D&D 5E Correct order to read ALL of the Forgotten Realms novels?

[Goonalan]

It occurred to me that I know pretty much bugger all about Faerun and the Forgotten Realms, except perhaps for the snippets I have read usually outside the boxed text sections of a variety of D&D (99% 5e) modules and/or rule books.

I/We played 4e in our homebrewed world (Oerth), and most of the previous editions in Greyhawk.

So, I bought a few FR novels, and read through the first two trilogies- Moonshae followed by Icewind Dale. I enjoyed them so much so that I got on ebay and tracked down the next fifty or so books. At which point it occurred to me that their might be a correct/acceptable/preferred (whatever) order for reading all of the FR novels, including the various anthologies (Realms of Valor, Infamy etc.)

Do I read all 15 of the Harpers next? If not when do I read them.
I know I need to read the Avatar series (1-5) before doing the Shadow of the Avatar trilogy.

I think I'm going to do a lot of the series/trilogies in the order that they came out- so, next up The Finder's Stone trilogy, followed by the Maztica, and then the Empires trilogies. Then (perhaps) The Dark Elf followed by Druidhome trilogies... maybe.

So, perfect world- having all of the books to hand, what order do you suggest I read them?

Cheers goonalan

 

[GreyLord]

Well theres publication order

Publication Order

there's Chronological order

Chronological Order

and there's RA Salvatore's Order

RA Salvatore's order as per reddit

 

[R_J_K75]

This lists their order in Dalereckoning.

List of novels in chronological order

Short stories "A Matter of Thorns" (Realms of Infamy) "A Narrowed Gaze" (Realms of the Arcane) "A Worm Too Soft" (Realms of Magic) "And Wringing of Hands" (Realms of Infamy) "Bread Storm Rising" (Realms of the Arcane) "Dark Talons Forbear Thee" (The Best of the Realms II) "Every Dog His Day"...

forgottenrealms.fandom.com

From what I remember Evermeet was good as was Cormyr.

 

[Goonalan]

Well theres publication order

Publication Order

there's Chronological order

Chronological Order

and there's RA Salvatore's Order

RA Salvatore's order as per reddit

I used the publication order as my shopping list- working my way down them on ebay (etc.) to buy the first 50 or so. I've also seen the RA Salvatore list but I wasn't sure because it only had 10-20% of the books in it.

I like the Chronological Order, and particularly the-

The following list is only a compilation of all publishing dates. It is in no way a suggested order of reading.

I'm going to try to draw up some sort of matrix from that 'order of reading' link perhaps.

Thanks, very much appreciated.

Goonalan

 

[Zardnaar]

Well theres publication order

Publication Order

there's Chronological order

Chronological Order

and there's RA Salvatore's Order

RA Salvatore's order as per reddit

I've read and owned a few FR books but damn. That's a lot.

 

[Goonalan]

This lists their order in Dalereckoning.

List of novels in chronological order

Short stories "A Matter of Thorns" (Realms of Infamy) "A Narrowed Gaze" (Realms of the Arcane) "A Worm Too Soft" (Realms of Magic) "And Wringing of Hands" (Realms of Infamy) "Bread Storm Rising" (Realms of the Arcane) "Dark Talons Forbear Thee" (The Best of the Realms II) "Every Dog His Day"...

forgottenrealms.fandom.com

From what I remember Evermeet was good as was Cormyr.

Just read through the list, that's... amazing, daunting- and possibly a goer if I had another lifetime to spare.

Fantastic work.

Thanks.

 

[Zardnaar]

Elaine Cunningham's very good, but focused on Elves.

Harper's are mixed, but give a nice overview of the Realms.

 

[Goonalan]

I've read and owned a few FR books but damn. That's a lot.

I've got a spreadsheet, I make it 295 novels (including anthologies)... ten years, I reckon to get through them.

Cheers Goonalan

 

[R_J_K75]

Just read through the list, that's... amazing, daunting- and possibly a goer if I had another lifetime to spare.

Fantastic work.

Thanks.

I will warn you now, some books were better than others as were some books by the same author were better than others. Further some books just werent worth the effort to read as they fell to pieces at the last 10 pages and left me shaking my head. Although some were worth reading, but I stopped reading them in the early to mid 2000s so I cant attest to anything probably passed the Sembia books.

If your looking to expand your knowledge of the realms this might save you alot of time.

Grand History of the Realms (3.5) - Wizards of the Coast | Dungeons & Dragons 3.x | Forgotten Realms 3.x | Dungeons & Dragons 3.x | Forgotten Realms | Dungeon Masters Guild

Grand History of the Realms (3.5) - Please note: This document is a scanned image and might contain some blurring of text in spots.***** All of Toril, and

www.dmsguild.com

 

[Zardnaar]

I've got a spreadsheet, I make it 295 novels (including anthologies)... ten years, I reckon to get through them.

Cheers Goonalan

Some of the old novels are small and can be banged out in around 3 hours.

Some are a hard slog, I've probably read around 70 maybe. Mostly in the 90s.