquinto Publications Yaquinto Publications was the wargame publishing arm of the Robert Yaquinto Printing Company of Dallas, Texas. History Yaquinto Publications was started by Robert Yaquinto Printing early in the year 1979. In March 1979 Robert Yaquinto hired S ...

in 1982; he had originally started developing it as a much smaller Roan-themed role-playing game called ''Arena'', but the game continued to grow from its base as he developed it. Brennan also designed '' Timeship'', the last roleplaying game published by Yaquinto Publications. Brennan wrote several different

gamebook A gamebook is a work of printed fiction that allows the reader to participate in the story by making choices. The narrative branches along various paths, typically through the use of numbered paragraphs or pages. Each narrative typically does not ...

s, including a series of eight Arthurian adventures called ''

GrailQuest GrailQuest is a series of gamebooks by J. H. Brennan. The books are illustrated by John Higgins. The stories follow the adventures of a young hero named Pip, who is often called upon by Merlin to right wrongs and save the realm from evil. The ser ...

'' (1984–1987), and two published only in French – ''Aztec Quest'' (1997) and ''Egyptian Quest'' (1997). His works have been translated into approximately 50 languages, he has also written books on the

Occult The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...

and

New Age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars conside ...

. More recently, his teenage novel ''Faerie Wars'' achieved ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' best-seller status in the United States and is now part of a five book series. He initially trained in

esoteric Western esotericism, also known as esotericism, esoterism, and sometimes the Western mystery tradition, is a term scholars use to categorise a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas a ...

teachings and Qabalah with the

Fraternity of the Inner Light The Fraternity of the Inner Light is a magical society and Western mystery school founded by Dion Fortune in 1924. It operates from London and accepts pupils. History In 1922, after a falling-out with Moina Mathers and with Moina's consent, Dion ...

. He later became associated with

Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki (born 11 June 1929) is a British occult author, third generation psychic, and esoteric practitioner. As an associate of Walter Ernest Butler, she succeeded him as Director of Studies of the Servants of the Light. Early ...

and the Servants of the Light. In 1995 he contributed two novels to the Horrorscopes series under the house pen name "Maria Palmer". In 1998 he published ''Martian Genesis'' an

ancient astronaut Ancient astronauts (or ancient aliens) refers to a pseudoscientific hypothesis which holds that intelligent extraterrestrial beings visited Earth and made contact with humans in antiquity and prehistoric times. Proponents suggest that this ...

book which claimed the human race is of extraterrestrial origin. In 2003, Brennan published the children's book ''The Book of Wizardry: The Apprentice's Guide to the Secrets of the Wizards' Guild'' under the pseudonym "Cornelius Rumstuckle." The book purports to instruct children on how to become a wizard; it discusses crafts such as making a

wand A wand is a thin, light-weight rod that is held with one hand, and is traditionally made of wood, but may also be made of other materials, such as metal or plastic. Long versions of wands are often styled in forms of staves or sceptres, which c ...

, and includes

astrological Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Dif ...

references throughout. According to the biographical note on the back cover, Rumstuckle "joined the Wizards' Guild in 1514 and became its youngest president ever seventy-eight years later, a post he holds to this day." The novel stars "you" as you train to become a wizard (in wiccan style). You then participate in a "wizard's adventure" a game where you utilise the knowledge you gained after reading the book. The ending is ambiguous, leaving you with the location of the Wizards' Guild, possibly hinting a sequel. In 2011 Herbie Brennan's book ''The Secret History of Ancient Egypt'' was republished by Bedford Square Books.

Bibliography

Role Playing Games

*'' Man, Myth & Magic'' *'' Timeship'' *''

The Monster Horrorshow ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

Gamebooks

* ''

Sagas of the Demonspawn ''Sagas of the Demonspawn'' is a four issue gamebook series written by J. H. Brennan and illustrated by Geoff Taylor (first two books) and John Blanche (latter two). The books feature a protagonist named Fire*Wolf in a continuing storyline. Unus ...

'': ( Fire* Wolf) (1984) * ''

'': (

The Crypts of Terror ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

) (1984) * ''

'': ( Demondoom) (1985) * ''

'': (

Ancient Evil Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cove ...

) (1985) * ''

'' * ''

Horror Classic Gamebooks Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction **Japanese horror, Japanese horror fiction **Korean horror, Korean horror fiction *Horror film, a film genre *Horror comics, comic books focusing on ...

'' Egyptian Quest (1997)

Non-fiction

* ''Astral Doorways'' (1971) * ''Five Keys to Past Lives'' (1972) * ''Experimental Magic'' (1972) * ''

The Occult Reich ''The Occult Reich'' is a 1974 book about occultism during the Third Reich by J. H. Brennan. See also * ''Zodiac and Swastika'' References * ''A History of Nazi Involvement with the Occult'' by Peter Levenda * ''Secret Aryan Cults and Their ...

'' (1974) * ''An Occult History of the World'' (1976) * ''Getting What You Want'' (1977) * ''Good Con Guide'' (1978) * ''Reincarnation'' (1981) * ''A Guide to Megalithic Ireland'' (1982) * ''Discover Your Past Lives: A Practical Course'' (1984) * ''Mindreach'' (1985) * ''The Reincarnation Workbook: A Complete Course in Recalling Past Lives'' (1989) * ''The Astral Projection Workbook: How to Achieve Out-of-Body Experiences'' (1989) *'' Mindpower : Succeed at School'' (1990) * ''Mindpower: Secrets to Improve Your Image'' (1990) * ''Aquarian Guide to the New Age'' (1990) (with Eileen Campbell) * ''The Young Ghost Hunter's Guide'' (1990) * ''Understanding Reincarnation: Effective Techniques for Investigating Your Past Lives'' (1990) * ''How to Get Where You Want to Go'' (1991) * ''Discover Astral Projection'' (1991) * ''Discover Reincarnation'' (1992) * ''True Ghost Stories'' (1993) * ''The Dictionary of Mind, Body and Spirit'' (1994) (with Eileen Campbell) * ''Body, Mind and Spirit: A Dictionary of New Age Ideas, People, Places, and Terms'' (1994) (with Eileen Campbell) * ''Time Travel: A New Perspective'' (1997) * ''Seriously Weird True Stories'' (1997) * ''Magick for Beginners'' (1998) * ''Martian Genesis'' (1998) * ''The Little Book of Nostradamus: Prophecies for the 21st Century'' (1999) * ''The Secret History of Ancient Egypt'' (2000) * ''The Magical I Ching'' (2000) * ''Magical Use of Thought Forms'' (2001) * ''Occult Tibet'' (2002) * ''Death – The Great Mystery of Life'' (2002) * ''Tibetan Magic and Mysticism'' (2006) *
Whisperers - The Secret History of the Spirit World
' (2014)

The adventures of Barmy Jeffers

* '' Barmy Jeffers and the Quasimodo Walk'' (1988) * '' Return of Barmy Jeffers and the Quasimodo Walk'' (1988) * '' Barmy Jeffers and the Shrinking Potion'' (1989)

Faerie Wars Chronicles

# '' Faerie Wars'' (2003) # '' The Purple Emperor'' (2004) # '' Ruler of the Realm'' (2006) # '' Faerie Lord'' (2007) # '' The Faeman Quest'' (2011)

Other fiction

* ''Beyond the Fourth Dimension'' (1975) * ''Power Play'' (1977) * ''Greythorn Woman'' (1979) * ''Dark Moon'' (1980) * ''Mindreach'' (1985) * ''The Curse of Frankenstein'' (1986) * ''Dracula's Castle'' (1986) * ''Monster Horrorshow'' (1987) * ''The Crone'' (1989) * ''Ordeal by Poison'' (1992) * ''Ancient Spirit'' (1993) * ''Marcus Mustard'' (1994) * ''Capricorn: Capricorn's children'' (1995) * ''Cancer: Black Death'' (1995) * ''The Gravediggers'' (1996) * ''Blood brother'' (1997) * ''Kookaburra Dreaming'' (1997) * ''Zartog's Remote'' (2000) * ''Nuff Said: Another Tale of Bluebell Wood'' (2002) * ''In Miss Whitts class.... Being bored... Question mark'' (2009) * ''The Shadow Project'' (2010) * ''The Doomsday Box'' (2011)