Books for inspiration

[TallIan]

Before the Great Crash, I'd bookmarked a thread that was a growing list of books recommended for specific class/archetypes, but it has been lost.

I think the original poster was looking for books where the hero was a D&D warlock but the thread had become a list of recommendations for most class/archetypes available to RPGers slanted quite heavily towards fantasy. I had read or heard of many of the authors that popped up but there where a few names I had not heard of before (some of them quite old school as well - shame on me).

Since my current reading list is getting very short, I was hoping to prompt the start of another such list.

 

[Blue]

I have memories of that or a similar thread. Sort of "Appendix N". Let me kick off a few.

Paladin:
The Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon. A 3-book trilogy though you can find them all in one volume. Best "called to be a paladin" I've ever read.

Rogue:
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. Con men, pickpockets, cat burglars, fake beggars, confidence schemes, and oh my.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I’ll cosign on this book and the rest of the series. It’s really good – imaginative and clever, with plenty of cool world-building and plot twists.

Dwarves:

The Fifth Elephant, by Terry Pratchett
There are a number of books with dwarves, with Tolkien being the obvious choice. But I’m going to go with a Discworld novel. For all the humor, this is a great exploration of dwarven culture, and that dwarves are more than just short bearded humans with Scottish accents.

I have memories of that or a similar thread. Sort of "Appendix N". Let me kick off a few.

Rogue:
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. Con men, pickpockets, cat burglars, fake beggars, confidence schemes, and oh my.

 

[TallIan]

Thanks for kicking this off, I have the second book of the second Locke Lamora trilogy - I need to pull my finger out and get the others.

Terry Pratchet is one of my favourite authors and his dwarves in particular are great inspiration.

I love Bernard Cornwall's medieval era books (particularly his King Authur trilogy) for fighter inspiration, though there isn't much of a fantasy element in the stories.

 

[innerdude]

For bards, read Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay. It captures very much the essence of a traveling troupe that also engages in fantasy and political adventure.

It also happens to be one of the best fantasy novels I've ever read.

 

[le grand fromage]

Continuing with the Bards theme and although Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time does live up to the metaphor at least in terms of the time required to read it, his character Tom Merrilin makes an excellent example of the diverse roles a bard can adopt, entertainer, diplomat, spy or assassin he still comes out as one of the more credible cast members...

 

[Razjah]

For bards, Kvothe in The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss are great for inspiration.

Fighters and rogues can find a lot in The Black Company series by Glen Cook. Or an entire campaign. Whatever.

I love the Conan books for a barbarian. Not the image most people have. He wears armor, has aspirations, and can be quiet and sneaky when needed.

For rangers, check out the Fremen in Dune. They are definitely rangers and fighters with wilderness training. Totally rangers.

 

[TallIan]

Not much interest this time round, possibly because of This thread. It doesn't specify what class the main character.

I was kind of hoping for a Warlock hero. I know there was one in the previous thread, but I can't remember the name.

 

[Blue]

Heh, for some unknown reason I had copy-n-pasted what I put into the old thread to a document and still have it. Some of it is what I put up in my earlier reply but there is more:

Wizard
Sparrowhawk from A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin

Bard
(Modern take) Eddi from "The War of the Oaks" by Emma Bull

Monk
Joscelin Verreuil from Jacquelin Carey's Kushiel books

Rogue
The Gray Mouser from Fritz Leiber's "Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser" series
(Party face) Locke Lamora from "The Lies of Locke Lamora" by Scott Lynch
(Assassin) Vlad Taltos from Steven Brust's Dragaeran books

Paladin
Pak from "The Deed of Paksenarrion" by Elizabeth Moon.
(Good but not LG) Sharhawk from Edding's books
Doctor Adoulla Makhslood from "Throne of the Crescent Moon" by Saladin Ahmed
(NOTE from reposting: Though it's been a while and I may have been thinking about Dervish Raseed.)

Honorable mentions: Multiclass
Fitz Chivalry from Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy
Kvothe from Patrick Rothfuss' Kingkiller Chronicles

Hmm, I'm surprised no Guy Gavriel Kay. So many good characters but I guess not D&D class iconic. Someone prove me wrong.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

That was a fun book. I'd say Adoulla was a cleric, and Raseed the paladin, though.

Paladin
Doctor Adoulla Makhslood from "Throne of the Crescent Moon" by Saladin Ahmed
(NOTE from reposting: Though it's been a while and I may have been thinking about Dervish Raseed.)