is there such thing as a good FR novel?

[Vuron]

I think Greenwood is a victim of his own success, I've read that he'd much rather do other characters than Elminster but that's what the brass expects so he gets stuck writing plots for Mr. Invincible. Personally I think every book of his since Spellfire has gone downhill, I wonder if that's because the editted the hell out of Spellfire and have gotten more lax or that editting sense spellfire has gotten worse.

 

[DwarvenBrew]

The problem I've noticed is this: someone told the writers they had to follow the rules. This is just bass-ackwards. The rules are great for the game, but as we all know, they are made with game balance in mind and don't make a lot of rational sense beyond that. So when you have a novel that describes how wizards must memorize their spells, where magical effects are described solely in terms of their title in the Player's Handbook, etc etc...it just makes for bad fiction. Great game, of course. But terrible fiction.

Some posts from Elaine Cunningham have given me the impression that often times, the authors don't even come up with the "big picture" plot themselves.

For instance, WoTC/TSR would go to her and say "We want a story about XYZ local that features a female hero etc...". Then the author would go off and write a story using those general guidelines.

Not a good approach to getting the most out of an author IMO. However, I thought that Salvatore's Demon War Trilogy was excellent, and was much better than his FR stuff (it was also written during a difficult period of his life, so it is very gritty, and there is definitely no "perfect" Drizzt). I also like Douglas Niles' writing in general, and Weis & Hickman's Death Gate Cycle and Star of the Guardians series were well done.

In short, I think that some of the of FR authors are pretty talented, they just don't show it in their FR stuff because of the contraints place apon them.

In general, the FR novels are only good for people that are looking for a swords-n-sorcery/action-adventure types of stories.

 

[WSmith]

One of the few FR novels I likes was "Parched Sea" by Troy Dennings.

 

[Eridanis]

The only FR author I like is Elaine Cunningham. She is a good *writer* with a strong sense of the setting, and the ability to write interesting characters and plots. I'm looking forward to the third book in her latest trilogy this month.

Greenwood is not a very good writer, but I enjoy his books for the sense of place (the same reason I enjoyed his late 70s/early 80s Dragon articles). Past that, I've not been able to digest any other FR novels (other than the Drizzt novels, but that was in my teens, and I simply can't get past the terrible writing style now).

And Troy Denning is single-handedly responsible for me not buying any (non-Cunningham) TSR/WotC novels before checking them out of the library first. That man would not be able to write a coherent toaster manual, much less a fantasy novel. Salvatore is not far behind; I'd trust him with the adventures of a microwave oven, but not too much more.

 

[Mortaneus]

If you want good forgotten realms fiction, some of the earlier stuff is pretty good. Especially the 'foreign' sets, like the Maztica trilogy and the Empires Trilogy (kara-tur).

Personally, though, I think the best Dungeons & Dragons fiction ever written has to be the Justicar Greyhawk novels by Paul Kidd. They're so good that they compete with some of the best non-D&D fiction in quality, which is quite an accomplishment.

BTW, just read 'The Tomb of Horrors' by K. Strohm. A pretty decent read, but in truth, the story would have been much better if they had just left the tomb out of it. I'm not kidding. The moment they walk into the tomb, the book starts to drag. The ending seems chopped off too. I wonder if there is going to be a sequel, or if it just got the chop in editing...

 

[omedon]

I have read the first six Drizzt novels. And I have to agree, the writing is pretty marginal. But one Drizzt novel stands out to me among the rest, Homeland. If you haven't read this one give it a try. The first half of it is very well done detailing life in Drow society. Drizzt plays a very small part in it as he is only a child.

All in all I am of the opinion that Forgotten Realms novels are best read in your younger years. Seven year olds have much stronger stomachs when it comes to bad writing. The Drizzt novels are okay, they definitely have their good points, characters like Entreri for one, but they are far from good.

 

[shilsen]

Best thing to do is read what ever you like for yourself and ignore the moron comments.

AMEN!

 

[jollyninja]

i find reading a FR novel to be a similar experience to watching a childrens movie. If I can just throw aside my jaded inner cynic for the few hours it takes me to wade through it, i will enjoy it.

seroiusly though the dnd authors never really seem to have their villians do anything particularly terrible other then abstract "I'm going to steal your soul and give it to my god" or "I'm going to kill the hero, that's what makes me bad" type stuff, we are left to assume that they have done terrible things, but rarely see evidence of true evil.

as for salvatore, It was as though i woke up from a dream during the last book, after being introduced to robert jordan and terry brooks, and discovered that I really didn't care for salvatore's I'm going to give a detailed description of my characters in every damn book style. also i realized i liked entreri more then drizzt, therefore the last book held little interest to me.

That's what i like about WoT, they're numbered so the uninitiated know where to start and they explain to you all of the terms and people in the book at the back just in case you can't remember all 3,000,000 characters in great detail, making it so jordan does not have to waste alot of pages in the story doing the same.

 

[Olidammara]

Troy Denning is single-handedly responsible for me not buying any (non-Cunningham) TSR/WotC novels before checking them out of the library first. That man would not be able to write a coherent toaster manual, much less a fantasy novel. Salvatore is not far behind; I'd trust him with the adventures of a microwave oven, but not too much more.

AMEN!

 

[Numion]

Whoah... not much love in this thread. Well with the thread being about FR, it figures.

Only FR novels I've read are RA Salvatores novels. They have some good elements in them, at least the older ones. I'd recommend Icewind Dale Trilogy and The Dark Elf Trilogy. Those are pretty solid D&D books. Just try to keep an open mind; with all the passionate Drizzt haters you'd think he's the son of Hitler and Osama. In reality (fiction ) he's just a fictional character.

The Clerics Quintet is also pretty good. If Salvoatore can do something well, it's making intresting badguys, although they get their asses kicked in the end...