Post/Author/DateTime	Post
kntshade 10-04-04, 01:41 PM	Not sure if there is already a thread for this… But it’s been a long time since I’ve actually read a novel for enjoyment and I’ve decided that I need to start doing that more. I would like some recommendations for good books that would possibly give me inspiration for my Eberron Campaign… Also, if you want to just post your top favorite novels and why you liked them so much that would be fun to see. Wish that the new Eberron novels were already out! February is it? That's a long time to wait... Oh! Any fan-Fiction? Maybe I'll head over to the ENWorld boards and look for Eberron story hours too... hadn't thought of that till just now...
LewisLlynn 10-04-04, 03:06 PM	The Neverending Story and swashbuckling books like The 3 Musketeers.
greatfrito 10-04-04, 05:11 PM	Stephen King, mayhap? Micheal Chrichton (how the hell do you spell his name?)? Harry Turtledove (I can only personally recomend The Guns of the South though)? Though I've never read them, the Jason Bourne books are supposed to be good, and could be interesting. Uhhh... I dunno. Anything works well with eberron. Go nuts.
MarkB 10-04-04, 05:59 PM	The Vorkosigan novels by Lois McMaster Bujold. Space opera, so not an equivalent setting, but great for seeing an unusual hero, lots of intrigue, derring-do and plot twists, and some interesting cultures which could find reflections in Eberron. Plus, they're just a great read. Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, obviously. Behind the humour and real-world reflections, there's lots of decent world-building, and some excellent stories. You could transplant loads of characters from Ankh-Morpork straight into Sharn, for instance. George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, starting with A Game of Thrones. Very grim'n'gritty, but extremely good nonetheless, and if you're looking to take your campaign back a few years and explore the Last War, this series does highly-political, continent-spanning warfare better than anyone. It's big, though, so you might find yourself spending several months reading before you even start using it as background.
Valesin 10-04-04, 06:12 PM	George RR Martin definitely. I would also recommend Timothy Powers On Stranger Tides for Eberron or anyone looking for a sea/pirate themed book. And don't miss Martha Wells Il-Rien books The Wizard Hunters (Book 1) and The Ships of Air (book two) for a great blending of magic, technology and techno-magic.
maijstral2 10-04-04, 07:09 PM	two series I think capture the fantasy noir type of adventure in Eberron are: The Garrett books by Glen Cook and The Hawk and Fisher books by Simon Green. Both deal with world weary adventurers trying to solve crimes in a fantasy based city.
Alexius D'Cannith 10-04-04, 07:16 PM	David Eddings The Tamuli for politics and scheming and some truly interesting religions, the Elenic church being a Silver flame equivalent with the chuch knights being the paladins
chalybeous 10-04-04, 07:18 PM	Try "Perdido Street Station" and "The Rift", both by China Mieville. Pulp-noir-fantasy adventure novels, both rather lengthy, but very good for atmosphere and tone. A little more tech-y in places than Eberron, but there's magic, unusual species, vampires, politics, plane travel, architecture, the military, conspiracies, the criminal underworld... Read 'em twice if you have time. Once to enjoy, once with a notepad!
Alexius D'Cannith 10-04-04, 07:26 PM	ooh just thought of Magician and Silverthorn from the Riftwar series (if youve ever played the Krondor set computer games same world)
ChrisTheS 10-05-04, 12:23 AM	- Among the classics, C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia work well, provided one overlooks their blatant evangelism. If nothing else, they showcase the sort of 'low-level epic' characterization that Keith keeps emphasizing. - Another classic, Bram Stoker's Dracula; Eberron seems to me to have a distinctly Victorian/Edwardian feel to it, and a true Victorian fantasy is obviously a good inspiration. - I feel mildly embarrassed to be recommending these, but some of the later Wheel of Time books (Robert Jordan) contain scenes that might well be found in Eberron; particularly sections pertaining to the Seanchan, the Age of Legends, and certain cities (specifically Tear, Ebou Dar, Tar Valon, and Far Madding). - Any Star Wars book that deals with Coruscant in detail is a good approximation of Sharn; particularly the planet's more gritty aspect in the New Jedi Order series (prior to Traitor). - Robert Asprin's MYTH series does a remarkable job of describing magic in terms of big business. The dimensions of Deva and Perv are especially useful sources. - Yet another classic, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Sign of Four or The Hound of the Baskervilles. Both contain seemingly supernatural elements (the pygmy and the ghost hound) which could easily be turned into real supernatural elements in D&D. - Another from Conan Doyle, The Lost World, for obvious reasons. - Shakespeare's Macbeth may be a good source for Karrnath, or for Vol or Dragon Below cults. - A Canticle for Lebowitz, by Walter Miller Jr, can help getting a hang of the 'magic as technology' aspects by displaying the technology of our age as magical holy artifacts. - Rick Cook's Wizardry series similarly puts a technical slant on magic (and is highly amusing besides). - Anything by H.P. Lovecraft or his Mythos continuers, for the demonic/extraplanar hordes of horror elements of the setting. - Dante's Commedia, although at the moment I'm hard-pressed to say exactly why it comes to mind (possibly because of the fantastic things Dante sees which are simultaneously bizarre and commonplace). - Someone already beat me to Pratchett :) - Dorothy Dunnett's Lymond Chronicles series, for insight into how alignment works in Eberron. - The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper, for an example of more or less ordinary people with nonetheless heroic characteristics. - Neverwhere and American Gods by Neil Gaiman, for a glimpse of the mutability of reality that seems pervasive in Eberron (more apparent in the TV version of Neverwhere, but the book manages well enough). - Thomas Harlan's Oath of Empire series, for a look at a moderately advanced magically-pervasive society that differs from the D&D norm. - The Sixth Sun series, by the same author; it's sci-fi, so it has less direct pertinence to Eberron, but it manages to be one of the few stories that can make trekking over trackless wastes interesting; maybe of use to those exploring the Demon Wastes. - Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, principally the first book (The Golden Compass), for another society in which the supernatural is quite common, and technology draws more from alchemy than from physics. - Robin Hobb's Liveship Traders trilogy; of especial use for the Lhazaar principalities, but equally useful for any seafaring fantasy adventure. - Pick a Philip K. Dick work at random. There's bound to be something useful in it :) I could probably think of more, given time, but this is a pretty long list to begin with :)
ChrisTheS 10-05-04, 12:31 AM	And if you want fanfic, you can wander over to siberys.com to find some (mine isn't up yet, *glares pointedly at the webmaster*, but there are a few others that are).
Save-vs-DM 10-05-04, 02:07 AM	Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser by Fritz Leiber. Classic fantasy, just surprised that one one mentioned them yet. Lankhmar needs to be in Eberron somewhere, of this I am convinced. Someone already beat me to Gaimen. :) The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind has some good stuff in at as well. Cheers, Save vs DM
MaxDog 10-05-04, 07:57 AM	For swashbuckling intrigue try The Three Muskateers and Twenty Years After or Steven Brust's delightful odes to them, The Phoenix Guard and Five-Hundred Years After. The latter pair are particularly excellent demonstrations of the flowery and verbose language so necessary for a tasteful man-about-the-court. I cannot recommend the more recent novel Sethra Lavode, as, alas, I have not read it. For vengence on a grand scale, try The Count of Monte Cristo. The recent movie will do in a pinch, but the plotting really comes into its own in the novel.
billseurer 10-05-04, 09:17 AM	Any of the Lord Darcy books by Randall Garret. These are really good if you are doing an investigative campaign.
MrFilthyIke 10-05-04, 01:38 PM	Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, obviously. Behind the humour and real-world reflections, there's lots of decent world-building, and some excellent stories. You could transplant loads of characters from Ankh-Morpork straight into Sharn, for instance. That's one of the first things my wife said (she's a Pratchett-head and die hard fan). I think that's why Eberron was the first setting 've seen her flip for in a while. :)
MrFilthyIke 10-05-04, 01:41 PM	Has anyone suggested Dumas' "Count of Monte Cristo"? I'm too lazy to read the thread. :cool:
RadicalTaoist 10-05-04, 02:08 PM	I second the Neil Gaiman and Phillip Pullman recommendations. Also: Blade of Tyshalle by Matthew Stover is PERFECT for this kind of thing. In the realm of sci fi: Phillip K. Dick's Blade Runner is classic Richard Morgan's Altered Carbon, first of the two Takeshi Kovacs novels C. J. Cheryh's (sp?) The Faded Sun series In fantasy: R. A. Salvatore's Servant of the Shard - though it seems weird to suggest an FR book for an Eberron campaign, Servant has the kind of gritty, intrigue-driven plot for the setting, most so than any other of Salvatore's books. The Silent Blade, the prequel to Servant, is good too. Historical Fiction: The Sano Ichiro novels by Laura Joh Rowland - samurai mystery thrillers! Sounds cheesy, but check 'em.
MrFilthyIke 10-05-04, 03:47 PM	In the realm of sci fi: Phillip K. Dick's Blade Runner is classic. It'll be easier to find if you search under Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0345404475/102-0372260-2041767?v=glance) by Phillip K Dick.
jonthegm 10-05-04, 04:02 PM	The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher (Wizard in modern day chicago solves crimes involving the supernatural.) Gun with Occaisional Music by Jonathan Lethem (Gumshoe in the far-future solves crimes in a world where questions are taboo) Elric of Melnibourne by Micheal Moorcock (Aberrant member of an evil race goes adventuring through the multiverse, encountering demons and men and having all sorts of strange adventures. Also... STORMBRINGER!)
Ma'ElKoth 10-06-04, 01:09 AM	Blade of Tyshalle by Matthew Stover is PERFECT for this kind of thing. Don't forget Heroes Die ! BoT is the sequel, and a better book from a literary perspective, but Heroes Die is more "swashbuckling" (I hate that word, but it's part of the Eberron setting). Also, you won't understand what the hell is going on if you don't read Heroes first. I feel mildly embarrassed to be recommending these, but some of the later Wheel of Time books (Robert Jordan) contain scenes that might well be found in Eberron; particularly sections pertaining to the Seanchan, the Age of Legends, and certain cities (specifically Tear, Ebou Dar, Tar Valon, and Far Madding). Don't be embarrassed. Jordan is an addiction, and people like us need help, not judgement. If you want to run a game with a greater emphasis on the noir elements William Gibson's Cyberspace trilogy would be great (also you will learn alot about voodoo). Robert E. Howard's Solomon Caine stories can be mined for inspiration for a Silver Flame character, but they are really, really racist. Like scary, creepy racist. Also, The Underground Man is an amazing novel, but really hard to find.
Doc Phobia 10-06-04, 05:56 PM	You could mine the Indiana Jones novels (not just the film novelisations). There's the Anita Blake series from Laura K Hamilton. Good for the supernatural crime angle. Apart from Dashiel Hammet's Maltese Falcon, you can look at his Continental Op stories. Particularly Red Harvest, which has been filmed as Yojimbo, A Fist Full of Dollars, and Last Man Standing. Robert B Parker's Spenser stories for more hardboiled detection. Most of Robert Ludlum's work has some kind of dark conspiracy/secret organisation within it. Raymond Chandler. 'Nuff said. The Brother Cadfael stuff from Ellis Peters - detection in a medieval setting. The Bond books (and not just the Fleming stories) would be good to mine for 'global threat' type stories. And how many levels of Artificer does Q have? :D And I'm sure there's more ...
Just another user 10-06-04, 06:13 PM	Operation chaos by Poul Anderson and The Case of the Toxic Spelldump by Turtledove, maybe a little too modern but can give some idea on how could be a society where magic is real and common. Someone already mentioned Lord Darcy, I second it, a perfect example of master inquisitive. And in some occasion I thought of Eberron as a sort of Discworld, too.
Korhal IV 10-06-04, 06:15 PM	Steven Brust's delightful odes to them, The Phoenix Guard and Five-Hundred Years After. The latter pair are particularly excellent demonstrations of the flowery and verbose language so necessary for a tasteful man-about-the-court. I cannot recommend the more recent novel Sethra Lavode, as, alas, I have not read it. I wholeheartedly endorse Steven Brust as one of the greatest fantasy authors I have ever read. His Taltos series is very good, especially if you plan on running adventures in crowded metropolises, or with strong criminal elements. A lot of people have nominated George R.R. Martin - he's definitely a great author, I just finished reading Song of Fire and Ice myself and have high praise for it. However, it strikes me as more of a 'classical' fantasy epic, with lords and knights and chivalry - and magic tacked on as a distant element. Eberron, which pivots on what critics and fans have dubbed "magitech", isn't particularly close to it.
Aris Stormdragon 10-07-04, 02:18 AM	Anything by Clive Cussler. On a more specific note, for portraying paladins, The Deeds of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon (Sheepfarmer's Daughter, Divided Allegiance, Oath of Gold). This trilogy offers a great vies of how paladins are chosen by the gods, and not the church; moreover, it shows how a paladin might choose to follow the dictates of his own conscience and faith rather than the dogma of his church. Wheel of Time would be good. You could use the Wolfbrothers as examples of Shifters (could somebody please tell Mr. Jordan to get to the bloody point already? :banghead: I mean, I like the series, but c'mon............) The Band of Four novels by Ed Greenwood might also be a good reference. The nation of Aglirta is just recovering from war, when the king returns from the dead. He enlists four adventurers to help him put the kingdom back together. Sounds like something that Queen Aurala might do. Anyway, just some random thoughts.
Save-vs-DM 10-07-04, 02:46 AM	Not novels, but still good sources: comic books. Hellboy by Mike Mignolia (Dark Horse): The entire series is good and you can get them in trade paperback now (though I cherish my originals). Also check out Hellboy: Weird Tales and D.P.R.D as well. Good for master inquisitive/supernatural games. Powers by Brian Michael Bendis (Image): Dark and gritty, all about a detective who deals with cases involving "powers." While not totally relavent there are plenty of good adventure ideas. More Books Ringworld by Larry Niven For warforged I recommend Frankenstien by Mary Shelley cheers, Save vs DM
zambuka 10-07-04, 08:57 AM	Heinlen's Friday (lots of intrigue and betrayal in there) A lot of Heinlens books can be easily translated to fantasy but not many I can think of would go well in Eberron Anything by H.G.Wells Anything by Jules Verne... definately anything by him for Eberron Harry Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat series (intrigue and high adventure) E.E. Doc Smith's Lensman series can be mined for ideas Dr Who novels.. The Talons of Weng-Chiang comes to mind too tired to think of more, but the possibilities are endless.
billseurer 10-07-04, 09:15 AM	The Brother Cadfael stuff from Ellis Peters - detection in a medieval setting. Good one, I should have thought of that. There are 20 novels in this series and good video adpatations of some of them. They show that you don't have to have high tech forensic stuff, or even magic, to figure out how and why someone was murdered. Just use good observational skills and a knowledge of why people do stuff.
RadicalTaoist 10-07-04, 05:35 PM	It'll be easier to find if you search under Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0345404475/102-0372260-2041767?v=glance) by Phillip K Dick.Of course. Don't forget Heroes Die ! BoT is the sequel, and a better book from a literary perspective, but Heroes Die is more "swashbuckling" (I hate that word, but it's part of the Eberron setting). Also, you won't understand what the hell is going on if you don't read Heroes first.Actually, I've never read Heroes Die and I found Blade of Tyshalle to be an excellent novel. No harder to understand than LotR without the Hobbit. Not novels, but still good sources: comic books. Hellboy by Mike Mignolia (Dark Horse): The entire series is good and you can get them in trade paperback now (though I cherish my originals). Also check out Hellboy: Weird Tales and D.P.R.D as well. Good for master inquisitive/supernatural games. Powers by Brian Michael Bendis (Image): Dark and gritty, all about a detective who deals with cases involving "powers." While not totally relavent there are plenty of good adventure ideas. Don't forget yet another good thing coming out of Neil Gaiman: The Sandman comics. Pure class man, pure class. If we're talking comics, that means we can include manga, which implies anime! :schemes: Cowboy Bebop (manga, anime, whatever) is excellent for Eberron.
chalybeous 10-07-04, 07:43 PM	The Brother Cadfael stuff from Ellis Peters - detection in a medieval setting. And, if you can read it, the impenetrable classic The Name of the Rose, by Umberto Eco. (For those of you with short attention spans, try the movie of the same name, starring Sean Connery and Christian Slater.)