| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| pure |
Posted - 28 Apr 2005 : 10:10:56
i know this has probably asked before but i need to know. i am fairly new to fr all i have read is the drizzt series but i want to have a list of novels which will give me a solid base of knoledge about the realms |
| 21 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Faraer |
Posted - 04 May 2005 : 20:38:06
quote:
Originally posted by Toedoe
I'd say start with The Avatar Trilogy first. May be even the Moonshae trilogy if ya can find it, then the Avatar trilogy. After that, read what ever catches your fancy.
Avatar was written before the non-Ed authors (other than Grubb and Novak) developed much of a feel for the Realms, needs the reader to already know the Realms before its upheavals can have much of an emotional hook, has characters acting as out of character (though subjective viewpoints account for some of this) as in Archwizards. Moonshae was not originally written for the Realms, doesn't feel like the Realms, doesn't work like the Realms.
I would suggest Spellfire (above all) and Cormyr: A Novel next, then Elfshadow, Azure Bonds, Elminster's Daughter or The Halls of Stormweather. |
| SirUrza |
Posted - 04 May 2005 : 19:00:15
There are 3 places I tell people to start (no particular order)...
The Crystal Shard
Elf Shadow
Spellfire
Since he read Crystal Shard, he's got 2 options IMHO. :) |
| Toedoe |
Posted - 04 May 2005 : 15:31:35
quote:
Originally posted by Kajehase
I'd start with Azure Bonds as it's set before the ToT - making the impact of that whole event a bit more obvious (and in my opinion those books need all the help they can get to not get thrown across the room in disgust) - and is a better book than the Moonshaes trilogy.
I agree, Moonshae trilogy isnt that good, and Azure Bonds is better. I mentioned it because it is also a pre-ToT trilogy and didn't think of Azure Bonds. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 04 May 2005 : 11:40:22
quote:
Originally posted by Kajehase
I'd start with Azure Bonds as it's set before the ToT - making the impact of that whole event a bit more obvious (and in my opinion those books need all the help they can get to not get thrown across the room in disgust) - and is a better book than the Moonshaes trilogy.
I can agree with that. I love the Finders Stone trilogy, and I've never been impressed by the Moonshae trilogy... |
| Kajehase |
Posted - 04 May 2005 : 05:43:44
I'd start with Azure Bonds as it's set before the ToT - making the impact of that whole event a bit more obvious (and in my opinion those books need all the help they can get to not get thrown across the room in disgust) - and is a better book than the Moonshaes trilogy. |
| Toedoe |
Posted - 04 May 2005 : 03:39:11
I'd say start with The Avatar Trilogy first. May be even the Moonshae trilogy if ya can find it, then the Avatar trilogy. After that, read what ever catches your fancy. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 04 May 2005 : 02:53:02
quote:
Originally posted by SiriusBlack
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
I'd skip Return of the Archwizards, myself. I don't think that reading it would help a new person get a feel for the Realms; in fact, I think it would do the opposite, since so many of the iconic characters acted like absolute morons. That's just not a trilogy I can recommend to people.
I'm backing WR here. I don't see that tome helping a person new to the Realms. Moreover, I'm afraid it might scare some new readers off from reading additional Realms fiction.
I almost said the same thing.  |
| SiriusBlack |
Posted - 04 May 2005 : 01:53:32
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
I'd skip Return of the Archwizards, myself. I don't think that reading it would help a new person get a feel for the Realms; in fact, I think it would do the opposite, since so many of the iconic characters acted like absolute morons. That's just not a trilogy I can recommend to people.
I'm backing WR here. I don't see that tome helping a person new to the Realms. Moreover, I'm afraid it might scare some new readers off from reading additional Realms fiction. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 03 May 2005 : 22:47:56
quote:
Originally posted by Xysma
quote:
Originally posted by pure
i know this has probably asked before but i need to know. i am fairly new to fr all i have read is the drizzt series but i want to have a list of novels which will give me a solid base of knoledge about the realms
If you want to be up to date with the current Realms timeline, read the Avatar series and the Return of the Archwizards series, that should get you up to speed with present day Faerun. After that, you can't go wrong with any of Ed Greenwood's or Elaine Cnningham's books.
I'd skip Return of the Archwizards, myself. I don't think that reading it would help a new person get a feel for the Realms; in fact, I think it would do the opposite, since so many of the iconic characters acted like absolute morons. That's just not a trilogy I can recommend to people. |
| Xysma |
Posted - 03 May 2005 : 21:51:57
quote:
Originally posted by pure
i know this has probably asked before but i need to know. i am fairly new to fr all i have read is the drizzt series but i want to have a list of novels which will give me a solid base of knoledge about the realms
If you want to be up to date with the current Realms timeline, read the Avatar series and the Return of the Archwizards series, that should get you up to speed with present day Faerun. After that, you can't go wrong with any of Ed Greenwood's or Elaine Cnningham's books. |
| SirUrza |
Posted - 02 May 2005 : 01:06:13
quote:
Originally posted by Rudar Dimble
May be you should do some research on the FR first. Just to get a grip on th world. And I think Evermeet by Elaine Cunningham is a good starting point. It covers much of the FR history.
Except very little of that History really has anything to do with 95% of the novels. :)
I wouldn't read Evermeet until AFTER you read the Songs & Swords series since the "current" events in Evermeet are directly related to that series. |
| Rudar Dimble |
Posted - 30 Apr 2005 : 15:15:13
May be you should do some research on the FR first. Just to get a grip on th world. And I think Evermeet by Elaine Cunningham is a good starting point. It covers much of the FR history. |
| Smyther |
Posted - 30 Apr 2005 : 02:22:23
If you become interested in a particular area, you can see my list of novel areas in my aptly named 'Novel Areas.' |
| Sandhrune |
Posted - 29 Apr 2005 : 18:56:40
the first FR book I read was Spellfire. After that I read the Avatar trilogy I think that those are good ones to start with. |
| SirUrza |
Posted - 29 Apr 2005 : 17:15:33
Check out my Microsoft Word checklist, the last page has a quasi-reader's guideline.
http://www.candlekeep.com/downloads/frchecklist.zip
|
| Ethriel |
Posted - 29 Apr 2005 : 15:12:34
My personal recommendations would be...Ed, Jeff and Troy's 'Cormyr' trilogy, Paul Kemp's brilliant Erevis Cale trilogy, Elaine Cunningham's Evermeet and Song and Swords series, along with her Starlight and Shadows if you like Drow.
And if you REALLY like the drow, can't go wrong with War of the Spider Queen...which brings me to two newer and very good trilogies: The year of Rogue Dragons, and the Last Mythal |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 29 Apr 2005 : 11:36:59
It's easy... Look at the list wwwwwww linked to. Take any books by Ed Greenwood, Elaine Cunningham, and the writing duo of Jeff Grubb and Kate Novak. Between that group of authors, you'll have a great base of knowledge about the Realms.  |
| Paec_djinn |
Posted - 29 Apr 2005 : 09:58:11
You might wanna look for sourcebooks (Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting) should start you off. Novels while they do sometimes give some lore.
Personally I haven't read any sourcebooks in my entire life but I used online references to get more knowledge of the realms. As for me though, I started off with the Sembia series (The Shattered Mask) to be exact and since then I've about 30 FR books. |
| pure |
Posted - 29 Apr 2005 : 07:48:41
first off sorry about the question.
when i look through the posts i see people with a vast knowledge of the realms. What i want is a list of the great novels that will start me on my path to enlightenment |
| wwwwwww |
Posted - 28 Apr 2005 : 16:00:23
quote:
Originally posted by pure
i know this has probably asked before but i need to know. i am fairly new to fr all i have read is the drizzt series but i want to have a list of novels which will give me a solid base of knoledge about the realms
http://www.candlekeep.com/bookshelf/novels.htm gives you the entire list of FR novels. It has been my guide ever since I started reading FR. |
| SiriusBlack |
Posted - 28 Apr 2005 : 11:43:06
quote:
Originally posted by pure
i know this has probably asked before but i need to know. i am fairly new to fr all i have read is the drizzt series but i want to have a list of novels which will give me a solid base of knoledge about the realms
Welcome to Candlekeep Pure:
I'd ask first what your interest is within the Realms. Did you like the drizzt series because it focused on dark elves? Is there another geographic location that you enjoy? Another race you'd like to read about such as elves or dwarves? If I knew some of what you enjoy reading about within a novel, beyond a solid base of knowledge about the Realms which every tome provides to some degree, I'll have some suggestions for you.
SB |
