So is the 'Last Mythal' trilogy worth reading, then?
And what do people think about the 'Moonshae' novels (by Douglas Niles iirc)? I rather like that region (as described in the FR2 supplement), but the first novel ("Darkwalker on Moonshae") was rather 'meh' IMO.
Actually the reverse is true for me. Read the latest RA book and got back into BGII.
Not sure why RA's Cleric books get no love. They are some of my favorites. Ivan and Pikel Bouldershoulders are two of the best written characters in FR.
Also the Kate Novak books, starting with Azure Bonds, are good imho.
They're definitely a fun read, OP- I made it all the way to thousand orcs (our whatever it was) before learning what Salvatore had to do character-wise to comply with the events of 4th edition. I'll avoid any spoilers, but I lost all interest in continuing the saga after that.
I read Maztica trilogy and I cannot recommend. First two parts were mediocre at best and the final book was just plainly horrible. Protagonists were shallow, almost no character development, so much wasted potential there.
I read the Drizzt books when they come out; they're not exactly what you'd call "deep," but pretty good mind candy. I struggle a bit with some of the characters that border on caricature (particularly many of the dwarves, such as Pwent and Pikel), and the angsty monologues from Drizzt that precede each chapter can be mind-numbingly repetitive and are generally straight out of Psychology 101, but the books cover a lot of ground and Salvatore clearly cares about the characters (sometimes too much IMO -- the dead rarely stay that way, diminishing the impact of any deaths after a while).
(It also seems to me that Salvatore viewed the whole Spellplague thing as a minor impediment to be worked around in his books, which is a point that I can certainly understand and empathize with...)
I haven't read any of the post Spellplague Drizzt books. Any good?
Agreed they aren't revelations or anything, but do they have to be? Sometimes it is fun to just read mind candy. It doesn't have to change your life to be fun.
one great thing about elaine cunningham: she writes about a bard... i think she's the only one so far .
Not sure who you mean. If it's Danilo you speak of, he isn't a bard and that is a common misconception. He is actually a mage, or in 3e/3.5 a wizard. He has a couple NPC levels aswell as a level of the Spellsinger PrC.
Anyone else love the Hunter's Blade Trilogy? It's easily my favorite part of the Drizzt series. King Obould Many-Arrows completely steals the whole thing and makes me want a series focusing on his attempts to fundamentally change orc society rather yet another "Heroes fighting evil guys" story.
I agree that Salvatore's best characters are his villains. Artemis, Jarlaxle, Athrogate, Obould, and Kimmuriel are great every time they appear.
YES! Obould is the best thing Salvatore has ever come up with!
I think he actually appeared briefly in a sourcebook first as "Generic Orc warlord that happens to be the most powerful in the Spine of the World at the moment."
But Salvatore gave him all of his characterization and expanded on a guy that was just meant to be the villain of a mid-level adventure.
I have to agree with you guys I'm a fan of the Drizzt books but not of Drizzt. I find Drizzt a bit boring now to be honest, first books were interesting coming to the surface and how he comes with prejudice about his lineage, and now thats burnt out I find him a very mundane good guy that Salvatore and all the fans keep going on about. Entreri and Jaraxle are another kettle of fish and there is still so much to explore with those characters i'm kind of sad that the latest books that Entreri takes a back seat role and Jaraxle is featured time to time, I would be extremely excited if R A Salvatore wrote another book of Entreri or Jaraxle as a stand alone without Drizzt, when Drizzt is featured he takes all the limelight and makes me Zzzzz, and whats going on with this silly love triangle with Drizzt. Entreri and Dahlia (think thats her name) what do you guys think? Is Drizzt kinda ruining some of the books for you now?
one great thing about elaine cunningham: she writes about a bard... i think she's the only one so far .
Not sure who you mean. If it's Danilo you speak of, he isn't a bard and that is a common misconception. He is actually a mage, or in 3e/3.5 a wizard. He has a couple NPC levels aswell as a level of the Spellsinger PrC.
Spellsinger or bard , at the moment it seemed the same (the books were wrote in 2nd edition, bards could only cast wizard spells). So yeah, i count it as a bard.
Thats not to say that id love other novels writting about bards with different flavours, one is definetly not enough.
I have to agree with you guys I'm a fan of the Drizzt books but not of Drizzt. I find Drizzt a bit boring now to be honest, first books were interesting coming to the surface and how he comes with prejudice about his lineage, and now thats burnt out I find him a very mundane good guy that Salvatore and all the fans keep going on about. Entreri and Jaraxle are another kettle of fish and there is still so much to explore with those characters i'm kind of sad that the latest books that Entreri takes a back seat role and Jaraxle is featured time to time, I would be extremely excited if R A Salvatore wrote another book of Entreri or Jaraxle as a stand alone without Drizzt, when Drizzt is featured he takes all the limelight and makes me Zzzzz, and whats going on with this silly love triangle with Drizzt. Entreri and Dahlia (think thats her name) what do you guys think? Is Drizzt kinda ruining some of the books for you now?
My guess is Drizzt is just the hook .. i guess even salvatore prefers to write about the rest. The companions for example: no drizzt and yet, not a bad fr (my opinion)
I like drizzt when he has to mix in with people not so nice, it shows another side of him, like recently with entreri and dahlia.
I have recently caught up on all the drizzt books. I really had to struggle through all drizzt's moody whining about dahlia. I really didn't like how that whole situation was handled.
The Companions was a nice change though and I'm looking forward to future books.
I have recently caught up on all the drizzt books. I really had to struggle through all drizzt's moody whining about dahlia. I really didn't like how that whole situation was handled.
The Companions was a nice change though and I'm looking forward to future books.
¨ back in the days of 2E, Danilo that was a "dual-classed" (well, triple, anyway) 3rd-level fighter, 9th-level wizard, and 13th level bard¨
not a misconception.
That's very strange indeed since "Wizard" isn't even a class in 2e. There is also no mention in any of the books of him doing anything akin to what a bard does (that is of course use bard song.) So, while he may have bard levels (still not convinced since that is a quote from some guy named "Thauramarth" on a messege board) he never did anything with them but cast mage spells. So to say it was a great book because it featured a bard makes no sense.
I'm halfway through book 3 of the Neverwinter saga. I've read all the Salvatore FR books up to this point including The Cleric Quintet and The Sellswords Trilogy. Drizzt himself hasn't been that interesting since the Icewind Dale trilogy, but all the other characters make up for it. My favorite is the book The Spine of the World where Wulfgar is a drunk, but TOTALLY redeems himself at the end.
Regarding the Drizzt series, my favorite books in it were Legacy, Starless Night, and Siege of Darkness. Starless Night is probably my favorite book of the entire series. Just an epic, badass story of Artemis and Drizzt (and Cattie'brie, but meh) massacring drow by the dozens as they climb out of the depths of the underdark. Total badassery.
Since we're talking about Forgotten Realms books we liked, I'll list the ones I enjoyed below. I don't think FR books are generally exceptionally well-written... I think authors like Guy Gavriel Kay, Glen Cook and George R.R. Martin are far better at their craft than most FR authors, but the books can still be very enjoyable. Anyway:
The Avatar Series - (Cyric is my favorite character in the Forgotten Realms universe, so it stands to reason) Shadowdale Tantras Waterdeep Prince of Lies Crucible
Evermeet, Island of Elves by Elaine Cunningham
The Cormyr Saga - (I can't remember what order they were in, all I recall is that Cormyr was first) Cormyr, by Ed Greenwood and Jeff Grubb Death of the Dragon, by Ed Greenwood and Troy Denning Beyond the High Road, by Troy Denning
Return of the Archwizards Series - The Summoning, by Troy Denning The Siege, '' '' The Sorcerer, '' '' Realms of Shadow (Short stories by different authors)
and last but not least
R.A. Salvatore's War of the Spider Queen series - (A series written by a different author, handpicked by Salvatore, for each book in the series. I really loved this series. Probably my favorite books in the FR universe. I'd been a fan of the Drow stories since Drizzt, so reading these were a blast.)
Dissolution by Richard Lee Byers Insurrection by Thomas M. Reid Condemnation by Richard Baker Conviction by Lisa Smedman Annihilation by Philip Athans Resurrection by Paul S. Kemp
Let me also suggest the Lady Penitent trilogy by Lisa Smeldman. It picks up where the War of the Spider Queen stops, brings the story of certain characters to a conclusion, and contains realm forming events. It is essential reading for those interested in the origin and future of the drow.
The release of BG did give me a push to go back to my d&d novels. I had paused reading the Drizzt novels to read all these other related books, then stopped. Now, i went back, and i am only now finishing Transitions. But if i were to read some drizzt books again, it would probably be the Legacy of the Drow trilogy.
In defense of Drizzt it's like he's lived a fantasy life within a fantasy world - I don't think a person can measure tragedy, but it seems that R.A. Salvatore is almost writing him as a sheltered hero with his childish inspirations still intact... he never went through what Artemis Entreri or Athrogate did. But that's Drizzt's charm for me - like BG1, it didn't have that dark, graphic novel type atmosphere of constant oppressive tragedy seen in recent media like certain Red Weddings, and zombies chasing pregnant women.
Drizzt novels were just light reading - there's just too much apocolypse stuff in the air recently - Bg1's atmosphere was just as light, and I've yet to play an RPG that has nailed it as well.
Was not really a fan of Drizzt, but am a fan of Bruenor, Jarlaxle, Regis, and Artemis Entreri. Catti Brie, Wulfgar, and Drizzt seem too whiny - as in they go through the same problems over and over again.
Comments
And what do people think about the 'Moonshae' novels (by Douglas Niles iirc)? I rather like that region (as described in the FR2 supplement), but the first novel ("Darkwalker on Moonshae") was rather 'meh' IMO.
Read the latest RA book and got back into BGII.
Not sure why RA's Cleric books get no love. They are some of my favorites.
Ivan and Pikel Bouldershoulders are two of the best written characters in FR.
Also the Kate Novak books, starting with Azure Bonds, are good imho.
I just love those books. They have druids, bards, fighters, thieves, Bhaal, Kazgaroth, Faerie dragons, elven knights, epic weapons!
(It also seems to me that Salvatore viewed the whole Spellplague thing as a minor impediment to be worked around in his books, which is a point that I can certainly understand and empathize with...)
Agreed they aren't revelations or anything, but do they have to be? Sometimes it is fun to just read mind candy. It doesn't have to change your life to be fun.
I agree that Salvatore's best characters are his villains. Artemis, Jarlaxle, Athrogate, Obould, and Kimmuriel are great every time they appear.
But Salvatore gave him all of his characterization and expanded on a guy that was just meant to be the villain of a mid-level adventure.
Thats not to say that id love other novels writting about bards with different flavours, one is definetly not enough.
The companions for example: no drizzt and yet, not a bad fr (my opinion)
I like drizzt when he has to mix in with people not so nice, it shows another side of him, like recently with entreri and dahlia.
¨ back in the days of 2E, Danilo that was a "dual-classed" (well, triple, anyway) 3rd-level fighter, 9th-level wizard, and 13th level bard¨
not a misconception.
The Companions was a nice change though and I'm looking forward to future books.
The Companions was a nice change though and I'm looking forward to future books.
R.A. Salvatore's series about Cadderly is also a good series. Check it out if you haven't yet.
Since we're talking about Forgotten Realms books we liked, I'll list the ones I enjoyed below. I don't think FR books are generally exceptionally well-written... I think authors like Guy Gavriel Kay, Glen Cook and George R.R. Martin are far better at their craft than most FR authors, but the books can still be very enjoyable. Anyway:
The Avatar Series - (Cyric is my favorite character in the Forgotten Realms universe, so it stands to reason)
Shadowdale
Tantras
Waterdeep
Prince of Lies
Crucible
Evermeet, Island of Elves by Elaine Cunningham
The Cormyr Saga - (I can't remember what order they were in, all I recall is that Cormyr was first)
Cormyr, by Ed Greenwood and Jeff Grubb
Death of the Dragon, by Ed Greenwood and Troy Denning
Beyond the High Road, by Troy Denning
Return of the Archwizards Series -
The Summoning, by Troy Denning
The Siege, '' ''
The Sorcerer, '' ''
Realms of Shadow (Short stories by different authors)
and last but not least
R.A. Salvatore's War of the Spider Queen series - (A series written by a different author, handpicked by Salvatore, for each book in the series. I really loved this series. Probably my favorite books in the FR universe. I'd been a fan of the Drow stories since Drizzt, so reading these were a blast.)
Dissolution by Richard Lee Byers
Insurrection by Thomas M. Reid
Condemnation by Richard Baker
Conviction by Lisa Smedman
Annihilation by Philip Athans
Resurrection by Paul S. Kemp
The release of BG did give me a push to go back to my d&d novels. I had paused reading the Drizzt novels to read all these other related books, then stopped. Now, i went back, and i am only now finishing Transitions. But if i were to read some drizzt books again, it would probably be the Legacy of the Drow trilogy.
Drizzt novels were just light reading - there's just too much apocolypse stuff in the air recently - Bg1's atmosphere was just as light, and I've yet to play an RPG that has nailed it as well.
Might go for the Elminster and Drizzt books next