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Deneir
Acolyte
USA
11 Posts |
 Posted - 24 Jan 2003 : 01:22:00
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Hey I was just wondering just what kind of people are out there reading with a zeal like myself. I am 16, Ny, Male.
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ArcticKnight
Learned Scribe
USA
169 Posts |
Posted - 24 Jan 2003 : 02:30:17
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| 23,Male, Michigan...reading FR since the early 90's |
"The man who does not read has little advantage over the man who cannot read."
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AraznBlair
Learned Scribe
USA
114 Posts |
Posted - 24 Jan 2003 : 03:39:01
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| I'm 28 from Southern California. I have almost all of the old FR books and Dragon Lance books. Most of them I have read more than twice. |
Arazn Blair
Fightermage Extrodinare |
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Mumadar Ibn Huzal
Master of Realmslore
1338 Posts |
Posted - 24 Jan 2003 : 17:38:42
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| 30, Male, currently Budapest (Hungary)... reading FR since the mid 90's. As well as having read most of the DragonLance novels prior to the 5th age. (generally devour a paperback novel in about two evenings) |
Edited by - Mumadar Ibn Huzal on 24 Jan 2003 17:40:51 |
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Lord Rad
Great Reader
United Kingdom
2080 Posts |
Posted - 24 Jan 2003 : 18:02:15
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Male aged 30 from Nottingham, England. Been a devoted FR fan since about 1993. Have all the products (except 2) and all novels. Spend a LOT of time reading FR material. Been playing D&D the same length of time, firstly core D&D then onto Mystara and Ravenloft AD&D settings.
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Lord Rad
"What? No, I wasn't reading your module. I was just looking at the pictures"
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Edited by - Lord Rad on 24 Jan 2003 18:02:51 |
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Feanor_Karnil
Learned Scribe
USA
132 Posts |
Posted - 24 Jan 2003 : 18:08:02
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| I am 15,Male,from Indiana (US) and have been involved in FR for 5 years. |
We live in a bleak world my friend, where heroes are few and shadows stalk us around every corner.
-Mikai Daerni |
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Artalis
Senior Scribe
USA
444 Posts |
Posted - 24 Jan 2003 : 18:42:55
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| 30 NY. Next to no free time to read. 4 kids. I get together with a couple of friends, my wife and my 2 oldest children to play AD&D every once in a while. Got started on FR back in First Edition. Have only read Spellfire among the fiction. But I have read a decent amount of the supplements, and I retain that sort of thing pretty well. I got started in RolePlaying Games over 15 years ago with Middle Earth Role Playing (MERP) since I was a huge Tolkien fan. |
Artalis
Email
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Arion Elenim
Senior Scribe
933 Posts |
Posted - 24 Jan 2003 : 20:56:02
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(Points his nose in the air indignantly)
I think that it is folly to refer to anyone on THIS forum as "average"....:)
21,M,USA |
My latest Realms-based short story, about a bard, a paladin of Lathander and the letter of the law, Debts Repaid. It takes place before the "shattering" and gives the bard Arion a last gasp before he plunges into the present.http://candlekeep.com/campaign/logs/log-debts.htm |
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Arion Elenim
Senior Scribe
933 Posts |
Posted - 24 Jan 2003 : 20:57:08
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| oh...I've been reading FR since I was 13...so eight years for me... |
My latest Realms-based short story, about a bard, a paladin of Lathander and the letter of the law, Debts Repaid. It takes place before the "shattering" and gives the bard Arion a last gasp before he plunges into the present.http://candlekeep.com/campaign/logs/log-debts.htm |
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Deneir
Acolyte
USA
11 Posts |
Posted - 24 Jan 2003 : 23:28:24
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| Well i Have been reading since i was 12 but i really got started on reading fantisy novels, in 5th grade when we read "the lion the witch and the Wardrobe" by C.S. Lewis (not realms, but it really got me hooked on Fantisy). I imidiately bought the other 6 novels of Narnia the aren't the best books but i enjoyed them alot. |
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Echon
Senior Scribe
Denmark
422 Posts |
Posted - 25 Jan 2003 : 12:20:34
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20, male, Aarhus, Denmark
I began reading the Dragonlance series about 4-5 years ago (of which I have read nearly every book) and was at the same time introduced to the Forgotten Realms through Baldur's Gate and Tales of the Sword Coast. Later on I read the Avatar trilogy which are the only FR books I have read. I do not know any FR novels or products - at least not analogue. 
I am, however, very interested in FR lore and should like to get my hands on more products and I ought to borrow some more novels. I just do not know where to begin.
-Echon |
"If others had not been foolish, we should be so."
-William Blake |
Edited by - Echon on 25 Jan 2003 12:23:38 |
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lowtech
Learned Scribe
USA
315 Posts |
Posted - 25 Jan 2003 : 15:36:43
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| 24, male, USA. I have been reading the novels for almost a decade, now. |
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Bookwyrm
Great Reader
USA
4740 Posts |
Posted - 26 Jan 2003 : 05:28:44
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First of all: Well-put, ArionElenim.
I am a (mostly) twenty-one-year-old (just another month) male from Maryland, USA. I first started reading Forgotten Realms when I noticed an interesting-looking book in my older brother's bookcase, called The Crystal Shard. Now, let me say that I was prejudiced against D&D books from when that same brother tried me out on Dragonlance. I didn't like it. Still don't. My brother thinks I'm crazy. You probably think I'm crazy. You may be right. But I digress.
However, the way he had organized (ha!) his books, he had all the R. A. Salvatore books in one place, seperate from the main body of Forgotten Realms books. I actually didn't notice the FR logo on the cover (paying little attention to covers anyway) and so started reading it. Ever since, I have been hooked.
Of course, not all FR books are as good as the Drizzt ones -- but there have been enough to keep me interested. I like this series as I like few others, due to its semi-unique feature: rather than following the adventures of a small band at different times, it's all about different people at the same time. It's a cross-section of an entire world, showing us glimpses into a reality more tangible than (I think) Dragonlance could ever be.
I don't read as much FR as I would like nowadays, having to keep up with other books squeezed in between college courses. But the Forgotten Realms shall always be special to me. |
Hell hath no fury like all of Candlekeep rising in defense of one of its own.
Download the brickfilm masterpiece by Leftfield Studios! See this page for more. |
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Lost Elph
Seeker
USA
61 Posts |
Posted - 26 Jan 2003 : 05:49:19
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I`m 18 Spokan, WA.  I feel kinda out of place. I`ve been reading FR books for about 3 years now. I started to read FR books one summer when I was at the libary and say a book that just wouldn`t let me walk off with out it. Ever sicne then I`v been hooked. (man I can`t spell today!)
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I`m not lost, my dreams are.
I am one of those people who go through life unseen, but I don`t think of it as a bad thing, no I think of it as an opportunity |
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Sadonayerah Odrydin
Learned Scribe
USA
210 Posts |
Posted - 26 Jan 2003 : 06:26:52
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You feel out of place Elph? I *really* do. I've been reading FR for about a year or a year and a half now. I'm currently 17, Spokane, Washington. It was Lost Elph who got me interested in FR in the first place. she mentioned the titles "Elfsong" and "Elfshadow" and I went into a store up here called Merlin's and I got Elfsong. that was the first FR book I ever read and I've been hooked since. (BTW, thanks again Elph for hooking me on that series).
In all seriousness though, and I know I'm probably gonna get a bunch of hate daggers sent my way for this, I never used to like Drizzt. It was a different friend of mine who finally convinced me to read "Homeland." So, I went to the library at school and checked out a copy. The next thing I know, I'm hooked and you can't get me to quit reading the Drizzt books. He's now one of my most favorite characters in FR. (aside from Khelben Arunsun, Danilo Thann, Cattie-brie, and Zaknafein Do'Urden.  )
Anywho, that's how I got hooked. |
"What's that," asked Mogget.
"Sardines," said Sam. "I knew they were standard rations, so I got a few tins for you."
"What are sardines?" Moggest asked suspiciously. "And why is there a key? Is this some sort of Abhorsen joke?"
Abhorsen by Garth Nix
"What you made a vampire...Pomeranian?!" --Hannibal King from Blade Trinity
~Sadie |
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Bookwyrm
Great Reader
USA
4740 Posts |
Posted - 26 Jan 2003 : 06:36:32
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First: Elph, since when do you care about spelling? 
Second: Don't worry, Sadon, I'm sure I'm going to get far worse posts about how I don't like Dragonlance. (By the way, you did know that the Icewind Dale Trilogy comes first, right? The Dark Elf Trilogy's the prequel.) |
Hell hath no fury like all of Candlekeep rising in defense of one of its own.
Download the brickfilm masterpiece by Leftfield Studios! See this page for more. |
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Sadonayerah Odrydin
Learned Scribe
USA
210 Posts |
Posted - 26 Jan 2003 : 06:45:43
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| In response to your post Bookwyrm: I don't particularly care for Dragonlance either. And yeah, one of my friends told me that Icewind Dale was first. I just don't remember whether it was Chad or Mike.... |
"What's that," asked Mogget.
"Sardines," said Sam. "I knew they were standard rations, so I got a few tins for you."
"What are sardines?" Moggest asked suspiciously. "And why is there a key? Is this some sort of Abhorsen joke?"
Abhorsen by Garth Nix
"What you made a vampire...Pomeranian?!" --Hannibal King from Blade Trinity
~Sadie |
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zemd
Master of Realmslore
France
1103 Posts |
Posted - 26 Jan 2003 : 19:46:59
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I'm 20, from Toulouse (South West of France). I've been reading FR since I'm 12. I began with the Avatar Trilogy. When i first read it, i hated it. I tried once more, and again i couldn't even imagine to finish it. But at the third try i just loved it and i bought the 72 books to complete the collection. (i know that there are a lot more FR books, but in France we have to wait for the translation)
And i just learnt that when they translate it, they just cut 1/3 of the books to have the "right" number of page... so i just bought $150 of FR books in English ...
And i play FR rpg for 5 years. (DMing fo 2 years and it gonna continue for a while!) |
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Yasraena
Senior Scribe
USA
388 Posts |
Posted - 08 Apr 2003 : 07:34:35
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I'm 38, male, and living in Sacramento, California.
I started out reading FR about ten years ago with Homeland, the first book in the Dark Elf Trilogy, and have been hooked ever since. I read anything to do with FR now from novels to game supplements. I don't seem to have enough time to read as much as I used to back when I was in college, but I still find the time when a book or supplement I've really been looking forward to comes out. (I devoured The Thousand Orcs in a solid 12 hours of reading one saturday) JRR Tolkien is by far my favorite author - I've read the Silmarillion and LOTR about a dozen times each. I'm also an avid reader of Sci-Fi and Horror too (I really dig HP Lovecraft).
Bookwyrm - You'd be surprised at how many people DON'T like the Dragonlance novels. I read the first three because I had heard so much about them, but was VERY dissapointed by them as a whole. The stories and characters themselves were decent. Raistlin was beyond cool, and you couldn't help but want that frigging Kender, Tasslehoff, to be killed by SOMEONE, but the writing overall was just BAD. |
"Nindyn vel'uss malar verin z'klaen tlu kyone ulu naut doera nindel vel'bolen nind malar."
Yasraena T'Sarran
Harper of Silverymoon |
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Bookwyrm
Great Reader
USA
4740 Posts |
Posted - 08 Apr 2003 : 11:48:30
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Actually, I hated Raistlin the most. I was surprised recently to find out that he was listed as evil, but once I thought about it, he did seem to be heading in that direction.
As for the writing, oh, don't get me started! When I read that, I hadn't gotten to the point yet of being secure enough to criticize a published author, but I could still finds so many things wrong! In point of fact, I've never read anything by those authors that I've ever liked.
Oh, and Tolkien -- I'd lay down good money that he is the only one that the scribes will admit to being even better than their beloved Realms. |
Hell hath no fury like all of Candlekeep rising in defense of one of its own.
Download the brickfilm masterpiece by Leftfield Studios! See this page for more. |
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Alexis Merlin
Learned Scribe
USA
115 Posts |
Posted - 08 Apr 2003 : 18:42:43
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19 ,male, hailing from the South of England here. I first 'encounteres' AD&D with the good old Eye of the Beholder Games, as well as Dragon Quest and Dragon Strike. I also used to play Dragon Dice a bit too. I've only really got into the Realms since I started playing Baldurs Gate in December '02 (After seeing LoTR I kinda felt inspired to give it a go) but since then have been doing my best to learn as much about such a fantastic place as possible! I also enjoy the old "Fighting Fantasy" gamebooks and like most others here dabble in Tolkiens works too.
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It is knowledge that influences and equalizes the social condition of man; that gives to all, however different their political position, passions which are in common, and enjoyments which are universal.
(Benjamin Disraeli)
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Avaly
Acolyte
USA
48 Posts |
Posted - 08 Apr 2003 : 19:26:19
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| Female, 28, GA, been reading Fantasy since I was the age of 10...writing since 12....I can't read too much with being a single mommy of a 13 mo old and teaching 90 students who write an essay every 2 weeks and a research a paper every semester....:) |
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zemd
Master of Realmslore
France
1103 Posts |
Posted - 08 Apr 2003 : 19:49:13
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| And BTW, i was born on 10/28/1982... Just in case |
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branmakmuffin
Senior Scribe
USA
428 Posts |
Posted - 08 Apr 2003 : 21:01:51
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Lost Elph:
quote:
I`m 18 Spokan, WA. I feel kinda out of place. I`ve been reading FR books for about 3 years now. I started to read FR books one summer when I was at the libary and say a book that just wouldn`t let me walk off with out it. Ever sicne then I`v been hooked. (man I can`t spell today!)
You've been reading them longer than me. I didn't read "The Dark Elf Trilogy" until a few months ago (I have since read all of Salvatore's FR books, plus a few others). I only read what I can get from the library. Salvatore is popular enough that all his books are available.
I be 41, male, Southern California, so no lip from any o' the youngins, or you won't get dessert. |
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Mournblade
Master of Realmslore
USA
1287 Posts |
Posted - 08 Apr 2003 : 22:58:34
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I am 30, male, from NJ and I have been playing D&D for 19 years now. First started reading forgotten realms in 1987 with Darkwalker on Moonshae and then crystal shard. I've been reading fantasy since age 10 and I started off with Elric of Melnibone.
I read the forgotten realm novels only because of the world. I MUST agree with Bookworm(wyrm?) that the writing of the FR books is substandard. R.A. Salvatore is good, but have you read his last couple of books? Oh please! The Drizzt books DECLINE with each novel.
There are so many books out there that are just BETTER, that one would not even have to mention TOLKEIN. Michael Moorcock (Elric, Hawkmoon, erekose), David Eddings, Piers Anthony, Terry Goodkind, Anne McCaffery. The list goes on. Why are they better? Because they are not trying to sell a campaign world. I have read MOST of the FR books out there, and I love them. But you will never hear me say they are written well.
Still they should be taken for what they are. Comic book like adventures of characters we know and love.
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A wizard is Never late Frodo Baggins. Nor is he Early. A wizard arrives precisely when he means to... |
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Targon Moonrise
Learned Scribe
163 Posts |
Posted - 08 Apr 2003 : 23:53:31
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| 17 year old male. I've only been reading FR for about a year or two. But I love the books, especially books with good Drow and Elminster. |
May Melkor smile upon every spell you cast. |
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The wise mongoose
Acolyte
USA
4 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2003 : 03:58:28
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quote:
Originally posted by Echon
I am, however, very interested in FR lore and should like to get my hands on more products and I ought to borrow some more novels. I just do not know where to begin.
-Echon
I Have read Rob Salvatore's section of the FR books, But I have to agree with Echon it is extremily difficult to figure out where to begin. I'm looking to expand my reading to the other FR lorists, but havnt found a starting point. I have found the page with the trilogies listed, but I wouldn't want to start in the middle of a characters story if you take my meaning. If someone could provide or point me too a list of characters in their respective orders. You would certainly be my new favorit person Thank ya.
~Mongoose
P.S. OH! I'm 16 years old living in jersey and i started reading a few months ago and currently have 17 FR novels. |
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Targon Moonrise
Learned Scribe
163 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2003 : 04:00:57
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| The Avatar Trilogy starts off about Midnight, Kelemvor and Cyric. You would be coming in at the beginning of their stories. That's the only books I really knows as a starting point outsaide of RA Salvator's area. |
May Melkor smile upon every spell you cast. |
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Darwin_Tenderfoot
Acolyte
USA
10 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2003 : 04:08:01
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I am 16 and have been reading FR since I was 12. R.A. Salvatore kicks ass I dont care what you all say.
Darwin |
Edited by - Darwin_Tenderfoot on 09 Apr 2003 04:08:49 |
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Bookwyrm
Great Reader
USA
4740 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2003 : 05:45:03
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Darwin, tone it down. No one's saying anything against Salvatore. And your posts are bordering on the offensive; watch it.
Mongoose: This has been discussed a lot here; it's a common question among newcomers. If I weren't so lazy, I'd make a special FAQ entry for Alaundo on this very subject. If you'd like, email me with what you want, exactly, and I'll tell you what I think is probably the best way to read the books. (I've thought about this subuct for years.) Or, you can get help from other scribes here. |
Hell hath no fury like all of Candlekeep rising in defense of one of its own.
Download the brickfilm masterpiece by Leftfield Studios! See this page for more. |
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Darwin_Tenderfoot
Acolyte
USA
10 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2003 : 16:55:17
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I am sorry if I offended anyone I was just a little mad yesterday.
I will try to do better.
Darwin |
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Topic |
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Average realms readers
