Anime Are there any Actually Good D&D books?

[Erebus]

Finished the "House of Serpents" trilogy. It's not bad by D&D standards, but it could have been better if the author had resisted the urge to give too many super-special powers to the main character. In the first book, he can only rely on a couple of minor psionic tricks, a few special items and his cunning, which is nice. In the second book, he gets more psionic powers, most of them reasonable though there's one that's really broken (but sometimes backfires) ; he still relies a lot on his cunning. But in the third book (barely a year after the first one), he now has plenty of powerful and flexible psionic powers that are wonderfully convenient whenever he faces the slightest problem, and that's kind of a bore.

 

[Erebus]

I'm getting tired of trilogies, so I decided to read stand-alone D&D novels for a change.

I first read Star of Cursrah and it wasn't great. It's one of those books that constantly shifts between the past and the present, and while the half of the story set in the present isn't awful, the half set in the past is rather uninteresting and is burdened with an extremely unlikable heroine.

I like heroes who rely on their wits and agility rather than magic or sword skill, so I decided to try the "Rogues" series next.

I'm just done with the first one, The Alabaster Staff. I'd already read it, but it was a really long time ago and I only remembered a few details about it.

It's not bad. The main problem is that the heroine's personality is a bit inconsistent. But she does rely on her wits and agility, and the plot has a lot of intrigue, plots and rival factions. D&D mechanics are invisible (which is of course for the best) and the final action scene is actually rather exciting.

 

[Cael]

Legend of Huma isn't bad for a one off.

 

[WhiteShark]

Didn't read the thread but search didn't turn up the title. I really liked the Dead God Trilogy (Forsaken, Forsworn, Forbidden) set in the Scarred Lands setting. Follows the adventures of a cleric of a dead elf god, who died so hard that most people don't even remember he existed, on his quest to resurrect said god.

 

[Erebus]

Finished the second novel of the "Rogues" series : The Black Bouquet by Richard Lee Byers.

So far, I'd say that it's probably the best of all the D&D novels I've read this year. A fast-paced adventure, almost entirely set in an urban environment, with a decent atmosphere, fairly good characters and little idealism.

 

[Berengar]

If Troy Denning had maintained the quality of the first third of Pages of Pain through the end of the novel, rather than losing his way after the characters are mazed, it would be the best D&D/AD&D novel ever written.

Playing through Torment right now made me want to seek this out. Got it off thriftbooks for like 3 bucks when I couldn't find it at my usual bookstore. I guess I have the first third to look forward to at least!

 

[Erebus]

Playing through Torment right now made me want to seek this out. Got it off thriftbooks for like 3 bucks when I couldn't find it at my usual bookstore. I guess I have the first third to look forward to at least!

Though the book is fairly decent, you shouldn't expect it to be anything like Torment. Denning didn't really get the Planescape atmosphere, or maybe he didn't care to.

If you want a Planescape novel who feels like Planescape, try Fire and Dust.

 

[J_C]

Everything from Salvatore.

Spoiler

 

[Nikanuur]

How long have Drizzt and Catti-Brie live together after her reincarnation? Was she long-lived after that too?

 

[0sacred]

Since War of the Spider Queen is relatively well received around here, what about the follow up series (The Lady Penitent)?

 

[Cael]

Since War of the Spider Queen is relatively well received around here, what about the follow up series (The Lady Penitent)?

Fucking bullshit, just like all the converting to 4th Ed books.

 

[Erebus]

To every thing there is a season, and my whim to read D&D fiction again is now a thing of the past.

As a conclusion, I decided to re-read Faces of Deception by Troy Denning. I remembered liking the book, but I'd forgotten most of the story.

It's very unusual by the standards of D&D fiction. Magic and supernatural creatures are much rarer and more special. D&D mechanics are nowhere to be seen. There's no incredibly powerful artefact, no super-strong villain and no major threat against the peace of the world.

The main character is a rich yet extremely ugly man named Atreus, who's desperate to find some magic able to make him handsome. At the beginning of the story, he's sent by Sune on a quest for a shangrilaesque city where he might find something that'll grant his wish.

Spoiler

By the end of the story, his obsession and the greed of one of his companions have brought chaos to the city in question. His best friend is dead, he's found and lost the love of his life, and he's - perhaps - taken the first step toward wisdom.

 

[communard]

Haven't read the thread. Wont read the thread. The answer is NO.

 

[Fedora Master]

Everything from Salvatore.

Spoiler

Salvatore is good when he's not writing Drizzt, ironically

 

[Deuce Traveler]

So it has already been mentioned once on this thread, but I'd be interested in reading Quag Keep by Andre Norton despite its 3.3 goodreads rating. It's the first official D&D novel and Mrs. Norton was already a well-established fantasy and science fiction writer at the time that this was published.

What hasn't been mentioned are the Greyhawk books by Paul Kidd. I don't know anything about them, but what I've seen on Goodreads has me interested:

White Plume Mountain (Greyhawk adventures #2), published in 1999, 4.03 rating.
Descent Into the Depths of the Earth (Greyhawk adventures #3), published in 2000, 4.13 rating.
Queen of the Demonweb Pits (Greyhawk adventures #5), published in 2001, 3.98 rating.

Books rated a 4 or higher on goodreads rarely disappoint me.

You guys got me interested in Troy Denning's TSR works. Supposedly his short stories in Forgotten Realms Anthology 1: Realms of Valor and Anthology 2: Realms of Infamy were liked by the fans despite the rest of the short stories being mostly meh. I'll have to check out Pages of Pain, despite its 3.62 on goodreads.

 

[Stokowski]

A Goodreads rating don't really measure goodness; more like milquetoastiness.

 

[Fedora Master]

I fucking hate Greyhawk.

 

[Fedora Master]

I fucking hate Greyhawk but the Paul Kidd novels about the old adventure modules are amazing:

 

[Fedora Master]

That was an amazing listen and I highly recommend it. It is genuinely funny.

 

[Cael]

10 hours??? That is literally 3 times longer than it takes me to read a typical DnD novel...!

 

[Eldagusto]

Gonna say this, I never read any of the DnD corebooks because I was put off by systems with literal character levels, it felt like a computer game and takes me out of emersion. But If I actually read it I guess I would start with 5th ed cores. But if I wanted to get into the Old School Renaissance books what are the corebooks people recommends?

 

[Berengar]

I fucking hate Greyhawk but the Paul Kidd novels about the old adventure modules are amazing:

I think you're onto something here. My friend once tried to sell me on these novels based on them "Not being based on any d&d bullshit". He doesn't know what Greyhawk is lol.

 

[Null Null]

Came here from another thread--yeah, Paul Kidd's Greyhawk novels are fun.

I also liked Azure Bonds and the original Dark Elf books and the second series of Dragonlance novels (though if I were Raistlin I would have just let the world burn). Pretty basic I guess.

 

[Gyor]

You guys got me interested in Troy Denning's TSR works. Supposedly his short stories in Forgotten Realms Anthology 1: Realms of Valor and Anthology 2: Realms of Infamy were liked by the fans despite the rest of the short stories being mostly meh. I'll have to check out Pages of Pain, despite its 3.62 on goodreads.

The fact that Pages of Pain is from the second hand perspective, a very uncommon narrative in literature compare too first or third person narration likely puts people off, but it's a great novel.

Second hand narrative is really hard to pull off in writing, although Troy IMHO succeeds. When it does work it kicks serious ass compared to 1st or 3rd, but folks aren't used to it, so it feel weird.

Here is some info on second person narration.

https://www.masterclass.com/article...-examples#5-tips-for-writing-in-second-person

 

[Cael]

Came here from another thread--yeah, Paul Kidd's Greyhawk novels are fun.

I also liked Azure Bonds and the original Dark Elf books and the second series of Dragonlance novels (though if I were Raistlin I would have just let the world burn). Pretty basic I guess.

I liked Azure Bonds. The third one was pretty sad, but the second was humourous.

Other good series:
Cleric Quintet
Moonshae Trilogy
Druidhome Trilogy
Maztica Trilogy

In general Douglas Niles is pretty good, and Salvatore isn't bad as long as he isn't doing Driz'zt.