Do you read non-RPG fantasy novels?

[TheAuldGrump]

I'd say they would (but then I don't like his writing so could be biased)

I also remember reading a book in my teens where the protaganist each had a bracelet with different shaped crystals which glowed and spun when combat was entered or other action was to take place. [sblock]at the end of the novel they realised that they were characters being controlled by outsiders and that the objects were dice[/sblock] - anyone remember the name of that book?

BTW I voted RPG books are lame (all the ones I've ever seen are) and again Lovecraft, REH etc are NOT RPG related...

Quag Keep by the late Andre Norton. The very first D&D related novel.

The Auld Grump

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

I've read Quag Keep, a couple Shadowrun, the first 3 Dragonlance, maybe a couple FR. I've not been impressed enough with any of them to bother with the RPG-as-fiction genre. It's not worth the opportunity cost.

 

[drothgery]

I've read the original Dragonlance trilogy and a few FR books when there was nothing else to read (and I read a lot), but I own hundreds of fantasy novels, and none are directly RPG-related.

 

[Desdichado]

Is Odhanan a troll? No sign of him again in this thread after the initial post, but he's gone on to start several other poll threads instead. Granted, none of them have as outrageous a statement as the one here...

 

[Krug]

Both, but I hardly ever read any D&D stuff. The Warhammer and WH40K novels are a great read.

 

[MacMathan]

Exclusive to the non-rpg related side now days, although I used to read the Battletech and Shadowrun novels back when FASA still existed.

 

[Crothian]

The thought of reading RPG fiction does not sit well for me. I even have had the chance to get some for free to read, and I won't do it.

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

I've read quite a bit of RPG-related fiction. Most of it is bloody awful, but FASA put out some very solid Shadowrun books. I certainly didn't get into them because of the game - quite the opposite, I tried the game because the world depicted in the books seemed so captivating. Didn't like the game, though.

Really, a lot of the FASA stuff was good in its heyday. And I did end up liking what is now called Classic Battletech when the Michael Stackpole books got me interested in it.

Like basically everyone else, I find the idea of calling the works of authors like Howard and Lovecraft "RP books" ludicrous. Otherwise, very nearly all famous fantasy and a goodly amount of sci-fi would qualify.

A lot, an awful lot, of the TSR stuff was terrible. Aside from the first Dragonlance Chronicles (which were sloppily written and shakily plotted, but at least solid) and the Dark Elf Trilogy (which really was quite original and decently written, unlike every other Salvatore book I've laid eyes on, gaming or otherwise), it was almost monolithically poor. The Dark Sun and Spelljammer novel series were particularly disappointing - both started with a lot of promise, but TSR fell in love with a round-robin writing system and the various authors never managed to keep a consistent tone from book to book.

The Magic the Gathering novels I've read (not many) were actually a bit better.

None of it is on a level with the likes of Howard or Lovecraft, but then, there's no shortage of awful unlicensed fantasy, either. Frankly, I don't see much difference in quality between the hundreds of derivative unlicensed epic fantasies and the dozens of derivative licensed ones, except that the latter have an excuse.

 

[ivocaliban]

I went with the last option, but I have read RPG related novels. Usually, my purpose for reading these novels is purely to understand certain events or situations within the RPG. For instance, I read the Avatar series to see what the Time of Troubles was all about, despite the fact that those books could hardly be considered "great." Still, the time period they covered did so much to shape Faerun as it now stands, that it seemed almost required reading for someone who came to Forgotten Realms at the beginning of 3.0e.

Even so, RPG-related novels make up less than 5% of the fantasy material I read. Most of them aren't terribly good in my opinion, but they do give a little depth to the paragraph-long blurbs you sometimes find in RPG sourcebooks. You could say that I read RPG novels for information and non-RPG for pleasure. Occaisionally, I find both in the same book.

 

[TheGM]

When you say "RPG-related," that says to me "licensed books," which are a completely different creature. Those I don't read. (I tried to read the novelization of "Against the Giants" but couldn't get into it; that's as close as I've come.)

I agree on the "RPG-related" thing.
Most RPG-related by this definition sucks.
But if you read The Deed of Paksenarrion closely, it appears to have been a campaign, so there are exceptions.
I write in my primary world (though in the world is not about campaigns, which I think matters).

As to "Against the Giants" - I think it has to do with age and years of gaming. I found that series to be seriously flawed, my 16 year old daughter loves them.