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I'm not sure I understand the analogy. If you mean to say that the "Pool of Radiance" novel and its two sequels are like tea, then I have to wonder what you would compare to Pepsi.
As I mentioned, the French translation is terrible and, though I haven't read the novels in english, I'm sure that they were better than what I got to read. But the translation didn't change the stories themselves, and I found them to be rather weak.
Not sure what's going on with the analogy either, but the Pool of Radiance novel is neither tea nor Pepsi, it's a mug of cat piss. I have the original English version and was simply unable to read more than about 30 or 40 pages of it before giving it up in disgust. And I read through Elminster in Hell!
Book 2 of the Icewind Dale trilogy picks up considerably, I'm seeing myself reading more Drizzt books after this.
I still wished they'd relaunch Ravenloft or Dark Sun books. I finished Tower of Doom recently, and it's one of my favorites in the series. It's just that good a retelling of the Hunchback theme.
I've read the Drizzt stuff when I was a dumb kid. The War of the Spider Queen was alright too. But looking around for more cheap novels to consoom it seems that most of them are just straight up dime store trash with a heavy dose of fetishism.
Which of the books are actually worth reading? Im interested in Dark Sun but the Prism Pentad apparently shits all over the established lore of that setting.
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.
Book 2 of the Icewind Dale trilogy picks up considerably, I'm seeing myself reading more Drizzt books after this.
I still wished they'd relaunch Ravenloft or Dark Sun books. I finished Tower of Doom recently, and it's one of my favorites in the series. It's just that good a retelling of the Hunchback theme.
I started on the Threat from the Sea series and so far it seems fairly well done. I enjoy the characterisation of the Lawful Good main character - Opinionated but with a strong sense of propriety and often conflicted about himself.
After a pause, I went back to the "War of the Spider Queen" series and read the sixth (and last) book.
All in all, I've read better D&D books and I've read worse ones.
The main problem is that the series focuses on too many different characters. It's especially glaring in this book, in which too many pages tell us what's happening in or near Menzoberranzan, even though those events have few ties to the main plot and are no longer very important anyway. In the fifth book, the parts with Gromph were agonizingly long (a single fight between him and another archmage fills at least 10% of the entire novel), but at least they had a purpose. In the sixth book, the parts featuring Gromph are still way too long and they're also boring and unnecessary.
The main characters are slightly inconsistent (probably unavoidable, given that each of the six books has a different author). The fact that they're all evil is rather neat, but they could have been developed better or put to better use.
- Quenthel is fairly boring.
- Ryld is also fairly boring. I was beginning to find him somewhat interesting in the fifth book, and then the fucking idiot got himself killed by fucking Jeggred.
- Pharaun was my favorite character for most of the series. He's unfortunately quite disappointing in the sixth book : he shows little of his usual cleverness and his main purpose seems to be providing the reader with his point of view.
- Danifae is a real bitch and I liked her for that reason. But considering what eventually happens to her, she should have been developed more (not just in this book, but also in the previous ones).
- Halisstra is a character that evolves a lot, but her changes are often too abrupt. In the fourth book, she converts to the worship of Eilistraee way too quickly. In the sixth book, she keeps changing her mind about whether she'd rather worship Eilistraee or Lolth. Her inner conflict should have been portrayed better (not just in this book, but also in the previous two).
The best book in the series is probably the third one. In part because its action scenes aren't excessively drawn out, something that is painfully common in the other novels.
After a pause, I went back to the "War of the Spider Queen" series and read the sixth (and last) book.
All in all, I've read better D&D books and I've read worse ones.
The main problem is that the series focuses on too many different characters. It's especially glaring in this book, in which too many pages tell us what's happening in or near Menzoberranzan, even though those events have few ties to the main plot and are no longer very important anyway. In the fifth book, the parts with Gromph were agonizingly long (a single fight between him and another archmage fills at least 10% of the entire novel), but at least they had a purpose. In the sixth book, the parts featuring Gromph are still way too long and they're also boring and unnecessary.
The main characters are slightly inconsistent (probably unavoidable, given that each of the six books has a different author). The fact that they're all evil is rather neat, but they could have been developed better or put to better use.
- Quenthel is fairly boring.
- Ryld is also fairly boring. I was beginning to find him somewhat interesting in the fifth book, and then the fucking idiot got himself killed by fucking Jeggred.
- Pharaun was my favorite character for most of the series. He's unfortunately quite disappointing in the sixth book : he shows little of his usual cleverness and his main purpose seems to be providing the reader with his point of view.
- Danifae is a real bitch and I liked her for that reason. But considering what eventually happens to her, she should have been developed more (not just in this book, but also in the previous ones).
- Halisstra is a character that evolves a lot, but her changes are often too abrupt. In the fourth book, she converts to the worship of Eilistraee way too quickly. In the sixth book, she keeps changing her mind about whether she'd rather worship Eilistraee or Lolth. Her inner conflict should have been portrayed better (not just in this book, but also in the previous two).
The best book in the series is probably the third one. In part because its action scenes aren't excessively drawn out, something that is painfully common in the other novels.
Halisstra's problem isn't that she converted quickly. It is she swung from one extreme to the other in the blink of an eye. That was jarring as hell. She was really never that devout a follower of Lloth, and had lots of doubts even from the first book she was in. Her conversion to Eilistraee was actually not too bad. It offered her a way out. Put it this way: both Halisstra and Ryld were borderline Chaotic Neutral, and the rest of their society's scheming and sniping were really getting on their nerves. They just wanted to be left alone, which their society won't allow, but Eilistraee's did.
I thought that her religious crisis in Book 3 was fairly nice and it makes sense that she would later convert to the worship of Eilistraee. But it seems weird that a former priestess of Lolth could adapt to radically different values so easily that she becomes a priestess of Eilistraee in a matter of days. Her inner conflict in Book 6 is fairly realistic (though very poorly depicted), but it should have played a more important role in Books 4 and 5.
I thought that her religious crisis in Book 3 was fairly nice and it makes sense that she would later convert to the worship of Eilistraee. But it seems weird that a former priestess of Lolth could adapt to radically different values so easily that she becomes a priestess of Eilistraee in a matter of days. Her inner conflict in Book 6 is fairly realistic (though very poorly depicted), but it should have played a more important role in Books 4 and 5.
I don't think you can say her values were that of a typical drow to begin with. That was what made it so that she will adopt the Eilistraee values. She saw in it a better fit for her than Lloth's. That she turned back in the blink of an eye is stupid as hell. But, as you said, different authors.
I've been somewhat interested in Thay ever since I played MotB, so I decided to try the "Haunted Land" trilogy. The first book wasn't too bad by D&D standards, but it wasn't that entertaining either. The characters could have been developed better. The plot is really weak (it's just Szass Tam plotting to seize complete control of Thay).
I had a brief look at the second novel, discovered that it was set at the time of the Spellplague, and decided that I'd rather read something else.
I've been somewhat interested in Thay ever since I played MotB, so I decided to try the "Haunted Land" trilogy. The first book wasn't too bad by D&D standards, but it wasn't that entertaining either. The characters could have been developed better. The plot is really weak (it's just Szass Tam plotting to seize complete control of Thay).
I had a brief look at the second novel, discovered that it was set at the time of the Spellplague, and decided that I'd rather read something else.
Yeah. I read a few of the post-Spellplague stuff, and they were all uniformly shit. Woketards of the cunts went the way of WizKids (with BTech) and basically did a time jump and killed off all of old characters that made the setting popular in the first place. Retarded marketing, but then again, I expected no less of the cunts after their 3.5 to DiabloEdition fiasco.
I gave the "Starlight and Shadows" trilogy a try, because apparently I'm not sick and tired of drow characters yet.
The fact that the main character is the beautiful, gifted, spunky and free-spirited daughter of Gromph Baenre made me expect a rather tiresome fanfiction. In truth, the story's not that bad... at first.
The problem is that Liriel Baenre is quite the Mary Sue. So was Drizzt, obviously, but at least Salvatore didn't try to hide the fact that his main character was a goody-two-shoe. The author of this trilogy wanted to have her cake and eat it too : she keeps pretending that her heroine is as ruthless as any drow, but she never shows her doing anything that could even remotely be called evil. It gets especially bad in the second book : there's a character who openly tries to murder the heroine and clearly intends to try again, yet she spares him for no good reason whatsoever.
Like most Mary Sues, Liriel is also obscenely powerful. Lolth even grants her the use of powerful spells because... chaos, I guess ? It all gets rather tiresome after a while.
I gave the "Starlight and Shadows" trilogy a try, because apparently I'm not sick and tired of drow characters yet.
The fact that the main character is the beautiful, gifted, spunky and free-spirited daughter of Gromph Baenre made me expect a rather tiresome fanfiction. In truth, the story's not that bad... at first.
The problem is that Liriel Baenre is quite the Mary Sue. So was Drizzt, obviously, but at least Salvatore didn't try to hide the fact that his main character was a goody-two-shoe. The author of this trilogy wanted to have her cake and eat it too : she keeps pretending that her heroine is as ruthless as any drow, but she never shows her doing anything that could even remotely be called evil. It gets especially bad in the second book : there's a character who openly tries to murder the heroine and clearly intends to try again, yet she spares him for no good reason whatsoever.
Like most Mary Sues, Liriel is also obscenely powerful. Lolth even grants her the use of powerful spells because... chaos, I guess ? It all gets rather tiresome after a while.
Lloth didn't just grant Liriel special powers. She made Liriel into a Chosen of Lloth. Just to mess with her mind.
It is pretty par for the course for Lloth, though. Remember, she purposely got Matron Baenre killed by encouraging her to attack Mithril Hall just to see chaos in Menzoberranzan.
The trilogy isn't that bad. It is just not good. Then again, Elaine Cunningham has form with Mary Sues. Read her Arilyn Moonblade series.
While both Cunningham's female protagonists are strong women I will not go as far as calling them Mary Sues.
I don't recall the books (it's has been many years since I read them) connecting their strength with the fact that they are women unlike most modern Mary Sues. After all the books where written well before the "modern era".
In any case both book series were above average as far as FR book series.
My nostalgia-fueled interest in D&D novels isn't going to last forever, but for now, I'm reading them rather quickly.
Just finished the first book of the "House of Serpents" trilogy. Fairly decent. Unlike most D&D novels, it remains focused on a single main character (who's reasonably interesting).
While both Cunningham's female protagonists are strong women I will not go as far as calling them Mary Sues.
I don't recall the books (it's has been many years since I read them) connecting their strength with the fact that they are women unlike most modern Mary Sues. After all the books where written well before the "modern era".
In any case both book series were above average as far as FR book series.
I don't know. Her female main characters tend to go overboard with the whole "I can do anything and the world will like it" department. For example, Liriel met the one Viking on Faerun who is openminded enough to accept her instead of making her walk the plank. And then the whole island of Vikings fell in love with her.
you have to take the good and disregard the bad, unless you want to play Grimwah 100 times become Cleve.
It would be more interesting to see where they would start with Dark Sun. Stronk independent womyn cannot be enslaved?
Speaking of which, I just finished City Under the Sand by Jeff Marriotte (audio book). Pretty entertaining, even though his rendition of a sorcerer king is v. weak. I was hoping the entire time Nibenay would pull a Kalak à la Lynn Abbey.
