I feel the same way. They weren't fantasy classics like Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones. They were good quality stories with themes anyone could identify with. The writing was competent, though Salvatore doesn't produce flowery prose that rises above the material like Robert E. Howard or H.P. Lovecraft. D&D novels definitely vary in quality because of the focus on quantity over quality. The writers have to produce on time regardless of the quality of the work. That can be hard.
D&D 5E (2014) Just read Vengeance of the Iron Dwarf...
- Thread starter MerricB
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I feel the same way. They weren't fantasy classics like Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones. They were good quality stories with themes anyone could identify with. The writing was competent, though Salvatore doesn't produce flowery prose that rises above the material like Robert E. Howard or H.P. Lovecraft. D&D novels definitely vary in quality because of the focus on quantity over quality. The writers have to produce on time regardless of the quality of the work. That can be hard.
I never associated Lovecraft with racism. His stories are so strange I assumed that the characters in the stories were the darkest possible version of a racial stereotype. I know he had some of the values of his day. His stories are so strange that racism is at most incidental.
Majoru Oakheart
Adventurer
I haven't yet gotten around to reading Vengeance of the Iron Dwarf (it's next on my list) but so far I enjoyed Night of the Hunter. It's a good reintroduction to the companions after the long gap of having most of them missing. Regis is a more interesting character now.
I agree with this. Archmage shines when its about the Drow, Gromph, Jaraxle, Quenthel, etc and drags when its the Companions of the Hall.
Gnashtooth
First Post
Neither Salvatore or Drizzt have been anything to D&D for a long time now other than a marketing device. That explains everything. Just look at the lack of anything non-Drizzt written by Salvatore in the lineup. The Jarlaxle/Artemis books were fun, and I want to hear more about those characters, but all we get is more ****ing "twirling scimitars."
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SPV9B1A...TF8&colid=1O88IN91QYWU5&coliid=I3TEZQDTY81GU5 Sadly, the next Brimstone Angels book isn't out until December. Huge huge fan of Evans' works, and +1 for agreeing!
I do agree with most of what you said. I don't know if its just my tastes have gone on, or what*, but the Drizz't stories just feel blah to me. Actually, as a female gamer, I feel kinda disgusted over some of what goes into those stories now. "I find a robe of the Archmage! But its small, so its now a blouse for me to wear, since I'm a girl!" Wait, what? Cattibrie is an effin' cleric**. Put her in some armor. Same with the Greenwood-Elminster stuff.
I feel like I can actually relate to the characters in Brimstone Angels with actual mundane concerns than running through bragging about achieving epic level loot and powers.
* I just watched a review of Pixels, which claimed that the movie was getting such terrible reviews not just because it was a bad movie, but also because it never grew up. The writers were stuck in some kind of crappy, same unevolving humor that Adam Sandler had in his movies since the early 90s, like society hasn't changed since then. I think the same thing applies here. The style of writing hasn't adapted to modern society. Its locked in the past.
** Despite being a funky nature cleric / evoker wizard hybrid, Cattibrie is actually pretty low level compared to the others. Everyone else is displaying epic level abilities, while Cattibrie's still stuck with Fireballs and Lightning bolts. I don't think I saw her cast anything approaching a level 6 spell.
There was just a graphic novel release about Cutter and the half-drow, half-wood elf that ended up with it. Characters were drawn from the Drizz't storyline, but so were Jarlaxle and Artemis.
So, this is not quite true.
Majoru Oakheart
Adventurer
It should be noted that she was a fighter. She then gave up being a fighter in order to be a wizard. But mostly she spent all her time being a wizard. There's been vague references to her being able to channel the power of her god but it's awfully vague if she's a cleric at all. If anything she's like 1 cleric/all wizard.
That's why she wanted the robe of the archmage. It was just gnome sized.
Majoru Oakheart
Adventurer
They are all supposed to be around 10-15 level. I haven't seen them use any "epic level" powers.
Cattie has had a mixed up history. Since she originally was just a fighter before she decided to become a fighter/wizard who was devout and..maybe a cleric. Then, over time they kept emphasizing that although she was a fighter that she didn't want to rely on her fighting powers because doing so would stop her growth with magic. It seemed to me that she was probably something like 8 fighter/3 Wizard when all of them died. When they were all "reborn", they seem to have used that as an excuse to let them change around their classes.
Cattie discussed the fact that her fighting skills hadn't been used in so long that she didn't think she could use them at all anymore. That while dead she had found a newfound connection with her goddess and wanted to focus on that. Then in her new life she enrolled in a wizard academy and studied magic for something like 12 years.
My best estimate now that I think about it more than the post above is that they decided she isn't a fighter at all anymore and is something like 6 cleric/6 wizard from the most recent book I've read.
Salvatore says he doesn't like to think about what levels his characters are so they tend to vary from book to book. But it's fairly obvious that Drizzt and Breunor are higher level than the rest. Drizzt might be as high as 17.
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