D&D 5E Ed Greenwood is Contributing to A Sourcebook About Thay

Forgotten Realms creator Ed Greenwood, along with Alex Kammer and Alan Patrick, are writing a new sourcebook about the magrocracy of Thay, known for its Red Wizards. The book will be on the DMs Guild, although there's no release date yet.

They've shared some art -- a Thayan noble at the market with her two undead porters, by artist Hector Rodriguez Antunez.

"
Because I don't have enough to do, did you know that I am about to release a brand new sourcebook on Thay? Yep. I am writing it with my friends Ed Greenwood and Alan Patrick. It is shaping up to be a really great book. It will enable the reader to look past the veil and into what day to day life in Thay really looks like. It will have tons of lore and an adventure which I wrote. It will be a POD product on the DM's Guild. We are in layout now so I hope to announce a date in the next 30 days or so.

Oh, here is a sample of some of the awesome art. Check out this Thayan noble at the market with her two undead porters."

 

[Steampunkette]

Guess that covers the revisited classic setting?

 

[R_J_K75]

IIRC the Spellbound boxed set was the one where the map connected diagonally. I sure hope whoevers brilliant idea that was isnt working on this too. Personally Im not much of fan of Ed Greenwoods writing anymore. Seems he takes to long to make a point and I think its gotten worse as time goes by. I tried reading Death Masks about two years ago by him and stopped after a chapter because it felt like it was more wiork than enjoyment to get through. Im excited for an update on Thay, not so much for his invovlement. Hopefully Im wrong.

 

[Ibrandul]

Guess that covers the revisited classic setting?

I don’t think this is one of the products Ray Winninger was referring to. It’s a DM’s Guild book, along the lines of Greenwood’s Border Kingdoms guide, not a WotC product.

 

[Ibrandul]

IIRC the Spellbound boxed set was the one where the map connected diagonally. I sure hope whoevers brilliant idea that was isnt working on this too. Personally Im not much of fan of Ed Greenwoods writing anymore. Seems he takes to long to make a point and I think its gotten worse as time goes by. I tried reading Death Masks about two years ago by him and stopped after a chapter because it felt like it was more wiork than enjoyment to get through. Im excited for an update on Thay, not so much for his invovlement. Hopefully Im wrong.

I won’t say Greenwood’s setting work is without flaw, but I definitely don’t think his prose fiction style and his setting guide style should be lumped in together. I enjoy his fiction ambivalently but love his setting work, and I know many others who feel the same.

I’m really looking forward to this Thay book.

 

[R_J_K75]

I won’t say Greenwood’s setting work is without flaw, but I definitely don’t think his prose fiction style and his setting guide style should be lumped in together. I enjoy his fiction ambivalently but love his setting work, and I know many others who feel the same.

I’m really looking forward to this Thay book.

Thats fair enough. You are right regarding comparing his fiction writing setting writing. Its probably just me that I dont care for his style anymore.

 

[Ibrandul]

Thats fair enough. You are right regarding comparing his fiction writing setting writing. Its probably just me that I dont care for his style anymore.

Oh, it’s definitely not just you!

I just think that, while there are commonalities (it’s the same guy writing in both modes, after all), the experience of reading a Greenwood setting guide is radically different from the experience of reading a Greenwood novel; the latter has its charms but also a lot of annoyances that it seems to me are mostly absent from the former.

I find Greenwood’s fiction storytelling style to be so jump-aroundy and so filled with tangential longueurs as to be at its worst almost unreadable. You’re right that it’s a lot of work to read him, and personally if I’m going to read something with those characteristics it’s going to be, say, Proust or Woolf—something where putting in that work is actually necessary to the payoff I get out of reading the novel.

Greenwood’s setting books are much easier to read, and they allow his particular genius, which is all about injecting a certain kind of baroque and very idiosyncratic “realism” into high fantasy (interconnected trade routes, psychosocial effects of pervasive magic and interventionist deities, ever more bizarre spell interactions and magical effects, etc. etc.), to shine through without having to follow the threads of a sometimes almost pasted-on narrative that progresses so obliquely that I cannot follow it. (His best novels aren’t quite like that, by the way, but the worst totally are, IMHO.)

 

[Demetrios1453]

When checking out the new Minsc and Boo book, I saw a new Rashemen book that had Greenwood among the co-authors. Didn't look as polished as some of the others, but with his stamp of approval, it's at least "semi-official" in my book. I'll be getting it here relatively soon to take a closer look at it.

Hopefully this Thay one will be as good and thorough as the Border Kingdoms one was.

 

[Demetrios1453]

Guess that covers the revisited classic setting?

It's not 2024 yet. And it's DMs Guild, not WotC.

 

[R_J_K75]

Oh, it’s definitely not just you!

I just think that, while there are commonalities (it’s the same guy writing in both modes, after all), the experience of reading a Greenwood setting guide is radically different from the experience of reading a Greenwood novel; the latter has its charms but also a lot of annoyances that it seems to me are mostly absent from the former.

I find Greenwood’s fiction storytelling style to be so jump-aroundy and so filled with tangential longueurs as to be at its worst almost unreadable. You’re right that it’s a lot of work to read him, and personally if I’m going to read something with those characteristics it’s going to be, say, Proust or Woolf—something where putting in that work is actually necessary to the payoff I get out of reading the novel.

Greenwood’s setting books are much easier to read, and they allow his particular genius, which is all about injecting a certain kind of baroque and very idiosyncratic “realism” into high fantasy (interconnected trade routes, psychosocial effects of pervasive magic and interventionist deities, ever more bizarre spell interactions and magical effects, etc. etc.), to shine through without having to follow the threads of a sometimes almost pasted-on narrative that progresses so obliquely that I cannot follow it. (His best novels aren’t quite like that, by the way, but the worst totally are, IMHO.)

This description/explanation is spot on. Thay has always been one of my favorite places in the FR. Spellbound was written by Anthony Pryor and Dreams of the Red Wizards was by Steve Perrin. I found those pretty straight forward reads. I could see Ed having more of a consultant type role and the actual writing being done by the other two maybe. I think the Volos Guides are a good examples of when he is good, shows restraint and is entertaining without beating you over the head. I did like the Cormyr Saga novels too.