6 ms·

Is there any fiction worth reading placed in D&D? What would you recommend?

by polskibus 5y ago

wolverine876 5y ago
What do you mean by "placed in D&D"?
- checkyoursudo 5y ago
  Likely, "set in a D&D universe" kind of thing.
at_a_remove 5y ago
The abominable Quag Keep (love Norton but whew) and its worse followup count, as would Dragonlance.
- PhasmaFelis 5y ago
  ...That doesn't sound like you think it's "worth reading..."
  - at_a_remove 5y ago
    Well, there's no disputing taste; someone else might like it. And Dragonlance was perfectly serviceable, given its origins.
    - disgruntledphd2 5y ago
      Dragonlance is a wonderful kids book. Unfortunately, re-reading as an adult was definitely not inspiring. I am looking forward to reading them to my daughter though, some time after she learns to understand words.
      - checkyoursudo 5y ago
        I re-read the first two trilogies for the first time in a couple of decades or so, and started a few of the other books (couldn't finish any others). I think that Dragons of Autumn Twilight still holds up reasonably well as a Tolkienesque derivative. I somewhat enjoyed reading the other two in that set and don't regret having re-read them. I enjoyed a few scenes from the Twins books, but otherwise I should probably have left those to my fond memories instead. I still also have fond memories of a few other of the Dragonlance books, though now I hesitate to attempt them again.
        disgruntledphd2 5y ago
        Yeah, I couldn't even get through Autumn Twilight, the lack of nuance and the straight up good vs evil schtick really annoyed me. I guess Steven Erikson has spoiled me ;)
yaur 5y ago
If you want a book “set in d&d” the Dragonlance books are a good place to start. The early Drizzt books aren’t terrible either. In both cases these are firmly YA books and on rereading them as an adult they don’t hold up that well. I don’t know of any d&d novels that I would recommend to adults that don’t play the game.
- effingwewt 5y ago
  After the first sentence I was like 'yea but litte better than Piers Anthony' but then you nailed it with the YA tag. I've read a lot of forgotten realms books, and Dragonlance, but as I've grown I wanted something more adult I guess. I've read the Malazan Book of The Fallen series and loved it but I felt it went off-rails, I prefer sagas that at least know where they will end up- as opposed to just figuring it out as you go (like Stephen King's 'Gunslinger'). As I've gotten older I can't do filler (why I hate most modern anime without a site that tells you which are filler episodes and so safe to skip). I refuse to even watch any anime series on Netflix as they are all filler except the first and last 2 episodes (that new olympus series is exactly this). Anyway does anyone have some more 'adult' sci/fantasy books or series to recommend?
  - yaur 5y ago
    For grown up Sci-fi Phillip K Dick is where its at. Ubik, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, and A Scanner Darkly are the foundation of what PKD is about. Once you grasp the level of mindfuck you are dealing with you can move on to valise and the other post-OD stories if you want. Skip the man in the high castle. I know that there will be other signals telling you to not skip it, but skip it. If you can't help yourself just say "this is what happens when a great author writes a book with a D20" and look back to why all "DnD" books suck. If you want space opera, you can't go wrong with the culture books. Consider Phlebas, is a fine place to start. Later books build on the mythology and themes, but if you don't connect with book 1 you probably aren't going to like the rest. A student of PKD who likes to play with scifantasy ideas is Johnathan Lethem. If he has written a book set somewhere that you have a connection to start there, otherwise start with The Fortress of Solitude. Follow with Chronic City and Motherless Brooklyn. Don't watch the Motherless Brooklyn movie.
Ichthypresbyter 5y ago
The Riftwar Saga by Raymond E. Feist (Magician, Silverthorn, A Darkness at Sethanon), while not an officially licensed D&D tie-in, is based on a D&D campaign the author played in at UCSD in the 1970s. I think the Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson is also based on an RPG campaign, which started out as D&D then switched to GURPS. Both are worth reading.
- spiralx 5y ago
  > The Riftwar Saga by Raymond E. Feist (Magician, Silverthorn, A Darkness at Sethanon), while not an officially licensed D&D tie-in, is based on a D&D campaign the author played in at UCSD in the 1970s. The books are set 500 years before the campaign IIRC. Midkemia Press put out several RPG supplements including several describing places in the Kingdom: https://www.midkemia.com/ https://www.midkemia.com/ > I think the Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson is also based on an RPG campaign, which started out as D&D then switched to GURPS. That's interesting, I couldn't imagine how you'd fit the breadth and depth of character abilities from the books into something like D&D.
hazza_n_dazza 5y ago
IMHO the D&D books are quite trashy - which can of course be enjoyable. But my favourite RPG/Gaming books are Michael Moorcock, Jack Vance.

Is there any fiction worth reading placed in D&D? What would you recommend?

wolverine876 5y ago

What do you mean by "placed in D&D"?

checkyoursudo 5y ago
Likely, "set in a D&D universe" kind of thing.

at_a_remove 5y ago

The abominable Quag Keep (love Norton but whew) and its worse followup count, as would Dragonlance.

PhasmaFelis 5y ago
...That doesn't sound like you think it's "worth reading..."
- at_a_remove 5y ago
  Well, there's no disputing taste; someone else might like it. And Dragonlance was perfectly serviceable, given its origins.
  - disgruntledphd2 5y ago
    Dragonlance is a wonderful kids book. Unfortunately, re-reading as an adult was definitely not inspiring. I am looking forward to reading them to my daughter though, some time after she learns to understand words.
    - checkyoursudo 5y ago
      I re-read the first two trilogies for the first time in a couple of decades or so, and started a few of the other books (couldn't finish any others). I think that Dragons of Autumn Twilight still holds up reasonably well as a Tolkienesque derivative. I somewhat enjoyed reading the other two in that set and don't regret having re-read them. I enjoyed a few scenes from the Twins books, but otherwise I should probably have left those to my fond memories instead. I still also have fond memories of a few other of the Dragonlance books, though now I hesitate to attempt them again.
      - disgruntledphd2 5y ago
        Yeah, I couldn't even get through Autumn Twilight, the lack of nuance and the straight up good vs evil schtick really annoyed me. I guess Steven Erikson has spoiled me ;)

yaur 5y ago

If you want a book “set in d&d” the Dragonlance books are a good place to start. The early Drizzt books aren’t terrible either. In both cases these are firmly YA books and on rereading them as an adult they don’t hold up that well. I don’t know of any d&d novels that I would recommend to adults that don’t play the game.

effingwewt 5y ago
After the first sentence I was like 'yea but litte better than Piers Anthony' but then you nailed it with the YA tag. I've read a lot of forgotten realms books, and Dragonlance, but as I've grown I wanted something more adult I guess. I've read the Malazan Book of The Fallen series and loved it but I felt it went off-rails, I prefer sagas that at least know where they will end up- as opposed to just figuring it out as you go (like Stephen King's 'Gunslinger'). As I've gotten older I can't do filler (why I hate most modern anime without a site that tells you which are filler episodes and so safe to skip). I refuse to even watch any anime series on Netflix as they are all filler except the first and last 2 episodes (that new olympus series is exactly this). Anyway does anyone have some more 'adult' sci/fantasy books or series to recommend?
- yaur 5y ago
  For grown up Sci-fi Phillip K Dick is where its at. Ubik, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, and A Scanner Darkly are the foundation of what PKD is about. Once you grasp the level of mindfuck you are dealing with you can move on to valise and the other post-OD stories if you want. Skip the man in the high castle. I know that there will be other signals telling you to not skip it, but skip it. If you can't help yourself just say "this is what happens when a great author writes a book with a D20" and look back to why all "DnD" books suck. If you want space opera, you can't go wrong with the culture books. Consider Phlebas, is a fine place to start. Later books build on the mythology and themes, but if you don't connect with book 1 you probably aren't going to like the rest. A student of PKD who likes to play with scifantasy ideas is Johnathan Lethem. If he has written a book set somewhere that you have a connection to start there, otherwise start with The Fortress of Solitude. Follow with Chronic City and Motherless Brooklyn. Don't watch the Motherless Brooklyn movie.

Ichthypresbyter 5y ago

The Riftwar Saga by Raymond E. Feist (Magician, Silverthorn, A Darkness at Sethanon), while not an officially licensed D&D tie-in, is based on a D&D campaign the author played in at UCSD in the 1970s. I think the Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson is also based on an RPG campaign, which started out as D&D then switched to GURPS. Both are worth reading.

spiralx 5y ago
> The Riftwar Saga by Raymond E. Feist (Magician, Silverthorn, A Darkness at Sethanon), while not an officially licensed D&D tie-in, is based on a D&D campaign the author played in at UCSD in the 1970s. The books are set 500 years before the campaign IIRC. Midkemia Press put out several RPG supplements including several describing places in the Kingdom: https://www.midkemia.com/ https://www.midkemia.com/ > I think the Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson is also based on an RPG campaign, which started out as D&D then switched to GURPS. That's interesting, I couldn't imagine how you'd fit the breadth and depth of character abilities from the books into something like D&D.

hazza_n_dazza 5y ago

IMHO the D&D books are quite trashy - which can of course be enjoyable. But my favourite RPG/Gaming books are Michael Moorcock, Jack Vance.