Buying books =)

[Durwyn]

I'm new to the D&D Book era so to speak, not quite new I've read some but a LONG time ago. And just like always, the little lost Durwyn needs your advice [img]smile.gif[/img] . I've been playing the board game before, and most of the RPG titles released by Black Isle and well just as many other games that have something to do with magic, knights, castles, etc. So I finally decided to suit up and start reading some of this, as I've heard, very well written literature.

I've finally saved up (Oh jeez 5 bucks hehe) and am ready to buy my first book. What do you think would be a good pick for a first nice book to let you sort of 'settle in' the atmosphere? Any feedback will be apriciated! [img]smile.gif[/img] .

[Durwyn]

*bump*

[Blade]

Any of the Forgotten realms series books, The wheel of time series, The sword of truth series, but the last two are long series with thick 600-1000 pg. books each. You might try Owl knight series by Mercedes Lanky or anyother of the author's books. Thoes are some of the best i have run across myself as an avid reader. Hope this gives you somewhere to look.

[Durwyn]

Thanks for the feedback, and I will look closer to your suggestion [img]smile.gif[/img] .

[fable]

If you're looking for D&D stuff, I can't recommend. But if you want knights, magic, battles, and the rest, you might think about Fletcher Pratt's The Well of the Unicorn. What sets it apart is that Pratt was a damn fine historian by trade, with a speciality in American and medieval Scandanavian history. He patterned this book on a sort of magical, medieval Denmark, and built up a very full and diverse culture. There's a lot of color to the book's characters and dialog, and some well-described tactics for battle; also a sense of the problems of government. This is heavier fantasy, but it's damn good.

Now, if you want it all without the cultural lesson, consider Jack Vance. He's been turning up superb fantasy with elves, curses, dwarves, etc, since the 1950s. The Green Pearl is one excellent such book. Far better than the D&D stuff, IMO, because it wasn't a case of a company looking for cheap writers to churn out stuff quickly, but a fine author who wanted to write the best fantasy he could, and sought publishers for it.

My two cents, for what it's worth. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Blade]

You might also consider The Hobit and Lord of the Rings as well as Beowolf both are exilent books, but they to tend to be a little "heaver"

[Durwyn]

Well I'm mainly targeting the Forgotten Realms series. I meant like within Forgotten Realms what is a good book to get? Well today I got Icewind Dale#1 by R.A. Salvatore, waiting impatiently for it to ship, hopefully it will be a good book since I'm quite familiar with the game [img]smile.gif[/img] .

[Erydian]

I'm an avid reader and amateur (for now anyway [img]smile.gif[/img] ) writer. Though I haven't read everything in the Forgotten Realms series I can point you in the direction of some that I have especially liked.


Forgotten Realms Series

Dark Elf Trilogy (by R.A. Salvatore)

-Homeland
-Exile
-Sojourn

If you like these, here are some others concerning the same characters:

The Icewind Dale Trilogy (by R.A. Salvatore)

-The Crystal Shard
-Streams of Silver
-The Halfling's Gem

Legacy of the Drow (by R.A. Salvatore)

-The Legacy
-Starless Night
-Siege of Darkness
-Passage to Darkness

Paths of Darkness (by R.A. Salvatore)

-Silent Blade
-Spine of the World
-Servant of the Shard
-Sea of Swords (New and most recent addition)

Salvatore has also written a five-story series known as the Cleric Quintet, and characters/events in these link to, or are occasionally seen in his dark elf novels. If you haven't noticed, I'm a big R.A Salvatore fan. [img]smile.gif[/img] Salvatore has also started series outside of the Forgotten Realms setting (and it's about time too) if you end up liking his style.

Some other books in the Forgotten Realms world *not* by R.A Salvatore that I have enjoyed are those written by Elaine Cunningham such as:

-Evermeet
-Daughter of the Drow
-Tangled Webs

Book 1, 2, and 3 of the Songs and Swords series.

Another name to look for is Douglas Niles, though I have not read any of the books that he has published in the Forgotten Realms world (just Dragonlance).

That just about wraps it up for the Forgotten Realms. If you end up liking them, and want to try out other series, such as Dragonlance, Dark Sun etc. check out anything by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. As Fable said, you will find some terrible writers (in my humble opinion) writing for TSR, but there are a few good ones that shouldn't be overlooked. I suppose that's why all of my suggestions are written by a select few authors.

However, some recommendations outside the TSR line:

-The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan (there are nine books, all of them lengthy)

-The Coldfire Trilogy by C.S Friedman - I absolutely LOVE these books, I highly recommend them. [img]smile.gif[/img] It's a shame I haven't seen anything from this author recently.

Good luck and happy reading. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 01-13-2002: Message edited by: Erydian ]

[Durwyn]

Wow, very valuable info there Erydian, thank you so much mate! -=bows=-. I will closely too it [img]smile.gif[/img] .