Two new websites have been launched, that ought to be of interest to fans of Ed Greenwood and the Forgotten Realms:
1. First up is The Edverse: http://edverse.officeedgreenwood.com/ (Note: this is a relaunch/update of the site, and definately worth checking out, especially if you are a creative looking to network with some of the best in gaming, writing and design.)
2. Second, the Realms Secretariat: http://realmssecretariat.com/
Check out the section on the Realms 50th birthday this year.
Tip of the hat to Irennan over at the WotC forums for posting this information.
EN World news LINK
Edit: added EN World link.
I bumped into myself, and was a bit disappointed.
While I'm glad Ed is off doing his usually business writing books for the Realms and other non-Realms stuff, I was mainly interested in reading what he was planning for the Realms, of course...
...but...nothing....
Pall he had was some nice little assurances like, we're working on more Realms stuff...and,....what do you want the Realms to be like...and just a nice of vague info that's supposed to make me excited, but didn't.
He even mentioned that he's working on a completely new setting entirely, code named "Pony Island"...
This has me concerned...if Ed can't fix the Realms...then I think we're left with this 5e shell of a setting fellas...
It's not like Ed can't fix the setting, more like there simply isn't enough lore or material or anything coming out on WotC's side that would give him the opportunity to fix it. Either that, or we're going to see some big surprise that he can't talk about yet. I truly hope for the latter.
Ed has been quietly working on righting the Realms since the first Eye on the Realms article was released, and the first post-Spellplague Elminster novel hit the store shelves.
He's --->always<--- worked on other things besides the Realms; shadow writing for other novelists, writing other novels, serving as editor and collaborator on anthologies and other projects, etc.
It boggles the mind that the presence of the Realms Secretariat and the EdVerse can be perceived as anything other than good news for the Realms.
In addition to these websites, we have a new edition of D&D, yet another computer game set in the Realms, more novels and hopefully this year a new Realms campaign guide. And there's always Ed's presence at Candlekep.
From where I'm sitting it appears the Realms is headed in the right direction.
Mr_Miscellany wrote:
If you were in a Realms game run by me, you'd have an experience equal to just about anything you've read in a novel. RPGs may be games, but at their heart they are storytelling experiences.
Regarding your post: current fiction is being talked about on the EdVerse, and I expect to see blurbs on future novels on that website.
Kep checking back, you might find something of interest to you.
Mr_Miscellany wrote:
Episode the 4th is now available:
Very Much Here, Yet Forgotten
The way these articles are written, you can build a reading list of SF stories by reading just a couple of them.
Good stuff too. I had no idea there was originally an in between world aka nexus of gates. That's an idea worth stealing for a D&D campaign right there.
What do you mean by SF stories?
Also, yes this is truly interesting and a really cool idea, but I have a problem with it. We know that in FR our tech can't function at all and -since it is built to work around phenomena regulated by the laws of physics of our world- it means that the laws of physics there are different*. But considering that the laws that govern the nature and our minds and bodies here are the same rules that govern the functionality of the tech we produce, how would that affect people and creatures traveling between worlds?
I mean, for example, if in FR electricity doesn't work how it does in our world (because our electricity based-tech doesn't work there), then there is 0 guarantee that our nerve impulse transmission would work there (and vice versa, there is 0 guarantee that the nerve impulse transmission of -say- a wyvern would work here).
So, if you want this kind of conncetion and you want tech of any kind to not work there (and not only electricity based one, so you can't really handwave it with some kind of magical field that disrupts it. Unless it worked on all kind of tech, but then it would feel weird) how would this be explained (we could surely handwave it as fantasy, because it is, but still it'd be nice to know)?
*and not only in the sense that there is magic and that means that our physics is wrong there (because it could very well still be true if magic doesn't come into play, and that is how magic works in most worlds), but in the sense that even in absence of direct magic, stuff there doesn't quit happen how it would here.
SF = Science Fiction (and Fantasy) stories.
Regarding technology: it's really up to the DM, isn't it? 
Irennan, it occured to me you are probably not the only person to wonder at how technology carries over from one world to another.
Anyone who'd like to pose questions about this and other topics to Ed Greenwood can always do so over at the Ask Ed thread on the Candlekeep Forums.
I've brought this question to Ed http://forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?whichpage=13&TOPIC_ID=19841񲒘
Over at The Realms Secretariat, a new post by George Krashos tackles the thorny Realmslore issue of the two Gauntlgryms and turns it into a perfectly smooth satin sheet.
Read on: Gauntlgrym
Well done Geoege Krashos!
p.s. WotC, please consider hiring George to do work like this for Dragon+, what do you say? If George is writing it, you better believe I'll be reading it and I will be hitting up people through Realms-related forums to come take a look.
Mr_Miscellany wrote:
Check out the Lord of the End of Everything in the fan section of the Realms Secretariat.
-- George Krashos