| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Jakk |
Posted - 22 Aug 2009 : 19:35:22
quote:
Originally posted by Draenar
<snip>quote:
Originally posted by Joran Nobleheart
My first question is: What year was it when Storm and Elminster went to the magefair? I think it was before the Time of Troubles, but just wanted to make sure.
It took place in 1355 DR, according to this (official) site: http://www.wizards.com/forgottenrealms/fr_timeline.asp. (It's not very up-to-date, but I've found it a good quick-reference, when hunting through the Grand History would be too distracting.)
To the authors of the Realms novels that I've recently begun catching up on (I'm about ten years behind with some exceptions, so bear with me; I've not yet read any 3E-era or later novels not written by Ed, with the exceptions of Blackstaff and Blackstaff Tower, but the scribes here have convinced me that I'm missing some good stuff): Is there any chance of the above timeline being updated? My primary out-of-game interest in the Realms is as a genealogist and historian, and the above timeline and the one found here (http://forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=7930) are great resources for my projects, even with such a magnificent work as the Grand History (which, as mentioned above, can be too distracting when I'm looking for something in particular).
Thank you! 
(Late edit: Italicised novel titles.) |
| 20 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Delson |
Posted - 27 Oct 2009 : 12:13:57
Well, spoken, Wooly. I love good metaphors, and this one illustrates exactly how I feel. Many times when I'm reading a passage from the FR Camp Gauide to PC's after they've made a fantastic History check or Streetwise check, I have to puzzle out what WotC is trying to say, as in Aglarond's entry. Having not poked a peek into the Grand History of the Realms, unsupported facts in these passages without references makes PC's with backgrounds in those nations difficult to get a handle on what's been happening at home.
I've looked at what is required to be a WotC R&D employee, and the competition is fierce among graduates with English degrees. Who'd of thought? So, armed with all the knowledge of APA and MLA writing styles, let's see some footnotes, or bibliography pages in our History check passages, just as anyone would expect to see in a historical encyclopedic entry on even a non-peer reviewed source such as Wikipedia. Including dates, abbreviated timelines with novel and other product listings would boost their sales, I am almost certain.
Then, threads like this one would not be so necessary.
Oh, and thanks for the addendum, Sage! I'll check the reviews to see if it's worth looking at. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 27 Oct 2009 : 07:01:16
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by Delson
Which novel does Cyric kill Mystra and cause the Spellplague?
It doesn't happen in a novel. It was revealed in the Grand History of the Realms sourcebook.
Addendum:- We've learned a little more about Mystra's demise from Thomas Reid's The Crystal Mountain, which is the third book "The Empryean Odyssey" trilogy. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 27 Oct 2009 : 06:07:51
quote:
Originally posted by Delson
Thanks! I would have never figured that out if it weren't for this place and your response. The bad part is, I even HAVE that trilogy of adventures, but only bought them just before 4th edition was released, and so never even cracked them open to play. I had no idea that those events would stick.
Thanks again for the info. :)
Well, it's not that the events stuck... It's that despite whatever the PCs do or fail to do, a few years later, everything gets messed up anyway. Even ignoring all the negativity about 4E and what it did to the Realms, it's really bad form for a game company to say "Okay, here's a big adventure where your characters can stop a huge disaster! And guess what? If they stop it, we're going to do it another way!"
It's like avoiding a nasty accident and then getting in one a mile up the road. You may have done some fancy driving the first time, but by the end of the day, your car is still totalled. It doesn't matter if it was the first car that did it or the second car, because either way, you need new wheels. |
| Delson |
Posted - 27 Oct 2009 : 05:15:19
Thanks! I would have never figured that out if it weren't for this place and your response. The bad part is, I even HAVE that trilogy of adventures, but only bought them just before 4th edition was released, and so never even cracked them open to play. I had no idea that those events would stick.
Thanks again for the info. :) |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 27 Oct 2009 : 01:48:18
quote:
Originally posted by Delson
Hi! New to this forum, and new to forums for that much actually. My question is this:
Which novel does Cyric kill Mystra and cause the Spellplague? What about which one does Shar do whatever it is she's doing with Netheril and the Anauroch desert and the Shadow Weave?
I've read about "Undead" and "The Ghost King" which take place during 1385 DR, but is there actually a novel yet that describes the firsthand events leading up to the big disaster?
It doesn't happen in a novel. It was revealed in the Grand History of the Realms sourcebook.
And the Shar/Netheril/Anauroch thing was a trilogy of "supermodules" entitled Cormyr: The Tearing of the Weave, Shadowdale: the Scouring of the Land, Anauroch: The Empire of Shade. It's a trilogy of hardcover modules ( ) where the PCs get to stop Shar and the Shades from destroying the Weave... which happens anyway, per the later events in the Grand History.
A lot of people have stated an interest in seeing this stuff in novel form, but it is, for the most part, hands-off: the designers have said that novels in that timeframe are pretty much not going to happen.
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| Delson |
Posted - 26 Oct 2009 : 19:44:35
Hi! New to this forum, and new to forums for that much actually. My question is this:
Which novel does Cyric kill Mystra and cause the Spellplague? What about which one does Shar do whatever it is she's doing with Netheril and the Anauroch desert and the Shadow Weave?
I've read about "Undead" and "The Ghost King" which take place during 1385 DR, but is there actually a novel yet that describes the firsthand events leading up to the big disaster? |
| The Sage |
Posted - 29 Aug 2009 : 04:59:36
quote:
Originally posted by Christopher_Rowe
Everybody's got a soft spot for evil bards.
Cheers,
Ah, "The Electric Elves." My SHADOWRUN campaigns have a lot to be thankful for. 
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| Christopher_Rowe |
Posted - 29 Aug 2009 : 02:19:50
Everybody's got a soft spot for evil bards.
Cheers,
|
| Erik Scott de Bie |
Posted - 29 Aug 2009 : 01:27:06
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
I'll throw in Richard Lee Byers' "Song of Chaos" tale as well. Probably some of the best musical-related Realmslore I've read.
And it's got an EVIL bard. You've got to love that!
As does Ghostwalker . . . [ahem!]
Ok, stopping the shameless plugging now.
Cheers |
| The Sage |
Posted - 29 Aug 2009 : 00:23:07
I'll throw in Richard Lee Byers' "Song of Chaos" tale as well. Probably some of the best musical-related Realmslore I've read.
And it's got an EVIL bard. You've got to love that!
|
| Jakk |
Posted - 28 Aug 2009 : 22:19:25
Thanks to all for the advice! I suspect I'll be reading Ed's story and the Erevis Cale story, then the Cale novels.  |
| Erik Scott de Bie |
Posted - 28 Aug 2009 : 21:23:16
My advice is this:
If you want the full Sembia experience, definitely read them in order (the anthology contains a classic Ed story). If you're only after Erevis Cale, read his short story in Halls of Stormweather ("Resurrection", it's called, I think?), then Shadow's Witness, then Twilight Falling, etc.
Cheers |
| The Sage |
Posted - 28 Aug 2009 : 07:34:22
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by Jakk
Shadow's Witness? No, I do not have that title... hrm...  ...more research is required...
Edit: Book 2 of the Sembia series... is this a serialized storyline, or is it just a collection of novels that all happen to be set in Sembia? 
It's a loosely interconnected bunch of books, all focusing on members of one family.
Indeed.
Though, Jakk, I'd start with the Halls of Stormweather anthology, which establishes the setting for most of the follow-up books in the series. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 28 Aug 2009 : 06:42:43
quote:
Originally posted by Jakk
Shadow's Witness? No, I do not have that title... hrm... ...more research is required...
Edit: Book 2 of the Sembia series... is this a serialized storyline, or is it just a collection of novels that all happen to be set in Sembia?
It's a loosely interconnected bunch of books, all focusing on members of one family. A lot of people rave about them. I do not, which leaves me in a rather small minority. |
| Jakk |
Posted - 28 Aug 2009 : 05:22:27
Shadow's Witness? No, I do not have that title... hrm... ...more research is required...
Edit: Book 2 of the Sembia series... is this a serialized storyline, or is it just a collection of novels that all happen to be set in Sembia? |
| Erik Scott de Bie |
Posted - 25 Aug 2009 : 06:19:34
To be fair, the Twilight War books do stand alone fairly well, so you don't really need the EC trilogy . . . but I do think it will enrich your reading experience to see where Cale comes from. Have you got Shadow's Witness as well?
Cheers |
| Jakk |
Posted - 25 Aug 2009 : 04:39:18
quote:
Originally posted by Erik Scott de Bie
Woah, yay, WotC timeline! Haven't seen that in a while.
Not sure if it will ever be updated--you might check out O-Love's Realms novels timeline: http://www.o-love.net/realms/fr_time_books.html
<chop>
Cheers
Thanks for the link, and the timeline info on your work, Erik! I'm looking forward to reading your work, and I can confirm that you and Paul Kemp are the first two authors on my list... the more specific order all depends on whose books arrive first. Ghostwalker, Depths of Madness, and Paul's Twilight War trilogy have been ordered, but it appears I'll have to order Paul's Erevis Cale trilogy now and read it before his other work... so Ghostwalker and Depths of Madness will very likely get read first. (Sorry, Paul.) |
| The Sage |
Posted - 23 Aug 2009 : 03:07:17
quote:
Originally posted by Erik Scott de Bie
Not sure if it will ever be updated...
Granted, 'tis been a few years, but I asked Wizards Customer Service much the same back in '04. They simply stated, in reply, "not at this time."
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| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 23 Aug 2009 : 02:33:53
Yeah, that Wizards timeline was first post in like 2000, and was never updated after that. Since finding out about it, I've always referred people to O Love's site -- though I've never taken the link to the Wizards one off of my Linkies! page. |
| Erik Scott de Bie |
Posted - 22 Aug 2009 : 21:02:56
Woah, yay, WotC timeline! Haven't seen that in a while.
Not sure if it will ever be updated--you might check out O-Love's Realms novels timeline: http://www.o-love.net/realms/fr_time_books.html
I'll also give specific information on my novels, if it's of any help. As I mentioned in the linked thread, the events of my novel Ghostwalker transpire between Tarsakh 24 and Greengrass (the day after Tarsakh 30) in Quaervarr in the Silver Marches.
My second novel Depths of Madness occurs during Nightal 1374, with the epilogue taking place on 1 Hammer 1375. The location could be construed as something of a spoiler, but it *is* mentioned in the 1375 list in Grand History of the Realms.
My two short stories ("The Hunting Game" and "The Greater Treasure") takie place in 1364 Western Heartlands and 1362 Elversult respectively.
My recent novel Downshadow takes place in Waterdeep in Tarsakh/Mirtul of 1479.
My upcoming short story "A Love Story in Parts" (Realms of the Dead anthology) takes place in 1479. Exact month and setting still a secret.
Cheers |
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