[rune]

I have read some of Salvadores books from the Forgotten Realms series. However, recently I have learned he is not the only author that writes for the Forgotten Realms.

I got really confused in the end when I saw all the different series and authors who have participated.

How do you chose which books to read?

Where do you start?

Does anyone know how this series ended up being so branched?

And the most important question - is it worth getting into these books?

Hope I havent given you all a headache with these tough questions :)

rune

[Nimea]

Forgotten Realms is a Campaign Setting for the RPG (A)D&D. Just like Dragonlance - a whole lot of authors are writing books for it, to flesh out the world, to sell more stuff to the roleplayers that like that particular world and thus it is like a shared world. Salvatore is just one among them. ;)

So, where to start? Nowhere particular, just pick what interests you. ;) I came across Salvatore because those where the only ones translated into German at that time . . .

And is it worth it?
I don't know. If you like those books, yeah, why not. Surely the quality varies widely, nonetheless there are some interesting stories along the way, just like the tale about Drizzt Do'Urden.
Some people tend to call them crap just because they are based on roleplaying and/or because they are kind of a mass production - I don't share that view. :rolleyes: What's so wrong about light reading set in world you know and like?

How do I choose from them? I don't anymore. I read Salvatore and was interested in the world for some time, but after reading my share of (A)D&D books (other settings like Planescape, Dragonlance, Mystara) I somehow lost my interest. Maybe I will get back later to those books, but right now there is too much in my to-read pile. Or maybe I lost my appetite for them for real. Who knows? ;)

Hope that helps.

Look here (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=books) for more infos on D&D books.

:)

[Obtuse]

In my experience, there are very few AD&D/TSR/RPG books that are worth reading.

I suppose there is a slight chance you could find an interesting story in there somewhere, but it is like trying to find the proverbial needle in the haystack. Not worth the time or effort.

One exception is Salvatore's work. It isn't great when compared to the likes of Martin and Hobb, but it is enjoyable.

Outside of Salvatore's work, however, I wouldn't pick up a Forgotten Realms (or any other AD&D based) book without a high recommendation from someone whose taste I trust explicitly.

[Erfael]

I'm with Godmage. I started out on TSR books, and once you've read non-TSR books, there really isn't anything they offer that is anywhere close to what you can get elsewhere. There are a few possible exceptions--Salvatore, the Weis&Hickman Dragonlance, MAYBE one or two of the old Ravenloft books. I don't know what policy is now, but when i was reading them, they were super-formulaic, keep it between 300 and 310 pages, not dealing with any issues stories. Erf.


Edit: Just realized they're no longer TSR books, now WoTC books.

[Colonel Worf]

These books look really interesting. I think I might start by reading some of the R.A. Salvatore ones.

[rune]

I've read a couple of series of the Forgotten Realms by Salvatore and enjoyed them.

I didnt realise they were D&D type books, but then again I've never played D&D.

I tend to approach them as light entertainment, not too difficult to read and plenty going on. Just a big adventure with plenty of violence and magic thrown in :)

I have seen the Spider Queen series out lately, based on the characters by Salvatore, I think I'll give them a go :)

rune

[Warewolf]

The Wizards of the Coast site has a couple of good pages that list a biblography (http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=books/fr/bibliography) of all the books (not sure how up to date it is) and then another one showing how the books relate (http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=books/fr/novelguide) (which ones are primary, secondary, etc.). Hope this helps.