Fiction in Dragon magazine

[wedgeski]

I've never really seen any value in fiction in Dungeon. It's the very definition of 'page turner' for me, and not in a good way. Simply put, it's not what I buy the magazine for.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

While it wouldn't affect my subscription status (I'm a long time subscriber), I would definitely prefer to see better fiction in general. I do like that the magazine will also take the time and space to "break" lesser known writers as well, though.

Still, I can count on one hand that number of pieces I've enjoyed in the past few years.

I can remember when fiction by "big name" authors appeared in other publications, and it actually helped sales. Larry Niven's "Procrustes" originally appeared in Omni magazine, and that issue was a big seller for them.

In general, I'd prefer fiction in Dragon to be fantasy of some kind (sci-fi is cool, but it would be a bit jarring in this particular publication), but NOT game related. I'd rather it inspired me to try new things than cover game settings.

The only setting-related fiction I want to see is the fluff in the articles.

 

[delericho]

I'd prefer to see fiction removed from Dragon entirely. I'm not too bothered by it, but in virtually every case I would prefer to see the pages used for something else.

I do feel that there should never be more than a single fiction peice in a given issue, if that. Issue #344 definately went too far with 3 such articles, IMO.

 

[Hussar]

I generally like the fiction in Dragon.

But, I don't insist that it be strictly game related. I dislike Forgotten Realms fiction, for example, because I don't particularly care for FR. That's not meant as a shot at those that do, but, in my personal opinion, I would much rather see "generic" fiction, if that's a term, than "campaign specific".

If they could get writers like Stephen Ericson, Tad Williams or some of the other big names in fantasy right now to start writing a short story or two during the year, I certainly wouldn't be sad.

Four or five short stories per year and I'm a pretty happy camper.

 

[JustaPlayer]

I'm with the majority in this thread. I say the fiction can go. I skip those pages. Heck, even the recent Gord stuff (a character I love) I had to put down after two pages. Give me more bits that I can use for my game.

 

[GQuail]

Do you think including fiction in Dragon would be more acceptable today if this caliber of author's were the ones with stories being printed? It wouldn't be for everyone, but little in the magazine is. We've had George R.R. Martin in recent years. If the top fantasy author's were producing the fiction (plus whatever legends are still around) on a periodic basis, would you like to see it?

I have no interest in fiction in Dragon whatsoever. I pick up the magazine for D&D material, and fiction just isn't that high on my agenda. If I wanted to read a book or a short story, I would buy a book, a colleciton of short stories, or a magazine where fiction was the focus.

Of course, I do appreciate that game world fiction probably appeals to quite a lot of gamers: I've never been that mad keen on any one D&D game world, but in my Warhammer days I quite enjoyed reading the misc stories that peppered GW products. I guess if you're a big FR fan or what have you, then reading a little blurb in that world would be quite cool: but the multi-page stories with illustrations we get tend to just be "lost pages" to me.

I would not miss it if it went away altogether, and whoever is writing it tends not to even cross my mind before I flip past it. I don't curse it's existence: everyone has to accept a magazine like Dragon is going to be written to appeal to lots of people, and that not every article will be perfect for them. But to me, it's just a complete non-event.

 

[Wombat]

I pretty much ignore fiction in (The) Dragon. Even when the work has been written by someone known (such as Andre Norton), it is very much a lesser, ignorable work. And the purely game-related stories are almost invariably laughable.

No, I ignore the fiction in this magazine.

 

[WayneLigon]

Do you think including fiction in Dragon would be more acceptable today if this caliber of author's were the ones with stories being printed? It wouldn't be for everyone, but little in the magazine is. We've had George R.R. Martin in recent years. If the top fantasy author's were producing the fiction (plus whatever legends are still around) on a periodic basis, would you like to see it?

We've seen some other well-known fantasy authors in the last few years (Thomas Harlan is the first that comes to mind).

I consider fantasy fiction - and not just 'D&D-style' fiction - in the Dragon to be essential. Only through fantasy fiction can people get a decent idea of what they should be striving for in an RPG: the types of dialog, setting and character description, plot ideas as well as how a plot actually moves from start to conclusion, how characters interact and deal with their world, etc.

 

[The_Gneech]

Honestly ... I just don't read the fiction in Dragon. It's pure wasted pages for me.

I don't know why; normally I love short fiction. But even when I make a pointed attempt to read the fiction in Dragon, my eyes glaze over.

It's a bizarre phenomenon.

-The Gneech

 

[Shade]

No not really. When there is fiction in Dragon magazine I generally prefer it to be D&D related. I get far more excited about seeing a new short story by an author like Richard Lee Byers, Richard Baker, Paul S. Kemp etc than anything by "big" authors like George R. R. Martin. Dragon is the official magazine of Dungeons and Dragons and I like it when it stays that way. It used to have articles covering everything back in the day and fiction of all sorts and the magazine was a mess as a result.

Focus is everything and right now Dragon (and Dungeon too for that matter) have that sorted out. Long may that trend continue!

What he said.