55 replies to this topic

[zyrana]

Sorry, that was me.

[Andyr]

There are two series of books based around the Time of Troubles...

The first is the Avatar Series (Shadowdale, Tantras, Waterdeep, Prince of Lies and Crucible: The Trial of Cyric The Mad). That order may be slightly wrong. These books are good, and tell the story of the important characters (Bane, Mystra, Midnight, Kelemvor, Cyric and Adon mostly).

There's another series called The Shadow Of The Avatar trilogy though I don't remember the titles. They're ok and deal with Elminster at this time.

The BG games are also in novels, with the same names as the games (I think), but they suck and don't bear much resemblance to the games.

[Ismail]

hmm... I'd be kinda interested in reading those BG-books... albeit I'm not exactly willing to give out money for them (especially since I'm a poor uni student...)

[Shadowhawke]

As far as I know them (not much, considering I haven't read them) general consensus is that they're not very good as they like to kill of major characters in unprecedented ways, and don't stick to the story line.

[Amazor'dra]

I've read the first BG book... and refuse to read the others to the series since it was so badly written.

[toughluck]

Horrible. One page story, five pages of bloodshed, one half a page of story, twelve pages of bloodshed, one line of a story, five chapters of bloody bloodshed. Final battle - bloodshed. That's the general feel of the books... I would go over to the grove that had to be cut down in order to print that crap and personally weep over there. Yeah, and then use either of those books to maul the author to unmake... That's the feeling...

[NiGHTMARE]

Novels of computer games are rarely that great... though I've heard the Blizzard (Warcraft, Starcraft, Diablo) novels are better than most.

[Xander77]

The PC sexes Bodhi. Imoen has lesbian tendencies.

Ergo, those books must be mine.

[Aszlari Swordbringer]

The BG-series of books is absolutely not worth your time to read if you are particularly fond of Imoen, Jaheira, Sarevok, or believability. All three of those characters die -- in very gruesome ways -- and the main character (Abdel Adrian, Human Fighter), uses unenchanted chain mail and an unenchanted long sword throughout the entire series, and nothing more.

Imoen does have lesbian tendencies, though, as stated, which brings the book up from a 0/100 to a 21/100. Still a crappy rating, though.


I suppose, though, that there's no way we can stop you from reading them if you want to form your own opinion.

[talonsblade]

sad to say the BG, BG2, Bg2-tob novels do suck as i have all 3 and i'd rather read the blizzard novels of diablo as they are better then the bg novels, even tho d2 & d2-lod game it's self do suck, so all i gotta say is go by forgotten realms, greyhawk, dragonlance, darksun novels as those provide better reading.

[Sleeta]

I actually had my bookstore order in the novelization of Shadows of Amn for me a while ago after I picked up the book "Throne of Bhaal" from them. My reasoning was, that while ToB's book was nearly horrible in every conceivable way, from pacing, to dialogue, to the author clearly living vicariously through Abdel (nothing wrong with this, as all role players do it, but in this case it was like the book was practically beating you on the head with a mallet while screaming "OMG IM IN A BOOK ABOUT A GAME KEKEKEKE LOLS!!!!!!!!") to sex up Jaheira, whose personality was completely revamped into a frequently tear-stained maiden-in-distress, the Shadows of Amn book (and apparently it's predecessor) were written by someone different. Ergo, they wouldn't be as bad.

And the SoA book isn't. Horrible, I mean. If I'd never played the games at all, the books still wouldn't be that great, but they'd come across as better. But both authors are clearly in love with the life of Abdel, who Saves The Day™ over and over with nary an off-hand mention of his companions or the world around him, unless it's to mention how totally bitchin' his sweaty pecs look when the sun hits them juuuuuuuust right.

Or something.

Either way, no, they're not terribly good. I don't plan to complete my "collection" and get the first. I've never read any of the Forgotten Realms books, but I imagine those would be infinitely better.

[hlidskialf]

I've never read any of the Forgotten Realms books, but I imagine those would be infinitely better.

Prepare to be disappointed. They're absolutely terrible.

[AstraKiseki]

And that's why Fan fictions are much better

[NiGHTMARE]

No, some of the FR books are superb, certainly better than most of the fantast dross out there. A lot of people seem to think Drizzt is the be-all-and-end-all of FR novels, and so their opinion of FR novels is whatever their opinion of Drizzt is. I'm guessing in Hlid's case that would be that an extremely low opinion .

However, there's a lot out there beyond the rogue dark elf and his friends. Check out the Avatar trilogy (already mentioned in the thread) and almost anything by Elaine Cunningham, Ed Greenwood or Troy Denning. The Drizzt author, R.A. Salvatore, also created a series of non-Drizzt FR novels called the Cleric Quintet, which come highly recommended as well.

Before getting into all that, you might want to start off with slightly lighter reading. There are several FR short story anthologies, all based around a certain theme - the Underdark, mystery, valour, dragons, even the depths of the ocean! These compilations are all called "Realms of" something or other, and personally I highly recommend Realms of Shadow and Realms of Mystery.

[hlidskialf]

Actually, I was referring to the novels I've read that include the Avatar trilogy (Ugh!) and the books by Ed Greenwood among others. They are TERRIBLE. The character's motivations are unclear, contradicting, and painful to read through. However, I have a soft spot for Elminster.
As for Drizzt, he isn't SO bad, it's like reading a Swartzenager movie. Fun but leave your desire for good liturature at the door.
If someone wants to go into further detail, we can always start a thread on book/author debating.

[Sleeta]

I'll have to give those anthologies a try. I find short stories are always better to start with for a big fantasy or science fiction world or anything as they sort of ease you into things.

I did read one Drizzt book . . . "The Thousand Orcs". I didn't like it, but it was more due to the author's writing style than anything else, although I know some people who really enjoy it.

A poor writer can take a good idea and just stomp it into worthlessness, which I believe is at least part of why the Baldur's Gate books were so bad. Particularily the last, Throne of Bhaal, which, as someone mentioned, does indeed kill off a lot of the characters in an extremely off-hand, "meh" type of way.

Yup, definitely not a fan. Could have been worse, though.

[Andyr]

Hlid: What didn't you like about the Avatar Series?

[hlidskialf]

Hlid: What didn't you like about the Avatar Series?

The characters were unbelievable, and didn't inspire me to care about them at all. Their motivations were completely inconsistant as well. The writing was jumpy, with a broken flow. I only finished the trilogy out of stubborness, as I don't like starting a story and leaving it. I've been reading several scifi/fantatsy books a week for over 25 years and hazard to claim that I know good writing when I read it. These books were NOT in that catagory.