Which D&D Novels to buy?

[HellHound]

So...

You all know that I have a passion against the D&D novels overall. Okay, maybe not all of you, just some old-timers who remember when I first started posting to these boards.

BUT.

My daughter has a bunch of gift certificates and loves D&D. I've heard no end of good things about the R.A.Salvatore FR novels, even though they were not to my liking when the first of them were being released. (I felt it was pretty cheesy writing books about RPGs instead of vice-versa). I've also heard no end of good things being said abotu the DragonLance line (my first exposure to them was through the modules... I just about got up and strangled three players who kept tryign to tell me how to play my character and what he would and wouldn't do in order to keep the novels on track... and then when I finally convinced THEM that I should be allowed to 'play' instead of mimicing the novels... the DM follows the modules which railroad us right back into the novels - needless to say, I was so frustrated by the experience that I have not returned to Krynn in any form since).

So.

She's 12 years old.
She likes D&D a LOT.
What SERIES of novels should she buy first?

Remember, we are avoiding anything seriously adult or evil.

She like those things 12 year old girls tend to like about D&D... unicorns, elves with bows, and all that jazz.

Did I mention she plays an elven archer with a Unicorn cohort?

 

[maddman75]

Icewind Dale trilogy. I mean it's got Drizzt - not only is he an elf who loves nature, but he's a dark elf and therefore angsty and misunderstood. And he kicks all ass.

Plus there's Cattie-brie, the female character who the males all try to overprotect, but she shows them that she's not only more perceptive than the lot of them, but can kick just as much ass with her ass-kicking bow +12.

I actually like the prequels more, the Dark Elf trilogy, but that's a bit darker. I'd start her with the Icewind Dale ones. I believe there's a 3-in-1 trade paperback version of it available.

 

[Sir Osis of Liver]

I started with Dragonlance chronicles when i was around that age, then went straight into legends. I think the Dragonlance stuff is far more suited to younger readers then the Forgotten Realms on the whole. Although, if i were to recommend a forggotten realms series for someone that age i'd go with the finders stone trilogy. I'm not sure the Drizzt books would be all to great for her, they tend to be more vilonce/action oriented. Although R.A salvatore's spearwielder series would be a decent choice, the first book, the wood's out back is one of my all time favorite books. Also, while not a D&D book, the chronicles of pyrdain (sp?) by Loyd Alexander was another series that i liked quite a bit as a kid. You could also try the narnia books, i always loved the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe.

 

[Hypersmurf]

General? You should know better

For a 12 year old...

Salvatore's FR books aren't bad, especially compared to a lot of the FR books out there. Like Dragonlance or Star Wars... when you get dozens of authors working in a shared universe, there aren't all that many that do it well. I'd be inclined to start her with the Icewind Dale trilogy, though, rather than the Dark Elf trilogy. Even though it's set first, Dark Elf was written after... and it's a bit darker in tone.

And yeah, the first Dragonlance trilogy would be good. A lot of people - fairly, too - criticise the actual writing, but for a young teenager it's just fine.

While it's not D&D, I'm going to say Belgariad, Belgariad, Belgariad. Although you might want to see if you can trick her into letting you read it to her aloud. I found it takes about a month to get through all five books if you're doing an average of three hours or so a day, so I guess that's ninety to a hundred hours all up.

And Sword of Shannara, Elfstones, and Wishsong. I personally hated the second series, but I have a lot of fond memories of the first three books.

-Hyp.
(Moderator)

 

[Hypersmurf]

I actually like the prequels more, the Dark Elf trilogy, but that's a bit darker. I'd start her with the Icewind Dale ones.

Snap

I believe there's a 3-in-1 trade paperback version of it available.

Yup - and of Dark Elf as well. I've got both around here somewhere.

-Hyp.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Also, while not a D&D book, the chronicles of pyrdain (sp?) by Loyd Alexander was another series that i liked quite a bit as a kid. You could also try the narnia books, i always loved the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe.

Depends on her reading level, too, though... Prydain and Narnia I remember really enjoying when I was seven, and so now I have a fondness for them... but if her first exposure to them is at 12, and she's looking at reading full-sized novels, they may seem a bit childish to her.

-Hyp.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Getting even further afield, there's The Myth-Adventures of Aahz and Skeeve, by Robert Asprin.

And maybe Piers Anthony's Xanth. Maybe.

I'd leave A Song of Ice and Fire for another year or two, though.

-Hyp.

 

[HellHound]

I'm looking specifically for D&D novels because she has already exhausted much of my teen & pre-teen fantasy novels...

All the McAffrey books.
All the Loyd Alexander books.
All the Narnia books.
Lord of the Rings & the Hobbit.
My Belgariad set.
About half the Myth series by Mr Asprin.
And she's started on the Shannara novels now.

I haven't introduced her to Xanth yet. I loved those as a teen and hate them as an adult. Well, the later ones anyways. When I was a teen I ran a Xanth campaign or two.

So - so far we have:

Icewind Dale Trilogy. (check - now on our list)
Finder's Stone Trilogy. (check)

Dragonlance Chronicles.
- which ones? I was stunned with the number of DL novels on the shelf at Chapters, what is the name of the set I should be getting her?

 

[Hypersmurf]

My Belgariad set.

Does that include the Malloreon? And the Sparhawk serieses?

Dragonlance Chronicles.
- which ones? I was stunned with the number of DL novels on the shelf at Chapters, what is the name of the set I should be getting her?

"Chronicles" refers to Dragons of Autumn Twilight, Dragons of Winter Night, and Dragons of Spring Dawning.

-Hyp.

 

[Hypersmurf]

I haven't introduced her to Xanth yet. I loved those as a teen and hate them as an adult. Well, the later ones anyways. When I was a teen I ran a Xanth campaign or two.

I think when I was twelve or thirteen, I'd read just about every book he'd written. Including, oddly, the Tarot series, but excluding the Bio of a Space Tyrant, which my parents forbade at the time.

These days, I look back at a quote he put in a foreword somewhere - "There are very few living authors who can do what I do, better than I do", and think "You've got to be joking."

Oooooh! Mercedes Lackey. If she's into unicorns etc, she's gonna love Companions.

Arrows of the Queen, Arrow's Flight, Arrow's Fall. Get her hooked on those three to start, and you're set for birthday presents for a few years.

-Hyp.

Edit - I'm definitely going to recommend Lackey's Valdemar books at the very top of the list, but with the caveat that there is a little bit of sex in them. No more than in the Malloreon, probably less than in Xanth... but a quick browse through the books you said she's read didn't really turn up any with any sex at all (though I can't speak for McCaffrey - I couldn't get through a Pern book last time I tried), so I'm not sure how big a deal that is.