D&D General Novel: The Sleeping Dragon ('83) - D&D with the serial # filed off

[DarkCrisis]

Tell me if you've heard this before:

Several friends/students are transported via magic to a world akin to their D&D campaign. Their DM provides them with knowledge and weapons to find a way to escape back to the real world.

Right?

Now add 80s fantasy grit and adult themes and you have The Sleeping Dragon by Joel Rosenberg. The first in a several books he's written set in this series.

While never actually saying they are playing D&D they do call it "The Game" and it has Clerics and Wizards and Warriors and Thieves. The Wizards use the Vancian (D&D) magic system.

Whats interesting that instead of being just themselves in this magic world they are their characters and they have like 2 minds constantly trying to take charge. Like the Fighter knows what his conan knock off knows and how to fight etc and sometimes this anger filled personality kicks in. The thief can't not steal things. Some of the characters like this and some don't. It's an interesting spin. And often the characters don't get along due to these brisk personalities.

As for the adult themes, slavery is big in this world and the characters decide its up to them to end it.. after dealing with a lot of it. Also things like rape happen (and the trauma that goes with it) because this world is kind of grimdark and slavers are going to "use" their slaves etc. (they end up getting a sword in the gut btw).

Over all I liked it despite a few things but again it's a gritty 80s kind of thing. Very Conan the Barbarian-ish sort of. If you want a story set in (not) D&D that doesn't mind being a bit more "adult", give it a shot.

I'm about to start the 2nd novel. Hopefully it's just as entertaining.

 

[Reynard]

This was my first "gown up" fantasy novel if you do not count Dragonlance. I read it in the combined Guardians of the Flame hardcover from the Science Fiction Book Club probably in 1985 or so, at 10 or 11 years old. It was quite influential and my personal preferred flavor of fantasy is an unholy admixture of Tolkien, Weiss and Hickman, and Rosenberg.

 

[jayoungr]

Wow, that cover illustration could easily have graced an AD&D module or sourcebook! Thanks for the recommendation.

 

[Baumi]

Funny, I just read the book a few weeks ago.

I liked the ending, but I didn't like the constant infighting between the Characters. Also I would have enjoyed it more if they didn't include the Rape Scene.

 

[Mannahnin]

This was my first "gown up" fantasy novel if you do not count Dragonlance. I read it in the combined Guardians of the Flame hardcover from the Science Fiction Book Club probably in 1985 or so, at 10 or 11 years old. It was quite influential and my personal preferred flavor of fantasy is an unholy admixture of Tolkien, Weiss and Hickman, and Rosenberg.

Same, though at that age in 1985 I was on Prydain, Tolkien, Katherine Kurtz' Deryni books, and starting Heinlein. I didn't get to that SF book club omnibus for a few more years, maybe as late as '89 or '90. I hit Weiss and Hickman in between and already knew DL was a lot weaker.

Over all I liked it despite a few things but again it's a gritty 80s kind of thing. Very Conan the Barbarian-ish sort of. If you want a story set in (not) D&D that doesn't mind being a bit more "adult", give it a shot.

I'm about to start the 2nd novel. Hopefully it's just as entertaining.

These were a favorite of mine as a teenager, I've re-read them multiple times and the prose definitely holds up a lot better than Dragonlance and few other adolescent D&D novels. The first three are all solid and of consistent quality. As I recall the next three or four drop off a bit, and I never read the rest.

Wow, that cover illustration could easily have graced an AD&D module or sourcebook! Thanks for the recommendation.

The original covers were all great, yeah. Trying to remember- I think they were by Daryll K. Sweet, who later did the covers for at least the first few Wheel of Time novels?

 

[Baumi]

It's interessting that the Idea of real Gamers getting to a RPG Land emerge so early. Today thats a whole Genre (LightRPG or something like that). A book Series that I recommend in that style is "He who fights with Monsters". Also the Book "How to Defeat a a Demon King in then easy Steps" is awesome (and just a single book). 8D

 

[Reynard]

It's interessting that the Idea of real Gamers getting to a RPG Land emerge so early. Today thats a whole Genre (LightRPG or something like that). A book Series that I recommend in that style is "He who fights with Monsters". Also the Book "How to Defeat a a Demon King in then easy Steps" is awesome (and just a single book). 8D

LitRPG.

One of the reasons I have avoided that genre is because my old brain bristles. "Pfah! Rosenberg did that 40 years ago!"

 

[DarkCrisis]

Funny, I just read the book a few weeks ago.

I liked the ending, but I didn't like the constant infighting between the Characters. Also I would have enjoyed it more if they didn't include the Rape Scene.

Yeah and the sort of other one. The “how will you pay for your boat ride?” situation.

I guess they wanted to show how evil the slaver was plus take a character out of action and get the team to the monastery. ..

The author seems to be trying to remove casters/magic from the group. Being “high level” I guess would make the adventure to easy. But yeah could have been handled a better way.

 

[Baumi]

I have to admit that it really feels 80's for me where I was a teen and we all played much more "explicit" than today. But even then we stayed away from rape scenes. Of course it is used as a strong revenge Motivator, but still...

But I don't want to sound to negative. I did enjoy it thanks to the really strong end, where the group finally worked much more together and found it's grove. Usually it's the end that most stories don't do right, here it's the other way around

 

[Mannahnin]

LitRPG.

One of the reasons I have avoided that genre is because my old brain bristles. "Pfah! Rosenberg did that 40 years ago!"

I saw a review that credited him as the father of LitRPG.