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Darth_Azalin
Acolyte
26 Posts |
 Posted - 27 Jul 2008 : 17:57:33
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I normally always purchase the new FR HC when it comes out. Then I also get paperbacks of the non-hardcovers if it is a must read (Homeland ie).
But for the longest time I have always had other things on my end table to read. I pushed back this series and I'm thinking about starting it (finally).
Harpers is the series all 16 books.
With that said I also noticed (one reason why I kept pushing back this series) is that WoTC kept cutting books out of this for other series. No offense to Elaine Cunningham but this decision of mine basically left out a lot of what she has done.
So I start with Parched Sea and then get to Elfshadow (which I see as a normal course of action) but what do I do after Elfshadow? Do I then go to Red Magic or on to book 2 of Elaine's work (which is #8 in the Harpers?)
I enjoyed her work so much that I was able to get my hands on a HC of the Magehound and one of these years if I ever make it to GenCon and she is there maybe she will sign it.
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 27 Jul 2008 : 18:53:06
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Most of the Harpers books are stand-alone novels. I would assume that the series was planned out that way, and that WotC only spun-off Elaine's books because of their success.
There are some Harpers novels that go together, like the ones by Elaine. I'd read those books together.
Most of the rest can be read in any order you please. Other than ones by the same author (like Elaine's, or Parched Sea and The Veiled Dragon, or Crypt of the Shadowking and Curse of the Shadowmage, ), it doesn't matter which ones you read, or in what order.
I'm currently rereading book 5, The Ring of Winter, by itself. Aside from Elaine's and the two Harpers books by Jeff Grubb and Kate Novak, it's my favorite from the series. |
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Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen!  |
Edited by - Wooly Rupert on 27 Jul 2008 18:53:29 |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 27 Jul 2008 : 19:10:41
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Don't read Red Magic.
It was the ONLY Harper novel I ever read, and I am still to this day unable to read any other.
Oh, and I take great pleasure in killing off Harpers in my games, which tells you what that book did to my brain.  |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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Edited by - Markustay on 27 Jul 2008 19:11:51 |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 27 Jul 2008 : 19:13:30
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quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
Don't read Red Magic.
It was the ONLY Harper novel I ever read, and I am still to this day unable to read any other.
Oh, and I take great pleasure in killing off Harpers in my games, which tells you what that book did to my brain.
Red Magic didn't bother me... It's been a long time since I read it, but I recall enjoying it.
Soldiers of Ice was the one I disliked the most, followed by the Shadowking and Shadowmage ones. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen! |
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Darth_Azalin
Acolyte
26 Posts |
Posted - 27 Jul 2008 : 22:11:44
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Ok slight followup question.
The Dream Sphere is Harpers #14 and Songs & Swords 5
Thornhold is Harpers #16 and Songs & Swords 4
Did I miss something?
Can you advise me when I get that far on how to read it... |
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Darth_Azalin
Acolyte
26 Posts |
Posted - 27 Jul 2008 : 22:12:58
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Ok getting a lot of time out messages and it saying its an error so I just repost it and get double posts.
Is this a firefox problem? |
Edited by - Darth_Azalin on 27 Jul 2008 22:16:33 |
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Kuje
Great Reader
USA
7915 Posts |
Posted - 27 Jul 2008 : 22:48:01
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quote:
Originally posted by Darth_Azalin
Ok getting a lot of time out messages and it saying its an error so I just repost it and get double posts.
Is this a firefox problem?
Nope, it's a long standing issue. Don't worry about it and unfort, we just have to deal with it cause the server gets overloaded since Keep shares server space.
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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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Brian R. James
Forgotten Realms Game Designer
USA
1098 Posts |
Posted - 27 Jul 2008 : 22:51:21
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
Soldiers of Ice was the one I disliked the most, followed by the Shadowking and Shadowmage ones.
For myself, I absolutely love the Shadowking/Shadowmage novels. It's set in the Western Heartlands (a woefully underdeveloped area), was first to include a Tabaxi NPC, and gave us historians the largest chunk of lore on the ancient Talfir culture. |
Brian R. James - Freelance Game Designer
Follow me on Twitter @brianrjames |
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monknwildcat
Learned Scribe
USA
285 Posts |
Posted - 27 Jul 2008 : 23:40:53
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I don't know if Dreamspheres happens before or after Thornhold, but I think Dreamspheres came afterwards. Wasn't Dreamspheres published after Thornhold?
My favorite Harper book was The Night Parade, a surprisingly dark novel for the early Realms. It's practically horror.
IMO, present FR novels are grim, but many of the early works had a sunnier ratio of "wit to grim." Of those, Thornhold and The Ring of Winter rocked. |
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scererar
Master of Realmslore
USA
1618 Posts |
Posted - 28 Jul 2008 : 00:03:13
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The Harper novels are excellent additions to a realms fan's collection. While some were not as good as others, worth the read overall. Several of these became other series by themselves (i.e. songs and swords)
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Edited by - scererar on 28 Jul 2008 00:12:46 |
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The Red Walker
Great Reader
USA
3567 Posts |
Posted - 28 Jul 2008 : 00:20:16
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| I read them from 1-16 , but I always like to read novels in order of publishing if I can. BUt, I think they would work read in about any order. |
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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Talwyn
Learned Scribe
Australia
222 Posts |
Posted - 28 Jul 2008 : 00:28:06
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quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
Oh, and I take great pleasure in killing off Harpers in my games,
Heh, now thats funny as that is what often happens in games I run as well. Meddling Harpers often getting in the way of the players, often mistaking them for bad guys and more often than not, the harpers end up becoming "collateral damage" 
Of course, the fact that a few harper strongholds and over 20 of their members are now dead and the blood trail leads to the players means that they're now busy dodging Harper assasins every few days. |
Over the centuries, mankind has tried many ways of combating the forces of evil...prayer, fasting, good works and so on.
Up until Doom, no one seemed to have thought about the double-barrel shotgun.
EAT LEADEN DEATH DEMON!
Terry Pratchett
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 28 Jul 2008 : 00:46:00
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quote:
Originally posted by Brian R. James
For myself, I absolutely love the Shadowking/Shadowmage novels. It's set in the Western Heartlands (a woefully underdeveloped area)...
One could also say it's wonderfully underdeveloped.
Definitely check out Elaine's work. I also enjoyed Ed Greenwood's work. |
"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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Darth_Azalin
Acolyte
26 Posts |
Posted - 28 Jul 2008 : 00:53:40
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I do like Elaine's work I would say she is in my top 5 of Realm authors and I would offer a caveat of needing more than 1 series to qualify (Hardcover).
To Ed Greenwood what can I say. Normally it is all about Elminster or some Realm sage knowledge here and there but he did a great job the Cormyr/Death of the Dragon series. I also have his "Dark Warrior Rising" can we speak of that? |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31774 Posts |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 28 Jul 2008 : 04:01:36
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quote:
Originally posted by Darth_Azalin
Ok slight followup question.
The Dream Sphere is Harpers #14 and Songs & Swords 5
Thornhold is Harpers #16 and Songs & Swords 4
Did I miss something?
Can you advise me when I get that far on how to read it...
What source did that info come from? Harpers 14 is Stormlight. Dream Spheres wasn't in the Harpers series. |
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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Firestorm
Senior Scribe
Canada
826 Posts |
Posted - 28 Jul 2008 : 04:40:57
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quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
Don't read Red Magic.
It was the ONLY Harper novel I ever read, and I am still to this day unable to read any other.
Oh, and I take great pleasure in killing off Harpers in my games, which tells you what that book did to my brain.
I liked Red Magic. Szass Tam in any book makes it ok:)
Not a great book, but fun |
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Jorkens
Great Reader
Norway
2950 Posts |
Posted - 28 Jul 2008 : 09:06:55
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
[
Soldiers of Ice was the one I disliked the most, followed by the Shadowking and Shadowmage ones.
Ah, my favourites, along with Crown of Fire and Night Parade.
Red Magic is one of the two harper books I never read. There is a Centaur in it so that at least seems promising. |
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Baldwin Stonewood
Acolyte
34 Posts |
Posted - 30 Jul 2008 : 18:11:06
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I just finished Elfsong and Elfshadow and really enjoyed both of those books. These were my first books by Elaine but they will not be my last.
I'm getting ready to read Mark Anthony's "Curse of the Shadowmage" and "Crypt of the Shadowking." If they are anything like his "Escape from Undermountain" book they will be excellent reads. |
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Darth_Azalin
Acolyte
26 Posts |
Posted - 01 Aug 2008 : 23:33:40
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by Darth_Azalin
Ok slight followup question.
The Dream Sphere is Harpers #14 and Songs & Swords 5
Thornhold is Harpers #16 and Songs & Swords 4
Did I miss something?
Can you advise me when I get that far on how to read it...
What source did that info come from? Harpers 14 is Stormlight. Dream Spheres wasn't in the Harpers series.
My mistake, I had a website that stated that was the #14.. I guess I need to find 1 more Harper book |
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Advice on this series
