Eberron Novels - Where to start?

[Angel Tarragon]

I haven't read any Eberron novels as of yet and would like to foray into Khorvaire's arena. Which novel do I start with, then which books follow?

 

[Klaus]

The obvious place to start is with Keith Baker's novel trilogy: City of Towers, Shattered Land, Gates of Night. He's the setting creator, and gives you a very good feel of the setting (plus the books are just fun!).

Then go to Doug Bassingwaithe's "Dragon Below" trilogy.

Then read two self-contained novels from the War-Torn series: Orb of Xoriat and In The Claws of The Tiger. The latter is a very accurate look at how an adventuring party in Eberron would behave, and gives a very detailed account of an expedition to Xen'drik.

Whatever you do, steer clear of the "Lost Mark" trilogy and the Crimson Talisman novel.

 

[Kralin Thornberry]

I agree completely.

The Dragon Below Trilogy was very, very good.

The Lost Mark trilogy, while it moved quickly (because of short chapters) was very forced, very shallow and in the end, not at all very interesting.

 

[Crothian]

I'd actually start with the collection of Short stories in Tales of the Last war.

 

[sedarfaery]

The obvious place to start is with Keith Baker's novel trilogy: City of Towers, Shattered Land, Gates of Night. He's the setting creator, and gives you a very good feel of the setting (plus the books are just fun!).

Then go to Doug Bassingwaithe's "Dragon Below" trilogy.

Sound advice. This is how I apporached the Eberron novel line. I'm loving it.

 

[WayneLigon]

I just finished the two new novels in the Inquisitives series; both are very good. Night of Long Shadows gives a lot of good, detailed info on Sharn, especially the Morgrave University area, Firelight, and Fallen among other locales. Bound in Iron is pretty darn good, as well.

They're both stand-alone books.

 

[Hatchling Dragon]

I'm nearly done with Bound by Iron, and I'd been hoping that the books were all one long series, as I liked the characters. Are the characters the same in both?

 

[The Lost Muse]

I'll recommend the Keith Baker series also - particularly Sharn: City of Towers, as an excellent introduction to the setting. (It's got a nice little primer in the back also.)

 

[Glyfair]

I'm nearly done with Bound by Iron, and I'd been hoping that the books were all one long series, as I liked the characters. Are the characters the same in both?

No, "The Inquisitives" is sort of the "The War-Torn" in that each book is a separate, unconnected story. That said, I thinkl that The Night of Long Shadows (the second book in the series) may be my favorite of the Eberron books. The interpaly between the main characters is great.

Apparently, the sidekick of the main character was an afterthought. The author said that he realized that he needed a character for the main character to interact with, or else much of the book would be his internal monologue. The relationship works very well, IMO.

 

[WayneLigon]

No, "The Inquisitives" is sort of the "The War-Torn" in that each book is a separate, unconnected story. That said, I thinkl that The Night of Long Shadows (the second book in the series) may be my favorite of the Eberron books. The interpaly between the main characters is great.

I wouldn't mind a novel about Col, the Dark Lantern guy. He was great.