D&D 5E Any authors you think should be in Appendix E but are not?

[KarinsDad]

They have George RR Martin but not Erikson, curses.

I consider George RR Martin to be a bit of a hack, no matter how popular he becomes. It drives me crazy when he has a character act in a certain way for 800 pages and then suddenly jump the shark.

 

[Moorcrys]

I love this thread! Building my reading list back up...

I wanted to second R Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing series.

 

[mach1.9pants]

Malazan especially yes. It was an AD&D campaign that they converted to GURPS. And an awesome series.

Is The Black Company etc by Glen Cook in there? How about Gene Wolfe?

 

[Evenglare]

Interesting note: I went to a signing with Pat Rothfuss here in texas, got him to sign my Lute guitar. I asked him about D&D and he had said he didn't like playing such silly systems and he has moved on and for several years preferred the HERO system for it's flexibility. This of course was a couple of years ago when WMF came out. Since then he has spiralled out of control in popularity and of course has since appeared in various D&D games. Take that for what you will. Love his books, kind of let down by his convictions.
/2cents

 

[Jer]

On the other hand, there are plenty of actually good fantasy novels in there, and I hope no-one begrudges me wishing there were a few more instead of the fantasy-factory type novels. (I admit to the possibility of good fantasy tie-in novels while remaining ignorant of an actual example.) Where is Jack Vance's Lyonesse? And they really, really should have included Joe Abercrombie.

Well it's gone from a list of books that inspired Gygax to a list of books that inspired Gygax and various other unnamed developers of the game. It's not really a list of fantasy fiction you should read because it's good, more of a list of fantasy fiction you might want to read if you want to get into the headspace of the people who made the game. Abercrombie hasn't been writing that long - I'm not really surprised that he wouldn't rank as a major influence on the game developers. Your influences are more likely to be things from your formative years than awesome books you just picked up recently, and the older you get the farther back "recently" stretches.

I'm more surprised by certain older omissions that I would be sure would have been there. For example I just realized that Steven Brust isn't on the list which actually surprises me quite a bit - I would have figured his Vlad novels were inspirational to someone working on the game.

 

[Bluenose]

Lois McMaster Bujold for her Paladin of Chalion series. Jack Vance should have Lyonesse, and Guy Gavrial Kay could have several additions to Tigana. Patricia McKillip, Elizabeth Bear, Charles Saunders, Barry Hughart, Louis Cha, Tanith Lee, Harry Turtledove, CJ Cherryh, Outlaws of the Water Margin, all of those are examples of literature that could inspire D&D campaigns which aren't pseudo-medieval Europe.

 

[Obryn]

I am so glad people mentioned must-haves that I was going to suggest!

Erikson's Malazan series, for certain. Those are amazing, and have their roots in gaming.

Ditto, Abercrombie.

And the lack of Cook's Black Company is totally baffling.

 

[Mouseferatu]

For example I just realized that Steven Brust isn't on the list which actually surprises me quite a bit - I would have figured his Vlad novels were inspirational to someone working on the game.

Right?! He'd have been first or second on my list...

 

[MarkChevallier]

Well it's gone from a list of books that inspired Gygax to a list of books that inspired Gygax and various other unnamed developers of the game. It's not really a list of fantasy fiction you should read because it's good, more of a list of fantasy fiction you might want to read if you want to get into the headspace of the people who made the game. Abercrombie hasn't been writing that long - I'm not really surprised that he wouldn't rank as a major influence on the game developers. Your influences are more likely to be things from your formative years than awesome books you just picked up recently, and the older you get the farther back "recently" stretches.

I'm more surprised by certain older omissions that I would be sure would have been there. For example I just realized that Steven Brust isn't on the list which actually surprises me quite a bit - I would have figured his Vlad novels were inspirational to someone working on the game.

I think it serves multiple purposes now, actually. Partly inspiration from the fantasy of the original designers, partly good books, partly (it pains me to say) tie-in novels with D&D that they are hoping might earn some extra sales. Joe Abercrombie has earned his place on that list far more than some of the others; I think Patrick Rothfuss is a reasonably good writer, for example, but he's not as good as Joe and his books aren't as interesting*.

* This is obviously a subjective opinion!

 

[Dartavian]

Guardians of the Flame - Joel Rosenberg