Fantasy Novels and D&D

[Desdichado]

Wow. I never would have guessed that the first post in this thread was out there somewhere. I left D&D because I was frustrated that it didn't emulate the fantasy novels I was reading very well. Back in the 1e and B/X days. 3e, or at least d20 if you worked in some optional and possibly 3rd party stuff, did that better than any other edition of D&D I'd ever played.

Also; wow---you can't find good new stuff to read, but you're talking about how good David Eddings and Terry Brooks are? Much of the rest of your list is stuff that I don't like much either. I mean, Feist is OK, but nothing extraordinary, Donaldson is probably my least favorite fantasy writer ever to go into print, Moorcock is terribly over-rated, and the early Dragonlance books weren't any worse than the early Salvatore Forgotten Realms books.

I dunno; I can tell you what I'm reading, but if that's the stuff you like, I can't guarantee that you'll like any of it. Most of the stuff you seem to consider the watermarks of the genre are works that I think are pretty "meh" at best.

I'm reading James Silke's oldish (late 80s) Death Dealer series, based on the Frank Frazetta character. Plus some Jim Butcher Dresden Files stuff. On my docket is Scott Lynch's The Lies of Locke Lamora about a fantasy con-man; kind of fantasy Ocean's Eleven, the next book in Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen series, the next book in Glen Cook's Black Company series (these aren't exactly new anymore either), the last of the Leigh Brackett Skaith books, Transit to Scorpio by Alan Burt Akers, the Llarn series by Garnder F. Fox and some Robert E. Howard (I just picked up the last of the Dell Rey Conan compilations and the Kull compilation a few weeks ago.)

Oh, and I read Alan Campbell's Scar Night not to long ago, and I've been hankering to read the sequel there, too: Iron Angel I think it's called.

 

[Hussar]

My reading tastes have long been more SF than fantasy, but, I've really, really fallen in love with steampunk lately. Between that and New Weird, there's just so much to read.

Just read Extraordinary Engines, which is an anthology collection of Steampunk short fiction. Pretty good stuff. Most of the stories are very strong.

To be honest though, for the past few years, I've really tailed off reading novels and read far more short story works. Try out some of the plethora of "Best of" anthologies out there and you'll likely find an author or three that peaks your interest.

 

[Tequila Sunrise]

Tell me—who do you guys read? Who is the next Feist or Jordan? What authors are writing the new Riftwar, Belgariad, Wheel of Times or Dragonlance series which will define an era of fantasy novels? Who are the new Eddings, Feists and Jordans? What authors’ fantasy novels so define your RPG experiences these days, as these guys did mine in the old days?

Thx

Right now I'm reading David Sedaris, who does not write fantasy, but for the past few months I've been mostly reconnecting with fantasy through books that I never read. I read Jack Vance's Compleat Dying Earth which was awesome, and several Terry Pratchett novels which are ever-hilarious. Tomorrow I'm headed to the library to pick up one of Howard's Conan books.

Unfortunately, I've read a lot of D&D novels most of which were from the 2e era, because a friend gave me a boatload of them and I have this kind of OCD compulsion to read things I have no matter how much they suck. And I knew they sucked, even as a teen. Drizzt was mediocre during the first trilogy, but then his whining and moaning got painfully predictable. The only D&D novels that I'm not sorry that I read were written by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman, who somehow make their D&D teen novels moderately entertaining.

So I guess what I'm saying is that I also feel disconnected from much of the D&D world...but I don't think I've ever been really into in the first place. I've bought a lot of splat books, and will continue to do so in 4e, but I've never felt that all D&D products are some kind of coherent whole and that experiencing all of them is necessary to get THE D&D EXPERIENCE. If that makes any sense.

TS

 

[Rackhir]

I'm pretty convinced Full Metal Alchemists was the genesis behind the Eberron world, at least the 3.5 edition.

I thought there is a Dresden Files movie in production? Can anyone confirm this? (And if there is, should I read the series now or after I've seen the movie version?)

There was a short lived TV series on the Sci-Fi channel, produced a year or two back. Are you thinking of that or something newer?

There is never a point to skipping a book because a movie version is coming out (novelizations of a movie are a different matter though). At best it will do things as well, but differently. More likely it's just going to be a bad adaptation.

 

[Cam Banks]

I would also recommend Jim Butcher's Furies of Calderon series, which he wrote on a dare (somebody said he couldn't combine Pokemon and the Lost Roman Legion myth together, so he did). Jim is an old friend of mine; he introduced me to my wife, and we used to play in each other's RPG campaigns when we lived close to each other in Pennsylvania. He has a hundred novels in his brain and is a very cool guy.

I am currently reading a series by a new author, Joe Abercrombie. It's called the Book of the First Law, and the first book (The Blade Itself) is full of clever writing, interesting characters, and well-imagined worldbuilding. I got the second novel in the series for Christmas so I'm looking forward to getting time to read it.

Cheers,
Cam

 

[Neil Bishop]

I struggle to read fantasy novels though I do have a lot.

I love reading real-life history and politics instead. I suppose part of that is because I always design a campaign around large event arcs but that's not to create a Dragonlance-style railroad: it's just my way of making sure I have an answer to whatever it is that the players choose to do.

D&D fiction has some good and bad bits. IMO, some of the latest Forgotten Realms stuff has been quite good. Rich Baker is one of my favourite game designers but he is also proving to be quite a dab hand at writing FR novels... which I normally hate with a passion. Paul Kemp is also an excellent writer and he will definitely move on to bigger and better things.

Crystal Shard by R A Salvatore was one of the first novels that really shaped the way I saw D&D campaigns. It's sad now to see RAS in his George Lucas-like post-Empire Strikes Back/prequel nonsense phase. His stuff, for me at least, has "jumped the shark" and seems to be verging on a parody of some of his earlier stuff. Bad names and insane dwarves with speech impediments are not the stuff of good novels... just as gungans don't make a good movie.

So it's non-fiction for this DM... except when I hear the siren call of some of the classics!

 

[WayneLigon]

I found this interesting blog that focuses on new names in fantasy. It's a pretty broad definition of fantasy, since there's lots of urban fantasy and such in it, but it can never hurt a person to broaden their perspective, either.

 

[Nellisir]

recommendations off the top of my head (since I'm on vacation and a thousand miles away from my books...) Gregory Keyes; Glen Cook; China Mieville; Barbara Hambly (not really current, but neither is Glen Cook); Guy Gavriel Kay (older stuff first; ie Tigana & Fionavar trilogy); Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart; Robert Holdstock (Lavondyss etc; awesome stuff); Little Big by John Crowley; Cherie Priest (modern fantasy/horroresque; has a very frequently updated website & livejournal); Catherine Valente's "The Orphan Tales" is AMAZING; Robin Hobb; Susanna Clarke "Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell" & "The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories"

That should get you started.

 

[Cam Banks]

I found this interesting blog that focuses on new names in fantasy. It's a pretty broad definition of fantasy, since there's lots of urban fantasy and such in it, but it can never hurt a person to broaden their perspective, either.

Tia is an excellent reviewer. And I'm not just saying that because she gave my book such a good review.

Cheers,
Cam

 

[Miyaa]

Rackhir: I was aware of that, but I thought it was so good that a movie was in the works.