| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Dennis |
Posted - 08 Aug 2011 : 08:36:09
For the next Realms of X anthology, how about we have Realms from Beyond, featuring aboleths, mind flayers, sharn, the phaerimm, mephits, nighthaunts, the githvyriks, and all other aberrations and outsiders, delving into their origins, their inner and inter-racial wars, their foray into the Prime, and their goals? |
| 30 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Artemas Entreri |
Posted - 26 Aug 2011 : 13:58:14
quote:
Originally posted by Dennis
quote:
Originally posted by entreri3478
quote:
Originally posted by Dennis
I had a bad experience with the barbarian Sunbright. Most importantly, I'm only partial to wizards. All other classes are either trivial or less interesting to me.
I wasn't too thrilled with Sunbright either. I was excited about the Netheril Trilogy, but felt that it was lacking substance compared to other realms books of the 90's
Ironically, for a series that's supposed to provide a substantial amount of Netheril-lore, The Netheril trilogy gave just a little. Despite such and some other things, I still enjoyed that series. For me, no civilization thus far has ever managed to surpass Netheril.
Don't get me wrong, i did still enjoy that trilogy for a few reasons.
1) it took place in a part of the Realms i had never been in
2) it showcased some awesome magical power
I just felt like Emery was trying to pawn Sunbright off as a copy of Conan. I enjoy when characters of a certain type (barbarian, wizard, assassin, etc) stand out from other characters of the same genre. |
| Dennis |
Posted - 25 Aug 2011 : 17:42:43
quote:
Originally posted by entreri3478
quote:
Originally posted by Dennis
I had a bad experience with the barbarian Sunbright. Most importantly, I'm only partial to wizards. All other classes are either trivial or less interesting to me.
I wasn't too thrilled with Sunbright either. I was excited about the Netheril Trilogy, but felt that it was lacking substance compared to other realms books of the 90's
Ironically, for a series that's supposed to provide a substantial amount of Netheril-lore, The Netheril trilogy gave just a little. Despite such and some other things, I still enjoyed that series. For me, no civilization thus far has ever managed to surpass Netheril. |
| Artemas Entreri |
Posted - 25 Aug 2011 : 16:12:08
quote:
Originally posted by Dennis
I had a bad experience with the barbarian Sunbright. Most importantly, I'm only partial to wizards. All other classes are either trivial or less interesting to me.
I wasn't too thrilled with Sunbright either. I was excited about the Netheril Trilogy, but felt that it was lacking substance compared to other realms books of the 90's |
| Dennis |
Posted - 25 Aug 2011 : 15:54:39
I had a bad experience with the barbarian Sunbright. Most importantly, I'm only partial to wizards. All other classes are either trivial or less interesting to me. |
| Artemas Entreri |
Posted - 25 Aug 2011 : 15:10:40
quote:
Originally posted by Dennis
Realms of the Barbarians? Now that's something I would have to pass.
Oh come on, it could be good. And if not you could always just smash it with your Warhammer +3  |
| Dennis |
Posted - 25 Aug 2011 : 15:07:54
Realms of the Barbarians? Now that's something I would have to pass. |
| Artemas Entreri |
Posted - 25 Aug 2011 : 15:00:55
There are many possibilities for potentially great "Realms of" books. How about a Realms of the Dales, focusing on the smaller Dales that we really don't hear that much about? A Realms of Barbarians could be interesting as well. I always enjoyed the tribal aspects of The Crystal Shard, Horselords, etc. |
| AdamBridger |
Posted - 24 Aug 2011 : 14:34:28
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by AdamBridger
quote:
Originally posted by Hawkins
You do realize that there are actually two Realms of the Dragons (I & II) don't you?
Unfortunately for me the fact that there was a Realms of the Dragons II confused a large number of retailers in the UK who didn't see that there was a difference from the 1st book and as such didn't stock or even list it.
Seriously? The number II didn't clue them in?
Man, movie sequels must bomb in the UK... 
Even the sequel to Unbroken Chain confused Amazon for quite a long time. |
| Dennis |
Posted - 24 Aug 2011 : 06:53:29
I don't treat the aboleths as horror-inspiring creatures, but just another kind of nasty monsters. Horror and fantasy had already merged a long time ago and became a new genre, or sub-genre, but as always, one is more dominant than the other. Some of Stephen King's novels convey elements of fantasy, but horror dominates the themes all the time. As for FR fiction, the few elements of horror that "dark" novels carry are but secondary; they are first and foremost fantasy. I see nothing wrong with that. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 23 Aug 2011 : 18:04:22
quote:
Originally posted by AdamBridger
quote:
Originally posted by Hawkins
You do realize that there are actually two Realms of the Dragons (I & II) don't you?
Unfortunately for me the fact that there was a Realms of the Dragons II confused a large number of retailers in the UK who didn't see that there was a difference from the 1st book and as such didn't stock or even list it.
Seriously? The number II didn't clue them in?
Man, movie sequels must bomb in the UK... |
| AdamBridger |
Posted - 23 Aug 2011 : 17:42:51
quote:
Originally posted by Hawkins
You do realize that there are actually two Realms of the Dragons (I & II) don't you?
Unfortunately for me the fact that there was a Realms of the Dragons II confused a large number of retailers in the UK who didn't see that there was a difference from the 1st book and as such didn't stock or even list it. |
| Hawkins |
Posted - 23 Aug 2011 : 16:48:47
quote:
Originally posted by Quale
The aberration anthology is probably the last I'd pick. Somewhere around the Realms of Drow or Dragons, the Spellplague or any other similar plague.
You do realize that there are actually two Realms of the Dragons (I & II) don't you? |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 23 Aug 2011 : 11:48:40
I, too, have no interest in aberrations. I like my Cthulhu and my fantasy to stay separate, and I think there's enough threats in a fantasy world without having to reach for something from beyond time and space. |
| Quale |
Posted - 23 Aug 2011 : 11:21:38
The aberration anthology is probably the last I'd pick. Somewhere around the Realms of Drow or Dragons, the Spellplague or any other similar plague. |
| Eltheron |
Posted - 22 Aug 2011 : 18:32:55
No offense meant to those who love them, but I hate Far Realms aberrations with a murderous passion. There were two reasons why the Far Realms were made, and IMO both of them utterly failed. The first one is that people thought it would be fun to have something Cthulhu-esque brought in for different stories. On the surface, that sounds good, but in practice it really doesn't. Much of the horror of Cthulhu depends on the protagonists being normal people with no special abilities. In the Realms, if you can cast lightning bolts or if you have a magic sword in hand, that "terror" just turns into another monster to fight for xp.
The second reason was because TSR watered down devils and demons in 2nd Edition SO much that they really weren't all that scary. But ultimately, their replacement with aberrations of bizarre appearance ended up being just another kind of monster. People wanted them to be inscrutable, madness-causing, terrible horrors, but they just never were.
The Abolethic Sovereignty should have had scary, horrific monsters in it. But it was just not that good, at all. The middle book was fairly interesting, but nothing about the series as a whole was even remotely scary; the first and third books were a major letdown. Some of the protagonists were compelling, but their overpowered epicness made the monsters a joke, really. For something supposed to have Lovecraftian themes, it certainly didn't work that way.
So I have less than zero interest in seeing more aberrations.
|
| AdamBridger |
Posted - 22 Aug 2011 : 17:53:04
quote:
Originally posted by Dennis
Oh. I think WotC would most likely have their bestselling authors write something. They've been doing that. In FR alone, there's hardly a Realms of X anthology that has no RAS story in it.
Normally the Realms of anthologies have 1-2 bestselling authors, a couple of established authors and a couple of relative newcomers. To have an anthology with only bestselling authors would most probably be cost prohibitive. |
| Dennis |
Posted - 22 Aug 2011 : 17:38:36
Oh. I think WotC would most likely have their bestselling authors write something. They've been doing that. In FR alone, there's hardly a Realms of X anthology that has no RAS story in it. |
| AdamBridger |
Posted - 22 Aug 2011 : 15:39:59
quote:
Originally posted by Dennis
And the best way to do that is to feature some of the iconic characters from each setting, or at the very least, the most requested realm/city/country.
Key/Iconic locations may be more practical/affordable than having a book completely filled with the best selling authors. However, if WotC were serious about encouraging greater cross-brand purchasing then the extra expenese on the most recognisable authors might be worth it. |
| Dennis |
Posted - 22 Aug 2011 : 15:17:19
And the best way to do that is to feature some of the iconic characters from each setting, or at the very least, the most requested realm/city/country. |
| AdamBridger |
Posted - 22 Aug 2011 : 14:59:38
quote:
Originally posted by Dennis
Technically, The Abyssal Plague is not an FR-exclusive trilogy. Only one of the novels is set in the Realms. If they're going to publish its supplementary anthology, they would most likely also include stories from the other settings. Which isn't bad.
I'd read it as well. It might also tempt readers from one setting to try other settings - which I guess is the partly the point of The Abyssal Plague anyway. As someone who has only read Forgotten Realms but heard of Dragonlance, Eberon etc in the back of FR books it could provide an excellent jumping on point for me. |
| Dennis |
Posted - 22 Aug 2011 : 12:56:23
It's nice to know there are many who want it, too. Hopefully more would voice their assent. Who knows, WotC might be listening... |
| canikoblivan |
Posted - 22 Aug 2011 : 12:46:28
I would definitely read it, there are so many things that needs to be explored deeper in the Sovereignty trilogy. |
| Dennis |
Posted - 22 Aug 2011 : 08:28:43
quote:
Originally posted by Kno
If it is RSE's then maybe Wizards release Realms of the Abyssal Plague
Technically, The Abyssal Plague is not an FR-exclusive trilogy. Only one of the novels is set in the Realms. If they're going to publish its supplementary anthology, they would most likely also include stories from the other settings. Which isn't bad.
--------------
I'd like to see the world where Vhostym came from, and if possible, meet his siblings, too. |
| Kno |
Posted - 11 Aug 2011 : 14:09:43
If it is RSE's then maybe Wizards release Realms of the Abyssal Plague
|
| Dennis |
Posted - 11 Aug 2011 : 06:54:40
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
quote:
Originally posted by Dennis
quote:
Originally posted by AdamBridger
They released Realms of the Dead about 1 year after the 3rd book in the series Unholy. Is it too late for a companion anthology to The Abolethic Sovereignty to be published?
If they can publish it this year, no, it won't be too late, since Key of Stars was published September last year.
That would've been an intriguing supplement for Bruce's trilogy -- because there were a number of interesting little tidbits in those books that could easily serve for greater exploration via an anthology.
I don't know what's their policy on publishing anthologies, but it appears like they limit it to one per year. For this year, there's Bob's Best of the Realms. But yes, Realms from Beyond would have made a great supplement for Bruce's novels.
I also notice that the trilogies that usually have supplementary anthologies are the RSE-types: Realms of the Dead, Realms of the Deep, Realms of Shadow... |
| The Sage |
Posted - 11 Aug 2011 : 02:00:09
quote:
Originally posted by Dennis
quote:
Originally posted by AdamBridger
They released Realms of the Dead about 1 year after the 3rd book in the series Unholy. Is it too late for a companion anthology to The Abolethic Sovereignty to be published?
If they can publish it this year, no, it won't be too late, since Key of Stars was published September last year.
That would've been an intriguing supplement for Bruce's trilogy -- because there were a number of interesting little tidbits in those books that could easily serve for greater exploration via an anthology.
|
| AdamBridger |
Posted - 10 Aug 2011 : 17:57:38
Its most probably too late then to publish it this year. Maybe early next year if they were to really push for it. |
| Dennis |
Posted - 10 Aug 2011 : 16:33:52
quote:
Originally posted by AdamBridger
They released Realms of the Dead about 1 year after the 3rd book in the series Unholy. Is it too late for a companion anthology to The Abolethic Sovereignty to be published?
If they can publish it this year, no, it won't be too late, since Key of Stars was published September last year. |
| AdamBridger |
Posted - 10 Aug 2011 : 16:24:09
They released Realms of the Dead about 1 year after the 3rd book in the series Unholy. Is it too late for a companion anthology to The Abolethic Sovereignty to be published? |
| Dennis |
Posted - 10 Aug 2011 : 16:16:52
They should have released this kind of anthology during The Abolethic Sovereignty by Bruce R. Cordell. |
