D&D 5E (2014) Just read Vengeance of the Iron Dwarf...

[MerricB]

Wow... there are a LOT of Drizzt books. I haven't managed to read them all. After reading the most recent ones, I'm not sure I could face reading the middle ones that I skipped...

I've written more about the book on my blog, but reading it wasn't a joyful experience. It's useful knowing the orcs (manipulated by the drow) managed to lay siege to most of the settlements in the Silver Marches during the period (a few years before the current day in the Realms, but after the Sundering), and even destroyed a couple of them.

Unfortunately, then there was the rest of the book (and the trilogy). I am by no means a Drizzt-hater, and there are books of Salvatore's that I really like. These aren't them. I've noticed my taste in preferred reading changing over the last decade, and I now read a lot more urban fantasy than I used to, and much fewer epic fantasies, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy a good traditional epic. (I'm really looking forward to Brandon Sanderson's next book in his Stormlight Archive series). This just wasn't good. Honestly, I think it was pretty awful.

Is there a new Erin M. Evans book coming out soon? I need to read a D&D book with characters I enjoy...

Cheers!

 

[delericho]

Yeah, I gave up on the novels after "The Pirate King", after a sequence of six or so poor novels in a row. Somewhere in "The Thousand Orcs" I realised that Salvatore was so attached to his characters that he just wouldn't let them die, and the moment that happens any tension in the series disappears.

(The irony that TPK does indeed end with key deaths is not lost on me. But it was just so badly written I couldn't go on. Needless to say, though, I wasn't remotely surprised when Salvatore chose to reincarnate all his favourites for a new edition.)

 

[pukunui]

I remember devouring every Forgotten Realms book I could get my hands on when I was a teenager in the early 90s. My mother always wanted me to read "real literature", and back then I'd just roll my eyes at her, but now that I'm older and have read plenty of good writing, I can see that she was right. Most of those D&D novels I loved when I was younger are B-grade writing at best.

Salvatore was never anywhere near being in the same league as, say, Steinbeck, but I'd say his writing has definitely worsened over the years. No doubt Salvatore's in the same boat as Rowling and the rest in terms of their rise in popularity being inversely proportional to their editors' ability to actually do their jobs.

Anyway, I think the most recent Drizzt novels I read were The Thousand Orcs and The Lone Drow. They were truly abysmal, and I'm not just referring to the non-story. I'm talking about the writing. It was D-grade at best. I don't think I bothered to read the third one in that series.

But even The Crystal Shard and the like weren't as good as I remembered them being when I recently reread them. Even the Dragonlance Chronicles came across as rather poorly written on my most recent readthrough, though the story was still gripping enough that I was willing to give Hickman and Weis a pass.

 

[The Grassy Gnoll]

I've never read any D&D novels before or since Dragonlance. I am using FR as my setting but feel no need to be up to date with the various big events that have happened in the realms. My players don't read the stories either so it's not necessary.
I have the maps from the original grey box and the books inside it, and I use them as a basis/skeleton, but when we play D&D it's OUR novel we 'write' together, not anyone else's.
Although in fairness, were I to write the novel of our table, it would be a lot more like Joe Abercrombie or George R R Martin.
Not because of the plotting or the characterisation, you understand.
Because of all the swearing and pisstaking.

 

[Alzrius]

I concur with the majority opinion in this thread. I too stopped reading the Drizzt books right around The Thousand Orcs or so, and I had only gotten that far because the last few books before that had focused on Artemis Entreri and Jarlaxle, whom I considered to be better characters (though by that point, I also felt that Salvatore had taken them to their logical conclusion, and that there wasn't much left for them to do).

To my mind, Drizzt and his companions have long since ceased to be interesting. The need to keep them front-and-center as central icons of the Forgotten Realms has not only removed the tension of death from them (as their recent reincarnation in the post-Spellplague era so aptly demonstrated), but has also caused them to cease to grow and change as characters in a manner I find either interesting, or very believable.

I expect characters to grow and change when they're starting out; figuring out who you are - as evidenced by how to deal with various circumstances that you encounter - is a natural process for new characters to go through. But eventually characters figure themselves out, and while they might still need to deal with changing circumstances, the introspective, self-questioning nature that goes along with that has since become satisfied; at some point you're mature enough that you don't need to go on journeys of personal discovery anymore.

Drizzt, and his friends, never seemed to reach that point. Their continual need to examine their own natures in light of their adventures eventually became tiresome. We the readers know who you are, already, so why don't you?! At some point the angst of trying to find yourself - especially in light of a hostile world - becomes tiresome, because it suggests that the characters haven't grown up. Worse, that contrasts poorly against the myriad power-ups that they receive as the books pile on (e.g. Catti-Brie is now a super archmage/druid, etc.).

Drizzt and his friends' quest for personal fulfillment just stopped being interesting to me when it became clear that it was endless.

 

[delericho]

To my mind, Drizzt and his companions have long since ceased to be interesting. The need to keep them front-and-center as central icons of the Forgotten Realms has not only removed the tension of death from them (as their recent reincarnation in the post-Spellplague era so aptly demonstrated), but has also caused them to cease to grow and change as characters in a manner I find either interesting, or very believable.

One of the ironies there is that Salvatore had a golden opportunity to take Drizzt in a very interesting direction. He'd finally made it to a point where Drizzt and Catti-brie could get their happy ending, and all was well, and then WotC needed to advance the timeline by 100 years for 4e.

Surely the logical next step is to take the "Highlander" route, and have Catti-brie simply age and die, and set the next novel just after her passing. And that way he gets to actually address the key issue in their relationship (ie that she ages but he effectively doesn't), rather than just talking about it. Plus, then he could take Drizzt in a completely new direction.

 

[Irennan]

Wow... there are a LOT of Drizzt books. I haven't managed to read them all. After reading the most recent ones, I'm not sure I could face reading the middle ones that I skipped...

I've written more about the book on my blog, but reading it wasn't a joyful experience. It's useful knowing the orcs (manipulated by the drow) managed to lay siege to most of the settlements in the Silver Marches during the period (a few years before the current day in the Realms, but after the Sundering), and even destroyed a couple of them.

Unfortunately, then there was the rest of the book (and the trilogy). I am by no means a Drizzt-hater, and there are books of Salvatore's that I really like. These aren't them. I've noticed my taste in preferred reading changing over the last decade, and I now read a lot more urban fantasy than I used to, and much fewer epic fantasies, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy a good traditional epic. (I'm really looking forward to Brandon Sanderson's next book in his Stormlight Archive series). This just wasn't good. Honestly, I think it was pretty awful.

Is there a new Erin M. Evans book coming out soon? I need to read a D&D book with characters I enjoy...

Cheers!

Erin Evan's next novel comes out on the 29th of December, AFAIK.

 

[Psikerlord#]

I loved reading the Crystal Shard trilogy and Dragonlance novels in school. But it's a nostalgia thing and I fear going back to read them again would reveal how average they were. I'd rather spend time playing DnD and making our own stories, not reading someone elses.

I have recently read quite a few original Conan short stories, which I found quite enjoyable - not as bad as I thought they'd be. I am looking at trying a few lovecraft short stories too (yes - I like Primeval Thule - so I'm going back and having a look at some of the inspiration material for the setting!).

I am also very firm on novels only having about 50 pages to get me hooked. If I'm not interested by then, seeya! Wont waste my time hoping it gets better by page 200.

 

[pukunui]

[MENTION=93321]Psikerlord#[/MENTION]: Lovecraft was a *much* better writer than Salvatore is. I think you'll enjoy his work.

 

[Wik]

Salvatore was never anywhere near being in the same league as, say, Steinbeck, but I'd say his writing has definitely worsened over the years. No doubt Salvatore's in the same boat as Rowling and the rest in terms of their rise in popularity being inversely proportional to their editors' ability to actually do their jobs.

I agree with almost everything here, except for the bit about Rowling. The Harry Potter books are wonderful - and they've done more to get people that don't otherwise read to start reading. People from every age group, gender group, whatever group... they all love them. Sure, the writing's simple... but that's part of the charm.

***

As for the topic at hand... ugh. D&D novels. Mind you, I'm not the key audience, here - I pretty much dislike most fantasy novels. I'd rather read a good history book (Anthony Everitt FTW!) or something like Nick Hornby. I'm about to reread all my Mark Twain novels. Against those, even the best fantasy novel just doesn't interest me.