| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| darkcrow |
Posted - 03 Jan 2006 : 06:50:22
Where in 9 hells are Kate Novak & Jeff Grubb? The last Forgotten Realms book they wrote was Tymora's Luck back in 1997. Next to Salvatore, they are my favorite authors. Everytime I read one of thier books I was like "NO, IT CAN'T HAPPEN LIKE THIS. THERE'S NO WAY THEY'RE GOING TO GET OUT OF THAT". Then at the end of the book I would be like " HELL YA, I DON'T KNOW HOW THEY PULLED IT OFF, NOW THAT'S AN ENDING". Them two get me everytime. I sure would like to see more work from those two. |
| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| The Sage |
Posted - 09 Jan 2006 : 00:17:13
quote:
Originally posted by KnightErrantJR
I'll poke around the DragonLance forums, because the link to the interview was there. Ironically, it was linked to because of the connections between planes that linked the gods of Toril and Krynn in Tymora's Luck, and how Jeff didn't like portraying the gods the way he did because he felt that since he was writing from a "Planescape" point of view he had to make the gods seem less interested in their own worlds and more "multiversially political" than they otherwise would have seemed (BTW, my word that I made up, Grubb would have been more eloquent, lol). I'll do a search later tonight or tomorrow to see if I can find it and link it.
Yes, I remember that... and the extensive debate that come after it.
The fact remains... the gods of Krynn have never been the types of deities to have extensive interests outside their own crystal sphere and cosmology.
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| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 08 Jan 2006 : 22:20:32
Oh, in the above post, I forgot to mention that Jeff was talking about the DL gods being more "multiversially political" than the Toril gods, as he didn't have a problem with Toril's gods plotting and planning with and against gods from other worlds. I didn't want to imply that Jeff wrote the Realms gods in any way that might not have been ideal. He just wanted to point out that the books were originally Planescape books, and he had to change a bit in them when they were rescheduled as FR books.
The interveiw where he talks about writing in FR and potential future projects is here:
http://www.gamingreport.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=50
And another interview with him is listed here:
http://www.dl3e.com/features/interviews/11253.aspx |
| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 08 Jan 2006 : 21:53:41
I'll poke around the DragonLance forums, because the link to the interview was there. Ironically, it was linked to because of the connections between planes that linked the gods of Toril and Krynn in Tymora's Luck, and how Jeff didn't like portraying the gods the way he did because he felt that since he was writing from a "Planescape" point of view he had to make the gods seem less interested in their own worlds and more "multiversially political" than they otherwise would have seemed (BTW, my word that I made up, Grubb would have been more eloquent, lol). I'll do a search later tonight or tomorrow to see if I can find it and link it. |
| J D Dunsany |
Posted - 08 Jan 2006 : 21:23:44
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by J D Dunsany
Given Wizards' policy of reprinting older novels (or re-presenting them in snazzy collectors' editions), the distinction between old and new seems somewhat redundant, I'd have thought.
Love,
JD
Yeah, but that's not the same thing as publishing new stories with old characters... Reprinting an existing novel costs relatively little, compared to the cost of a new novel. Reprinting old novels, as long as there are enough sales to justify it, is an easy way of making more money.
Fair point, but I'm not sure I agree entirely. There are notable exceptions: RA Salvatore, I suppose, is the obvious one - although Ed seems to be doing reasonably well with Elminster. Both Ed and Elaine Cunningham were recently asked to finish off 'trilogies' (I'm putting 'trilogies' in inverted commas mainly because Ed didn't set out to write a trilogy of Shandril stories according to the interview here:
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=books/fr/shandril ) that started years before their ultimate denouement and nobody seemed to mind - particularly as the earlier parts of the trilogies were kindly reprinted for newer readers.
The point I guess that's being made here is that Greenwood, Salvatore and Cunningham are still around (in fact, TSR would have started publishing EC's stuff after Novak and Grubb's, wouldn't they?) continuing to tell stories about characters introduced in the early days of FR. Why not Novak and Grubb? The answer would seem to be personal preference from the authors - well, Grubb at least, if Knight Errant Jr's post is anything to go by. (Thanks, btw, KEJ - any chance of a hint where that interview with Jeff Grubb was?  )
Having read some of Jeff's 'Magic: The Gathering' work (as well as 'Azure Bonds' - just starting 'The Wyvern's Spur'), I'd love to see him do some new stuff for the Realms, but I think we might have to resign ourselves to the fact it ain't gonna happen any time soon.
Bye for now!
JDD |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 08 Jan 2006 : 16:40:24
quote:
Originally posted by J D Dunsany
Given Wizards' policy of reprinting older novels (or re-presenting them in snazzy collectors' editions), the distinction between old and new seems somewhat redundant, I'd have thought.
Love,
JD
Yeah, but that's not the same thing as publishing new stories with old characters... Reprinting an existing novel costs relatively little, compared to the cost of a new novel. Reprinting old novels, as long as there are enough sales to justify it, is an easy way of making more money. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 08 Jan 2006 : 16:37:22
quote:
Originally posted by Winterfox
I've always wondered -- is the "new characters, new authors, new faces" approach the result of a survey or a conclusion made by looking at book sales?
I think it's part of the way they basically relaunched the Realms from scratch. One of the stated reasons that some of the creators have changed things from previous editions is because they were concerned about appealing to the new fans, not the old fans. They knew new fans wouldn't have old material, so they didn't feel obligated to stick to the old material.
I think a similar philosophy is why they are sticking to new characters for novels. They want the new fans, not the people who have been reading the novels for years. With new characters, it's easy to jump aboard at any point. With old characters, some people might stay away, because they don't want to come in in the middle of the story, as it were. |
| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 08 Jan 2006 : 14:52:32
I'm wondering though, if that policy has softened. I think there was an undercurrent with the advent of 3rd Edition to almost act as if the setting has begun anew, even if most of the authors continued to reference old lore, and there were some players that bought into this (read how many newer players in the Realms post on the WOTC boards about weather a 1st or 2nd edition source counts or not). But I think that we old fogies and enough of the designers have battered them long enough to remind them that the old stuff is what everything is based on.
So that is why I am starting to wonder if they have rethought this decision to go with new characters in all the novels. Witness the recent news from Elaine about another Arilyn and Danilo book. The problem of course then becomes that if Jeff has been so overbooked for the near future, even if they wanted him to do another Alias book, for example, he wouldn't be able to take the project for a long time, and has been out of "Realms" mode for so long he wouldn't necissarily want to get back into the mindset.
The one interview I read seemed to indicate that Jeff has resolved himself to having done his work in the Realms, and doesn't really want to come back for fear of stepping on the newer toes that have sprung up in his absense. |
| J D Dunsany |
Posted - 08 Jan 2006 : 10:31:42
quote:
Originally posted by Winterfox
I've always wondered -- is the "new characters, new authors, new faces" approach the result of a survey or a conclusion made by looking at book sales?
Given Wizards' policy of reprinting older novels (or re-presenting them in snazzy collectors' editions), the distinction between old and new seems somewhat redundant, I'd have thought.
Love,
JD |
| Winterfox |
Posted - 08 Jan 2006 : 09:57:54
I've always wondered -- is the "new characters, new authors, new faces" approach the result of a survey or a conclusion made by looking at book sales? |
| SirUrza |
Posted - 07 Jan 2006 : 13:40:55
I think it Jeff and Kate fall into the new names, new faces category. They have characters we all want to read about that wizards just doesn't think we need to read about anymore. |
| Alaundo |
Posted - 03 Jan 2006 : 18:49:58
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Jeff Grubb work on the new Spell Compendium?
Well met
Quite right, Wooly. Jeff is listed therein as a designer. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 03 Jan 2006 : 17:27:35
Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Jeff Grubb work on the new Spell Compendium? |
| The Sage |
Posted - 03 Jan 2006 : 14:25:50
quote:
Originally posted by Alaundo
Well met
Aye, thou art not alone in these thoughts, darkcrow. Many here at Candlekeep have often expressed a wish to have these authors back writing for the Realms. Alas, I very much doubt these wishes will be granted 
Indeed. I even asked Jeff this exact question about six months ago in a chat about some older DL sourcebooks he'd helped out on. I'd expressed the great interest for both his and Kate's FR works here at Candlekeep.
He couldn't give me a definitive answer... but we do *know* both Jeff and Kate are very busy people indeed! 
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| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 03 Jan 2006 : 11:25:37
Indeed. That particular writing duo comes in second on my list of Realms authors... Jeff Grubb has quite a history with the Realms, and the novels he and Kate Novak wrote are some of the best Realms novels we've seen. I should love to see more from them. |
| Alaundo |
Posted - 03 Jan 2006 : 08:27:30
Well met
Aye, thou art not alone in these thoughts, darkcrow. Many here at Candlekeep have often expressed a wish to have these authors back writing for the Realms. Alas, I very much doubt these wishes will be granted
Nevertheless, they have given us some outstanding and memorable tomes for the Realms, for which we will always fondly remember |
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