Anime Are there any Actually Good D&D books?

[Raghar]

Elminster in Myth Drannor is a fantastic novel. I recommend it and Temptations of Elminster, the next book in the series. I recommend both because these books are about a wizard.

I still have Making of a Mage to read but academic research takes up too much of my time. And yes, seriously, Elminster is better than Drizzt.

Are you reading book series from end?

 

[Raghar]

The Maztica trilogy is coming up on my read list in the next six months or so as it was published in 1990, but I did read it before way back in the early 90s. I recall it having a unique setting with fascinating characters. First use of a couatl in a D&D novel I think.

Maztica is average, but readable.

 

[KörangarTheMighty]

but the original trilogy (Dragonlance Chronicles) is competently written by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

I bought these three in the early 2000s but never read them, along with Dragons of Summer Flame which is supposed to be a book that wraps them up? I probably bought it because I thought it belonged with the others. Is it good too or no?

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

but the original trilogy (Dragonlance Chronicles) is competently written by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

I bought these three in the early 2000s but never read them, along with Dragons of Summer Flame which is supposed to be a book that wraps them up? I probably bought it because I thought it belonged with the others. Is it good too or no?

Never read Dragons of Summer Flame, but if memory serves it occurs decades later, meaning after the Legends trilogy and much else, and served as a means of destroying the setting and replacing it with some half-baked concept lacking magic (though not magical/fantastic creatures).

 

[RPK]

but the original trilogy (Dragonlance Chronicles) is competently written by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

I bought these three in the early 2000s but never read them, along with Dragons of Summer Flame which is supposed to be a book that wraps them up? I probably bought it because I thought it belonged with the others. Is it good too or no?

Never read Dragons of Summer Flame, but if memory serves it occurs decades later, meaning after the Legends trilogy and much else, and served as a means of destroying the setting and replacing it with some half-baked concept lacking magic (though not magical/fantastic creatures).

Summer Flame still contains most of the original characters. It's been 20+ years since I read it, but I remember enjoying it. You're right though. it's effectively the end of the "classic" setting.

 

[Cael]

Summer Flame is about 20 years after Legends. It is where more of the original cast died than in the entire 6 previous books.

 

[RPK]

well, I guess spoiler alerts don't really apply for a book that's been out for a quarter of a century lol

 

[Erebus]

Gave the Twilight Giants trilogy a try. It's from Troy Denning, so I expected it to be somewhat decent. As it turns out, I was very, very wrong. I gave up halfway through the first book because it was so insanely boring.

 

[Cael]

Gave the Twilight Giants trilogy a try. It's from Troy Denning, so I expected it to be somewhat decent. As it turns out, I was very, very wrong. I gave up halfway through the first book because it was so insanely boring.

Douglas Niles is better.

 

[Poseidon00]

To actually answer this question I would have to reread an R.A Salvatore book and see if any of it holds up from my teen years. I aint doin it

 

[Raghar]

Dragon lance original books were nice because they basically got rid of spell slots limits on characters, and replaced it by stamina. Thus main character is falling appart after casting simplest spells. It's kinda what 5E did with wizards decades later.

 

[Gyor]

Just read the new novels Druid's Call and Road to Neverwinter, great novels, loved them, really good characters.

 

[NecroLord]

Recently finished purchasing the collection of nearly all D&D novels (excluding Endless Quest). Project started in March 2022. The methodology is to read each title sequentially by publishing date so as to experience the anticipatory feeling the fans would have as they wait for a series to be written. The gamut of titles begins with Quag Keep from February 1978, and the latest being Dragons of Deceit which was published in August 2022 - (first time a Dragonlance novel was published since 2010 which is quite interesting). The project I estimate will take 20 years to complete. I can only comment on those up to 1988 so far. Best reads so far are The Chronicles Trilogy, Legends Trilogy, The Icewind Dales Trilogy and The Finder's Stone Trilogy. Character development was done particularly well in The Finder's Stone Trilogy. That said, Gary Gygax's Gord the Rogue series is fascinating to read as Gygax has shall we say...a very unique style... of course him being the father of D&D.

I have always had a soft spot for the Maztica trilogy, for some reason.

The Maztica trilogy is coming up on my read list in the next six months or so as it was published in 1990, but I did read it before way back in the early 90s. I recall it having a unique setting with fascinating characters. First use of a couatl in a D&D novel I think.

It is basically Hernan Cortez's conquest of the Aztecs in FR.

The one where the Amnian colonists go full genocide on the mazticans? The church of Helm has its reputation severely tarnished after that.
It's also referenced in Baldur's Gate 2. Unsurprising, given it's set in Amn.

 

[Cael]

Recently finished purchasing the collection of nearly all D&D novels (excluding Endless Quest). Project started in March 2022. The methodology is to read each title sequentially by publishing date so as to experience the anticipatory feeling the fans would have as they wait for a series to be written. The gamut of titles begins with Quag Keep from February 1978, and the latest being Dragons of Deceit which was published in August 2022 - (first time a Dragonlance novel was published since 2010 which is quite interesting). The project I estimate will take 20 years to complete. I can only comment on those up to 1988 so far. Best reads so far are The Chronicles Trilogy, Legends Trilogy, The Icewind Dales Trilogy and The Finder's Stone Trilogy. Character development was done particularly well in The Finder's Stone Trilogy. That said, Gary Gygax's Gord the Rogue series is fascinating to read as Gygax has shall we say...a very unique style... of course him being the father of D&D.

I have always had a soft spot for the Maztica trilogy, for some reason.

The Maztica trilogy is coming up on my read list in the next six months or so as it was published in 1990, but I did read it before way back in the early 90s. I recall it having a unique setting with fascinating characters. First use of a couatl in a D&D novel I think.

It is basically Hernan Cortez's conquest of the Aztecs in FR.

The one where the Amnian colonists go full genocide on the mazticans? The church of Helm has its reputation severely tarnished after that.
It's also referenced in Baldur's Gate 2. Unsurprising, given it's set in Amn.

That's the one. Helm has always been a bit of a turd. He caused the wild magic and magic dead zones, and everything to do with them when he outright murdered Mystra because it was expedient.

 

[NecroLord]

Recently finished purchasing the collection of nearly all D&D novels (excluding Endless Quest). Project started in March 2022. The methodology is to read each title sequentially by publishing date so as to experience the anticipatory feeling the fans would have as they wait for a series to be written. The gamut of titles begins with Quag Keep from February 1978, and the latest being Dragons of Deceit which was published in August 2022 - (first time a Dragonlance novel was published since 2010 which is quite interesting). The project I estimate will take 20 years to complete. I can only comment on those up to 1988 so far. Best reads so far are The Chronicles Trilogy, Legends Trilogy, The Icewind Dales Trilogy and The Finder's Stone Trilogy. Character development was done particularly well in The Finder's Stone Trilogy. That said, Gary Gygax's Gord the Rogue series is fascinating to read as Gygax has shall we say...a very unique style... of course him being the father of D&D.

I have always had a soft spot for the Maztica trilogy, for some reason.

The Maztica trilogy is coming up on my read list in the next six months or so as it was published in 1990, but I did read it before way back in the early 90s. I recall it having a unique setting with fascinating characters. First use of a couatl in a D&D novel I think.

It is basically Hernan Cortez's conquest of the Aztecs in FR.

The one where the Amnian colonists go full genocide on the mazticans? The church of Helm has its reputation severely tarnished after that.
It's also referenced in Baldur's Gate 2. Unsurprising, given it's set in Amn.

That's the one. Helm has always been a bit of a turd. He caused the wild magic and magic dead zones, and everything to do with them when he outright murdered Mystra because it was expedient.

Helm is Lawful Stupid like that.

 

[Cael]

Recently finished purchasing the collection of nearly all D&D novels (excluding Endless Quest). Project started in March 2022. The methodology is to read each title sequentially by publishing date so as to experience the anticipatory feeling the fans would have as they wait for a series to be written. The gamut of titles begins with Quag Keep from February 1978, and the latest being Dragons of Deceit which was published in August 2022 - (first time a Dragonlance novel was published since 2010 which is quite interesting). The project I estimate will take 20 years to complete. I can only comment on those up to 1988 so far. Best reads so far are The Chronicles Trilogy, Legends Trilogy, The Icewind Dales Trilogy and The Finder's Stone Trilogy. Character development was done particularly well in The Finder's Stone Trilogy. That said, Gary Gygax's Gord the Rogue series is fascinating to read as Gygax has shall we say...a very unique style... of course him being the father of D&D.

I have always had a soft spot for the Maztica trilogy, for some reason.

The Maztica trilogy is coming up on my read list in the next six months or so as it was published in 1990, but I did read it before way back in the early 90s. I recall it having a unique setting with fascinating characters. First use of a couatl in a D&D novel I think.

It is basically Hernan Cortez's conquest of the Aztecs in FR.

The one where the Amnian colonists go full genocide on the mazticans? The church of Helm has its reputation severely tarnished after that.
It's also referenced in Baldur's Gate 2. Unsurprising, given it's set in Amn.

That's the one. Helm has always been a bit of a turd. He caused the wild magic and magic dead zones, and everything to do with them when he outright murdered Mystra because it was expedient.

Helm is Lawful Stupid like that.

Tyr is Lawful Stupid. Helm is Lawful Retarded.

 

[NecroLord]

Recently finished purchasing the collection of nearly all D&D novels (excluding Endless Quest). Project started in March 2022. The methodology is to read each title sequentially by publishing date so as to experience the anticipatory feeling the fans would have as they wait for a series to be written. The gamut of titles begins with Quag Keep from February 1978, and the latest being Dragons of Deceit which was published in August 2022 - (first time a Dragonlance novel was published since 2010 which is quite interesting). The project I estimate will take 20 years to complete. I can only comment on those up to 1988 so far. Best reads so far are The Chronicles Trilogy, Legends Trilogy, The Icewind Dales Trilogy and The Finder's Stone Trilogy. Character development was done particularly well in The Finder's Stone Trilogy. That said, Gary Gygax's Gord the Rogue series is fascinating to read as Gygax has shall we say...a very unique style... of course him being the father of D&D.

I have always had a soft spot for the Maztica trilogy, for some reason.

The Maztica trilogy is coming up on my read list in the next six months or so as it was published in 1990, but I did read it before way back in the early 90s. I recall it having a unique setting with fascinating characters. First use of a couatl in a D&D novel I think.

It is basically Hernan Cortez's conquest of the Aztecs in FR.

The one where the Amnian colonists go full genocide on the mazticans? The church of Helm has its reputation severely tarnished after that.
It's also referenced in Baldur's Gate 2. Unsurprising, given it's set in Amn.

That's the one. Helm has always been a bit of a turd. He caused the wild magic and magic dead zones, and everything to do with them when he outright murdered Mystra because it was expedient.

Helm is Lawful Stupid like that.

Tyr is Lawful Stupid. Helm is Lawful Retarded.

I think most FR deities are retarded.
There is way too much emphasis on the deities and their plots and schemes.
Greyhawk had great deities which were more idealized and distant, as a deity should be.
In FR, if you die without worshipping a deity, your soul literally gets sewn into the Wall of The Faithless for all eternity on Kelemvor's realm.
In Greyhawk, even if you do not worship any deity, you still get to go to the plane which represents your alignment. So, if you were a righteous, self-sacrificing, utterly Lawful Good character, chances are you will go to Mount Celestia.
If you were an inhumane, vile, depraved Chaotic Evil demon spawn, it's straight to the Abyss!

 

[lightbane]

If you were an inhumane, vile, depraved Chaotic Evil demon spawn, it's straight to the Abyss!

Regarding that, I find it interesting what happens when you worship an evil deity and your alignment varies. Ie: If you worship the God of War and Murder but you're lawful neutral, do you go to hell or to this deity's realm? If you went to Hell due being evil and worshiping an evil deity, would it be considered a reward or a punishment?

 

[The Limper]

I read a ton of the novels in my younger days. I would describe the best of the books (Chronicles) as light reading. The Horde/Kara-Tur books were so obvious. Salvatore books as well, though there is some comic relief.

 

[NecroLord]

If you were an inhumane, vile, depraved Chaotic Evil demon spawn, it's straight to the Abyss!

Regarding that, I find it interesting what happens when you worship an evil deity and your alignment varies. Ie: If you worship the God of War and Murder but you're lawful neutral, do you go to hell or to this deity's realm? If you went to Hell due being evil and worshiping an evil deity, would it be considered a reward or a punishment?

I am not sure, but I think you do, depending on your choice of deity.
For example Hextor. A Lawful Evil deity. He has many Lawful Neutral worshippers and his church is one of the very few churches of an evil deity which operates openly. They work together with governments and other officials in order to promote physical fitness, law and order. Of course, Hextor believes in forcing your will upon others, as he is the god of tyranny, so the strong make the rules, while the weak obey them and remember their station.

 

[Fedora Master]

I'm reading through the first book in the Netheril Series and uh... Okay I know this was 96 and the lore changed a lot since then but this book is an odd ugly duck in parts. The Netherese are referred to as "Neth" and aren't considered human? Phaerimm are poor misunderstood creatures who dindu nuffin? There doesn't seem to be differentiation between Arcane and Divine magic?

 

[NecroLord]

I'm reading through the first book in the Netheril Series and uh... Okay I know this was 96 and the lore changed a lot since then but this book is an odd ugly duck in parts. The Netherese are referred to as "Neth" and aren't considered human? Phaerimm are poor misunderstood creatures who dindu nuffin? There doesn't seem to be differentiation between Arcane and Divine magic?

Forgotten Realms has magic up the wazoo.
Really, way too much magic.
Also, aren't Phaerimm evil aberrations?
Maybe they aren't evil, they just have "socio-economic" issues.

 

[Lt Broccoli]

Recently finished purchasing the collection of nearly all D&D novels (excluding Endless Quest). Project started in March 2022. The methodology is to read each title sequentially by publishing date so as to experience the anticipatory feeling the fans would have as they wait for a series to be written. The gamut of titles begins with Quag Keep from February 1978, and the latest being Dragons of Deceit which was published in August 2022 - (first time a Dragonlance novel was published since 2010 which is quite interesting). The project I estimate will take 20 years to complete. I can only comment on those up to 1988 so far. Best reads so far are The Chronicles Trilogy, Legends Trilogy, The Icewind Dales Trilogy and The Finder's Stone Trilogy. Character development was done particularly well in The Finder's Stone Trilogy. That said, Gary Gygax's Gord the Rogue series is fascinating to read as Gygax has shall we say...a very unique style... of course him being the father of D&D.

I have always had a soft spot for the Maztica trilogy, for some reason.

The Maztica trilogy is coming up on my read list in the next six months or so as it was published in 1990, but I did read it before way back in the early 90s. I recall it having a unique setting with fascinating characters. First use of a couatl in a D&D novel I think.

It is basically Hernan Cortez's conquest of the Aztecs in FR.

Well, just following up this post as I've just finished the last of the Maztica Trilogy novels. Quite an epic romp and a surprise near the end for me. So many characters, the introduction of pluma and hishna magic, the use of pyramids and direct intervention of the gods within a unique vibrant world. Douglas Niles wrote the novels and I was somewhat surprised to learn he co-designed the Maztica Campaign Set published in 1991. Somehow Maztica and vibrant colours go hand-in-hand so well. I'll have to check out the campaign set. I think the world pre-Cordell's arrival would be more interesting to explore with adventurers - presumably Maztican locals. There are three adventures made for it from what I could detect.

 

[Cael]

Recently finished purchasing the collection of nearly all D&D novels (excluding Endless Quest). Project started in March 2022. The methodology is to read each title sequentially by publishing date so as to experience the anticipatory feeling the fans would have as they wait for a series to be written. The gamut of titles begins with Quag Keep from February 1978, and the latest being Dragons of Deceit which was published in August 2022 - (first time a Dragonlance novel was published since 2010 which is quite interesting). The project I estimate will take 20 years to complete. I can only comment on those up to 1988 so far. Best reads so far are The Chronicles Trilogy, Legends Trilogy, The Icewind Dales Trilogy and The Finder's Stone Trilogy. Character development was done particularly well in The Finder's Stone Trilogy. That said, Gary Gygax's Gord the Rogue series is fascinating to read as Gygax has shall we say...a very unique style... of course him being the father of D&D.

I have always had a soft spot for the Maztica trilogy, for some reason.

The Maztica trilogy is coming up on my read list in the next six months or so as it was published in 1990, but I did read it before way back in the early 90s. I recall it having a unique setting with fascinating characters. First use of a couatl in a D&D novel I think.

It is basically Hernan Cortez's conquest of the Aztecs in FR.

Well, just following up this post as I've just finished the last of the Maztica Trilogy novels. Quite an epic romp and a surprise near the end for me. So many characters, the introduction of pluma and hishna magic, the use of pyramids and direct intervention of the gods within a unique vibrant world. Douglas Niles wrote the novels and I was somewhat surprised to learn he co-designed the Maztica Campaign Set published in 1991. Somehow Maztica and vibrant colours go hand-in-hand so well. I'll have to check out the campaign set. I think the world pre-Cordell's arrival would be more interesting to explore with adventurers - presumably Maztican locals. There are three adventures made for it from what I could detect.

In 3.x, a mage who works with couatls is called a Rainbow Servant for a reason. Maztica is a great setting, but to give it that Meso-American feel is likely beyond the capabilities of most DM.

 

[NecroLord]

Recently finished purchasing the collection of nearly all D&D novels (excluding Endless Quest). Project started in March 2022. The methodology is to read each title sequentially by publishing date so as to experience the anticipatory feeling the fans would have as they wait for a series to be written. The gamut of titles begins with Quag Keep from February 1978, and the latest being Dragons of Deceit which was published in August 2022 - (first time a Dragonlance novel was published since 2010 which is quite interesting). The project I estimate will take 20 years to complete. I can only comment on those up to 1988 so far. Best reads so far are The Chronicles Trilogy, Legends Trilogy, The Icewind Dales Trilogy and The Finder's Stone Trilogy. Character development was done particularly well in The Finder's Stone Trilogy. That said, Gary Gygax's Gord the Rogue series is fascinating to read as Gygax has shall we say...a very unique style... of course him being the father of D&D.

I have always had a soft spot for the Maztica trilogy, for some reason.

The Maztica trilogy is coming up on my read list in the next six months or so as it was published in 1990, but I did read it before way back in the early 90s. I recall it having a unique setting with fascinating characters. First use of a couatl in a D&D novel I think.

It is basically Hernan Cortez's conquest of the Aztecs in FR.

Well, just following up this post as I've just finished the last of the Maztica Trilogy novels. Quite an epic romp and a surprise near the end for me. So many characters, the introduction of pluma and hishna magic, the use of pyramids and direct intervention of the gods within a unique vibrant world. Douglas Niles wrote the novels and I was somewhat surprised to learn he co-designed the Maztica Campaign Set published in 1991. Somehow Maztica and vibrant colours go hand-in-hand so well. I'll have to check out the campaign set. I think the world pre-Cordell's arrival would be more interesting to explore with adventurers - presumably Maztican locals. There are three adventures made for it from what I could detect.

Forgotten Realms went too far with this bullshit of having numerous civilizations inspired by those in real life.
Gygax showed restraint and pretty much had Greyhawk be based on Medieval Europe. Of course, you had other civilizations like the Barbarians in the Thillonrian Peninsula and the Baklunish.