D&D General The first official D&D novel, a surprise

doctorbadwolf

Heretic of The Seventh Circle
Or that guy who became an engineer and unleashed engineering upon the fantasy world...
Yes sir. While I always rolled my eyes a little at the whole “all men are equal, and [name I can’t recall] made them that way” line in the books (and yes, I know the reference), his whole arc was pretty fun.
 

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Far earlier, there was something bout a Yankee at king Arthurs court was it by Mark Twain?
As mentioned earlier, it can be traced back to folk tales about wanderers who enter a hole in a hill and find themselves in the land of the fair folk.

Technically, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court was presented as time travel, not an alternate world.
 

Gadget

Adventurer
I think I had heard of this book long ago but never read it and forgotten about it. I was unaware it was the first "D&D" book, but it does not surprise me. I certainly would not have pegged Dragonlance (1984?) or Forgotten Realms (a few years later), to hold that distiction. But I was around back then, so that's not so surprising. I probably would have been fooled if someone told me that Gord the Rogue, or some such, was first.
 


I've had this book sitting on my to-read shelf for a while. I picked it up for its historical significance in gaming history. But Andre Norton has left me cold when I've read her other books. And the whole "people getting sucked into their D&D game" subgenre of portal fantasy, likewise. Eventually I'll screw up the nerve to give it a read.
 

darjr

I crit!
The forward is imho the most relevant part for history’s sake. For bits about Greyhawk, only the first couple chapters are relevant
 

Arilyn

Hero
I've had this book sitting on my to-read shelf for a while. I picked it up for its historical significance in gaming history. But Andre Norton has left me cold when I've read her other books. And the whole "people getting sucked into their D&D game" subgenre of portal fantasy, likewise. Eventually I'll screw up the nerve to give it a read.

I was a huge fan of Andre Norton growing up. When I went back to her as an adult? Couldn't read her stuff anymore. This happens a lot, to the point of me not wanting to read old favourites anymore. Sigh😔.
 

I read this as soon as I could get a copy after I found out about it. I did like it. I started the sequel but never finished it.
I bought/read the book upon it's initial release, but lost it somewhere. Didn't hear about the sequel until long after. A few years back, the Science Fiction Book Club offered a two-in-1 book with both, and I have it. Like you, never did finish the sequel.
 


Alzrius

The EN World kitten
When did the trope start? CS Lewis?

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Arilyn

Hero
huh I really liked The Summer Tree

Kay is one of my favourite authors, and I really enjoyed Summer Tree too. His writing got even better after that trilogy, although, he does have a style that I realize would not appeal to everyone.
 



Sacrosanct

Legend
Publisher
I, uh, read some Piers Anthony when I was much much younger.

.....I don't even want to know.

I went back and read Piers Anthony a couple years ago. I had a couple observations.

1. He clearly on was on LSD when he was writing
2. He would be judged through a modern lens of being a giant sexist (Note that I am generally cautious of judging people's work from decades ago through a modern lens)
3. They really weren't all that great books. Not awful, but not great.
 

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