2nd Ed. Forgotten Realms littérature. I need to get schooled.
I've been playing these games since i was a kid, but haven't really read any of the relevant literature apart from a horribly translated version of the series about "the times of trouble." (what was that book series called?)
I'd love to really get into the Forgotten Realms. I've always felt sort of drawn to them in a way most people seem drawn to Middle-Earth. But the thing is, there's so much literature and no way to get an overview of what to read.
So i'd like to ask anyone versed in FR Lore:
1. Could you recommend me the stories that deal with the Locations and plots (not the novelizations though) of the Infinity Engine games? (Dales, Sword Coast, Times of Trouble)
2. Could you recommend me the stories that give me a wider and deeper insight into everything else in Forgotten Realms? (Races, Countries, legendary heroes, Gods, Organizations, Guilds, Cultures, Dungeons, Monsters.)
Note: i'm not looking for a codex that just hands me all the answers in list-form. I want to read the books that gave FR its legs to stand on. The books that really sold this universe. I'm also only interested in the books that deal with the universe pre-3rd edition.
If anyone could advice me, i'd greatly appreciate it. I've been meaning to really jump in for years and i'd rather do it now than later.
I'd love to really get into the Forgotten Realms. I've always felt sort of drawn to them in a way most people seem drawn to Middle-Earth. But the thing is, there's so much literature and no way to get an overview of what to read.
So i'd like to ask anyone versed in FR Lore:
1. Could you recommend me the stories that deal with the Locations and plots (not the novelizations though) of the Infinity Engine games? (Dales, Sword Coast, Times of Trouble)
2. Could you recommend me the stories that give me a wider and deeper insight into everything else in Forgotten Realms? (Races, Countries, legendary heroes, Gods, Organizations, Guilds, Cultures, Dungeons, Monsters.)
Note: i'm not looking for a codex that just hands me all the answers in list-form. I want to read the books that gave FR its legs to stand on. The books that really sold this universe. I'm also only interested in the books that deal with the universe pre-3rd edition.
If anyone could advice me, i'd greatly appreciate it. I've been meaning to really jump in for years and i'd rather do it now than later.
3
Comments
Anyway...there are dozens of books from which to choose.
Read them in the order that they were written.
The Icewind Dale Trilogy (chronologically subsequent to The Dark Elf trilogy):
The Crystal Shard (1988) (Between 1351 DR and 1356 DR)
Streams of Silver (1989) (1356 DR)
The Halfling's Gem (1990) (Between 1356 DR and 1357 DR)
The Dark Elf Trilogy (chronologically precedes the Icewind Dale trilogy)
Homeland (1990) (Between 1297 DR and 1328 DR)
Exile (1990) (Between 1338 DR and 1340 DR)
Sojourn (1991) (Between 1340 DR and 1347 DR)
The Cleric Quintet:
Canticle (1991) (1361 DR)
In Sylvan Shadows (1992) (1361 DR)
Night Masks (1992) (1361 DR)
The Fallen Fortress (1993) (Between 1361 DR and 1362 DR)
The Chaos Curse (1994) (1362 DR)
Legacy of the Drow:
The Legacy (1992) (1357 DR)
Starless Night (1993) (1357 DR)
Siege of Darkness (1994) (1358 DR)
Passage to Dawn (1996) (1364 DR)
Paths of Darkness:
The Silent Blade (1998) (1364 DR)
The Spine of the World (1999) (Between 1365 DR and 1369 DR)
Servant of the Shard (2000) (1366 DR) [Now part of The Sellswords Trilogy]
Sea of Swords (2001) (Between 1369 DR and 1370 DR)
A note about the clerical quintet. It is not necessary to read them in order to read tthe legacy of the drow. They have different characters in a different part of the realms. BUT you should read them, because some of the characters do appear in that series and by the time you get to the paths of darkness you will be lost. And paths of darkness is an incredibly moving story about a character who goes down a road that you would never have expected. Paths of darkness also picks up after a really intense cliffhanger, so you may not want to read the quintet by then because it is such a hard place to put down the books.
There is a mild cliffhanger at the end of the icewind dale trilogy, but it's not one that is difficult to move past. You can put down the books to read the dark elf trilogy (which you have to read in order to follow legacy of the drow), which ends at the start of the icewind dale trilogy (without s cliffhanger, obviously). Then you can proceed to read the cleric quintet, which is, btw, my favorite set of books by Salvatore. The main character of the cleric quintet also appears in one of the baldurs gate games, and so does a second side character that you are familiar (and probably annoyed) with if you have played baldurs gate 2.
The servant of the shard is interesting, but not necessary to read, and doesn't really follow the story of the rest of the books. I don't really like that or the next books in the story very much after sea of swords. They kind of head downhill after that. I couldn't even read any of the rest of the series after the hunters blade trilogy, which I didn't really care for much either.
If you like to read, and you pick up these books, I promise you that you won't be playing video games any time soon. You also will probably be absent from the forums for the duration of your read. The paths of darkness is an incredible read, specifically the first book. I can't ever put that one down when I start. It practically brought me to tears the first time I read it. The dark elf trilogy is incredible, especially the first one. It is SO exactly what dark elves are (dark elves now in dnd are mostly based on Salvatore's interpretation of the drow). Just read them in the order that they were written, it is the best way to read them, even if you have a hard time putting down the first trilogy.
If you like these games, you like to read, and you like the forgotten realms, you will love these books.
That should be motivation enough to read the quintet before the legacy of the drow. You can also read the quintet before you read the icewind dale trilogy if you want without spoiling any of the stories.
Then it continues with Prince of Lies and Crucible:Trial of Cyric the Mad. These books shed light on how gods work/perceive themselves, the limits and extends of their powers, what makes them tick, etc. in the Forgotten Realms. Enjoyable reads.
In other words, those books are literally what gave FR it's legs to stand on in a time of finacial trouble for the owners of FR, TSR.
How's it looking in terms of wider scope? anything out there that shows the different regions and peoples of FR, Deals with magic, Lore and Legends? Dungeons, locations and the monsters that comes with them?
Then there's the The Rogues series, starting with The Alabaster Staff, which are set in Thay, and the third one, Crimson Gold, features Szass Tam, and I think it includes the story of how he became a lich.
Elaine Cunningham also wrote some good early Forgotten realms. She wrote Songs and swords which I liked and Starlight and Shadows which I didn't think was as good. But worth taking a look.
Flawed setting -- because why would anyone play anything other than a mage -- but good writing that explains why there are so many ruins around Faerun.
I thought they were very good and well worth the read. I have seen a few people post that they think the character is more Deux Ex Machina rather than a character in it's own right. Just covering all bases. But I would highly recommend at least trying the books out and making your own judgment.
Larloch v Elminster / Elminster v the Shades is apparently the plot of one of the recent books.
She then turns up again in "Masquerades" in the Harper's Series.
In fact, seek out all the books in the Harper's series for some really good reads. That was one series I really liked.