Post/Author/DateTime	Post
DM_Rennick 04-10-07, 04:02 PM	Hey everyone, I need some help. I love to read, a lot. and the Realms have been my playground for awhile, specifically Drizzt and the gang. It all started 7 years ago when a friend lent me Homeland. So at 13 I blasted through the book in two days and went out and bought exile. Since that time I've read all of Drizzt's adventures, among other things as well of course, but any time I went along with my favorite Dark Elf Ranger I got a, I don't know, a thrill I guess. I couldn't put any of the books down, I cheered for Drizzt to win the heart of Cattie-Brie and damn near wept at the end of Sea of Swords. But now I've read all there is to read for Drizzt and the gang, as well as Elfshadow by Elaine Cunningham and I want to explore more of the Realms. I started with Spellfire but found it too choppy and poorly written, something I am loathe to admit considering my love for Ed Greenwood. I've now picked up the first book in the last Mythal series and have just started it, and it's fun but I'm not sure it's the right fit either. Basically what this comes down to is, if you would recomend a Realms book aside from the Legend of Drizzt book, what would it be?
Fabius Maximus 04-10-07, 06:47 PM	Try a few of the newer novels like 'Darkvision', 'The Lost Library of Cormanthyr' or the books from Paul S. Kemp.
Lord Karsus 04-11-07, 12:43 AM	-Paul Kemp's books were very good, I agree. The War of the Spider Queen series will have more "Drow goodness", if that's what you are looking for. Stand alone novels that I recommend include: Blackstaff, The Yellow Silk, and Evermeet: Island of the Elves.
Old Sage 04-11-07, 01:06 AM	The Hooded One, one of the players in Ed's campaign, has provided a worthwhile listing of suitable Realms novels for those still learning their way around FR fiction - ". . . I would recommend the following books to get a grounding in the breadth of FR fiction: Ed Greenwood: Spellfire, Elminster: The Making Of A Mage, Elminster's Daughter, Swords of Eveningstar Ed Greenwood & Jeff Grubb: Cormyr A Novel Ed Greenwood & Elaine Cunningham: City of Splendors Jeff Grubb & Kate Novak: Azure Bonds Elaine Cunningham: Elfshadow, Evermeet Bob (R.A.) Salvatore: Homeland lots o' folks: Halls of Stormweather Then I'd stop, take a breather, and consider Paul Kemp's Erevis Cale trilogy and Blackstaff by Steven Schend. Then back to Elaine . . . Then I'd take stock of who I liked, of the above titles, and go from there in reading their other works, each series in order of course (we scribes can help)." ... For me though, personally, I'd start with Swords of Eveningstar.
Fabius Maximus 04-11-07, 09:33 AM	I cannot recommend 'Blackstaff', myself. Mr. Schend has a very confusing writing style. Therefore, it's hard to follow the story.
GothicDan 04-11-07, 11:18 AM	While I haven't had the time to actually finish reading Blackstaff (or ANY other non-academic book), I'll have to give it a huge recommendation myself based off of the first hundred pages or so that I HAVE read.
Old Sage 04-11-07, 11:24 AM	Fabius, what do you mean by 'confusing writing style' with regard to Steven's work in Blackstaff? I've always felt that Steven possesses a rather exceptional ability for crafting tales and lore -- often in the same source.
Lord Karsus 04-11-07, 11:43 AM	-I agree. I didn't find Blackstaff difficult to follow, with the exception of the revealation of new lore, that has yet to be answered purposefully.
The Simbul 04-11-07, 12:52 PM	Personally I think a appreciation of the realms is grounded in reading both a combination of (the more lore-intensive) sourcebooks and in reading novels. AFAIC, too much of one or the other can given an imbalanced or too narrowly focused understanding of the realms as a whole. A good example is Blackstaff. It can be easy for some to find Blackstaff hard to follow if you are not familiar with the campaign setting at all, specifically some regional history or characters, whereas by contrast it can be very rewarding when you recognize many of the characters who do appear in the story, or when the book reveals many secrets about the characters, people, and places first introduced in the sourcebooks (sourcebooks which by nature cover them with far less detail). If you have previously read the Lost Empires of Faerūn and City of Splendors: Waterdeep game accessories, then I think the novel would be far more enjoyable than if simply picked it up at random.
GothicDan 04-11-07, 01:21 PM	I'll echo the Simbul in that: the best knowledge and appreciation of the setting comes from a bit of reading from all sources.
Ramenth 04-11-07, 01:24 PM	I'll be honnest... Read as many as you can. Alot of books, when I first read them, were interesitng, but nothing amazing. I recently, however, went on a realms kick and reread pretty much all of my Realms books, and all I can say is Wow. The more you read, the better they all get. Edit: Aside from Drizzt books, I'd say Return of the Arch Wizards, or some of the yearly anthologies, probably?
GothicDan 04-11-07, 01:27 PM	Sorry, I just threw up in my mouth a little at the mention of RotAW. (Which, oddly enough, is not a slander on the author, since I absolutely loved Pages of Pain.)
Old Sage 04-11-07, 08:06 PM	Personally I think a appreciation of the realms is grounded in reading both a combination of (the more lore-intensive) sourcebooks and in reading novels.A worthwhile point. Though, I'd also like to add both official web content and those articles deemed official in such publications as DRAGON for example, for a more solid and complete understanding of officially published Realmslore. It can be easy for some to find Blackstaff hard to follow if you are not familiar with the campaign setting at all, specifically some regional history or characters, whereas by contrast it can be very rewarding when you recognize many of the characters who do appear in the story, or when the book reveals many secrets about the characters, people, and places first introduced in the sourcebooks (sourcebooks which by nature cover them with far less detail). If you have previously read the Lost Empires of Faerūn and City of Splendors: Waterdeep game accessories, then I think the novel would be far more enjoyable than if simply picked it up at random.While I do agree, I'm not entirely sure this is what Fabius is referring to. He said 'confusing writing style' which suggests he has some issue with Steven's ability to write stories, rather than having an issue with the content of the stories themselves.
The Ranger 04-12-07, 12:19 AM	Paul Kemp's books are outstanding (if it's got Erevis Cale and Rivin in it you can't go wrong). War of the Spider Queen was pretty good (particularly the first two books) and the first book of the followup trilogy The Lady Penitent was also good. If you enjoyed Elfshadow you should read the rest of the Cunningham's Songs and Swords books. Also the Last Mythal and Year of Rogue Dragons trilogies are very good.
Dielzen 04-12-07, 12:40 AM	I've always recommended to players in my games that have very little knowledge of the realms, that beyond the FRCS, the best books to read are the anthologies and Harpers books. The sheer bredth of information you obtain in those books gives you a great understand of both the realms and the various major NPCs (and I guess authors as well).
DM_Rennick 04-12-07, 07:09 AM	Just wanted to say thanks for the suggestions! I'll be back soon with feedback and more questions, have to run to an exam now, but wanted to let you know I haven't ignored all the help you've all given.
Fabius Maximus 04-12-07, 01:33 PM	I actually have read Lost Empires and Waterdeep, and my knowledge about the realms is quite sufficient, I think. Despite regularly forgetting names. But that's not what I meant. Mr. Schend 'leaps' a lot around in the story. While these leaps are not large ones, I had to leaf back a few pages frequently just to re-read minor information that suddenly became important. The usage of elven language without a way to know what the words actually mean left me quite irritated. The flow of the story is just not good enough for me to enjoy the book.
Lord Karsus 04-12-07, 05:53 PM	The usage of elven language without a way to know what the words actually mean left me quite irritated. -Next time, read it with my handy dictionary at your side! ;) -Schend gave me the translations for all of the Elven words he used in Blackstaff, and then some, so...
GothicDan 04-12-07, 10:58 PM	I think working in a sprinkling of unknown languages into novels is just freaking awesome, especially when it requires context clues to figure out.
Old Sage 04-13-07, 12:18 AM	GD's thoughts mirror my own. 'Twas an extremely masterful stroke of Steven's to pepper elven terms and the like throughout Blackstaff. In fact, I would expect nothing less, since he's always made a habit of this in most of his other Realms works.
Lord Karsus 04-13-07, 11:18 AM	-The majority of the Elven terms used in the novel have been mentioned in other places, by the way. For example, one of the first phrases, Aegiskeryn (Shield Golem), comes from Aegis (protection) and Keryn (Warrior). Fhaorn’Quessir comes from Fhaorn (Transformed) and Quessir (People). Only the familial terms (aunt, uncle, mother, brother...) and a few other words were never actually defined before.
DM_Rennick 04-14-07, 01:14 AM	Hey guys, thanks for all the help thus far. I've read everything everyone has said, and wish I had more time to go through and ask particular questions. Maybe in the next couple of days. Like I said I have The first book in the Last Mythal series, and Spellfire. But were fun reads but didn't really pull me in. Spellfire had started to at one point but lost me. I'll give it another try soon. Last Mythal is what I've been reading, but again while I enjoy it, it doesn't have me reaching for the book every chance I get. On the plus side I managed to pick up Darkwalker on the Moonshaes by Douglas Niles and Elminster: Making of a Mage, at a used bookstore. Anyone have good or bad feedback about these?
Lady_K 04-14-07, 07:14 AM	Rennick, have you looked through the FR Novels section over at Candlekeep?
Old Sage 04-14-07, 10:16 AM	Indeed, the Lady K is right Rennick. I would suggest you move on over to the Novels shelf at Candlekeep. There's plenty of discussion scrolls for both Darkwalker and Elminster: Making of a Mage.
Aaron Highcolor 04-14-07, 10:43 AM	Darkwalker series were ok (if not dated now), never read Making of a Mage, basically because I don't like Elminster that much. I would recommned (like has been said before) reading Paul Kemp's Cale Trilogy. I just picked it up, and it is very, very engaging. Like was said before, you can't go wrong w/ Cale and Riven.
draco1119 04-14-07, 10:57 AM	The Cleric Quintent and Twilight of the Giants Trilogy were the books that got me hooked.
DM_Rennick 04-14-07, 11:03 AM	Hey Aaron, I've heard alot of good things about the Erevis books, so I'll keep them in mind for sure. None of the book stores here carry them, but I could probably order them in. I just bought Darkwalker and Elminster because they were 3 bucks a shot.
Francius 04-14-07, 01:11 PM	Everyone should read the Harpers series, the Shandril's saga books and of course (above all) R.A.Salvatore's Drizz't Do Urden novels. Also Amazon is taking pre-orders for the new "Orc King" book in the new "Transitions" Drizz't do Urden trilogy. :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:
Aaron Highcolor 04-15-07, 01:09 AM	Oh, don't get me wrong. I loved the Darkwalker on Moonshae series. I read them several times, and still have the original 1st ed printings. I was just commenting on how old they are now. King Tristan and the druid girl (I forget her name) are kinda cool characters, and I wished that the Mystery on Moonshae supplement was just more than an adventure setting. And Erevis Cale trilogy is awesome so far. I bought Paul's latest novel Shadowborn (because of the cover!?), and then found out about the previous trilogy. I bought the whole thing at Half Price Books for, well, half the price. I know of (but can't remember the name of) the original Erevis Cale novel (set in Selegaunt). I want to try and get ahold of that one as well. As far as what I'm going to read AFTER the Cale trilogy, I'm looking to finish the Last Mythal trilogy, and I guess I could get around to reading the Return of the Archmage trilogy as well.
Lord Karsus 04-15-07, 05:56 PM	-You know, having read so many books, I really don't have a favorite...:embarrass