Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Duedaine 03-09-07, 03:28 PM	With what novel should I start reading? I read Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance, both of which I picked up in the middle. I figured I should try reading this in order! Thank you all!
mfaulkner 03-09-07, 03:46 PM	Good Question! I am in the same situation.
Nived 03-09-07, 03:50 PM	There isn't a whole lot of order here. The novels and trilogies are all self contained and have yet to have much cross over. There has been some... but not much. Most would say start with the Dreaming Dark Trilogy. It's written by Keith Baker, creator of Eberron, and is a good start. However The Dragon Below Trilogy, The Marked for Death trilogy, the Heirs of Ash Trilogy, and the Blade of the Flame Trilogy do not require it be read by anymeans. So far all those trilogies are self contained. Other than a cameo appearance by one of Keith's minor characters in City of Towers showing up in Don's The Killing Song... but its just a nudge nudge wink wink... no means a required reading thing. Tales of The Last War has the most direct continuity. Its a series of short stories, many of which serve as preludes for the various trilogies or stand alone War Torn stories, but these are 'extras' and in most cases published after what they served as a prelude for. My personal suggestion, if you like trilogies. Start with Dreaming Dark. Go to The Dragon Below. Then Heirs of Ash (even if its not done yet) After that Marked for Death. Blade of the Flame. The War Torn though a 'series' are all stand alone novels and can be read in any order. However Crimson Talisman is notorious for being heavily setting inconsistant... I and others would advise skipping it unless you're a completist.
Subtle Knife 03-09-07, 07:37 PM	I personally would place them in a different order, based on my personal faves, but will state that there is no specific to the series; they are all relatively contemporary with each other. One does not build atop the plots of others (unlike what is seen in other settings), but rather represent stand-alone stories. Each series has its' merits, and aside from The Crimson Talisman (no comments - don't want to get banned), I can't point to one that is really bad. My personal favorites so far, in order, would be Heirs of Ash, Blade of the Flame, the Dreaming Dark, The Dragon Below, and the Lost Mark. But this is my personal bent - pick for yourself! Be an individual! SK
mhacdebhandia 03-09-07, 08:38 PM	The first series I would recommend is the Dreaming Dark trilogy by Keith Baker: The City of Towers The Shattered Land The Gates of Night Keith Baker (Hellcow on these forums) is the creator of Eberron, so it's only natural to start with his personal take on the setting. The next recommendation would be for the short story anthology Tales of the Last War. Not only are most of the stories pretty entertaining, several of them are like "teasers" for full-length novels or trilogies, telling a story from a protagonist's life prior to the beginning of the longer novel or novels. For instance, the short story "The Blade of the Flame" by Tim Waggoner is a prequel to his Blade of the Flame trilogy: Thieves of Blood Forge of the Mind Slayers Sea of Death (2008) Likewise, "The Weight of Water" by Edward Bolme features the monk Teron, the protagonist of the second novel in the unconnected War-Torn series, The Orb of Xoriat. "The Call of the Flame" by Wizards of the Coast designer James Wyatt (one of the staff members responsible for Eberron's direction) is also a prequel to the third War-Torn novel, In the Claws of the Tiger. Of those two, The Orb of Xoriat is more fast-paced and pulpy, but I felt that In the Claws of the Tiger benefited from Wyatt's close involvement with the setting. It also touched on some of my favourite elements of Eberron. If you'd rather pick up a complete trilogy instead, I've really enjoyed Don Bassingthwaite's Dragon Below trilogy: The Binding Stone The Grieving Tree The Killing Song It has the added advantage of showcasing a very different side of Eberron to most of the other stories - it takes place primarily in and around the Eldeen Reaches and the Shadow Marches, although the story does include Sharn in the third novel. This also touches on some of my favourite elements of Eberron in an interesting manner. I also really enjoyed the first of the Heirs of Ash trilogy by Rich Wulf, Voyage of the Mourning Dawn, and I own (but have not yet read) the second, Flight of the Dying Sun. What I have heard about the first War-Torn novel, The Crimson Talisman by Adrian Cole, and about the Lost Mark trilogy by Matt Forbeck, makes me inclined to give them a miss.
Duedaine 03-09-07, 08:49 PM	So there is no main story line (as in dragonlance), time line, or common characters?
mhacdebhandia 03-09-07, 09:08 PM	No. Keith Baker has talked about the possibility of writing further stories about the characters from the Dreaming Dark novels, but there's no ongoing storyline in the books akin to Dragonlance's War of the Lance. In general, at least right now, all the stories take place roughly in "the present", and events only unfold within the confines of each series. Given that Keith Baker, for one, would prefer that the timeline of Eberron stay fixed, we can assume that he won't be writing massive world-shaking events into his novels, even if he does pick up the story of his Dreaming Dark characters further down the line.
UnderworldLord 03-09-07, 09:18 PM	The idea that I've come to terms with on Eberron and the novels, is that Eberron is a boiling pot of ideas, possibilities, and tension... which the novels are free to exploit, but which will not come to pass within the Campaign Setting itself.
mhacdebhandia 03-10-07, 12:04 AM	A good example of Keith's attitude: a character in the Dreaming Dark trilogy discovers a magical artifact in Xen'drik which is described in the Secrets of Xen'drik sourcebook - however, the sourcebook makes no mention of the "fact" that the character from Keith's novel discovered that item. Rather, your character gets to be the one to find it. That's cool.
SSj3goblin 03-10-07, 12:23 AM	There isn't a whole lot of order here. The novels and trilogies are all self contained and have yet to have much cross over. There has been some... but not much. Where? I've only read the Lost mark series and the Dreaming dark, so maybe i've missed it.
Nived 03-10-07, 01:23 AM	The crossover I mentioned is mainly Tales of the Last War tie in with other series. The only other crossover I know between Trilogies is a really minor, but memorable appearance in the first book of The Dreaming Dark Trilogy making a brief appearance in the last book of The Dragon Below Trilogy. I can't remember most minor character names so forgive me. In City of Towers Daine 'rescues' a goblin girl who turns out to be exactly of what she was accused of, a thief. She later in that novels turns into a helpful ally setting him up with a meeting with that medusa in Sharn's underworld. In The Killing Song the group that makes its way to Sharn eventually needs to 'hail' a skycab while in Malleon's Gate (the goblin slums), the one they get seems to be stolen, the goblin driving it can barely manage. It is made fairly clear its the same goblin girl from City of Towers. She's just there to add a bit of flavor in a time of crisis. Like I said a wink wink nudge nudge between authors. Don said something to that effect in one of his interviews.
Hideous Phidias 03-10-07, 12:39 PM	I would also say the War torn Books are also good for getting the feel for the setting. They are all stand alone so you dont have to wait half a year to find out what is happening next. The Crimson Tailsman The Orb of Xoriat In the Claws of the Tiger Blood and Honer I have to say out of them I like Blood and honer the best. If you going to read any I would make it that one.
Edymnion 03-10-07, 01:29 PM	So there is no main story line (as in dragonlance), time line, or common characters?No, Eberron has no metaplot. Well, more precisely, the metaplot (that is, the storyline) is set and will not advance. The novels are not considered part of the setting, and nothing that happens in the novels (even in Keith's) happens in the setting. One author could blow up half the world in his books, and it would not affect the game or other novels in any way. The setting will not advance to include anything that happens in any novel, nor will NPCs from novels be put into the setting. The closest this has ever come was a label in a single picture in a book that mentioned the same name as one of Keith's characters that matched the character's in-novel description, but nowhere did she ever get statted up, nowhere in the actual text was she ever mentioned, it was just a little nod that could just as easily be anybody else as it could the novel character. Which is a good thing. Ask just about anyone around, and they'll tell you the same thing. It was the setting trying to keep up with the novels that ruined Faerun. WotC learned from TSR's mistakes in that reguards.
Sturm Jaeger 03-13-07, 01:36 AM	Actually Janik Martell from In the Claws of the Tiger has his name appear in the art for a charter in one of the sourcebooks. No, Eberron has no metaplot. Well, more precisely, the metaplot (that is, the storyline) is set and will not advance. The novels are not considered part of the setting, and nothing that happens in the novels (even in Keith's) happens in the setting. One author could blow up half the world in his books, and it would not affect the game or other novels in any way. The setting will not advance to include anything that happens in any novel, nor will NPCs from novels be put into the setting. The closest this has ever come was a label in a single picture in a book that mentioned the same name as one of Keith's characters that matched the character's in-novel description, but nowhere did she ever get statted up, nowhere in the actual text was she ever mentioned, it was just a little nod that could just as easily be anybody else as it could the novel character. Which is a good thing. Ask just about anyone around, and they'll tell you the same thing. It was the setting trying to keep up with the novels that ruined Faerun. WotC learned from TSR's mistakes in that reguards.
Gorgon_Heap 03-13-07, 02:27 AM	I'm divided on the issue of a setting that never advances. Though I do like the idea from the standpoint of everyone having basically the same timeframe to think about so far as character creation, from the perspective of an avid novel reader it is annoying that nothing will ever change. Yes, there are a hundred bajillion plotlines that can appear due to the multitude of places and organizations involved, but for the most part the greatest asset to this is for gamers who want the freedom of taking their campaigns in a certain direction from that specific point in time (just after the Last War). Others, who wish to have a campaign set elsewhen will have to work all the harder to make up what may or may not have happened. To my mind, the entire idea of "setting" means things should change so you have more and different ideas ot work with. Just saying Ebberon can supply any plotline is not always enough. As to the novels ... I have a big ol' beef with the majority of them. Frankly, the stories in "Tales from the Last War" are just as good without investing interest in characters and tales that will onoy end in frustration. Thus far, the "Blade of the Flame" book (based off a short) and the "Heirs of Ash" series seem to be best so far as balancing the adventure and actual character development, though "Orb of Xoriat" (also from a short) was good in that vain.
Lancer2010 03-13-07, 10:56 AM	Trust the people on the forums, they know what they're talking about... well, most of the time. But yeah, when it comes to novels, Heirs of Ash and The Dreaming Dark are excellent series. DD focus' a bit more on the characters I find, so it can have a bit slower pace. HoA however, I love it, great a memorable characters, excellent storyline, it's a great read. The reason I picked these series up was because of the people on these forums and them recommending which books to read, and which to avoid.
DragonReader 03-14-07, 12:25 PM	My two cents: Start with The Dreaming Dark trilogy. It serves as a great introduction to the setting. The first book even has an appendix that goes into a little more details on the setting which is great for new readers. From there take a look at the back cover text and choose what looks most interesting to you. My favorites so far were: The Dragon Below trilogy The Heirs of Ash trilogy (only the first two books are out so far) and The Orb of Xoriat. Tales of the Last War is a good read as well. In fact the majority of the books are good reads, those are just my favs.