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Richard Lee Byers
Forgotten Realms Author
USA
1814 Posts |
 Posted - 20 Feb 2006 : 06:23:09
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| Don't know that I'm supposed to share any specifics as of yet. Sorry. Will give more info closer to the time of publication. |
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Charles Phipps
Master of Realmslore
1425 Posts |
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Richard Lee Byers
Forgotten Realms Author
USA
1814 Posts |
Posted - 07 Apr 2006 : 20:29:03
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Guess my all-time favorite character to write is Martin Rivers, who is a sword-and-sorcery hero but not a FR character. He starred in some non-franchise short stories I did a while back, and I expect I'll get back to him again someday.
I guess I like him because he's smart, sensible, and heroic without being goody-goody. His goal in life is to get ahead in his career (knighthood), not right wrongs or fight evil, but he steps up when bad things are happening. In that way, he is, to my mind, more believable and relatable than many paladin- or supehero-style characters. He's also somewhat like many of the Poul Anderson and L. Sprague deCamp protagonists I identified with when I was reading their fiction during my impressionable youth.
Also, his adventures are told in the first person. I enjoy writing first-person, and you don't often get to do it when you're doing heroic fantasy. |
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Richard Lee Byers
Forgotten Realms Author
USA
1814 Posts |
Posted - 14 Apr 2006 : 00:27:49
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I just received my author copies of The Ruin, so I imagine you guys will be able to purchase it soon if it's not available already.
And in the same shameless spirit of self-promotion, I'll remind you that the next issue of Dragon has a short story by me that's another prequel to The Year of Rogue Dragons. It tells of the first meeting of Dorn and Raryn.
Also: Here are the titles and release dates for the three books in my next FR trilogy, The Haunted Land:
Unclean (April, 2007)
Undead (March, 2008)
Unholy (Early, 2009--I didn't know Early was a month, but that's what it says on the advertising page in the front of The Ruin.)
Now you guys know about as much about my career as I do. |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31777 Posts |
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Richard Lee Byers
Forgotten Realms Author
USA
1814 Posts |
Posted - 14 Apr 2006 : 03:16:33
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| I suggested that we could maintain the motif and call one of the books in the trilogy Uncola, thus, perhaps, scoring some product placement money, but Phil Athans torpedoed the idea. |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36805 Posts |
Posted - 14 Apr 2006 : 03:35:19
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quote:
Originally posted by Richard Lee Byers
I suggested that we could maintain the motif and call one of the books in the trilogy Uncola, thus, perhaps, scoring some product placement money, but Phil Athans torpedoed the idea.
Can we refer to the books as the "Un-trilogy"?  |
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Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen!  |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31777 Posts |
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Darth KTrava
Learned Scribe
USA
172 Posts |
Posted - 15 Apr 2006 : 00:35:55
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quote:
Originally posted by Richard Lee Byers
I just received my author copies of The Ruin, so I imagine you guys will be able to purchase it soon if it's not available already.
And in the same shameless spirit of self-promotion, I'll remind you that the next issue of Dragon has a short story by me that's another prequel to The Year of Rogue Dragons. It tells of the first meeting of Dorn and Raryn.
Also: Here are the titles and release dates for the three books in my next FR trilogy, The Haunted Land:
Unclean (April, 2007)
Undead (March, 2008)
Unholy (Early, 2009--I didn't know Early was a month, but that's what it says on the advertising page in the front of The Ruin.)
Now you guys know about as much about my career as I do.
Looking forward to the finale of the Rogue Dragons series.
Any idea what the new trilogy is about? Even a tidbit to whet our appetites? |
Evil will be dealt with swiftly as it is my duty to remove such evil from my presence.
-Rozhena, Cleric/Divine Champion of Torm |
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Richard Lee Byers
Forgotten Realms Author
USA
1814 Posts |
Posted - 15 Apr 2006 : 07:13:15
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| At this point, can't really say any more than I've said already in a previous post: It's set in Thay and will showcase the undead of the Realms in kinda sorta but not really the same way that Year of Rogue Dragons showcases dragons. There's supposed to be a Realms of the Undead tie-in anthology, also. |
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George Krashos
Master of Realmslore
Australia
6666 Posts |
Posted - 15 Apr 2006 : 09:28:03
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Does that mean WotC is planning a "Year of the Undead" just like it has labelled 2006 as the "Year of the Dragon"?
-- George Krashos
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"Because only we, contrary to the barbarians, never count the enemy in battle." -- Aeschylus |
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Richard Lee Byers
Forgotten Realms Author
USA
1814 Posts |
Posted - 15 Apr 2006 : 15:58:53
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| If so, they haven't told me. |
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Darth KTrava
Learned Scribe
USA
172 Posts |
Posted - 18 Apr 2006 : 02:04:08
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Does the current FR year have anything relating to undead in its name?
Or is it being set in the next year? DR 1375? |
Evil will be dealt with swiftly as it is my duty to remove such evil from my presence.
-Rozhena, Cleric/Divine Champion of Torm |
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Richard Lee Byers
Forgotten Realms Author
USA
1814 Posts |
Posted - 18 Apr 2006 : 03:43:57
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| 1375. |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36805 Posts |
Posted - 18 Apr 2006 : 03:51:27
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quote:
Originally posted by Darth KTrava
Does the current FR year have anything relating to undead in its name?
Or is it being set in the next year? DR 1375?
There's nothing that obviously relates to undead until 1377, The Year of the Haunting.
BTW, if you aren't familiar with the year names on the Roll of Years, there's a couple of options. You can download a file containing various formats for the Roll of Years (including, as I recall, the original RTF files from the Wizards page, lo these many years ago), or you can use the Forgotten Realms Calendar Tool, which is truly nifty and also shows the list. |
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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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
Posted - 08 May 2006 : 05:19:02
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| Hey Richard, I was just wondering this one. You have written quite a few characters from quite a few different areas in the Realms. Is there any chance you might have any of your characters "cameo" in any of your books? |
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Richard Lee Byers
Forgotten Realms Author
USA
1814 Posts |
Posted - 08 May 2006 : 14:30:15
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| Knight: I might bring back characters from earlier works since I am fond of a number of them. But only if it seems logical and dramatically effective that they show up. |
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Inquisitor
Acolyte
Germany
42 Posts |
Posted - 11 May 2006 : 23:03:00
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I just finished the Ruin and I must say it is a nice read, just a bit short if you ask me (but considering that it was the last book nearly everything would have been to short).
And this time I won't complain that dragons are portrayed to weak
Now I only have to wait to see how these novels translate into the game world.
Just one question, is there anything from the Draconomicon you haven't used in your books? |
Edited by - Inquisitor on 11 May 2006 23:04:01 |
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Richard Lee Byers
Forgotten Realms Author
USA
1814 Posts |
Posted - 12 May 2006 : 02:18:15
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It may be a bit short, but it's as long as WotC wanted it to be. The publisher puts a ceiling on length, and one does what one can.
There was actually a lot of stuff from Draconomicon that didn't find its way into the novels. |
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EytanBernstein
Forgotten Realms Designer
USA
704 Posts |
Posted - 12 May 2006 : 05:23:44
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quote:
Originally posted by Richard Lee Byers
It may be a bit short, but it's as long as WotC wanted it to be. The publisher puts a ceiling on length, and one does what one can.
There was actually a lot of stuff from Draconomicon that didn't find its way into the novels.
Tons that didn't, but a very impressive amount that did. It's an excellent accomplishment to be able to incorporate that much game material while still making every instance completely germane to the story. |
http://eytanbernstein.com - the official website of Eytan Bernstein |
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Inquisitor
Acolyte
Germany
42 Posts |
Posted - 12 May 2006 : 16:57:27
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I have to agree. I really like that you one of the few authors who, when writing about D&D, keep the D&D rules in mind and not like most other authors completly throw them out of the window.
Of course there are some things which are not in the rules and some things which directly contradict them (like the silver dragon who was killed by acid) but that has to be expected when you want to have a good story (How boring would it be if they could simply ressurect everyone? But Chatulio would deserv it...).
A question, do you plan to use one of the surviving (semi) villians from the Year of the Rogue Dragon in future novels? |
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Richard Lee Byers
Forgotten Realms Author
USA
1814 Posts |
Posted - 12 May 2006 : 18:14:40
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| It's possible, but there are no immediate plans. |
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the obsolete
Acolyte
USA
14 Posts |
Posted - 14 May 2006 : 23:08:43
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| first off, just wanna say richard, you are one of my favorite authors from the realms to read. i just finished the ruin, completing the rogue dragon trilogy. what i am most curious about is sammaster. we got some background info about him with mystra's chosen, etc. he is an interesting character. so with what decisions need to be made by yourself and WOTC, will a stand alone series for sammaster ever be done? (sorry, if this has been asked before) |
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Richard Lee Byers
Forgotten Realms Author
USA
1814 Posts |
Posted - 15 May 2006 : 00:06:53
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Obsolete: First off, thanks for the kind words. I'm glad you enjoy my stuff.
I agree that Sam's an interesting character. It isn't too conceited of me to say that, since his background and personality are well-defined in the old 2nd edition D&D product Draconomicon (not to be confused with the new volume of the same name.) I simply expanded on the good work that had already been done.
I don't know that anyone at WotC has considered a series that truly centers on Sam, or if they would want me to write it if they did. It would be tricky to do a whole series with a mad villain as the central character and make it work dramatically, I think. Which is not to say it would be impossible.
Of course, there is another issue:
SPOILER WARNING FOR THE RUIN
SPOILER WARNING FOR THE RUIN
SPOILER WARNING FOR THE RUIN
I punched Sam's ticket as thoroughly as I could at the climax of the trilogy. Now granted, in fantasy, there's always a way to resurrect a character if the author is willing to be arbitrary and heavy-handed enough, but still. once I croak 'em, I kind of prefer that they stay that way. Otherwise death stops paying off dramatically in the way that it should (this is part of the reason why superhero comics have trouble achieving genuine emotional impact.)
But I do like Sam, and I'd consider writing it if the money was right and we had a sufficiently good idea. Hey, Sam vs. Pharaun, what do you think? |
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the obsolete
Acolyte
USA
14 Posts |
Posted - 15 May 2006 : 00:13:34
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| thank you for answering. it is just from my point of view, what i read. sammaster was a chosen of mystra, he did try to save people. he just had a misfortune of bad luck. so it would be curious to see what he did to become a chosen, what happened after becoming a chosen, etc. |
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BobROE
Learned Scribe
Canada
106 Posts |
Posted - 15 May 2006 : 04:07:23
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quote:
Originally posted by the obsolete
thank you for answering. it is just from my point of view, what i read. sammaster was a chosen of mystra, he did try to save people. he just had a misfortune of bad luck. so it would be curious to see what he did to become a chosen, what happened after becoming a chosen, etc.
Not really, he's also written up in the old 2E Cult of the Dragon book (which may be the one Richard is thinking of). He more went insane and then had to be put down cause he started to create dracoliches. |
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Dargoth
Great Reader
Australia
4607 Posts |
Posted - 15 May 2006 : 04:46:54
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Richard
What where the start and end dates for the Rage?
Note: I havent read the Ruin yet so I only want the dates (No details)
Thanks in advance |
“I am the King of Rome, and above grammar”
Emperor Sigismund
"Its good to be the King!"
Mel Brooks |
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Richard Lee Byers
Forgotten Realms Author
USA
1814 Posts |
Posted - 15 May 2006 : 05:09:42
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Bob: I believe I was thinking of Cult of the Dragons. Thanks for sorting that out for me.
Dargoth: The Year of Rogue Dragons trilogy pretty much spans 1373. |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36805 Posts |
Posted - 15 May 2006 : 05:53:33
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quote:
Originally posted by BobROE
Not really, he's also written up in the old 2E Cult of the Dragon book (which may be the one Richard is thinking of). He more went insane and then had to be put down cause he started to create dracoliches.
This book is available as a free download from the Wizards downloads page.  |
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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BobROE
Learned Scribe
Canada
106 Posts |
Posted - 15 May 2006 : 08:20:15
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quote:
Originally posted by Richard Lee Byers
Bob: I believe I was thinking of Cult of the Dragons. Thanks for sorting that out for me.
No problem, I wasn't going to say you were wrong cause you've probably read both of them more recently than I. |
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Questions for Richard Lee Byers
