The Moonshae, Shadowdale, and Icewind Dale are the Forgotten Realms OGs. They aren't the best in terms of writing, but the lore is amazing and gives great insights into the early development of Faerun. From there, you can continue reading Drizz't books. The Cleric Quintet (another R.A.S.) series does a good job at exploring the least appreciated class, especially back when it was written and cleric was just the guy who got to pick last. Note of caution with R.A.S... many of his books have a bit too much deus ex machina. Ed Greenwood's Elminster series is very good.
For Dragonlance, start with Dragons of Autumn Twilight, and work your way forward. Chronicles, and then Legends. The Elvish Nations Trilogy is decent, though contradictory to some of the main lore. Dwarven Nations was similar. I also enjoyed the Heroes Sextet (Legend of Huma, Storm Blade, Weasel's Luck, Kaz the Minotaur, the Gates of Thorbardin, and Galen Beknighted.
This is all through the haze of several decades of memory.
First of all, I'm going to agree with the people saying none of them are great. Some of them are a decent read, but there's a lot better fantasy fiction out there. There's also a lot better in specifically heroic/epic fantasy.
But if you're looking specifically for books that read like D&D, AFAIK they're what you've got.
From memory, most of them were readable. Some were definitely not good, but I mostly don't recall which. (Avoid the Cloakmaster Cycle; it's what finally broke me of my habit of finishing any book I started. Pool of Radiance and its sequel left a similarly memorable impression.)
The Dragonlance Chronicles are fine. I recall the second trilogy (Legends?) as being better. (This may be partly because Raistlin's by far the best character from Chronicles.)
Other people have mentioned the Iceland Dale trilogy. (Really three books sharing a main cast rather than a proper trilogy.) If you think Drizzt is cool, the Dark Elf trilogy will give you more of him. If you're not a moody teenager who feels like an outsider all the time, he may not resonate with you.
That said, they do have a tendency to run things well past the amount of story they can support. Like Drizzt? There's I think thirty-odd books starring him now. (I gave up after the seventh.) The cast of Dragonlance Chronicles have prequels, sequels, further adventures, their kids' stories, and I know not what else.
Salvatore and Richard A. Knaak are the authors I remember thinking were good, though the former may have been more because I was a moody teenager who felt like an outsider all the time. :)
Have to be careful with those labels. Our comments could be called lit some day, you never know... No faults with Vance.
Your initial post in this thread said there are no good D&D books.
Maybe someday some of them will be considered literature? If you're now going to get snarky because someone has pointed out that literary fantasy is a thing and Brandon Sanderson while good stuff isn't it.
Mervyn Peake is held in high regard even outside of the genre. He's considered one of the greatest British writers of the twentieth century. For what it's worth.
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INSPIRATIONS:Clark Ashton Smith, Mervyn Peake, Jack Vance, Michael Moorcock, Fritz Leiber, M. John Harrison, Gene Wolfe, Steven Brust, Terry Pratchett, China Miéville.
I’m excited to read them, I’m reading The Druids Call next, after that looking for a book like Stardust one of my favorite books of all time, if you haven’t read it, read it it’s amazing. Also does anyone know of any good DND graphic novels?
Do you have some titles or a full names, I will check it out. These are well crafted worlds, that stay within the limits of their ages.
Brandon Sanderson is good stuff. No question.
For fantasy considered to be reaching literature, I'd recommend The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe, Titus Groan and Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake, and The Dying Earth, The Eyes of the Overworld, Cugel’s Saga, and Rhialto the Marvellous by Jack Vance.
Wolfe is glorious. Is arguably the best the genre has to offer.
I'm an English teacher and actually aim to include Peake in the curriculum at work. Already snuck some fantasy and even some great, pulpy sword and sorcery legends in there! It's different to the usual fantasy fare. Is quite gothic in flavor. You'd won't find better descriptions of architecture outside of its pages.
Vance is probably the one who I'd say reads the most like D&D among the three but the man was also masterful in his use of language. The first two books of his listed there were a big influence on Gary Gygax. The names of spells in his books read just like those in D&D.
Gene Wolfe is really good, but he's like Richard Morgan: He starts great and finishes poorly. There's also the religious angle: Severian, like Aslan, is Jesus, and since I'm a thoroughly unreligious person, that .. well, it bothers me.
I tried reading Mervyn Peake thrice, but while he writes well, he just doesn't capture me. I get bored and quit. Gormenghast is like a metaphor for itself - it's endless, several pages just to describe a kitchen? Jeez.
I've never read Jack Vance, and I actively despise Brandon Sanderson - although maybe he doesn't deserve that, I read one book I didn't like. Don't even remember which one =)
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Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
Gene Wolfe is really good, but he's like Richard Morgan: He starts great and finishes poorly. There's also the religious angle: Severian, like Aslan, is Jesus, and since I'm a thoroughly unreligious person, that .. well, it bothers me.
I tried reading Mervyn Peake thrice, but while he writes well, he just doesn't capture me. I get bored and quit. Gormenghast is like a metaphor for itself - it's endless, several pages just to describe a kitchen? Jeez.
I've never read Jack Vance, and I actively despise Brandon Sanderson - although maybe he doesn't deserve that, I read one book I didn't like. Don't even remember which one =)
Whatever your personal thoughts on Wolfe and Peake they are both considered to be literary fantasy.
Morgan is pap compared to Wolfe. And if "the religious angle" often encountered in literature bothers you then that's a lot of great writing in the Western Canon you're gonna be missing out on. No Dostoevsky? No Tolstoy? No Dante? Screw that. I'm as lapsed as they come. I've long outgrown however the sort of disdain I might have had for religion when I was in my youth.
Just out of curiosity: Have you an aversion to The Lord of the Rings for this same reason?
Peake more than writes well and is considered to be one of the greatest British writers of the past century. A lot of things bore me and I quit them if and when expected to do them—watching sports and reading "business psychology" for example—but this says nothing of the quality of either of these things and more about what I've a threshold for in terms of my patience.
Vance is worth the time of anyone who plays the game. Brandson Sanderson is just genre fiction and not at all an example of what I'd call "great writing." But I can see why people enjoy his books.
What "D&D books" would you recommend? What fantasy in general?
INSPIRATIONS:Clark Ashton Smith, Mervyn Peake, Jack Vance, Michael Moorcock, Fritz Leiber, M. John Harrison, Gene Wolfe, Steven Brust, Terry Pratchett, China Miéville.
I just finished Druid's Call last night and really enjoyed it! Only drawback I found was it felt like the editors forced some stuff to set up the movie into it, and if those were removed to just let the author tell Doric's story, it would have been even better. But still a really enjoyable story as well as the best example I've read of a druid main character.
I'm also working on the other movie prequel, Road to Neverwinter. Not very far yet, but it's fun so far.
I don't think I saw mention, but Keith Baker's Eberron novels are great! His Dreaming Dark trilogy is right up there with the original Icewind Dale trilogy as some of my all time favorite D&D novels. That is, if you like Eberron, of course, which has it's own distinctive feel.
I'd also echo the Brimstone Angels books, and early R.A. Salvatore (simply haven't read more recent stuff, so not sure good or bad, but I've heard good things). I do know from experience that Ed Greenwood's Elminster novels are good only if you want a ton of Forgotten Realms lore delivered with very flowery prose, but for me and others I've talked to, they really felt like a slog. However, I know others still who swear by them as spectacular. So they are very hit-and-miss without many opinions in the middle.
Also, I haven't read them yet, but I've heard good things about the Critical Role novels. They aren't official D&D novels, but about as close as you can be, and that crew really likes to focus heavy on character and story more than action if that's your thing.
I’m excited to read them, I’m reading The Druids Call next, after that looking for a book like Stardust one of my favorite books of all time, if you haven’t read it, read it it’s amazing. Also does anyone know of any good DND graphic novels?
Jim Zub has quite a few D&D comics that are fun, although I haven't read many yet. I do know they are quite popular.
Also, again, this is an area that Critical Role has been publishing in as well with various prequel graphic novels for their main characters as well as a couple important NPCs.
Lastly, the majority of R.A. Salvatore's Drizzt series has been made into graphic novels as well, I think, but I haven't read them yet.
Whatever your personal thoughts on Wolfe and Peake they are both considered to be literary fantasy.
Morgan is pap compared to Wolfe. And if "the religious angle" often encountered in literature bothers you then that's a lot of great writing in the Western Canon you're gonna be missing out on. No Dostoevsky? No Tolstoy? No Dante? Screw that. I'm as lapsed as they come. I've long outgrown however the sort of disdain I might have had for religion when I was in my youth.
Just out of curiosity: Have you an aversion to The Lord of the Rings for this same reason?
Peake more than writes well and is considered to be one of the greatest British writers of the past century. A lot of things bore me and I quit them if and when expected to do them—watching sports and reading "business psychology" for example—but this says nothing of the quality of either of these things and more about what I've a threshold for in terms of my patience.
Vance is worth the time of anyone who plays the game. Brandson Sanderson is just genre fiction and not at all an example of what I'd call "great writing." But I can see why people enjoy his books.
What "D&D books" would you recommend? What fantasy in general?
Well, I did not say Peake or Wolfe weren't literary fantasy. I said that Wolfe was good, but his first books are much better than his last - and his main character is literally meant to be Jesus. Which isn't my cup of tea, but that doesn't apply to anyone else. I also said I've tried reading Peake, and he - quite literally - goes on and on about a kitchen for pages on end. Too long-winded for my tastes, even if it's well written.
And Richard Morgan is easily on par with both. Sure, he's pulpier - but his plots work, his writing is great, and he's original in a way that hardly any fantasy writers are.
No Tolstoi, no Dostoyevsky, no Dante. LotR get's a pass, for old times sake. Also, while I'm perfectly aware that Eru the one god is a real world parallel - he's not even mentioned in the trilogy, and Gandalf is not Jesus. But LotR is highly problematic for various reasons, anyways.
I read for entertainment. Merwyn Peake is inventive in his language, and very highly detailed in his descriptions - and he bores me, and he doesn't get read. Sorry, but there's just no way around that. If he doesn't captures my attention, his books get relegated to the bookshelf. That's regrettable, because I believe there's an exceptional story in there. I'll have to wait for the .. childrens edition, or some such =)
I'll look into Jack Vance. I'm way too ... strict on what I read, and what I don't. It closes a lot of doors.
What D&D books I recommend? None. I'll say this: When I was a teenager, I consumed the Dragonlance books. Later, I sorta did the same with the Drizzt ditto. But just because I felt they were great at the time doesn't mean I still have to. The fantasy in general I recommend I already recommended.
Oh, an addendum on Richard Morgan: His main character always seems to be the same guy. Ringil Silver-eyes, Takeshi Kovach, Carl Marsalis - other than being set in different eras and having different backgrounds and reasons for their fury, they're pretty much the same guy. So ... inventive in other ways =)
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Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
Well, I did not say Peake or Wolfe weren't literary fantasy. I said that Wolfe was good, but his first books are much better than his last - and his main character is literally meant to be Jesus. Which isn't my cup of tea, but that doesn't apply to anyone else. I also said I've tried reading Peake, and he - quite literally - goes on and on about a kitchen for pages on end. Too long-winded for my tastes, even if it's well written.
And Richard Morgan is easily on par with both. Sure, he's pulpier - but his plots work, his writing is great, and he's original in a way that hardly any fantasy writers are.
No Tolstoi, no Dostoyevsky, no Dante. LotR get's a pass, for old times sake. Also, while I'm perfectly aware that Eru the one god is a real world parallel - he's not even mentioned in the trilogy, and Gandalf is not Jesus. But LotR is highly problematic for various reasons, anyways.
I read for entertainment. Merwyn Peake is inventive in his language, and very highly detailed in his descriptions - and he bores me, and he doesn't get read. Sorry, but there's just no way around that. If he doesn't captures my attention, his books get relegated to the bookshelf. That's regrettable, because I believe there's an exceptional story in there. I'll have to wait for the .. childrens edition, or some such =)
I'll look into Jack Vance. I'm way too ... strict on what I read, and what I don't. It closes a lot of doors.
What D&D books I recommend? None. I'll say this: When I was a teenager, I consumed the Dragonlance books. Later, I sorta did the same with the Drizzt ditto. But just because I felt they were great at the time doesn't mean I still have to. The fantasy in general I recommend I already recommended.
Oh, an addendum on Richard Morgan: His main character always seems to be the same guy. Ringil Silver-eyes, Takeshi Kovach, Carl Marsalis - other than being set in different eras and having different backgrounds and reasons for their fury, they're pretty much the same guy. So ... inventive in other ways =)
We are in agreement that there is little to no point to proceeding with books that don't capture our attention.
I checked out your initial post in the thread. Miéville is indeed great. I quite like Abercrombie as well. Never understood the love for Rothfuss. Morgan as I said does nothing for me. But then reading much like listing to music is a visceral experience and what captures the individual captures the individual.
I will check out both Polansky and Bennett.
Christian themes pervade Tolkien well beyond Eru's clearly being analogous with God. I am as I said as lapsed as they come but I was raised Catholic and can plainly see Tolkien's faith come through in the work. He himself did admit this was the case. The day of the Ring's destruction and with it the fall of Sauron takes place on a date that has marked or marks that of three major events on the Christian calendar. There is a theological subtext throughout much of the trilogy. It is not an overtly religious work—neither is the Solar Cycle really—but metaphors abound for all manner of things very much Christian. Its treatment of evil. Providence. Transfiguration. The Lord of the Rings is richer in Christian symbolism than is The Book of the New Sun where it begins and ends with the similarities between Severian and Christ. Tom Shippey is probably the most eminent among Tolkien scholars and he has commented on the Christian cast of the whole thing.
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INSPIRATIONS:Clark Ashton Smith, Mervyn Peake, Jack Vance, Michael Moorcock, Fritz Leiber, M. John Harrison, Gene Wolfe, Steven Brust, Terry Pratchett, China Miéville.
We are in agreement that there is little to no point to proceeding with books that don't capture our attention.
I checked out your initial post in the thread. Miéville is indeed great. I quite like Abercrombie as well. Never understood the love for Rothfuss. Morgan as I said does nothing for me. But then reading much like listing to music is a visceral experience and what captures the individual captures the individual.
I will check out both Polansky and Bennett.
Christian themes pervade Tolkien well beyond Eru's clearly being analogous with God. I am as I said as lapsed as they come but I was raised Catholic and can plainly see Tolkien's faith come through in the work. He himself did admit this was the case. The day of the Ring's destruction and with it the fall of Sauron takes place on a date that has marked or marks that of three major events on the Christian calendar. There is a theological subtext throughout much of the trilogy. It is not an overtly religious work—neither is the Solar Cycle really—but metaphors abound for all manner of things very much Christian. Its treatment of evil. Providence. Transfiguration. The Lord of the Rings is richer in Christian symbolism than is The Book of the New Sun where it begins and ends with the similarities between Severian and Christ. Tom Shippey is probably the most eminent among Tolkien scholars and he has commented on the Christian cast of the whole thing.
Let me tell you something: The only one of the 'great classic writers' I've read is Raymond Chandler =)
I like my books pulpy - it's fine. So, Richard Morgan is fine too. His antagonists are testorone driven action men, and I don't mind that. But clearly, it's an overdone stereotype, and not to everyone's taste. Still, I feel the Ringil books are pretty great fantasy.
I'm not sure I agree with you on Wolfe vs Tolkien. I don't go around catalogueing christian references in fiction - but I look it up. Wolfe's works are littered with references. It's not that I disagree that Tolkiens are, too - but to me, it's just less on the nose. The obvious racism is much more .. well, obvious.
Read The City of Stairs, by Bennett. If you dislike that, the rest of his books likely won't do much for you either. Polansky ... maybe avoid him, if you dislike pulp? The Warden is perhaps less testosterone fuelled than Takeshi Kovacs, but he's the same basic stereotype. Or similar, at any rate.
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Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
Drizt Do'Urden is super popular. Start with the Crystal Shard trilogy, then the prequels. The first series read like a D&D adventure
Just started reading those books, up to the 3rd book Sojourn currently and quite enjoyed the first 2 books, Homeland and Exile are particularly a great source of inspiration if you plan on running something like Out of the Abyss and need insights on how to run the Drow and their culture.
Hello to all. If you’re looking for something like the Drizzt or Dragonlance series, I think you’ll enjoy my high-fantasy audiobook, Alton’s Story: The Acquired Taste for Adventure. I put my heart into every line, and brought the story to life with my own narration/voice acting. It’s also inspired by a real D&D campaign, so it has all the humor and heart you’d expect from a real tabletop game. Enjoy! https://www.youtube.com/@altonsstory
Though he's most known for Drizz't, my favorite Salvatore character by a mile is Cadderly Bonaduce from the Cleric Quintet series of novels. I can't recommend them highly enough!
The Songs and Swords books by Elaine Cunningham are fun- lots of humor. Well, less in Silver Shadows, though it still has a moment or two. There’s no big overarching narrative, but I like the characters.
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The Moonshae, Shadowdale, and Icewind Dale are the Forgotten Realms OGs. They aren't the best in terms of writing, but the lore is amazing and gives great insights into the early development of Faerun. From there, you can continue reading Drizz't books. The Cleric Quintet (another R.A.S.) series does a good job at exploring the least appreciated class, especially back when it was written and cleric was just the guy who got to pick last. Note of caution with R.A.S... many of his books have a bit too much deus ex machina. Ed Greenwood's Elminster series is very good.
For Dragonlance, start with Dragons of Autumn Twilight, and work your way forward. Chronicles, and then Legends. The Elvish Nations Trilogy is decent, though contradictory to some of the main lore. Dwarven Nations was similar. I also enjoyed the Heroes Sextet (Legend of Huma, Storm Blade, Weasel's Luck, Kaz the Minotaur, the Gates of Thorbardin, and Galen Beknighted.
This is all through the haze of several decades of memory.
First of all, I'm going to agree with the people saying none of them are great. Some of them are a decent read, but there's a lot better fantasy fiction out there. There's also a lot better in specifically heroic/epic fantasy.
But if you're looking specifically for books that read like D&D, AFAIK they're what you've got.
From memory, most of them were readable. Some were definitely not good, but I mostly don't recall which. (Avoid the Cloakmaster Cycle; it's what finally broke me of my habit of finishing any book I started. Pool of Radiance and its sequel left a similarly memorable impression.)
The Dragonlance Chronicles are fine. I recall the second trilogy (Legends?) as being better. (This may be partly because Raistlin's by far the best character from Chronicles.)
Other people have mentioned the Iceland Dale trilogy. (Really three books sharing a main cast rather than a proper trilogy.) If you think Drizzt is cool, the Dark Elf trilogy will give you more of him. If you're not a moody teenager who feels like an outsider all the time, he may not resonate with you.
That said, they do have a tendency to run things well past the amount of story they can support. Like Drizzt? There's I think thirty-odd books starring him now. (I gave up after the seventh.) The cast of Dragonlance Chronicles have prequels, sequels, further adventures, their kids' stories, and I know not what else.
Salvatore and Richard A. Knaak are the authors I remember thinking were good, though the former may have been more because I was a moody teenager who felt like an outsider all the time. :)
Your initial post in this thread said there are no good D&D books.
Maybe someday some of them will be considered literature? If you're now going to get snarky because someone has pointed out that literary fantasy is a thing and Brandon Sanderson while good stuff isn't it.
Mervyn Peake is held in high regard even outside of the genre. He's considered one of the greatest British writers of the twentieth century. For what it's worth.
INSPIRATIONS: Clark Ashton Smith, Mervyn Peake, Jack Vance, Michael Moorcock, Fritz Leiber, M. John Harrison, Gene Wolfe, Steven Brust, Terry Pratchett, China Miéville.
SYSTEMS: ShadowDark, C&C, AD&D.
GEAR: pencils, graph paper, dice.
I’m excited to read them, I’m reading The Druids Call next, after that looking for a book like Stardust one of my favorite books of all time, if you haven’t read it, read it it’s amazing. Also does anyone know of any good DND graphic novels?
Gene Wolfe is really good, but he's like Richard Morgan: He starts great and finishes poorly. There's also the religious angle: Severian, like Aslan, is Jesus, and since I'm a thoroughly unreligious person, that .. well, it bothers me.
I tried reading Mervyn Peake thrice, but while he writes well, he just doesn't capture me. I get bored and quit. Gormenghast is like a metaphor for itself - it's endless, several pages just to describe a kitchen? Jeez.
I've never read Jack Vance, and I actively despise Brandon Sanderson - although maybe he doesn't deserve that, I read one book I didn't like. Don't even remember which one =)
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
Whatever your personal thoughts on Wolfe and Peake they are both considered to be literary fantasy.
Morgan is pap compared to Wolfe. And if "the religious angle" often encountered in literature bothers you then that's a lot of great writing in the Western Canon you're gonna be missing out on. No Dostoevsky? No Tolstoy? No Dante? Screw that. I'm as lapsed as they come. I've long outgrown however the sort of disdain I might have had for religion when I was in my youth.
Just out of curiosity: Have you an aversion to The Lord of the Rings for this same reason?
Peake more than writes well and is considered to be one of the greatest British writers of the past century. A lot of things bore me and I quit them if and when expected to do them—watching sports and reading "business psychology" for example—but this says nothing of the quality of either of these things and more about what I've a threshold for in terms of my patience.
Vance is worth the time of anyone who plays the game. Brandson Sanderson is just genre fiction and not at all an example of what I'd call "great writing." But I can see why people enjoy his books.
What "D&D books" would you recommend? What fantasy in general?
INSPIRATIONS: Clark Ashton Smith, Mervyn Peake, Jack Vance, Michael Moorcock, Fritz Leiber, M. John Harrison, Gene Wolfe, Steven Brust, Terry Pratchett, China Miéville.
SYSTEMS: ShadowDark, C&C, AD&D.
GEAR: pencils, graph paper, dice.
I just finished Druid's Call last night and really enjoyed it! Only drawback I found was it felt like the editors forced some stuff to set up the movie into it, and if those were removed to just let the author tell Doric's story, it would have been even better. But still a really enjoyable story as well as the best example I've read of a druid main character.
I'm also working on the other movie prequel, Road to Neverwinter. Not very far yet, but it's fun so far.
I don't think I saw mention, but Keith Baker's Eberron novels are great! His Dreaming Dark trilogy is right up there with the original Icewind Dale trilogy as some of my all time favorite D&D novels. That is, if you like Eberron, of course, which has it's own distinctive feel.
I'd also echo the Brimstone Angels books, and early R.A. Salvatore (simply haven't read more recent stuff, so not sure good or bad, but I've heard good things). I do know from experience that Ed Greenwood's Elminster novels are good only if you want a ton of Forgotten Realms lore delivered with very flowery prose, but for me and others I've talked to, they really felt like a slog. However, I know others still who swear by them as spectacular. So they are very hit-and-miss without many opinions in the middle.
Also, I haven't read them yet, but I've heard good things about the Critical Role novels. They aren't official D&D novels, but about as close as you can be, and that crew really likes to focus heavy on character and story more than action if that's your thing.
Jim Zub has quite a few D&D comics that are fun, although I haven't read many yet. I do know they are quite popular.
Also, again, this is an area that Critical Role has been publishing in as well with various prequel graphic novels for their main characters as well as a couple important NPCs.
Lastly, the majority of R.A. Salvatore's Drizzt series has been made into graphic novels as well, I think, but I haven't read them yet.
Well, I did not say Peake or Wolfe weren't literary fantasy. I said that Wolfe was good, but his first books are much better than his last - and his main character is literally meant to be Jesus. Which isn't my cup of tea, but that doesn't apply to anyone else. I also said I've tried reading Peake, and he - quite literally - goes on and on about a kitchen for pages on end. Too long-winded for my tastes, even if it's well written.
And Richard Morgan is easily on par with both. Sure, he's pulpier - but his plots work, his writing is great, and he's original in a way that hardly any fantasy writers are.
No Tolstoi, no Dostoyevsky, no Dante. LotR get's a pass, for old times sake. Also, while I'm perfectly aware that Eru the one god is a real world parallel - he's not even mentioned in the trilogy, and Gandalf is not Jesus. But LotR is highly problematic for various reasons, anyways.
I read for entertainment. Merwyn Peake is inventive in his language, and very highly detailed in his descriptions - and he bores me, and he doesn't get read. Sorry, but there's just no way around that. If he doesn't captures my attention, his books get relegated to the bookshelf. That's regrettable, because I believe there's an exceptional story in there. I'll have to wait for the .. childrens edition, or some such =)
I'll look into Jack Vance. I'm way too ... strict on what I read, and what I don't. It closes a lot of doors.
What D&D books I recommend? None. I'll say this: When I was a teenager, I consumed the Dragonlance books. Later, I sorta did the same with the Drizzt ditto. But just because I felt they were great at the time doesn't mean I still have to. The fantasy in general I recommend I already recommended.
Oh, an addendum on Richard Morgan: His main character always seems to be the same guy. Ringil Silver-eyes, Takeshi Kovach, Carl Marsalis - other than being set in different eras and having different backgrounds and reasons for their fury, they're pretty much the same guy. So ... inventive in other ways =)
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
We are in agreement that there is little to no point to proceeding with books that don't capture our attention.
I checked out your initial post in the thread. Miéville is indeed great. I quite like Abercrombie as well. Never understood the love for Rothfuss. Morgan as I said does nothing for me. But then reading much like listing to music is a visceral experience and what captures the individual captures the individual.
I will check out both Polansky and Bennett.
Christian themes pervade Tolkien well beyond Eru's clearly being analogous with God. I am as I said as lapsed as they come but I was raised Catholic and can plainly see Tolkien's faith come through in the work. He himself did admit this was the case. The day of the Ring's destruction and with it the fall of Sauron takes place on a date that has marked or marks that of three major events on the Christian calendar. There is a theological subtext throughout much of the trilogy. It is not an overtly religious work—neither is the Solar Cycle really—but metaphors abound for all manner of things very much Christian. Its treatment of evil. Providence. Transfiguration. The Lord of the Rings is richer in Christian symbolism than is The Book of the New Sun where it begins and ends with the similarities between Severian and Christ. Tom Shippey is probably the most eminent among Tolkien scholars and he has commented on the Christian cast of the whole thing.
INSPIRATIONS: Clark Ashton Smith, Mervyn Peake, Jack Vance, Michael Moorcock, Fritz Leiber, M. John Harrison, Gene Wolfe, Steven Brust, Terry Pratchett, China Miéville.
SYSTEMS: ShadowDark, C&C, AD&D.
GEAR: pencils, graph paper, dice.
For Graphic Novels get Fell’s Five…
Let me tell you something: The only one of the 'great classic writers' I've read is Raymond Chandler =)
I like my books pulpy - it's fine. So, Richard Morgan is fine too. His antagonists are testorone driven action men, and I don't mind that. But clearly, it's an overdone stereotype, and not to everyone's taste. Still, I feel the Ringil books are pretty great fantasy.
I'm not sure I agree with you on Wolfe vs Tolkien. I don't go around catalogueing christian references in fiction - but I look it up. Wolfe's works are littered with references. It's not that I disagree that Tolkiens are, too - but to me, it's just less on the nose. The obvious racism is much more .. well, obvious.
Read The City of Stairs, by Bennett. If you dislike that, the rest of his books likely won't do much for you either. Polansky ... maybe avoid him, if you dislike pulp? The Warden is perhaps less testosterone fuelled than Takeshi Kovacs, but he's the same basic stereotype. Or similar, at any rate.
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
Just started reading those books, up to the 3rd book Sojourn currently and quite enjoyed the first 2 books, Homeland and Exile are particularly a great source of inspiration if you plan on running something like Out of the Abyss and need insights on how to run the Drow and their culture.
Hello to all. If you’re looking for something like the Drizzt or Dragonlance series, I think you’ll enjoy my high-fantasy audiobook, Alton’s Story: The Acquired Taste for Adventure. I put my heart into every line, and brought the story to life with my own narration/voice acting. It’s also inspired by a real D&D campaign, so it has all the humor and heart you’d expect from a real tabletop game. Enjoy! https://www.youtube.com/@altonsstory
The Avatar Trilogy and The Legend of Huma
Though he's most known for Drizz't, my favorite Salvatore character by a mile is Cadderly Bonaduce from the Cleric Quintet series of novels. I can't recommend them highly enough!
The Songs and Swords books by Elaine Cunningham are fun- lots of humor. Well, less in Silver Shadows, though it still has a moment or two. There’s no big overarching narrative, but I like the characters.