Eberron novels?

[scadgrad]

..All on my list as well. American Gods is a great book, and I love the Ice & Fire series (though I hope it doesn't become a ten-book endless monster). The Taltos books by Brust actually have a certain similarity to Eberron, being a sort of fantasy noir, but Taltos-era Dragaera is considerable more advanced than Eberron, given that teleportation is commonplace and everyone essentially has telepathic "phones". I like the style of Brust's Khaavren books, but I do recommend that anyone who likes those go to the source and read Dumas...

Funny thing about American Gods, I'm continuously tempted to pick it up and put it in the que, but I just haven't taken the plunge. Gaimen certainly has his moments, but for some reason, when I'm in that sort of Modern/Urban Fantasy mood, I always go back to DeLint.

Brust I think gets overlooked by far too many fans of RPGs. His Taltos books rank right up there w/ REH & F Lieber for my money. I've been on board with that series since the first installment.

Speaking of fantasy noir, I have to tell you that I see a lot of Mieville's New Corbuzon in your setting, but maybe I'm being a bit presumptive. There's also a good bit of R Scott's vision of PK Dick's original idea via Blade Runner or at least to my eyes as a very casual reader of your setting book. Your comments?

I find it inspiring that there is an evergrowing community of fantasy novelists who have drawn their work, or nearly so, from a game setting of their own creation. This seems perfectly logical to me since fantasy novels and short stories have always been a huge influence on how I run my games. As a DM w/ over 27 years of experience I can't tell you how many people I've met who actually play/dm the game but have absolutely ZERO interest in or experience with anything other than say Drizzt. This really puzzles me, but I've long since given up on trying to convince those same players/DMs to check out Brust or Tad Williams. I doubt that WotC would ever be willing to do so again, but EGG's list of recommended text way back in the day at least encouraged fans to check out the "classics." I'm not suggesting that this be a sort of "read these instead of the latest Eberron novel," but rather an "in addition to" framework.

 

[Hellcow]

Funny thing about American Gods, I'm continuously tempted to pick it up and put it in the que, but I just haven't taken the plunge. Gaimen certainly has his moments, but for some reason, when I'm in that sort of Modern/Urban Fantasy mood, I always go back to DeLint.

In my opinion American Gods is Gaiman's best work... well, novel work, since it's a different sort of thing than his comics. I liked Neverwhere[i/] as a show, but I was somewhat disappointed with the novel, which I expected to add more detail to the world. But as someone who is a fan of mythology, I think American Gods is a great book - I've already read it two or three times.

Speaking of fantasy noir, I have to tell you that I see a lot of Mieville's New Corbuzon in your setting, but maybe I'm being a bit presumptive.

I'm embarassed to say that I've still never read any Mieville, despite having heard this many times. I've got Perdido Street Station on the bookshelf upstairs, so perhaps I will try to rectify that as my next read.

There's also a good bit of R Scott's vision of PK Dick's original idea via Blade Runner or at least to my eyes as a very casual reader of your setting book. Your comments?

I'm certainly a fan of Blade Runner and Dick's writing, and I think that's a reasonable way to think of Sharn. And certainly warforged characters can draw a lot of inspiration from both Blade Runner and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep... something that may come out a little more in The Shattered Land. (Though truthfully, I generally prefer Dick's short stories to his novels.)

I'm not suggesting that this be a sort of "read these instead of the latest Eberron novel," but rather an "in addition to" framework.

Oh, certainly. As I said above, even looking aside from people like Vance and Lieber, I'd recomend that an Eberron DM check out Alexandre Dumas, HP Lovecraft, Phillip Marlowe... and of course modern authors like Brust and Martin. Game fiction may give you a direct insight into Eberron - but I had all those other things in mind when creating Eberron!

 

[Desdichado]

(well, except for the guy on Amazon who said "Wizards of the Coast opened a fresh page, squatted over it, and squeezed out the first book set in the gameworld called Eberron")

At least you've gotta give the guy credit for a colorful metaphor...

 

[Anti-Sean]

At least you've gotta give the guy credit for a colorful metaphor...

Depends on what he ate earlier, I suppose...

 

[Ashrem Bayle]

eww...

I think I would have saved that metaphor for Crimson Talisman. I just started reading it, and so far, not only is it boring, but the writer's style erks me. There is no detail. I couldn't tell you what any of the characters or places look like. Everything is way too...generic.

Marked for Death wasn't to great either, in my opinion, but City of Towers was very good.

Great job on that Keith, I'm really looking forward to part 2.

 

[XCorvis]

Just weighing in, now that I've read all three Eberron novels that are out right now.

(Spoiler free...)

City of Towers is the best of the lot, definately. There's still room for improvement, of course, but it's solid and Keith (Baker) can be proud of it. Most folks will be satisfied with it. I really liked having the glossary - if I hadn't been introduced to Eberron earlier, I might have been lost. It also has plenty of new stuff. I'll definately pick up the next book.

Marked for Death is, as others said, a gaming novel. Plot twists were very obvious, writing seemed choppy, characters didn't know things that should've been obvious. It feels like the author (Matt Forbeck) statted out the characters before he started writing. Some parts were fun, but overall it was not. Hopefully we'll see some improvement for the next books.

Crimson Talisman is in the middle. It seemed OK, but I couldn't really get into it. It didn't really seem to have anything to do with post-war Eberron as a theme (it's part of the War Torn series). It still had a bit of "gaming novel" feel, mostly in the plot area, but the characters were interesting if not particularly deep, and I thought the descriptions were pretty good. I thought the ending was lacking something. Still, I'd probably pick up another book by the author (Adrian Cole).

 

[ken-ichi]

eww...

I think I would have saved that metaphor for Crimson Talisman. I just started reading it, and so far, not only is it boring, but the writer's style erks me. There is no detail. I couldn't tell you what any of the characters or places look like. Everything is way too...generic.

Marked for Death wasn't to great either, in my opinion, but City of Towers was very good.

Great job on that Keith, I'm really looking forward to part 2.

Thank you. As I was reading this thread I was trying to pick out what it was about Crimson Talisman that just did not grasp me and force me to finish reading the book within three days. The descriptions of characters and places are bland and blur together, and especially spells ('The air is humming with spells' and 'spells straining against counterspells' and 'a bolt of light' is about as descriptive as I remember any of the magic being. Just kind of bleh.
Also it kind of annoys me when the books goes against the setting material as well. I suppose it might develop into a bit of the draconic Prophecy, but it seems somewhat weak to me.
Still have to finish, so how the end is is still unknown to me.

I really liked City of Towers and can't wait for the next one. I thought the interaction between the characters was done well and the setting and tone of the city was portrayed nicely. Someone mentioned the setting was kind of busy, but then so is a big city to someone who is not from one, downright confusing and scary at times. There is a lot going on around them and it will be interesting to see how things come together and what the Dreaming Dark has in store. I was kind of surprised at what happened to one of the characters and kept expecting it to have been a dream or a vision or something (can't say more for fear of spoiling for those who have somehow not read it yet).

Marked for Death was not bad, but I think it ended up going a little over the top in places. The shifter character got a chuckle out of me a few times, I can relate to his personality.

 

[fafhrd]

The Crimson Talisman may contain proper nouns specific to Eberron, but it isn't a story set in Eberron. The Lords of Dust, the Emerald Claw, and the Daelkyr are all lumped together in one big mess of monolithic eeeeeevil. The main character is a half elf with the mark of passage? Are the heirs getting lax about creating aberrant marks these days? Oh and speaking of blood, he apparently has dragon blood running through his veins too, as do other elves, despite the fact that the mixing of the races was an abomination so horrific that the dragons and elves teamed up to eliminate the house of Vol. Clerics can control another person's dragonmark?

Elemental galleons seem to respond well to magic of any sort and the more the better. If you irritate a bound elemental though, it might decide to up and leave...while you're coasting thousands of feet up in the air. It's not too much of a problem though, because you can surf the plummeting remains of the craft into a crash down that leads to nothing worse than some bruising.

I found myself pulled out of the story again and again because the of lack of adherence to canon. Adrian Cole really needs to sit down with the ECS and have himself a good read.

 

[sniffles]

I liked City of Towers very much, but Marked for Death not so much.

Same here, Claudio. I think Keith Baker is a better writer, or at least he writes more to my taste.

I'm just a little irritated that they're not releasing any more books until December (or at least that's what it says in the backs of the novels). I read very fast, and I don't want to wait that long to find out what happens to the characters in City of Towers.

[edit] whoops! Didn't read all the posts before posting. Hi, Keith!! I like City of Towers and I'm itching to play in an Eberron campaign! (shameless fangirl moment over)

Got any clout with the publishing schedule?

 

[johnnype]

I must agree about the publishing schedule. I haven't read any gaming fiction in a while because I can't stand having to go back an reread a novel because I forgot what happened in previous volumes. Take the War of the Spider Queen series as an example. I can't remember if I've read 4 or 5 books in the series! I'll wait 'till your series is complete Keith. Then I'll read it. Which is to say: write faster!!

One other thing, WotC's idea to publish WotSQ series in hardback first was a terrible idea. I'm sure there are some hard core fans out there who buy that sort of thing but $25 for 300 page novel? You've got to be ing kidding me. And then waiting almost a year for the paperback? Ridiculous.