Eberron novel line. Any standouts?

The Eberron novel line has been around long enough that there are many authors taking a go at the setting.

I've been holding out on reading much (I grabbed the first two Keith Baker novels, that's all) that has been published. I'm curious if there are any Eberron novels out that truly are worth getting, for any reason whatsoever. Great story, great take on something old, great characters, great character portrayals, talented writing, great expose on some part of the world, great execution of "fantasy noir"... whatever.

What can people recommend?

I've gotten several and read significant parts of the rest, and my conclusion is Keith Baker's novels are the best of the lot(If you're interested the third one is out now). Whatever you do don't bother with the Mark of Death books It'll be money wasted on a waste of paper. I read the first and thought it was quite bad, but I figured he might get better so I got the second. It was even worse. I'm not going near the third.

HeavenShallBurn said:

I've gotten several and read significant parts of the rest, and my conclusion is Keith Baker's novels are the best of the lot(If you're interested the third one is out now). Whatever you do don't bother with the Mark of Death books It'll be money wasted on a waste of paper. I read the first and thought it was quite bad, but I figured he might get better so I got the second. It was even worse. I'm not going near the third.

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I've read the first two Baker books, and they're very good, and HeavenShallBurn has it right about the Mark of Death books. I read the first one and it was horrible.

I've read the following Eberron books:

The Binding Stone (Don Bassingthwait)
The Grieving Tree (Don Bassingthwait)
(These two are probably the best books I've read in the Eberron world. I cannot recommend them highly enough. )

The Crimson Talisman (Adrian Cole) - some fun ideas, and it visits some neat places, but I found it to be merely ok/good enough.

The Orb of Xoriat (Edward Bolme) - a very good book. Almost as good as the Bassingthwait books. Also recommended. This is part of a loose series with the Crimson Talisman - all books about ancient evil/artifacts etc, but different stories/characters/situations.

Claws of the Tiger (James Wyatt) - next in the series, and I've just started it. So far the first 55 pages are pretty good.

I also have Voyage of the Mourning Sun, but haven't read it yet. That leaves 10 more books (ignoring the Forbeck books) for me to pick up. I'd better get cracking.

HeavenShallBurn said:

Whatever you do don't bother with the Mark of Death books It'll be money wasted on a waste of paper. I read the first and thought it was quite bad, but I figured he might get better so I got the second. It was even worse. I'm not going near the third.

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I have to disagree on this. I read all three and enjoyed them throughly.

I read all three Baker Books. I thought they were very good.

The Don Bassingthwait books I have but have not read yet.

Enjoyed all 3 Mark of Death books.

Crimson Talisman didn't blow me away...it was ok.

I liked Voyage of the Midnight Dawn, thought it was really good.

Also, read Thieves of Blood after reading a short story in Tales fromt the Last War. It was really good and I'm really looking forward to more from this author (Tim Waggoner)

Just started Orb of Xoriat, good so far.

That's all I got.

The Binding Stone and The Grieving Tree by Don Bassingthwait are very good and I would recommend them. I just picked up the 3rd yesterday, and should have it read by next weekend.

MojoGM said:

I have to disagree on this. I read all three and enjoyed them thoroughly.

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But there's a difference between enjoying and calling them 'good'.

I thought that they weren't good, nor were they enjoyable.

The first book felt like the guy had a checklist of Eberron elements that he needed to use in order to fullfill his writing contract. It was sad.

dravot said:

But there's a difference between enjoying and calling them 'good'.

I thought that they weren't good, nor were they enjoyable.

The first book felt like the guy had a checklist of Eberron elements that he needed to use in order to fullfill his writing contract. It was sad.

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That's what I liked about them. What can ya say? Different strokes and all that...

I'm pretty easy to please fiction-wise, though there were a few FR books that I didn't make it to the end of (and didn't care enough to).

I don't mind folks debating the relative merits of particular books, but rather than volleys of "It's bad" "no, it's great", I would like to see proponants and detractors at describe what quality in it was appealing or repellant. A good discussion will help me decide what to get next.

So, carry on!

Eric Anondson said:

I don't mind folks debating the relative merits of particular books, but rather than volleys of "It's bad" "no, it's great", I would like to see proponants and detractors at describe what quality in it was appealing or repellant. A good discussion will help me decide what to get next.

So, carry on!

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The Baker books are the best at evoking the Eberron feel that I'm interested in (as a DM and player). The characters are decent, and the situations are fun and interesting. Characters growth is minimal (Baker's weakest point, I think), but they are unique and interesting.

The Bassingthwait books are also good at the Eberron feel. His badguys feel evil in a way that Baker's don't. He sets up terrific scenes and set-piece events, and the characters are strong and unique, and have some element of character growth. These books feel the most to me like an actual campaign (in a good way). Plot is fairly linear, but moves along nicely, so it's not a drawback.

The Bolme book that I read is also good at the Eberron feel. Strongest characters of any Eberron book I've read. Lots of interesting ideas.

The Adrian Cole book had a few good ideas, and visited some fun places, but was the weakest in terms of character development. Heck, weakest for characters in general. He likes to have people refer to each other by their profession, which got real tiresome really quickly ("Pass the salt, cleric." "Your shoes are untied cotton-candy-maker." etc. :\ )

The Forbeck book that I read was weak in character development. Everyone was pretty much one dimensional, no growth or insight. All of the Eberron elements felt like a checklist ("Dragonmarks? Check. Mourning Lands? Check. Warforged? Check. Carcass Crab? Check."), but no real feel for what Eberron is. It felt to me like he skimmed the Eberron sourcebook for 20 minutes and then wrote his story, which involved the characters getting into one ridiculous event after another.

How'd I do?