Which D&D Novels to buy?

[Silver Moon]

...she has already exhausted much of my teen & pre-teen fantasy novels...All the McAffrey books.

My almost-11-year-old is currently devouring our McAffrey collection. She's as much of a reader as myself and Kriskrafts (last year at the end of 4th grade she took the National reading and comprehension test, and tested out as Post High School).

One hallway in our house is 12-feet long with a paperback bookcase that I built there that is 10 shelves high. My daughter was thrilled when we told her that it was ALL science fiction* and she was welcome to read as much of it as she wanted.




*Two used bookstores in our area went out of business in the late 90's and we wiped them out of the Sci Fi collections at between 10 and 25 cents a book!

 

[RedShirtNo5]

Let's see.

For D&D, on the Forgotten Realms side, I second the recommendation for Finder's Stone Trilogy (starts with Curse of the Azure Bonds) and the Icewind Dale Trilogy. On the Dragonlance Side, I second the recommendation for Chronicles. I think Legends is also good, but Raistlin's evil is more explicit, so you'll need to decide if it's appropriate for her.


Outside D&D, I'll try to hit a few that I didn't see above.

Zelazny - Amber series (first 5 books), a classic that I think is appropriate for a 12-year old.

Orson Scott Card - Seventh Son series, very good

Vance - I'd like to recommend the Lyonesse, although

Spoiler

the major female character does commit suicide about 1/3 through the book

.

Esther Friesner - Chronicles of the Twelve Kingdoms (currently 4 books, starts with Mustapha and his Wise Dog), may be out of print

Beagle - The Last Unicorn

Katherine Kurtz - Deryni books, although I've only read the early ones

Andre Norton - lots of stuff, although again I've only read a few early Witch World books

-RedShirt

 

[Darrin Drader]

I'll just parrot the Icewinf Dale Trilogy.

Beyond that the Moonshae Trilogy, though you might want to save that until she's at least a couple years older since at least one of the major characters dies by the end of it.

The Finder's Stone trilogy might be OK, but I think the third book might be a little too subtle and sophisticated to hold the attention of a young person.

I was reading the Dragonlance Chronicles at her age, so that would be another good place to start her.

 

[Endur]

You want the three original books by Weis and Hickman. Those books are the best selling classics that started all the rest.

Dragons of Autumn Twilight
Dragons of Winter Night
Dragons of Spring Dawning

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?

 

[HellHound]

And she somehow skipped the Earthsea trilogy?

Nope... She has them too. But she's looking for D&D books, not fantasy books right now.

 

[HellHound]

Alright.

Here's the list we have going:

Finder's Stone Trilogy
Icewind Dale Trilogy
Dragonlance Chronicles

---

Thank you everyone for the recommendations, and sorry for wasting your time for everyone who suggested non-D&D books, but as stated, she is specifically looking for D&D novels (we have a collection of Sci-Fi / Fantasy that nearly rivals that of Silver Moon)

 

[Hypersmurf]

Thank you everyone for the recommendations, and sorry for wasting your time for everyone who suggested non-D&D books, but as stated, she is specifically looking for D&D novels (we have a collection of Sci-Fi / Fantasy that nearly rivals that of Silver Moon)

She should still read Lackey

There are also Gary Gygax's Greyhawk Adventures and Gord the Rogue series (not Rose Estes' Greyhawk Adventures!)... what could be more D&D a novel than a D&D novel by Gygax?

And if you can track down the old Endless Quest books, that would be very cool.

-Hyp.

 

[Lady Mer]

Well, when I was twelve years old, I really enjoyed the Dragonlance Chronicles and the Legends series. And though I can now say that the most of the books is awful, at the time there were stories that I liked. Weasel's Luck and Galen Beknighted spring to mind.

From Forgotten Realms, I'll agree with the Icewind Dale trilogy, and the Songs and Swords Series by Elaine Cunningham. (There are 5 books in the SaSS: Elfshadow, Elfsong, Silver Shadows, Thornhold, and The Dream Spheres.)

Those are really the only D&D novels I recommend. Now, if you want regular fantasy suggestions, those I can do. (Nancy Springer, Robin McKinley and Anne Logsten: I loved those three at that age. Actually, I still enjoy them.)

 

[ergeheilalt]

Heyas Hellhound.

I remember fondly the time when I discovered reading could go beyond the crap my teachers assigned me. Seeing as your daughter has specified D&D books, I've read a few I particularly enjoyed...

Elminster: Making of the Mage - I'm a fan of m-u's, although there is not a lot of elves

Spoiler

Elminster enjoys a stint disguised as a female elf.

. Over all, it's a B book. Lotsa action, not a lot of character development outside of Elminster.

Evermeet: Isle of the Elves by Elaine Cunningham - Chock full of elfy goodness, this book give a history of elves in Forgotten Realms and covers a lot of the back story of the Elven Pantheon in general (

Spoiler

The fall of Lolth, Corellan's war with the orc's and the wounding of Gruumash

). If she isn't big on FR books or hasn't played in the setting, I'd probably pass on this - but you never know. B - great book, but a bit involved if you don't care for FR.

The last series I'd recommend it DL related and was very readable. Something similar to Dragonlance Beginnings or somesuch. It covers the childhoods of the core group (with the exception of Tanis and Flint - childhoods for half-elves and dwarves are a little long). I really enjoyed these books, gives a bit of the backstory on what passes though the first trilogy. I'd give it a A.

Good luck with your search,
Erge

 

[AuroraGyps]

I also recommend Elaine Cunningham's FR books about Arilyn Moonblade & Danilo Thann. And I can't believe no one has mentioned Paul Kidd's Grey Hawk books... Escalla is one tough lady. As for DL, if you can find the Weasel's Luck and Galen Beknighted at a library or used book store, your daughter might like them too.