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A Question for the 25 and under crowd - What have you read?
Over in the forked How Important Magic 5 Things you Need Know thread, we've been talking about which authors could be considered iconic for D&D. Now, there's a push among some who would argue that D&D should remain "true to its roots" in various authors like Lieber and Howard and some who would argue that expanding the scope is perhaps a better idea.
So, I'd like to ask those of you who are 25 as of this year or younger, what have you read? What authors from the list have you read at some time in the past?
Note, I know this is hardly scientific and anyone can vote, but, I'm asking for people who are 25 or younger to vote in this one please.
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I'm broadly familiar with the no's, but just not that interested in them. Its not the sort of fantasy I read.
I know you were limited to ten, but there are some other modern classics. Mercedes Lackey is a big one. You'll probably get low positives on her on this forum, but in the broader spectrum of readers of fantasy she positively whips most of your list.
I'm pouting because I'm not allowed to vote! There should at least have been an alternative for 'I'm over 25, so my vote doesn't count but I want to vote anyhow'!
I can't recall ever having read any Terry Brooks, really. Perhaps I should have?
Out of all those I have read Tolkien, Rowling, and Jordan.
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I don't read much fiction. Not that I don't want to, I just never seem to have the time.
EDIT: Woops, I take that back. I'd almost forgotten that I've read The Hobbit. I've tried to read the trilogy a number of times, too, but can never make it very far before losing interest. Not really a fan of the LotR.
I just pulled a boner and voted, shortly thereafter remembering, hey, I'm 26. (I assume that I'm not the only one who started to lose track after 21.)
I have read very little by any of those on the list, but voted the following:
Fritz Leiber (Swords & Ice Magic, a spectacular genre read. Would be very interested in reading more if I find it at a used book store or cheap on Amazon.); Howard (some small bits and pieces of Conan here and there, but couldn't tell you what); Tolkien (The Hobbit, when I was rather young); Michael Moorcock (An Alien Heat, whic I have this terrible habit of picking up at night, getting much or most of the way through, then falling asleep--and not picking it up again until I might as well just start over. These are the perils of reading in bed.).
I'm 27 so I'm just over the max voting age, but from the list I've read Rowlings, Jordan, Howard (Conan) and some Tolkien (Hobbit and first half of Fellowship).
I think your list should include more recent fantasy authors. Off the top of my head, stuff from Eddings, Feist, Weis, Lackey and Jim Butcher had a much greater effect on my games than Tolkien ever did. I also consume a lot of manga/anime and tvtropes.com, and that stuff has a strong influence in my games as well.
I voted... and then remembered I had to log in. No idea whether my vote counted. It seems like China Mieville is under-read, if so
"Vance"? "Leiber"? "Howard"? "Moorcock"? Who are these people? I kid, but only a little. Never read them, never came across their books while browsing, and I like to (pretend?) to consider myself reasonably well-read.
Tolkein, Rowlings, Jordan, Mieville, Pratchett and Brooks, on the other hand, I have read.
(edit: Tirian's got a point. Butcher & Gaiman should really be on any list of D&Dalikes, ideally instead of Brooks and ???)
Last edited by Lackhand; 7th May 2009 at 08:39 PM..
Jordan, Tolkein, Brooks and Pratchett are ok.
Haven't read the others.
I think Steven Erikson should be on the list, his Malazan Book of the Fallen series is awesome(and apparantly loosely based on a d&d game 20+ years ago).
Well, I can't vote as I am over. That said, the only things that I have read on that list are Tolkein and a little of both Leiber and Moorcock. I tried to read Vance, but could not not get into his work.
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Read them all... also agree that Gaiman, Butcher, and some other popular writers could have been included on that list and been fine.
Of course, there's a lot of fantasy in our culture in general, but we don't acknowledge the folk tales, mythologies, and other shorts that we read as children...
But hey, it's a strange thing I guess.
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Well, I'm 23 and I've read all of them, but that's only because I'm a voracious bibliophile with too much time on my hands. Mind you, that's not to say I liked all of them (I'm looking at you Rowling and Brooks).
It's a good list, could be broader, but you've nailed some of the writer's who've got a thought out, methodical system to their world and ones which stand out from a lot of the mainstream, generic fantasy drivel out there.
Which leads to a bit of a conundrum, because in a way that's what D&D represents best. But given the nature of D&D, that's no bad thing, because conciously or not, the DM and players will nip and tuck at it till it suits their style of play. It could be argued that to play a style of game reminiscient of any of the above authors would require a couple of tweaks to the ruleset of any edition. But even then, that's not always necessary, because a lot of the changes would simply rely on the way the DM presents it to the players.
In a way, I think the core of D&D has become it's own, identifiably generic, genre of (high) fantasy. It's what's then done to it, be it rules-tweaking, imagery presentation and whatnot, within each campaign setting released that expands it's scope. That's why I don't think the core identity of it 'needs' to be influenced or take cue's from any author, contemporary or not, nowadays because that's then up to the DM, the players, and writers who add to it in supplements, magazines, websites, etc, to make it their game (or a game set in a familiar world).
Um... I hope some of that made sense at any rate.
Oh, and all of the above is pure, 100% my own opinion.
Last edited by Wizard Biscuits; 7th May 2009 at 08:55 PM..
Jack Vance
Fritz Leiber
Robert Howard
J. R. R. Tolkien
Michael Moorcock
J. K. Rowlings
Robert Jordan
Terry Pratchett
Terry Brooks
H.P. Lovecraft
Anne McCaffrey
David Eddings
Andre Norton
Lord Dunsany
Poul Anderson
Alan Garner
Katherine Kurtz
William Morris
Lloyd Alexander
and others too numerous to mention.
Bel
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In related news, I'm afraid I'm going to have to confiscate your 3.5 rulebooks, and force you to convert to the new edition. Where do you live?
You included Rowling- who doesn't even consider her work fantasy- and left out George R. R. Martin, who is a miniatures enthusiast, a loud advocate for RPGs of his series and far better selling than anyone on that list short of Rowling herself.
As for me, I'm 38. In order of preference:
Zimmer
Howard
Martin
Rowling
.
.
.
Brooks
Tolkien
Moorcock
Lieber
Jordan
Lovecraft
There's a gulf between the top four and everybody else. And these are the authors I like, so no, I don't think Lovecraft and Jordan suck.
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