Do you read non-RPG fantasy novels?

[Akrasia]

... The same way, authors that have RPG versions of their work, such as HP Lovecraft and Michael Moorcock are RPG related.

With this line of reasoning, you should include J.R.R. Tolkien as well -- two RPGs have been explicitly based on Middle-earth, and Tolkien's overall influence on the field cannot be overstated.

The D&D magic system is based on the works of Jack Vance. So does he count as 'RPG related'?

But as soon as you include Tolkien, Vance, Moorcock, and Lovecraft as RPG related, the question you ask becomes meaningless, since I would assume that the vast majority of people who play FRPGs have at least read something by Tolkien.

That aside, I have had the misfortune of reading a few D&D-based novels (some Dragonlance stuff, and a few things by Salvatore). Pretty mediocre, IMO, but usefully dormative (I sometime suffer from insomnia). I've also read a few Warhammer novels (Witch Hunter and Witch Finder), which were competent, but not great (though they did help me get into the 'Old World' ethos a bit).

 

[Thunderfoot]

Weiss and Hickman's writings blow chunks & Driz'zt is a dweeb!

I have yet to read ANY good RPG related novels.

 

[Nellisir]

I gotta say, for us attention deficit disorder easy to read gen-x-ers (and gen-y-ers, I assume) there's nothing better than Dragonlance or Forgotten Realms.

Ewwww. Speak for yourself. I'm ADD, and reading was about the only thing I -could- focus on for most of my life. I read Robin Hobbs (Farseer), George RR Martin, CJ Cherryh, Michael Moorcock, Roger Zelazny, Guy Gavriel Kay, Michael Scott Rohan, JRR Tolkein, Robert Holdstock, HP Lovecraft Glen Cook, Fritz Leiber...and yes, Piers Anthony and Terry Pratchett.

I wouldn't call Lovecraft or Moorcock RPG-related -- in both cases, the RPG came after the books, and many people (myself included) read them long before they knew there was an RPG.

I have read RPG-related books, including the main Dragonlance and early FR ones, but they're like potato chips compared to the meal that most books make. Most don't even take an evening to read -- more like an hour.

Cheers
Nell.

 

[William Ronald]

I have read some good gaming fiction books, and some bad gaming fiction books, much as I have read some good and bad non-gaming fiction books.

Currently, I am reading The Runes of the Earth by Stephen R. Donaldson (which is quite good), and enjoying it. I think the last gaming fiction that I read was the War of Sourlstrilogy by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. (Calling Moorcock or Lovecraft gaming fiction is a bit absurd. I tend to like Lovecraft more than Moorcock, whose characters at times seem to whine a bit and might not be much without various magical items. As for the Wheel of Time series, I generally lost interest as there never seemed to be a payoff and there were few characters that I generally felt much towards one way or another.)

To me, what matters is if I care for any of the characters, the world, or the plot.

So, what books -- RPG related or not -- would you recommend? Why?

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

The same way, authors that have RPG versions of their work, such as HP Lovecraft and Michael Moorcock are RPG related.

Um, thats the most rediculous line of reasoning I've seen in a long time. The RPGs are related to the books, not the other way around. :\

 

[sniffles]

I predominantly read non-RPG fiction. So far I've never read a RPG fiction book that left me saying "wow, that was a great book!".

 

[JoeGKushner]

Well, I'll disagree with you about HP and MM as their work is older than the RPGs and some people were actually reading it before the games, poorly supported by good old Chaosium, came out.

And others, like Wheel of Time say, were the inspiration for the game. Huge difference.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

For reasons that I can not explain I read W&H Dragonlance novels, but that's it.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Even the best RPG fantasy novel is a mediocre at best non-RPG fantasy novel. It's been more than a decade since I've read an RPG novel that hasn't made me want to throw it across the room and exact a promise from the author never to write again. The fact that so much of the RPG novel "industry" is really just giving checks to developers' friends just underscores what a mess it is.

So I no longer read game novels, although I have two Warcraft novels sitting on my shelf, looking at me with puppy dog eyes.

Honestly, life's too short to read crappy books. There are literally thousands of good novels I want to read, and every awful RPG novel I insert in front of them is one less good book I'll read before I die.

 

[lgburton]

yes, i read fantasy novels. i also read science fiction, and general literature. predominantly i read science fiction, though - it takes a really good fantasy to get me involved.

next:

hp lovecraft is NOT rpg related in my mind. his work came out LONG before role-playing started. michael moorcock is not rpg related for the same reason.

if you are going to say that anything that's had an RPG made out of it is rpg related, then you're implying that the only reason to read those works is because of the RPG - which is almost always completely untrue.

it's like saying that just because an RPG was made from michael moorkock's work, then listening to Blue Oyster Cult is RPG related. just doesn't work, and it's the kind of fuzzy thinking that gets our hobby into media-trouble on a regular basis.