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ajfurst
Acolyte
Australia
21 Posts |
 Posted - 11 Dec 2007 : 04:43:55
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I couldn't find a thread on which was the first FR novel people read (as opposed to the one on what people recommend as the first to read*), so decided to start one myself. Both on what was the first novel and how you came to read it.
Myself I started way back (I'm now feeling old) on Darkwalker on Moonshae. I was 15 and had been reading fantasy about 3 years and had just finished the Dragonlance Chronicles when I came across a book by the same company set in a new world. At that time I hadn't a dragon subscription or the like or picked up any FR D&D gear. I found it a reasonable story and was quickly onto 'The Crystal Shard' when it was released - that one really nailed me as a Realms fan. And from there I became interested in the D&D game side of things.
The continued 'history' of the realms being driven by the books, as well as RPG products really struck a chord. The RPG stuff is great, but having all the history in the books really brought the whole FR alive for me. I'll risk being branded a heathen by stating although individually none of the books are what I call 'High' fantasy (A song of Ice and Fire, The wheel of Time, Sword of Truth, etc.), as a group they can't be beaten and command the largest part of my bookshelves.
As a side note any 4th edition WoTC people, especially marketing, who happen to read this, I'm by far not the only one who's purchase of Realms RPG products was brought about and continues to be in part due to the novels and the ongoing history they tell.
*I did a search, but may have missed it.
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Wenin
Senior Scribe
585 Posts |
Posted - 11 Dec 2007 : 04:59:21
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I started reading the FR novels like I am now. Where a number of them had been published already, and once I read the first I couldn't put them down. So I'm not sure which series I read first, either the Darkwalker or Crystal Shard. I'm betting Crystal Shard, since I didn't even know where the Moonsheas were, but had an interest in Dark Elves before ever reading Drizzt. I'd buy them as they came out, but as a kid I didn't have the money to keep up the habit.
I hadn't read any in I'd say nearly 8 years. Then about two years ago I discovered the online catalog service for my local library. Now I can order books as if they were from Netflix... except I have to pick them up. Though they are waiting for me when I get there.
I've lost track of how many FR books I've read over the last two years, well over 20.
I totally agree though, it is the stories from the books, and how the world evolved around them that got me hooked as well.
Sword of Truth, great series. |
Session Reports posted at RPG Geek.
Stem the Tide Takes place in Mistledale.
Dark Curtains - Takes place in the Savage North, starting in Nesmé. I wrapped my campaign into the Hoard of the Dragon Queen, but it takes place in 1372 DR. |
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Skeptic
Master of Realmslore
Canada
1273 Posts |
Posted - 11 Dec 2007 : 05:02:50
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Avatars.. in French.. ** shudders **. |
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
Posted - 11 Dec 2007 : 05:03:13
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I was there for Darkwalker on Moonshae, and pretty much read the Realms chronologically from that point on, at least until about halfway through 2nd edition, when my ex-wife was less than positive about my hobbies.
I remember thinking it took forever for the next FR book to come out back then. I don't know if my perception is right or not, but it seemed like back then, the books were fewer and farther between, but the books in a given series were closer together in publication.
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scererar
Master of Realmslore
USA
1618 Posts |
Posted - 11 Dec 2007 : 05:10:39
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| spellfire when was 1st published |
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Jorkens
Great Reader
Norway
2950 Posts |
Posted - 11 Dec 2007 : 06:31:30
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| Shadowdale I think, then the Azure Bonds. |
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hawkytom
Seeker
USA
82 Posts |
Posted - 11 Dec 2007 : 08:07:29
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Pool of Radiance when I was in 1st grade, once I got older and got...obsessed with FR I started with Pool of Radiance again  |
Any Lone Wolf fans? Old school gamebooks from the 80's? They are being re-released/updated, and new books 29-32 being written: http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/novels/lonewolfsolo.html
Forgotten Realms BOOKS owned: ALL of them! (ebooks?...NONE! ever) |
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maransreth
Learned Scribe
Australia
157 Posts |
Posted - 11 Dec 2007 : 10:29:31
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Like KEJR, I started with Darkwalker when it first came out (remember getting it from the cheapy bin at Target), then Crystal Shard, and so on and so on. Thankfully the books werent that expensive back then so I was able to use my meager stipend for the books when they came out. So the majority of my novels are original Penguin publisher novels.
Then I made the unfortunate mistake of passing a friend onto the Crystal Shard before any other FR novels and he got hooked onto Drizzt. |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 11 Dec 2007 : 14:30:15
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I first read The Crystal Shard, because when I first got into the Realms and was looking for information on the internet, it was very easy to bump into people talking about the Icewind Dale trilogy and how great it was. So, those were the first Realms novels I read.
Personally, I didn't find those books to be the "classic masterpieces of fantasy" so many other people sold them as, but I branched out and started other Realms novels by different authors. And the rest is history. |
"Instead of asking why we sleep, it might make sense to ask why we wake. Perchance we live to dream. From that perspective, the sea of troubles we navigate in the workaday world might be the price we pay for admission to another night in the world of dreams."
--Richard Greene (letter to Time) |
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Alisttair
Great Reader
Canada
3054 Posts |
Posted - 11 Dec 2007 : 14:36:22
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| My first was when I was about 14, I read The Legacy, which I loved and still love. |
Karsite Arcanar (Most Holy Servant of Karsus)
Anauria - Survivor State of Netheril as penned by me:
http://www.dmsguild.com/m/product/172023 |
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Matthus
Senior Scribe
Germany
393 Posts |
Posted - 11 Dec 2007 : 14:46:29
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I started with The Parched Sea – first in the Harpers Series. At the latest after Red Magic I was hooked  |
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Chosen of Moradin
Master of Realmslore
Brazil
1120 Posts |
Posted - 11 Dec 2007 : 15:10:01
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| I started with the Avatars trilogy Well, now I remember that my english that time was a real mess. I think that is time for a re-read, only to catch the things that I don´t understand, in the first time. |
Dwarf, DM, husband, and proud of this! :P
twitter: @yuripeixoto
Facebook: yuri.peixoto |
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GRYPHON
Senior Scribe
USA
527 Posts |
Posted - 11 Dec 2007 : 15:26:45
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| Pool of Radiance... |
'Everyone dies...I only choose the time and place for a few.' --Eric Destler |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36968 Posts |
Posted - 11 Dec 2007 : 15:30:44
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| I think Pool of Radiance was my first Realms novel, too. Shadowdale and Spellfire were prolly the second and third novels. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen!  |
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Kuje
Great Reader
USA
7915 Posts |
Posted - 11 Dec 2007 : 15:58:00
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| Mighta been Pool of Radiance as well but I have no idea, I've been reading FR novels for at least about 20 years now, so I can't recall what novel I got started with. |
For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet and excite you... Books are full of the things that you don't get in real life - wonderful, lyrical language, for instance, right off the bat. - Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium |
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Wenin
Senior Scribe
585 Posts |
Posted - 11 Dec 2007 : 16:15:35
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My favorite series is the Dark Elf Trilogy. I use Drizzt to get more of a glimpse into the Dark Elven community than reading about his "I'm so understanding, but judgemental of others" attitude. =)
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Session Reports posted at RPG Geek.
Stem the Tide Takes place in Mistledale.
Dark Curtains - Takes place in the Savage North, starting in Nesmé. I wrapped my campaign into the Hoard of the Dragon Queen, but it takes place in 1372 DR. |
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Hawkins
Great Reader
USA
2131 Posts |
Posted - 11 Dec 2007 : 17:48:25
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| It was Darkwalker on Moonshae. When starting any series I like to begin with the first book, and since this was the first published book, I thought it was also the first book chronologically. Then I skipped to Darkwell because my local library did not have Black Wizards. Now that I think of it, I do not think I have ever gone back and reread the trilogy. Hmmm.....will have to put that on my to-buy and to-read list. |
Errant d20 Designer - My Blog (last updated January 06, 2016)
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back. --Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass
"Mmm, not the darkness," Myrin murmured. "Don't cast it there." --Erik Scott de Bie, Shadowbane
* My character sheets (PFRPG, 3.5, and AE versions; not viewable in Internet Explorer)
* Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Reference Document (PFRPG OGL Rules)
* The Hypertext d20 SRD (3.5 OGL Rules)
* 3.5 D&D Archives
My game design work:
* Heroes of the Jade Oath (PFRPG, conversion; Rite Publishing)
* Compendium Arcanum Volume 1: Cantrips & Orisons (PFRPG, designer; d20pfsrd.com Publishing)
* Compendium Arcanum Volume 2: 1st-Level Spells (PFRPG, designer; d20pfsrd.com Publishing)
* Martial Arts Guidebook (forthcoming) (PFRPG, designer; Rite Publishing)
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Dart Ambermoon
Learned Scribe
Germany
253 Posts |
Posted - 11 Dec 2007 : 22:37:35
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| Darkwalker On Moonshae here, too. |
~ In Finder I trust, for danger I lust ~ |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31799 Posts |
Posted - 11 Dec 2007 : 23:33:15
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My first experience with the "written" Realms was with the Darkwalker on Moonshae novel by Doug Niles. Initially, I was looking for more DRAGONLANCE fiction [Dragons of Autumn Twilight served as my introduction to this style of fantasy-fiction several years before any FR novels had been published] when I managed to pick up a copy, shortly after its initial release here in Australia [from the local library]. It was, as I recall, just a few weeks past its publication in the US. Intensely curious with this new trilogy, I read the entire novel in less than three days and was immediately entranced with this strange fantasy land called the Moonshae Isles. I wanted more!
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Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
Edited by - The Sage on 12 Dec 2007 00:38:26 |
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The Red Walker
Great Reader
USA
3567 Posts |
Posted - 12 Dec 2007 : 00:16:43
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| First read Darkwalker on Moonshea. Funny how though. Saw the book sitting on a friends desk, asked about it ans was told oh it's nothing that would interest you it isn't any good. Well needless to say that original cover was pretty cool with the sister knights and all, so I scooted to my bookstore and hunted it up. Loved it read almost every FR novel since. Never have forgiven him for trying to keep FR his own little secret as I know now he loved that book! |
A little nonsense now and then, relished by the wisest men - Willy Wonka
"We need men who can dream of things that never were." -
John F. Kennedy, speech in Dublin, Ireland, June 28, 1963
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Brynweir
Senior Scribe
USA
436 Posts |
Posted - 12 Dec 2007 : 01:22:30
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| I started my freshman year in college -oddly enough a new friend was trying to explain D&D and RP. Of course, I was in college when D&D had a whole lot of bad publicity. Rather than tell how the bad reputation was undeserved, he gave me a copy of the Crystal Shard. I was hooked and read the whole thing in one day. By the next day he was helping me generate a character. |
Anyone who likes to read something that's really dark and gritty and completely awesome ought to read The Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks. You can check out a little taste at www.BrentWeeks.com I should probably warn you, though, that it is definitely not PG-13 :-D
He also started a new Trilogy with Black Prism, which may even surpass the Night Angel Trilogy in its awesomeness.
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Theophilus
Learned Scribe
Australia
143 Posts |
Posted - 12 Dec 2007 : 02:07:26
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| First read "Darkwalker on Moonshae" just after release however I didn't really enjoy it first and got into DL instead. Years later I read "Shadowdale" and found that I preferred the FR setting more |
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Steven Schend
Forgotten Realms Designer & Author
USA
1732 Posts |
Posted - 12 Dec 2007 : 14:12:40
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My first intro to the Realms was FR1 Waterdeep and the North, which led me back to the boxed set. Oddly, I didn't pick up any of the novels the first two years more due to time than any other factor. I picked up CRYSTAL SHARD as it looked like it wasn't set up to be the start of a trilogy--I was looking for a stand-alone fantasy read. (Yes, I'm savoring the irony too.  )
This was about a year before I started working at TSR. Soon after, I picked up the Pool of Radiance and Azure Bonds games (who doesn't love their memories of the old Gold Box SSI games?) and read Jeff & Kate's AZURE BONDS as my 2nd novel. Once I got to TSR, the flood began as I read WYVERN'S SPUR and a whole slew of others right away....
Wonder if Blackstaff will be anyone's first read in the Realms? That'd be scary/confusing for them, I suspect.... |
For current projects and general natter, see www.steveneschend.com
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Edited by - Steven Schend on 12 Dec 2007 14:14:18 |
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Nimriel
Seeker
Sweden
51 Posts |
Posted - 13 Dec 2007 : 16:58:41
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| The Dark Elf Trilogy followed by Icewind Dale Trilogy followed by Songs and Swords(-Thornhold) followed by Starlight & Shadows. |
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Broken Helm
Learned Scribe
USA
108 Posts |
Posted - 14 Dec 2007 : 04:34:58
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I MUST share my girlfriend's first FR novel story:
She flew to a trade show for her company. the airline lost her luggage for a day or two, and she found a battered paperback lying on a table in her hotel lobby and snaffled it just to have SOMETHING to read.
Her stuff turned up a day later, but she'd started the book (SILVERFALL, by Ed Greenwood) by then. She read it, loved it, and when she got on the plane, it wasn't to fly home, but instead to go to the next trade show, in Toronto.
The guy sitting next to her in the plane was jotting notes in a little notebook; when she asked, he said it was for a fantasy novel. She told him all about this fun book she'd just read, he offered the opinion that it wasn't that great, she hotly defended it - - and then noticed the name on the ticket stub he was using as a bookmark in his notebook. It was Ed Greenwood himself!
Well, he admitted he was THAT Ed Greenwood, and she said they then had a great chat all the time until the plane landed, and that Ed's a funny, charming, witty flirt who told her more about writing books, without ever lecturing, in about an hour than she'd ever learned from all her schooling and reading since. Oh, and that he looks like Santa Claus.
She didn't know how big the Realms was, and just about fell over when I showed her all my collection of FR novels, and the games. She asked me: "So why was he flying economy?" and I told her my guess was that he'd probably been somewhere for a publisher, they paid for his ticket, and you get what you get.
She's met plenty of authors since, BTW, and says Ed's the only one she's ever met who said one of his books wasn't all that good. Cool guy, fun story, IMHO.
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SirUrza
Master of Realmslore
USA
1283 Posts |
Posted - 14 Dec 2007 : 05:00:36
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| The Crystal Shard and I still tell people to start with it. :) |
"Evil prevails when good men fail to act."
The original and unapologetic Arilyn, Aribeth, Seoni Fanboy. |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 14 Dec 2007 : 15:11:48
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quote:
Originally posted by Broken Helm
She's met plenty of authors since, BTW, and says Ed's the only one she's ever met who said one of his books wasn't all that good. Cool guy, fun story, IMHO.
Damn, was she lucky. And what a neat story! |
"Instead of asking why we sleep, it might make sense to ask why we wake. Perchance we live to dream. From that perspective, the sea of troubles we navigate in the workaday world might be the price we pay for admission to another night in the world of dreams."
--Richard Greene (letter to Time) |
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MerrikCale
Senior Scribe
USA
947 Posts |
Posted - 15 Dec 2007 : 04:01:51
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| My first was the Crystal Shard so I will always have a soft spot for RAS |
When hinges creak in doorless chambers and strange and frightening sounds echo through the halls, whenever candlelights flicker where the air is deathly still, that is the time when ghosts are present, practicing their terror with ghoulish delight. |
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Lameth
Learned Scribe
Germany
196 Posts |
Posted - 21 Dec 2007 : 17:06:58
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The Crystal Shard (german version), because it was the first translated book about the FR here in germany (in 1988).
Only after I read all books in german I went to read everything else in english. The first two books took me very long, but after a while the reading got better and better. And because of the FR my english got better then in school......great! |
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Hawkins
Great Reader
USA
2131 Posts |
Posted - 21 Dec 2007 : 18:18:52
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quote:
Originally posted by Lameth
The Crystal Shard (german version), because it was the first translated book about the FR here in germany (in 1988).
Only after I read all books in german I went to read everything else in english. The first two books took me very long, but after a while the reading got better and better. And because of the FR my english got better then in school......great!
That is another really cool story! |
Errant d20 Designer - My Blog (last updated January 06, 2016)
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back. --Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass
"Mmm, not the darkness," Myrin murmured. "Don't cast it there." --Erik Scott de Bie, Shadowbane
* My character sheets (PFRPG, 3.5, and AE versions; not viewable in Internet Explorer)
* Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Reference Document (PFRPG OGL Rules)
* The Hypertext d20 SRD (3.5 OGL Rules)
* 3.5 D&D Archives
My game design work:
* Heroes of the Jade Oath (PFRPG, conversion; Rite Publishing)
* Compendium Arcanum Volume 1: Cantrips & Orisons (PFRPG, designer; d20pfsrd.com Publishing)
* Compendium Arcanum Volume 2: 1st-Level Spells (PFRPG, designer; d20pfsrd.com Publishing)
* Martial Arts Guidebook (forthcoming) (PFRPG, designer; Rite Publishing)
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Ranak
Learned Scribe
USA
190 Posts |
Posted - 21 Dec 2007 : 18:29:01
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I read the Moonshae trilogy first, though out of order, first Black Wizards, then Darkwalker on Moonshae, then Darkwell.
I kept up with the books until late 90s, when I was extremely busy, then picked them back up again around 2001 and have been reading them steadily ever since. I try to catch up on the books I missed in the 90s, having just recently read the Horselords, Dragonwall, Faces of Deception, and Shadow Stone. |
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First FR novel you read?
