Which D&D Novels to buy?

[Michael Tree]

Darkwalker on Moonshae was the first book published for the Realms, and IMO the best. Besides, it has both unicorns and elves with bows.

For Dragonlance, starting with the Chronicles and the Legends is the best way to go. After that, many of the short stories in the Tales books are excellent, as are the minotaur books written by Richark Knaak.

 

[diaglo]

and don't forget Quag Keep by Andre Norton

it doesn't get more D&D than that. with dice on your arm and everything.

 

[Tsyr]

Personaly, I suggest the Cleric Quintet, also by Salvatore... It's a much-under-rated series of his, also availibile in collected volumes.

 

[Kesh]

The Dragonlance novels are very good, but... yeah. Evil certainly crops its head, especially in the Legends trilogy. There are a few bits about madness and cruelty in the first trilogy, but I don't think it'll be that bad.

However, the first trilogy ends on a note that may have her wanting to read the second trilogy. Which deals with: alchoholism, religious hubris of unmitigated proportion, war in its gory detail, various murders and cruelty, etc. It's quite a bit more personal in its darkness than the first trilogy.

Don't get me wrong, they're both excellent. But if you're somewhat concerened about it... well, you should read them first and decide for yourself.

 

[Sir Osis of Liver]

Personaly, I suggest the Cleric Quintet, also by Salvatore... It's a much-under-rated series of his, also availibile in collected volumes.

Don't know how i could forget that one. Very good series, in some way's better then his drizzt books, at least IMO anyway. Ivan and Pickle provide some comedy, Danica is a strong female character, and Cadderly is one of the coolest clerics ever.

 

[der_kluge]

There are some decent Ravenloft novels that I've read. And they're not as dark as you might think. Vampire of the Mists and Dance of the Dead are both Christie Golden books. They're both pretty decent, and original. Knight of the Black Rose sucked, though. Those are the only ones I've read.

I have the Planescape novels, too. There is a trilogy called Blood War, which I've never read, but I heard was kinda bad. I read Pages of Pain (Troy Denning) and it was ok, but if she isn't familiar with Planescape, it will probably just confuse her.

Another one to consider is Rod of Seven Parts. It's a pretty decent read, and has a halfling as the main character. It's a pretty good book.

There. You've exhausted the list of all the D&D books I've ever read.

 

[ergeheilalt]

Doh! I forgot a book that I read in eighth grade at the behest of my math and science teacher - it really got me into D&D with many fantastical elements in it. Later to find out, it's based on a D&D campaign in San Diego run during the 80's at UCSD (www.midkemia.com)

Magician: Apprentice and Magician: Master (sometimes paired as just Magician). Writen by Raymond E. Fiest, these books follow the style of a buildingsroman. It details the life a two young men both destined for great things and the fate of their world in the following novels - Silverthorne and Darkness at Sethenon. Not too much dark magic, sex, or violence (which pop up in the second series of books - the Serpent War Saga).

While not straight on D&D - there are very D&D-esque pieces (mages - even the separation between sorcerers and wizards, dark elves, wild elves, grey elves, and high elves (although by different names), Dwarves, dragons, an elminster-like figure, etc.). These were great books - lol, I managed to find them all the summer after my science teacher bugged me enough about it and consumed them in about 3 weeks. I re-read them almost yearly. Great, great books!

Erge

 

[AuroraGyps]

Don't know how i could forget that one. Very good series, in some way's better then his drizzt books, at least IMO anyway. Ivan and Pickle provide some comedy, Danica is a strong female character, and Cadderly is one of the coolest clerics ever.

Yeah, I thought of this after I posted. I zipped right through all 5 books, and while I'm not a slow reader, that's always a good sign.
Another recomendation I thought of is the DL books The Doom Brigade & Draconian measures by Weis & Perrin. It's nice to see good "bad guys" from time to time.

 

[Dark Jezter]

Personaly, I suggest the Cleric Quintet, also by Salvatore... It's a much-under-rated series of his, also availibile in collected volumes.

I'll second this suggestion. Pikel Bouldershoulder is the coolest dwarf ever.

Anyways, here are my D&D novel recommendations for the starter of this thread:

The Icewind Dale Trilogy: Lots of adventure, excitement, and a cast of enjoyable characters as well. This is pretty much the architypical D&D novel. It features a dwarf, halfling, elf (dark elf, anyway), and a human going on exciting adventures and battling things like dragons, evil wizards, and assassins. It will never be considered good literature by guys who wear tweed blazers and smoke pipes, but it's fun to read and that's good enough for me.

The Cleric Quintet: As stated above, this is RAS's "forgotten" novel series, mainly because it dosen't have Drizzt in it. Despite this, it really is a good series with likable characters. Many people view clerics in D&D as little more than walking first-aid kits, but after reading this novel, I saw that they can be just as interesting as any other class.

The Dark Elf Trilogy: This series is probably generated more interest in the drow than any other product (this could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on where you stand). It also generated a complex and intriguing society for the dark elves. This book trilogy is a little darker and more adult than most of Salvatore's other books, but I still think it would be safe reading for most well-adjusted 12-year-olds.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Alright.

Here's the list we have going:

Finder's Stone Trilogy
Icewind Dale Trilogy
Dragonlance Chronicles

Well, it's been two days - which did she enjoy most?

-Hyp.