Patience pays off (for once)

[torilen]

I've been looking at the book "Ed Greenwood presents Forgotten Realms".
It is an rpg book for the Forgotten Realms, of course...a lot of in-depth detail
for the world.

It was more than I really wanted to pay, though, since I don't have any gaming
group that I play with. Even through Amazon or Ebay, it was still usually $20+.

Well, I bid on one on ebay and managed to get it...shipping and all...for $8.53.

OH YEAH!.

[cynthialee]

Sweet!
Gotta love a good deal.

[torilen]

I am very loving this deal - I've been wanting this book for a while. Can't wait for it to get here.
It'll be about a week and a half, with the holiday next week and all.

[Redav]

Just out of interest, are there many Forgotten Realms, Dungeons and Dragons, Dragon Lance, Pool of Radiance etc (I'm sure I've just used several titles to describe the same thing ) novels that are worth reading?

[torilen]

OH MY YES.
First off, one of the best series is in Forgotten Realms. The Cleric Quintet. I've read it through three times and listened to
the full audiobook set through once (so far).
- Canticle, In Sylvan Shadows, Night Masks, Fallen Fortress, Chaos Curse.
(I will give you a warning - night masks is only "okay", but you have to get through it to get to the rest)
(Another warning - if you look it up online, a lot of people have issues with this series because of the main character and
the level of power he attains by the end - just go with it and make you mind up at the end).

The Avatar series is an okay read (Forgotten realms) - I read it when it was only a trilogy...I am not sure if I have
read the others that they decided would be part of that series later on.
- Shadowdale, Tantras, Waterdeep

I remember Spellfire (forgotten realms) being pretty good. I read that a long time ago, though.

A lot of the Drizzt novels are good, but I would venture a guess that you would have to enjoy Forgotten Realms
a lot to really get into those. I read those later on in my reading career and liked them, but had a hard time
getting into them at a younger age. If you're going to do these...start with the three originals (Crystal Shard,
Streams of Silver, Halfing's Gem), then move onto the Dark Elf Triology (Homeland, Exile, Sojurn), and then
continue with the rest in order as they should be read. This is how they were published (because this is how
they were written) and I think you would enjoy it more. The first trilogy will get you excited about Drizzt,
and then the Dark Elf Trilogy gives you more.

The Finder's Stone Trilogy is okay - I got through the first book (Azure Bonds) and the first couple of chapters
of the second (The Wyvern's Spur) - I stopped because I got sidetracked, and just never have gone back yet...
but it was good.

I've read these from the Harpers' Series - they were okay
- Parched Sea, Crypt of the Shadow King, Soldiers of Ice, Masquerades.
NOTE - Masquerades follows the characters from the Finder's Stone Trilogy.
NOTE - I haven't read it, but the Harper Book - Crown of Fire - follows the main character from
Spellfire.

The Moonshae Trilogy is pretty good. I never could get into the sequel trilogy, though...you might like it, though.



***BIG NOTE HERE - I am currently listening to the audio book for The Legend of Drizzt: The collected Stories.
It is excellent - if you know the characters from those books. One could enjoy it without reading any others,
but it would make a big difference if you had some background first.

***SECOND BIG NOTE HERE - Be careful trying to read the Empires Trilogy from Forgotten Realms. It was
very interesting with the view point and the storyline - LORDY WAS IT SLOW AND DRAWN OUT. I am afraid it
might turn you off of reading totally...it did me for a while. I got through the first novel and had to give up.

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The original 3 Dragonlance novels were pretty good - drawn out and a bit slow at times, but well worth the read.
- Dragons of Autumn Twilight, ...of Winter Night, ...of Spring Dawning.

The Dwarven Nation Trilogy (dragonlance) was good, if you like a historical look at dwarves and their seeking a
new homeland
- Covenant of the Forge, Hammer and Axe, Sword-sheath scroll

I read the Defenders of Magic trilogy (Night of the Eye, Medusa Plague, Seventh Sentinel) - I can't remember how much
I liked it - I did get all the way through it, so it couldn't have been but so bad.

The good thing about Dragonlance - there are a LOT of stand alone books and a lot of books that focus on specific
characters, should you find someone you like a lot.

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The Shannara Series is quite good - the first few, any how.
First King of Shannara
The Sword of Shannara, The Elfstones of Shannara, and The Wishsong of Shannara
The Scions of Shannara, The Druid of Shannara, The Elf Queen of Shannara and The Talismans of Shannara
Ilse Witch, Antrax, and Morgawr

I started losing interest with them after this...it becomes a lot of the same thing over and over. You might like them, though.

Some of the prequel books, even those going back into the Word and the Void series, are not too bad.

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If you get into any Dragonlance - the Leaves from the Inn of the Last Home is a lot of fun, as is the Art of Dragonlance.
The latter actually goes into a lot of how the setting and the books came about, and talks about how the writers get into
the characters they write.

Of course, there are tons of Forgotten Realms rpg books that are lots of fun to read if you get into FR. The Moonshae setting
book is great for deeper knowledge of the islands.

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You'll notice a lot of the books I've read are older books. I don't have anything against new books, really - it just seems to me
that the older writers (who wrote a lot of different books across different series) were better writers. I have a hard time getting
into the new books and the newer authors.

Try them out, though - maybe sit at the book store and read the first chapter or two. You might find you like them. They're just
not my thing.

[whitebeard]

OH MY YES.

Well, not exactly. Anytime someone tells you to "get through" a book to get to the rest there is usually some kind of problem. The problem is that TSR just used the names Forgotten Realms, DragonLance, etc. to sell a lot of books to fans of the individual universes. So there are a lot of BAD books out there with similar names.

I recommend you read only individual books which are highly recommended then follow the AUTHORS that you like.

R.A. Salvator took the frozen north of the Forgotten Realms and made it one of the most exciting venues in all of the Realms. I recommend you start with Salvatore's "The Crystal Shard" and you'll be hooked in the first 10 minutes. My uncle introduced me to these and he was not a D&D-er… just a fan of good fantasy / science fiction. The Icewind Dale trilogy was a New York Times Best Seller.

Good Luck!

[Sjeng]

As I've mentioned somewhere recently, I've read almost all the Drizzt novels, and I read them in numerical order. So the Homeland/Sojourn/Exile trilogy first, then the Halfling's Gem trilogy. I enjoyed all 6 very much.
And if you enjoyed those, it's worth reading the rest up untill part 13, and if you liked the Entreri/Jarlaxle characters, read the Sellswords trilogy. Very interesting read.
The rest I'd only read if you are really really into Drizzt at that point.

[Jafazo]

Good haul bro

[torilen]

Sjeng - if you like the Drizzt stuff, and especially Entreri/Jarlaxle - you should check this out.
There are two stories about Entreri and Jarlaxle in here that are excellent...as well as one about
Zhengyi.

http://www.audible.com/pd/Sci-Fi-Fantas ... 446&sr=1-2

[Teldurn]

I'd like to recommend any of the Erevis Cale books, by Paul S. Kemp. It's set in FR and Kemp is a magnificent writer.