Eberron Novel starting point [Archive] - Wizards Community

Eberron Novel starting point [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Toloran
04-13-07, 12:35 AM Is there any particularly good novel to start with for Eberron? Kind of like how Dragons of Autumn Twilight was a good starting point for Dragonlance.

I am new to the Eberron setting and I'd like to get a better idea of the feel and people of the setting.
Belabras
04-13-07, 12:44 AM Eberron isn't novel driven the way the other settings have been - nothing that happens in the books has an effect on the actual world.

That said, the Dreaming Dark books by Keith Baker (who created the setting) are an excellent way to get into Eberron.
Daydreamer
04-13-07, 01:36 AM the dragon below series
and the heirs of ash are also popular mentions.

all are trilogies.
Darkarcher736
04-13-07, 06:23 AM Yeah, Keith Baker's The Dreaming Dark novels are a good start, but I always had a soft spot for Tim Waggoner's Blade of the Flame series.
polt
04-13-07, 08:38 AM It would be awesome if people would tell why they likes the novels they like. It's all fine when people recommend stuff, but it's even cooler if they tell why they recommend it.
Daydreamer
04-13-07, 05:28 PM The dragon below is well written with good twists, the characters are particularly interesting

The heirs of ash (ive onlyr ead the first book) has funny and interesting characters, with good dialogue, it also shows the flavor of Eberron well.
mhacdebhandia
04-14-07, 10:20 PM I would start with The City of Towers by Keith Baker, the first Dreaming Dark novel.

The Dreaming Dark trilogy (The City of Towers, The Shattered Land, and The Gates of Night) is well-written, covers quite a bit of the world in a natural progression which feels quite like the adventures of a real D&D party (without suffering from the "I can hear the dice rolling" flaw of so many D&D tie-ins), and comes from Keith Baker, who invented the damn setting and knows what he's writing about. There's a prequel included in the anthology Tales of the Last War.

The Dragon Below trilogy (The Binding Stone, The Grieving Tree, and The Killing Song) is populated with characters from some of the more unusual regions of Eberron, giving you a very different viewpoint on the setting even when it touches places like Sharn which appear in other novels. The author, Don Bassingthwaite, manages to stay within the boundaries of the rules and produce some excellent plot and characterisation.

The Heirs of Ash trilogy by Rich Wulf (The Voyage of the Mourning Dawn, The Flight of the Dying Sun, and not-yet-released The Rise of the Seventh Moon) has so far done really well at building up a grand mystery and revealing just enough as the story progresses to keep you reading eagerly. I really like the characterisation of these novels most of all, especially in the interplay between an inquisitive and a paladin of the Sovereign Host.

The first Blade of the Flame novel, Thieves of Blood, is a little more larger-than-life than the other novels I've read (with one exception), but its central character, an assassin-turned-cleric of the Silver Flame, is pretty cool and you get to see some interesting places. There are some rough spots, canon-wise, but it's a lot of fun. The author, Tim Waggoner, wrote a short story about the first meeting of his two protagonists, which can be found in the anthology Tales of the Last War.

The Orb of Xoriat by Edward Bolme (the second novel of the unconnected War-Torn series) is fast-paced and really pulpy. You get glimpses of many many places and many many types of characters - monks of the Sovereign Host, dragonmarked sorcerers, displaced Cyrans, it's pretty much a romp. Again, there's a short story about the main character in Tales of the Last War.

In The Claws of the Tiger (the third War-Torn novel) was written by James Wyatt, a Wizards of the Coast designer and developer who was instrumental in shaping the published form of the Eberron setting along with Keith Baker and Bill Slavicsek, and in my opinion it really, really shows in this novel. The plot turns on certain special rules about the setting, and delves into the history of not only Xen'drik but also some of Eberron's religions. There's also a great thread of characterisation, where the main character (who has, himself, lost his faith) reacts to an old friend having become a paladin of the Silver Flame in the time since they last saw each other. I liked it because it touched on many of the aspects of Eberron I am, personally, really interested in. There's a prequel story in Tales of the Last War but, interestingly enough, the viewpoint character is the woman who becomes a paladin and not the main character from the novel.

I have heard that The Crimson Talisman by Adrian Cole (the first War-Torn novel) and the Lost Mark trilogy by Matt Forbeck have some real problems with canon, so I've decided to simply avoid them.

One thing is that I've never seen anyone comment on Blood and Honor by Graeme Davis (the fourth War-Torn novel) . . . has anyone read it?
Belabras
04-15-07, 12:25 AM I really liked Blood and Honor. A solid story of redemption set on the border of Karnnath. Lot's of interesting stuff with necromancy going on (including stuff from Complete Mage and Libris Mortis).
polt
04-15-07, 08:47 AM In "In The Claws of the Tiger" you are NOT in doubt that you're reading a D&D novel. You can REALLY hear the dice rolling in the background, and it can be a little annoying from time to time, but also kinda fun.

There were even a point where the cleric was like "I got this healing spell for minor wounds, and this for more serious wounds", which really broke the fourth wall for me.

The story is okay, I mean no of these novels are really great, but fun fast reads that shouldn't take more than 1-7 days to read.
Macrovore
04-16-07, 09:48 PM I really liked Blood and Honor. A solid story of redemption set on the border of Karnnath. Lot's of interesting stuff with necromancy going on (including stuff from Complete Mage and Libris Mortis).
complete arcane, actually (and IMO dravuliel is a dread necromancer from heroes of horror). but pretty much, yeah. It's basically an eberron Libris Mortis campaign. the author uses, like, half of the monsters in LM.
TheAnthroDM
04-16-07, 10:13 PM Guess I'm the only one who waves a flag for The Lost Mark trilogy.
Macrovore
04-16-07, 10:25 PM I liked them. some people don't like them because they created the mark of death, but they forget that in eberron, the books are NOT canon. any DM can choose for each book to exist or not in their game world.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Toloran 04-13-07, 12:35 AM	Is there any particularly good novel to start with for Eberron? Kind of like how Dragons of Autumn Twilight was a good starting point for Dragonlance. I am new to the Eberron setting and I'd like to get a better idea of the feel and people of the setting.
Belabras 04-13-07, 12:44 AM	Eberron isn't novel driven the way the other settings have been - nothing that happens in the books has an effect on the actual world. That said, the Dreaming Dark books by Keith Baker (who created the setting) are an excellent way to get into Eberron.
Daydreamer 04-13-07, 01:36 AM	the dragon below series and the heirs of ash are also popular mentions. all are trilogies.
Darkarcher736 04-13-07, 06:23 AM	Yeah, Keith Baker's The Dreaming Dark novels are a good start, but I always had a soft spot for Tim Waggoner's Blade of the Flame series.
polt 04-13-07, 08:38 AM	It would be awesome if people would tell why they likes the novels they like. It's all fine when people recommend stuff, but it's even cooler if they tell why they recommend it.
Daydreamer 04-13-07, 05:28 PM	The dragon below is well written with good twists, the characters are particularly interesting The heirs of ash (ive onlyr ead the first book) has funny and interesting characters, with good dialogue, it also shows the flavor of Eberron well.
mhacdebhandia 04-14-07, 10:20 PM	I would start with The City of Towers by Keith Baker, the first Dreaming Dark novel. The Dreaming Dark trilogy (The City of Towers, The Shattered Land, and The Gates of Night) is well-written, covers quite a bit of the world in a natural progression which feels quite like the adventures of a real D&D party (without suffering from the "I can hear the dice rolling" flaw of so many D&D tie-ins), and comes from Keith Baker, who invented the damn setting and knows what he's writing about. There's a prequel included in the anthology Tales of the Last War. The Dragon Below trilogy (The Binding Stone, The Grieving Tree, and The Killing Song) is populated with characters from some of the more unusual regions of Eberron, giving you a very different viewpoint on the setting even when it touches places like Sharn which appear in other novels. The author, Don Bassingthwaite, manages to stay within the boundaries of the rules and produce some excellent plot and characterisation. The Heirs of Ash trilogy by Rich Wulf (The Voyage of the Mourning Dawn, The Flight of the Dying Sun, and not-yet-released The Rise of the Seventh Moon) has so far done really well at building up a grand mystery and revealing just enough as the story progresses to keep you reading eagerly. I really like the characterisation of these novels most of all, especially in the interplay between an inquisitive and a paladin of the Sovereign Host. The first Blade of the Flame novel, Thieves of Blood, is a little more larger-than-life than the other novels I've read (with one exception), but its central character, an assassin-turned-cleric of the Silver Flame, is pretty cool and you get to see some interesting places. There are some rough spots, canon-wise, but it's a lot of fun. The author, Tim Waggoner, wrote a short story about the first meeting of his two protagonists, which can be found in the anthology Tales of the Last War. The Orb of Xoriat by Edward Bolme (the second novel of the unconnected War-Torn series) is fast-paced and really pulpy. You get glimpses of many many places and many many types of characters - monks of the Sovereign Host, dragonmarked sorcerers, displaced Cyrans, it's pretty much a romp. Again, there's a short story about the main character in Tales of the Last War. In The Claws of the Tiger (the third War-Torn novel) was written by James Wyatt, a Wizards of the Coast designer and developer who was instrumental in shaping the published form of the Eberron setting along with Keith Baker and Bill Slavicsek, and in my opinion it really, really shows in this novel. The plot turns on certain special rules about the setting, and delves into the history of not only Xen'drik but also some of Eberron's religions. There's also a great thread of characterisation, where the main character (who has, himself, lost his faith) reacts to an old friend having become a paladin of the Silver Flame in the time since they last saw each other. I liked it because it touched on many of the aspects of Eberron I am, personally, really interested in. There's a prequel story in Tales of the Last War but, interestingly enough, the viewpoint character is the woman who becomes a paladin and not the main character from the novel. I have heard that The Crimson Talisman by Adrian Cole (the first War-Torn novel) and the Lost Mark trilogy by Matt Forbeck have some real problems with canon, so I've decided to simply avoid them. One thing is that I've never seen anyone comment on Blood and Honor by Graeme Davis (the fourth War-Torn novel) . . . has anyone read it?
Belabras 04-15-07, 12:25 AM	I really liked Blood and Honor. A solid story of redemption set on the border of Karnnath. Lot's of interesting stuff with necromancy going on (including stuff from Complete Mage and Libris Mortis).
polt 04-15-07, 08:47 AM	In "In The Claws of the Tiger" you are NOT in doubt that you're reading a D&D novel. You can REALLY hear the dice rolling in the background, and it can be a little annoying from time to time, but also kinda fun. There were even a point where the cleric was like "I got this healing spell for minor wounds, and this for more serious wounds", which really broke the fourth wall for me. The story is okay, I mean no of these novels are really great, but fun fast reads that shouldn't take more than 1-7 days to read.
Macrovore 04-16-07, 09:48 PM	I really liked Blood and Honor. A solid story of redemption set on the border of Karnnath. Lot's of interesting stuff with necromancy going on (including stuff from Complete Mage and Libris Mortis). complete arcane, actually (and IMO dravuliel is a dread necromancer from heroes of horror). but pretty much, yeah. It's basically an eberron Libris Mortis campaign. the author uses, like, half of the monsters in LM.
TheAnthroDM 04-16-07, 10:13 PM	Guess I'm the only one who waves a flag for The Lost Mark trilogy.
Macrovore 04-16-07, 10:25 PM	I liked them. some people don't like them because they created the mark of death, but they forget that in eberron, the books are NOT canon. any DM can choose for each book to exist or not in their game world.