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Originally posted by sfdragon

ick.... and I was trying to avoid the abyssal plague eries...

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Originally posted by Erik Scott de Bie

I would advocate the wait-and-see approach. Maybe it'll be good, maybe it won't--but there's no sense condemning it straight off the bat because the name sounds like something you dislike.

I mean, might as well never read another novel about Twilight . . . unless of course you love Meyer's work, in which case I apologize.

And even if you *do* loathe the Abyssal Plague stuff, rest assured my novel will not rely upon it for your enjoyment.

Cheers

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Originally posted by The Red Walker

But since I am assuming (dangerous I know!) you didnt go in and pitch Shadowbane as the perfect abbysal plague tie-in, I will give you a fair shake..(way more in fact)when deciding if I pick-up Shadowbane. There more to his story I want to know, enough so I cant imagine you having so much of the Abby Plague thing to tip the scales.

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Originally posted by Christopher_Rowe

For what it's worth, I've found most of the 4E era Realms novels I've read to be what you're describing--character driven instead of event driven. Sure, they all come after a big event (albeit almost a century gone from it, so long after), but of themselves they seem to mainly focus on individuals and small groups facing problems particular to them and their friends and neighbors in heroic ways. Did you read Jaleigh's Mistshore, for example?

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Originally posted by Erik Scott de Bie

I don't want to play up the tie to the Abyssal Plague or Bruce's previous novel except to say that some of the things in that story have something to do with some of the things in my novel. Or something.

But it isn't *essential*, you know?

It's like one of my companion stories: you *can* read it, and it will give you a slightly enriched understanding of the novel, but you don't *have to* read it.

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Originally posted by The Red Walker

But since I am assuming (dangerous I know!) you didnt go in and pitch Shadowbane as the perfect abbysal plague tie-in, I will give you a fair shake..(way more in fact)when deciding if I pick-up Shadowbane. There more to his story I want to know, enough so I cant imagine you having so much of the Abby Plague thing to tip the scales.

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Let me level with you on how that all went down.

WotC wanted me to write another novel (two in fact) about Shadowbane, but they wanted to tie the first of those two (not the second one) into this "big event" they were doing. I didn't know anything about the AP (had never even heard the name) until I went in to the meeting, at which point I listened to what they were saying and determined where Shadowbane's story could best tie into it. What we determined was one commandment: to use this particular AP villain (and he/she/it is not the ONLY villain in the novel, or even really the central one). Otherwise, the novel is about 85% purely my own story.

I would rate the level of tie-in at *maybe* about what you'd expect of the Harper tie-in in a Harpers novel.

Similar to Downshadow's tie to the Waterdeep series, there are two completely valid ways to read the novel: as an Abyssal Plague story (in which case it's probably good to know about the overall AP), or as a straight-Shadowbane story (in which case you don't need to know about the Abyssal Plague at all).

At this point, the NEXT Shadowbane novel (which currently exists in outline form and has no working title for public disclosure) has nothing to do with the Abyssal Plague.

Cheers

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Originally posted by Alystra Illianniis

I want actual stories, not just big event tie-ins. I want stories that are character-driven, not plot or event-driven. And I've seen so few of those since the 4th ed turnover that it's gotten to the point where I'm only reading the books that have my favorite characters. Because at least I know that even if the plot is sub-par, I can still find something to enjoy in them through the characters involved. The new era books are going to have to get a LOT better and more interesting before I will start picking up random ones again like I used to.

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Originally posted by The Red Walker

So 85% Erik vs. 15% tie in......that ratio seems to be in your favor

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Originally posted by Alystra Illianniis

So I've become very selective in which books I request, and only ask for the ones that actually involve characters and/or locations that I already enjoy. I never had any interest in Thay or its wizards even BEFORE it became a blasted waste thanks to Szass Tam, sot I've even less interest in them now. I also don't care about aboleths- barely ever even used them in my games- so that series was out, too. Overall, I've just found less in the post-Spellplague era to actually want to read about, regardless of whatever else is in it.

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Originally posted by Erik Scott de Bie



On your last point, what do you think about:

1) Westgate?
2) Night Masks?
3) Vigilante Paladins?

Because if you're a fan of at least one of those, then have I got a (hopefully) trilogy for you. It's just gonna take a while to write and publish.

Cheers

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As for my books, it's only the one paladin, and he follows a sort of triad of deities: Tyr, Torm, and Helm. And seeing as two of those deities are long-since dead, that adds a level of cool complexity to it.

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Originally posted by Elfinblade

This sounds very interesting Erik. Would the (fingers-crossed) trilogy feature all of the three items you listed, or just the lone vigilante paladin?
When can you give us release dates?
If you havent started writing them yet i presume it would take at least a couple of years until the first one to be released?

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Originally posted by Erik Scott de Bie

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Originally posted by The Red Walker

So 85% Erik vs. 15% tie in......that ratio seems to be in your favor

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Plus it's Batman: No Man's Land meets Gang of New York in Luskan. I mean, what else can you possibly want?

Cheers

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Originally posted by Erik Scott de Bie

Sounds like someone needs to hook you up with a shipment of recently published used FR books. Hmm . . .

The rumors of the Harpers' disbanding have been greatly exaggerated. The organization is still around, albeit possibly diminished from its previous state. Most of them focus on the big bad of Netheril, but there are agents all over doing all sorts of things. Pretty much the same old organization, albeit updated.

Well, the Waterdeep series has six books, all of which are written by different authors with different characters and storylines. Steve Schend's Blackstaff Tower talks about--as you might imagine--the Blackstaff and a group of young nobles who form a close bond. Mistshore is about a street-smart sorceress on the run from the watch. Downshadow (my book) is about a vigilante paladin, a fey'ri enchantress, a dwarf assassin, and a young woman with no memory but lots of magical power, all of whom end up crashing into each other through one means or another. City of the Dead is about the heiress to the graveyard-running Carver family and an outlander wizard stopping an undead incursion (excursion?). Circle of Skulls I haven't actually read (though I will eventually). And God Catcher is what I described above.

As for my books, it's only the one paladin, and he follows a sort of triad of deities: Tyr, Torm, and Helm. And seeing as two of those deities are long-since dead, that adds a level of cool complexity to it.

So you said Waterdeep MIGHT perk your interest, but otherwise you said you didn't care for a bunch of other stuff . . . what else about the Realms DOES draw your interest?

Cheers

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