Candlekeep Forum
Candlekeep Forum
Home | Profile | Register | Active Topics | Active Polls | Members | Private Messages | Search | FAQ
Username:
Password:
Save Password
Forgot your Password?

 All Forums
 Forgotten Realms Products
 Forgotten Realms Novels
 Upcoming Novels 2018

Note: You must be registered in order to post a reply.
To register, click here. Registration is FREE!

Screensize:
UserName:
Password:
Format Mode:
Format: BoldItalicizedUnderlineStrikethrough Align LeftCenteredAlign Right Horizontal Rule Insert HyperlinkInsert Email Insert CodeInsert QuoteInsert List
   
Message:

* HTML is OFF
* Forum Code is ON
Smilies
Smile [:)] Big Smile [:D] Cool [8D] Blush [:I]
Tongue [:P] Evil [):] Wink [;)] Clown [:o)]
Black Eye [B)] Eight Ball [8] Frown [:(] Shy [8)]
Shocked [:0] Angry [:(!] Dead [xx(] Sleepy [|)]
Kisses [:X] Approve [^] Disapprove [V] Question [?]
Rolling Eyes [8|] Confused [?!:] Help [?:] King [3|:]
Laughing [:OD] What [W] Oooohh [:H] Down [:E]

  Check here to include your profile signature.
Check here to subscribe to this topic.
    

T O P I C    R E V I E W
creyzi4zb12 Posted - 12 Jul 2018 : 05:28:24
So apparently Timeless is set to release this September.
I think there's so much Drizzt lore already. But at least it's better than nothing.

Are there any new novels coming this year besides those focusing on Drizzt?

I wish they'd continue the Brotherhood of the Griffon series, that one was definitely going somewhere on their latest adventures.
30   L A T E S T    R E P L I E S    (Newest First)
Giant Snake Posted - 16 Apr 2019 : 03:40:13
Thanks! I'll check those out next, once I finish all the Drizzt books. Long story short, I got the first Drizzt book because the cover art appealed to me and it was a very memorable time in my life. I haven't gotten into Forgotten Realms a whole lot, but it all brings back good memories for me. Sadly quit reading all fiction for a long time. Definitely ready to explore more of the stories out there once I finish with where I started.
Wooly Rupert Posted - 14 Apr 2019 : 01:46:48
quote:
Originally posted by Giant Snake

If you were new, and with all the books available, where would you start? Looking for books in general of Forgotten Realms' world.



Though we never quite reached a consensus, this is a topic that was discussed at length in the Experienced help for recommending FR Novels thread. Perusing that scroll may be helpful for you.

Me, I always recommend any of the books by Elaine Cunningham, or the ones by Kate Novak and Jeff Grubb. Elfshadow, by Elaine, or Azure Bonds, by Novak and Grubb, are wonderful places to start -- both are good stories, and both do a great job of showcasing the setting, as well.

(I met Jeff Grubb at GenCon one year and told him of my usual recommendations to new folks, and he immediately started praising Elaine's work! He didn't seem to even notice that I'd mentioned the stuff he and Kate Novak wrote.)
Giant Snake Posted - 13 Apr 2019 : 22:02:11
If you were new, and with all the books available, where would you start? Looking for books in general of Forgotten Realms' world.
sleyvas Posted - 13 Sep 2018 : 13:21:27
Hey Krash, just wondering if you know something on numbers... I personally always got the feel that past the initial like 12 major Krynn novels, the setting as a novel line was failing and that FR was selling more novels in general. Not that it really makes a lot of difference now, but since you talked with Ed and others who were on the inside, maybe you heard something that was different than my gut feel. Don't get me wrong, I loved the major Krynn novels, but a lot of the secondaries suffered.
George Krashos Posted - 13 Sep 2018 : 08:56:10
The Realms are alive. Just not in terms of fiction. No gameworld is alive in terms of fiction, not even the greatest fiction gameworld: Dragonlance. WotC is now a gaming company, not a novel publishing house.

-- George Krashos
creyzi4zb12 Posted - 13 Sep 2018 : 07:32:46
quote:
Originally posted by Gyor

Not FR novels, but now that Ravnica is a D&D Setting, do the two Ravnica novels count as D&D novels?


If that’s the case, it seems like D&d is slowly abandoning forgotten realms for novels and now focusing on Ravnica.

I can only hope for one big crossover. At least to let the Realms stay alive.
KraziJoe Posted - 07 Sep 2018 : 19:34:22
I guess I am partially to blame because I got lost after the Spellplague. I thought I had a pretty good grasp on the lore before then but after, it seemed to be so convoluted and without reason that I sort of gave up. Even Drizzt seemed that way until the gang was brought back to life to sort of right their ship.
I blame it all on killing of "Blackstaff". Everyone else gets to come back and he remained dead and now the novels are gone...
sno4wy Posted - 06 Sep 2018 : 01:34:31
This makes me think of the Blizzard video games spin-off novels. As much as I love both books and Blizzard games, I didn't think they'd make for a good combination, an opinion that only became more solidified after I'd read most of them. Some of the writing in those novels is truly cringe-worthy, and while I enjoy the lore of Warcraft and Diablo more than I'd care to admit, I wish I could get the time I'd spent reading those books back. Nonetheless, they're successful enough that they'd branched out into things like mangas, because the parent franchise sells so incredibly well. I see the new MtG novels like that. Hasbro's willing to make them because MtG fans will consume them, even if they're not very good.
Caolin Posted - 06 Sep 2018 : 00:31:33
quote:
Originally posted by Irennan

I'd say they are MtG novels, unless they used D&D lore (cosmology, spells, etc...) and they obviously won't.

I'm honestly beyond pissed that MtG is getting novels, while FR is left with Drizzt, and will be left with only Drizzt for the foreseeable future (who might as well not even be FR anymore, but just its own franchise).



Oh see now this is interesting. Because the entire reason we don't have a bevy of Realms novels is directly related to MtG. See, several years ago Hasbro reorganized their game division and forced each of the separate IPs to operate on their own budget.

Before that they were all under one umbrella and shared resources. That meant that meant DnD benefited from the popularity and income of MtG (which made far and away more money).

So now it seems MtG is gonna drink DnDs milk shake.
Irennan Posted - 06 Sep 2018 : 00:15:13
I'd say they are MtG novels, unless they used D&D lore (cosmology, spells, etc...) and they obviously won't.

I'm honestly beyond pissed that MtG is getting novels, while FR is left with Drizzt, and will be left with only Drizzt for the foreseeable future (who might as well not even be FR anymore, but just its own franchise).
Gyor Posted - 05 Sep 2018 : 22:58:15
Not FR novels, but now that Ravnica is a D&D Setting, do the two Ravnica novels count as D&D novels?
sno4wy Posted - 20 Aug 2018 : 19:47:56
quote:
Originally posted by Tanthalas

I agree that after so many books, you see a lot of repetition in the Drizzt series (my pet peeve is Drizzt's monologues), but it's easy to say something is repetitive when you oversimplify things like that.

And the Drizzt series is hardly the only example of repetition like that in the Realms. Just look at Ed's books: Manshoon has a plan, plan goes nicely for a bit, plan goes down the drain due to stupidity, Manshoon is, once again, shown to be incompetent.



I don't feel that it is fair to say that I'm over-simplifying. I've read the ARC of Timeless and took down extensive notes during it, for the purposes of a detailed analysis requested by the followers of my blog. I'm not here to do what I'm doing for my blog, but my comment was specific enough to summarize the plot of Timeless, but at the same time, apparently convey a sense of vagueness and generality that caused you to think I was over-simplifying because what I wrote can indeed be applied to any Drizzt book and/or the series as a whole. I think this is more due to the nature of the individual books themselves, rather than an intentional act of over-simplification on my part. In any case, I don't mean to spoiler the book, and I apologize if I have, but if I were to give you specific examples to illustrate my stance, that would definitely be spoilering it. We should probably just agree to disagree about the Drizzt books though, since different people can be very passionate about them. Rather than dancing around my feelings, I'll just say that I think that they're third-rate fantasy novels at best. My experience in getting into it with people who think they're first-rate fantasy novels is that it turns out pretty unpleasant for all involved parties, so it's something I'd like to avoid if at all possible. Also, just for clarification's purpose, since this comment quoted your post Tanthalas, I'm not making the claim that you're one of these people, I'm just saying that I think we might inherently disagree on some things and I'm happy to agree to disagree.

As far as other FR books are concerned, I don't think that them being repetitive has any bearing on the Drizzt books being repetitive, and vice versa. IMO, repetition isn't a good way to write and tell stories, and this doesn't change just because more than one author or creative does it. But again, this is just my opinion and my personal complaint.

I want these books to be better. Timeless is actually a lot better than most of what Bob has written, heck, I'll even freely and happily say that it's the best book Bob's written to date. It felt a lot more Realmsian than many of its predecessors in the series in that the scope of the world feels wider, rather than just concentration on Bob's own little corner of the Realms, and I don't mean just in terms of the physical locations it spans. There's a greater consideration and inclusion of facets of the shared world as a whole, a broader and better acknowledgement of what's been established and developed by others. Furthermore, the writing style is more evocative and the fight scenes are punchier. All of this makes me a bit more optimistic for the future. I wish I could be full-blown excited, but imo the Homecoming Trilogy was such a travesty that I can't help but feel trepidation as well, especially since Bob is going to be the ONLY author we'll get for future FR novels (for as far as we can determine at this point anyway). From a rich history of so many works from so many different authors, that's a really hard reality for me to adjust to. It'd be a big burden for any author to bear, to carry on that legacy by themselves, and and until Timeless, I didn't get the feeling from the Drizzt books that Bob even cared about bearing it. Again, Timeless makes me hopeful because it seemed like he was actually trying, that he's changing his previous biases toward certain aspects of the Realms (i.e. the intentional erasure of E+V). So far, things are indeed very repetitive, but it's only the first book in the trilogy. We'll see how it turns out after the next two books. Hey, maybe the Matron Mothers will succeed in taking over the surface world and we'll be living under drow overladies for the next century. :P I don't see WotC ever allowing that, though.
Irennan Posted - 20 Aug 2018 : 13:35:22
quote:

I don't see much of a difference between the two. It really makes no difference because in the end they're not purchasing the product.

Basically what WoTC did was gamble that the hardcore community wouldn't abandon the product due to the changes....which were made in an attempt to attract a newer and younger audience. They were wrong and as you said, they stuck to their guns.


The difference that I was pointing out is that there were many people who probably didn't stop buying novels (or D&D products) with the goal of harming WotC, but simply because they had lost their interest due to WotC's changes. Unless you're rich, you don't have the luxury to throw money at something that you won't use, but that you one liked, in the hope to see it flourish again in the future. But yeah, from a practical viewpoint, it makes no difference.

quote:
But I think they accomplished what they wanted all along. They turned the Realms and DnD as a whole back into just a game product that was successful at attracting a newer audience. That new audience doesn't care much about the lore nor the novels. They just want to play the game.



I don't think that's what they wanted, not at the beginning at least. If they wanted that in 4e, they could have simply stopped the novel line back then, but they only did so when it proved unprofitable for their standards.
Tanthalas Posted - 20 Aug 2018 : 13:29:55
I agree that after so many books, you see a lot of repetition in the Drizzt series (my pet peeve is Drizzt's monologues), but it's easy to say something is repetitive when you oversimplify things like that.

And the Drizzt series is hardly the only example of repetition like that in the Realms. Just look at Ed's books: Manshoon has a plan, plan goes nicely for a bit, plan goes down the drain due to stupidity, Manshoon is, once again, shown to be incompetent.
sno4wy Posted - 19 Aug 2018 : 18:56:14
I just wonder when people will realize how repetitive the Drizzt books are. Maybe I'm jaded from having read all of them but there's nothing new anymore, and that's even more obvious than how WotC's campaign model was, "Here's this NEW threat that'll destroy the world! It really will this time if you don't stop it! It's definitely more sure to do so than that last one you stopped!" The repetition in the Drizzt books is always the same type of thing, there are these characters that are supposed to be different but are basically the same people but with different names and different weapons, and then there's the same plot repeating over and over again with a demon threat and/or a new Matron Mother of Menzoberranzan with a "newer and better" plan to take over the surface and she's got a chance because her plan is supposedly better than the previous Matron Mother who tried the same thing but failed and she's definitely got more of Lolth's favor than that previous Matron Mother did and... yeah.
Caolin Posted - 19 Aug 2018 : 08:54:39
quote:
Originally posted by Irennan

You talk about boycotting, and while I'm sure that there were people who did indeed boycott, wouldn't it also be logical to assume that many people lost interest in the Realms after what WotC did to it? Their changes targeted so much of what was iconic, and fast-forwarded the Realms 100 years into the future. Since WotC was adamant that they had made the "right choice", it was basically a message that they weren't going to put out material that the people who were let down could enjoy. So, at that point, it became more of a matter of not wasting money on something they no longer enjoyed.

If a company makes tomatoes, and then it shifts to potatoes, it's going to lose customers who don't like potatoes.



I don't see much of a difference between the two. It really makes no difference because in the end they're not purchasing the product.

Basically what WoTC did was gamble that the hardcore community wouldn't abandon the product due to the changes....which were made in an attempt to attract a newer and younger audience. They were wrong and as you said, they stuck to their guns.

But I think they accomplished what they wanted all along. They turned the Realms and DnD as a whole back into just a game product that was successful at attracting a newer audience. That new audience doesn't care much about the lore nor the novels. They just want to play the game.

The Salvatore book deal seems like it was completely driven by Bob and WoTC went along with it because he's a proven seller. So unless Bob and Ed are able to perform some herculean effort and make a similar deal with a larger stable of authors, we're gonna be left with only Drizzt and friends. Because WoTC seems to have no desire to do so on their own.
jdb1972 Posted - 18 Aug 2018 : 16:47:41
quote:
Originally posted by Irennan
You talk about boycotting, and while I'm sure that there were people who did indeed boycott, wouldn't it also be logical to assume that many people lost interest in the Realms after what WotC did to it? Their changes targeted so much of what was iconic, and fast-forwarded the Realms 100 years into the future. Since WotC was adamant that they had made the "right choice", it was basically a message that they weren't going to put out material that the people who were let down could enjoy. So, at that point, it became more of a matter of not wasting money on something they no longer enjoyed.

If a company makes tomatoes, and then it shifts to potatoes, it's going to lose customers who don't like potatoes.


This. ^^^^

I've seen a lot of companies who make changes that jettison their existing base of customers/fans in favor of some hypothetical larger one. I don't know of many who haven't gone broke as a result or had to do a lot of backtracking. New Coke, anyone?

I always thought the Realms would be a good fit for the now-defunct Kindle Worlds at Amazon. Shame they never bought in.
Irennan Posted - 18 Aug 2018 : 05:48:58
quote:
Originally posted by Caolin

quote:
Originally posted by George Krashos

The fact remains that all of those “other stories” told by different authors didn’t sell anywhere near the copies Salvatore sold for his Drizzt novels. You may have found them tired and boring, but you were in the minority of FR novel buyers in that regard.

— George Krashos



Yeah, I mentioned that in my comments. I'll admit that I'm resentful that Drizzt fans didn't pay attention to the other novels. I saw this coming to with the boycotting during the Spellplague era. Those that actually cared enough to boycott were those who actually read all the non-Drizzt novels.



You talk about boycotting, and while I'm sure that there were people who did indeed boycott, wouldn't it also be logical to assume that many people lost interest in the Realms after what WotC did to it? Their changes targeted so much of what was iconic, and fast-forwarded the Realms 100 years into the future. Since WotC was adamant that they had made the "right choice", it was basically a message that they weren't going to put out material that the people who were let down could enjoy. So, at that point, it became more of a matter of not wasting money on something they no longer enjoyed.

If a company makes tomatoes, and then it shifts to potatoes, it's going to lose customers who don't like potatoes.
sno4wy Posted - 18 Aug 2018 : 05:41:36
Our only hope now is what Ed said regarding the FR movie... if it does well enough maybe it'll mean more FR novels aside from Drizzt. :'(
Wooly Rupert Posted - 18 Aug 2018 : 04:09:13
Part of the issue is what we've been seeing with WotC for a while:

Exec 1: "This could make some money... Maybe even more than this other thing!"

Exec 2: "Yeah, but this other thing WILL make some money. Your thing could make money, but mine will definitely make money."

Exec 1: "You're saying we shouldn't take a chance on more money?"

Exec 2: "That's exactly right. This thing has made money the other 2,374.2 times we've done it, so we know it'll make money again. We're going to keep going back to that well as long as we can."

While there is certainly a degree of sense in not taking unnecessary chances, the leadership at WotC appears to have forgotten that taking chances has sometimes worked out very, very well for them. To be fair, taking chances has backfired on them -- look at 4E.

Taking chances has risks, and we'd not even be having this discussion if TSR hadn't taken a chance, lo these many moons ago... But I think the current leadership is too afraid of making a mistake to try anything that isn't a sure bet, even if the potential is there for the next big thing.

It appears to me that they've gotten so risk-averse that they won't try anything unless it's damn near carved in stone that it will succeed for them.
George Krashos Posted - 17 Aug 2018 : 22:12:00
Telaras, there is nothing more powerful in the world than hope, but it’s misplaced for you to think that Salvatore’s deal will translate into work by other FR authors. That’s extremely unlikely. This event is a false dawn for the FR novel line.

— George Krashos
Taleras Posted - 17 Aug 2018 : 13:50:32
I have to imagine, that if Salvatore's new novels find success that they would eventually consider adding additional authors down the line. Maybe not right away, but it's got to be a possibility. Especially if the licensing fee is already done (assuming that wasn't specifically for Drizzt and includes all of FR and doesn't need to be done again with other authors).
Richard Lee Byers Posted - 17 Aug 2018 : 13:37:55
Those who boycotted had every right in the world to do so. But if someone boycotted then and is lamenting the lack of novels now, that person may be missing a certain link between cause and effect.
Caolin Posted - 16 Aug 2018 : 21:55:46
quote:
Originally posted by George Krashos

The fact remains that all of those “other stories” told by different authors didn’t sell anywhere near the copies Salvatore sold for his Drizzt novels. You may have found them tired and boring, but you were in the minority of FR novel buyers in that regard.

— George Krashos



Yeah, I mentioned that in my comments. I'll admit that I'm resentful that Drizzt fans didn't pay attention to the other novels. I saw this coming to with the boycotting during the Spellplague era. Those that actually cared enough to boycott were those who actually read all the non-Drizzt novels.
George Krashos Posted - 16 Aug 2018 : 12:12:29
The fact remains that all of those “other stories” told by different authors didn’t sell anywhere near the copies Salvatore sold for his Drizzt novels. You may have found them tired and boring, but you were in the minority of FR novel buyers in that regard.

— George Krashos
Caolin Posted - 16 Aug 2018 : 02:39:21
quote:
Originally posted by Firestorm
What marketing and publicity?

Bob never got special treatment in that area. The Drizzt gang blew up organically in popularity on an even playing field with the rest of FR Authors.





Are you kidding? Of course he got special treatment. His novels outsold everyone. But my point was that instead of trying to develop other authors and stories (which they did with Erin M. Evans for a while) they just ditch everyone else and leave us with more tired and boring Drizzt stories.

I enjoy Bob's cast of characters as much as anyone else. But it gets old real quick, especially when I know that there is a whole world of stories waiting to be told.
Firestorm Posted - 15 Aug 2018 : 23:25:21
quote:
Originally posted by Caolin

quote:
Originally posted by George Krashos

He told me what is already known widely in publishing circles: Salvatore sells way more books than any FR author, Ed included. Salvatore found a publisher who believes that it can make money after paying Bob, paying WotC a license fee and factoring in the cost of production and advertising. Those numbers don’t stack up for any other FR author.

— George Krashos



Maybe if some of the other authors got the same marketing and publicity that Salvatore gets they'd sell more novels too.


What marketing and publicity?

Bob never got special treatment in that area. The Drizzt gang blew up organically in popularity on an even playing field with the rest of FR Authors.

Caolin Posted - 15 Aug 2018 : 06:45:20
quote:
Originally posted by George Krashos

He told me what is already known widely in publishing circles: Salvatore sells way more books than any FR author, Ed included. Salvatore found a publisher who believes that it can make money after paying Bob, paying WotC a license fee and factoring in the cost of production and advertising. Those numbers don’t stack up for any other FR author.

— George Krashos



Maybe if some of the other authors got the same marketing and publicity that Salvatore gets they'd sell more novels too.
George Krashos Posted - 15 Aug 2018 : 00:31:25
He told me what is already known widely in publishing circles: Salvatore sells way more books than any FR author, Ed included. Salvatore found a publisher who believes that it can make money after paying Bob, paying WotC a license fee and factoring in the cost of production and advertising. Those numbers don’t stack up for any other FR author.

— George Krashos
John Daker Posted - 13 Aug 2018 : 15:25:32
quote:
Originally posted by George Krashos
Salvatore’s new novels aren’t the precursor to any other FR novels by other authors or a resurrection of the novels dept in general.


Several authors of Realms novels have expressed hope that these new Salvatore books might signal at least the possibility of further opportunities for publishing Realms fiction. And of course most of us who post at Candlekeep hope the same!

But I know that you, George, are more well-informed than most of us...

I guess what I'm asking is, when you visited Ed recently, did he express renewed pessimism on this point?

Candlekeep Forum © 1999-2024 Candlekeep.com Go To Top Of Page
Snitz Forums 2000