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BlackAce
Senior Scribe
United Kingdom
358 Posts |
 Posted - 10 Jun 2007 : 17:19:17
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Hi folks,
I've been a bit slack in my FR novel reading recently (Curse you, Patrick O'Brian!) and was looking for good recommendations for the latest series.
I've pretty much read everything up to the Wizards series but anything after that; Water Course, Twilight War, KoMD, I haven't even looked at.
So where do you think I should start?
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scererar
Master of Realmslore
USA
1618 Posts |
Posted - 10 Jun 2007 : 17:57:51
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| anything by Paul Kemp. |
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Faraer
Great Reader
3308 Posts |
Posted - 10 Jun 2007 : 20:20:21
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| Swords of Eveningstar comes out this month in paperback! |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 10 Jun 2007 : 20:40:55
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| If you have to start somewhere, I'd say start with the Knights of Myth Drannor books. |
"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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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31799 Posts |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 11 Jun 2007 : 02:42:26
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Surprisingly enough, me too. 
SWORDS OF EVENINGSTAR, definitely.
There are some very good Realms novels among the "recent crop," and Paul Kemp's Cale trilogy are among them, but don't start there unless you're already familiar with Cale from the Sembia series. Thomas Reid's new book is solid, too, but . . . start with Ed. He's the warm fuzzy doormat.
(Ahem.) 
love,
THO |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31799 Posts |
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BlackAce
Senior Scribe
United Kingdom
358 Posts |
Posted - 11 Jun 2007 : 04:37:16
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| Swords of Eveningstar it is then! |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 11 Jun 2007 : 23:51:21
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| Enjoy! |
"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 - 13 Jun 2007 : 04:22:05
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| I liked Depths of Madness - definately get it. I liked the first Watercourse Trilogy book, that one is a bit different from other FR books, well a lot different, but good. Some of the Fighters books were good too. did you read Bloodwalk or Frostfell from the Wizards series? I liked both of them as well |
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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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 14 Jun 2007 : 00:16:59
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quote:
Originally posted by MerrikCale
I liked Depths of Madness - definately get it.
Yes, that one was very different, and it features some interesting characters.
quote:
I liked the first Watercourse Trilogy book, that one is a bit different from other FR books, well a lot different, but good.
Definitely different...and definitely readable. However, the author has taken much inspiration from Ayn Rand's works on Objectivism (especially The Fountainhead), and even as someone who agrees with some aspects of her philosophy, I don't think its infusion into those novels is especially subtle. I also think the protagonist is too robotic to identify with, and I utterly hate the lead female character with a passion. |
"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) |
Edited by - Rinonalyrna Fathomlin on 14 Jun 2007 00:18:19 |
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BlackAce
Senior Scribe
United Kingdom
358 Posts |
Posted - 15 Jun 2007 : 00:21:52
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Hmm really? Interesting.
And forgive me, Rinona, but as a guy who grew up with 4 four sisters, when a woman says something that vehement about another, I'm overcome with the urge to yell;
CATFIGHT! 
Sorry. |
Edited by - BlackAce on 15 Jun 2007 00:23:22 |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31799 Posts |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36906 Posts |
Posted - 15 Jun 2007 : 00:51:26
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quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
Trust a Davion to start thinking about infighting! 
I thought that was more of a Steiner trait... |
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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MerrikCale
Senior Scribe
USA
947 Posts |
Posted - 15 Jun 2007 : 04:17:50
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quote:
Originally posted by Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
quote:
Originally posted by MerrikCale
I liked Depths of Madness - definately get it.
Yes, that one was very different, and it features some interesting characters.
quote:
I liked the first Watercourse Trilogy book, that one is a bit different from other FR books, well a lot different, but good.
Definitely different...and definitely readable. However, the author has taken much inspiration from Ayn Rand's works on Objectivism (especially The Fountainhead), and even as someone who agrees with some aspects of her philosophy, I don't think its infusion into those novels is especially subtle. I also think the protagonist is too robotic to identify with, and I utterly hate the lead female character with a passion.
I must confess I am not familiar with Ayn Rand's books |
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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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 15 Jun 2007 : 23:38:11
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quote:
Originally posted by BlackAce
Hmm really? Interesting.
And forgive me, Rinona, but as a guy who grew up with 4 four sisters, when a woman says something that vehement about another, I'm overcome with the urge to yell;
CATFIGHT!
Sorry.
Catfight? Really, I'd not bother with that, I'd prefer to just step into the story and kill the bitch. Let me explain.
If you read the book and find out what kind of person this is, you'd likely hate her too. Gender doesn't have much to do with it. This is a person who killed a man in cold blood in the first book (for no good reason, mind--it was murder, not self-defense), and never feels remorse over it or even really suffers any consequences. She's a slut in the sense that she uses sex a weapon, not because she finds it pleasurable and fun. She torments one particular male character emotionally, even though she's the one who decided to marry him (in one scene, she smiles as she gets him to eat a bloody, uncooked piece of meat). And when she learns that her well-meaning father is murdered, she doesn't really care.
So, she's actually a person who's more destructive towards men than other women. What really rankles me is that I get the distinct sense that the reader is supposed to feel sorry for this spoiled, malicious, self-destructive little misanthrope. She's not one of the "villains", she's supposedly on the side of the protagonist (after all, she's making "love" to him). To top it all off? She's described for the series as "the most beautiful woman in all Faerun."  |
"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) |
Edited by - Rinonalyrna Fathomlin on 16 Jun 2007 00:03:24 |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 15 Jun 2007 : 23:43:38
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
Trust a Davion to start thinking about infighting!
I thought that was more of a Steiner trait...
I am confused. |
"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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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31799 Posts |
Posted - 16 Jun 2007 : 00:13:23
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We're referring to some of the well-known characteristics attributed to two of the major factions in the Classic BattleTech game. Both the Steiners and the Davions, the ruling Houses of two vast interstellar empires that eventually became one, recently endured through a savage civil war -- the infighting I was referring to. Of course, both the Steiner and Davion Houses are also individually known for their own civil wars...
Regardless, it's just something BlackAce, Wooly, Trace Coburn, and myself occasionally like to throw at each other. It could have been worse... I suppose. I could have said something nasty about Clan Coyote! 
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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 16 Jun 2007 00:14:47 |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 16 Jun 2007 : 00:19:47
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So that explains the funny names you guys keep flinging around. |
"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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BlackAce
Senior Scribe
United Kingdom
358 Posts |
Posted - 16 Jun 2007 : 00:39:03
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quote:
Originally posted by Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
So that explains the funny names you guys keep flinging around.
Us CBT regulars are terrible at putting aside our IC factional differences. It's like being football fan, only with cool robots instead of overpaid idiots.  |
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BlackAce
Senior Scribe
United Kingdom
358 Posts |
Posted - 16 Jun 2007 : 00:48:01
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quote:
Originally posted by Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Catfight? Really, I'd not bother with that, I'd prefer to just step into the story and kill the bitch.
quote:
Let me explain.
If you read the book and find out what kind of person this is, you'd likely hate her too. Gender doesn't have much to do with it. This is a person who killed a man in cold blood in the first book (for no good reason, mind--it was murder, not self-defense), and never feels remorse over it or even really suffers any consequences. She's a slut in the sense that she uses sex a weapon, not because she finds it pleasurable and fun. She torments one particular male character emotionally, even though she's the one who decided to marry him (in one scene, she smiles as she gets him to eat a bloody, uncooked piece of meat). And when she learns that her well-meaning father is murdered, she doesn't really care.
So, she's actually a person who's more destructive towards men than other women. What really rankles me is that I get the distinct sense that the reader is supposed to feel sorry for this spoiled, malicious, self-destructive little misanthrope. She's not one of the "villains", she's supposedly on the side of the protagonist (after all, she's making "love" to him). To top it all off? She's described for the series as "the most beautiful woman in all Faerun."
Sounds like there's a matron mother hiding in her family tree. |
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Faraer
Great Reader
3308 Posts |
Posted - 16 Jun 2007 : 01:25:45
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quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
We're referring to some of the well-known characteristics attributed to two of the major factions in the Classic BattleTech game.
I thought by the Steiners you meant Rick and Scott. |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31799 Posts |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36906 Posts |
Posted - 16 Jun 2007 : 03:55:25
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quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
I'm not all that familiar with either Rick or Scott Steiner.
Who were/are they?
Wrestlers. You know, the sport that makes our hobby seem realistic. |
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 - 16 Jun 2007 : 04:06:41
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And Scott Steiner is so, um, enhanced that his action figure actually has more points of articulation than he himself does . . .
Why do I get the feeling there is an impending staff looming over our heads.
Um . . . I got Swords of Eveningstar but haven't started it yet. I'm reticent to endorse it though, until I've actually read it, but I'm excited to get into it. The Watercourse Trilogy is interesting, and worth reading, but not a "must read" for Realmslore. Its more of an interesting experiment in Realmlore than anything else.
Shadowbred was an excellent book, and I can't wait for the next books in the series.
But if you are current through the Wizards books, don't forget Unclean, which is a really great book about Thay . . . though once again, I'm very anxious for the rest of the series to come out. |
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BlackAce
Senior Scribe
United Kingdom
358 Posts |
Posted - 31 Aug 2007 : 00:23:14
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finally finished SoES. Another excellent story by Ed!
I also get the feeling Ed maxed out his word count given the tumble of events in the last chapter! Looking forward to Dragonfire and right now, starting in on Shadowbred. 
So a hearty thank you all, for the recommendations. |
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