Best books to read to get into the Forgotten realms mood

rohk007 · January 2013

I want to read some books to get me some good background of the lore of the forgotten realms where Neverwinter takes place. What would be some good recommendations to get started

gillrmn · January 2013

I had listed almost all the FR novels in a timeline form in arts section about 1-2 months back.

gillrmn wrote: »

Only for a serious FR fan:- for stuff without spoilers and mostly based on 4e:-

I don't usually give this advice because you may get lost in realms but the following books to start with(there may be bias because of my own favourites):-

Names are a bit hazy as I am writing from memory but you should be able to identify with the keywords I have written

Realm of the Elves

Nethril triology books
The Nether scrolls

Realms of arcane

Realm of shadows

Elminister series (forgot the name)

Blackstaff (The Khelben one) [The bestest lore in da Realms!!!]
The Harper series along with it

Rest of the anthologies (Realms of the ... series);<Read about red wizards of thay too to get their lore - there were some books but I completely forgot the name)

The drizzt trilogy series 1
pool of radiance/twilight and darkness

Moonshae triology

Icewind dale trilogy (drizzt 2)

The dark drow (drizzt 3) series

Time of troubles (Avatar series)
Alabaster staff

Then play Baldur's gate (I heard very nice discount was going on from goog)

Next that Beeshba and tymora story(forgot name, is a famous name)

Realms of the deep (The waterdeep stories of Blackstaff)
City of splendors - waterdeep
Rest of the legend of drizzt

(and according to your taste - cormyr books, myth drannor books and stuff)
1~~~~~~~~~~~1

NWN1 (was the name wailing plague?)
NWN2

Strom of zehir - now spellplague comes

Read Gauntylgyrm and open 4e pnp books:-

Heroes of feywild - know all about fey, beautiful book

Raven queen's story from PHB

Astral sea's book for the homes of gods and Demonicon - Demon war and Asmodeus rebooted

PHB - tiefling's story, dragoonborns

The book of vile darkness

The book of abyss (the plane below?)

Heroes of shadow

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That will cover most of the lore and it is all good enjoyment too. Heroes of feywild is very good and interesting book if you are into fairies.
_________________

Forgot:-
Also gods and Pantheons from 3e (As 4e is not out). Its a bit outdated but interesting read.

deathssickle · January 2013

NWN1 is Wailing Death not plague

rackhamgreg74 · January 2013

Well if you haven't already, I would suggest reading the R.A. Salvatore books, particularly the Neverwinter Saga books I to IV (Gauntlgrym, Neverwinter, Charon's Claw, and a fourth to be released later this year). Apparently there's a great deal of information that was pulled from these books for the game and we might even see some recognizable characters. (I wouldn't put my money on Drizzt though)

I also understand that the book: Brimstone Angels: Lesser Evils - takes place in post Primordial Neverwinter. I hear it's also a good book to read if you're looking for more lore about the Tieflings.

Lastly, I highly recommend any of the Harper series. My favourites in that collection would be Elf Shadow, Silver Shaodws, and Crypt of the Shadowking.

That should keep ya busy reading until release!

zebular · January 2013

Yep, as Rack mentioned - The Neverwinter Saga novels by R.A. Salvatore and the Neverwinter Campaign Setting compliment each other beautifully and go hand-in-hand. Neverwinter, the MMO, is based upon both the Neverwinter Campaign Setting Source Material for 4th Edition and also these Novels by R.A. Salvatore.

Recommended Reading directly from the Neverwinter Campaign Setting 4th Edition Source Book:

NEVERWINTER CONNECTIONS

The Neverwinter Campaign Setting takes some inspiration from the Neverwinter Nights computer game series. A new computer game, Neverwinter, explores the setting described in this book. In Neverwinter you can see the city for yourself and interact with characters and plots that will be both familiar and new to you after reading this book.

To get even more from your Neverwinter experience, check out Gauntlgrym and Neverwinter, both by R.A. Salvatore, and Brimstone Angels by Erin Evans. All of these novels and others that follow them have Neverwinter and its environs as their setting.

The Neverwinter Campaign Setting is set after the events of both the novels mentioned above, and it shares its starting point with the computer game. The plots, major characters, and the events described in this book share much with those in that product, but just as one DM's Neverwinter campaign will differ from another's, so too will you see differences between what is presented here and in other sources. Use the novels and the online game as reference and inspiration for your game, or enjoy them as separate experiences.

rohk007 · January 2013

I will get the the neverwinter ones for sure. I just started with Homeland to see the orgins of Drizzit and going from there. Gonna get real engrossed in the books until the game comes out. Drizzit is a great character, did not realize how F'd up the drow were.

khealler · January 2013

Anyone has a list or suggestions for a reading order? I believe there are 250+ novels. I can't buy them all, but I like to start at the beginning and work my way to the end (as long as my bankaccount allows me to).

gillrmn · January 2013

khealler wrote: »

Anyone has a list or suggestions for a reading order? I believe there are 250+ novels. I can't buy them all, but I like to start at the beginning and work my way to the end (as long as my bankaccount allows me to).

You read them over time slowly infact very very slowly. In 10 years or so, you will be addicted to them and your cupboard will be full of 200+novels which your family will want you to throw away but you will disagree

zeoxz · January 2013

or one could try get e-book versions of FR books

niway most problematic is
getting to know which books come 1st in FR timeline ^^
as in which ones come before the other..

and btw there are pirate torrents swimming online
which can sometimes be seen when one google forsaken realms

zeoxz · January 2013

rohk007 wrote: »

I will get the the neverwinter ones for sure. I just started with Homeland to see the orgins of Drizzit and going from there. Gonna get real engrossed in the books until the game comes out. Drizzit is a great character, did not realize how F'd up the drow were.

btw u might also be interest in other books like the "stone of tymora" series
which tells the tale of maimun
who appears in "transitions" series

theres few more books that's kinna related to drizzt's adventures

tearingtheweave · January 2013

gillrmn wrote: »

You read them over time slowly infact very very slowly. In 10 years or so, you will be addicted to them and your cupboard will be full of 200+novels which your family will want you to throw away but you will disagree

I HAVE THIS EXACT PROBLEM!

I have a TON of FR novels. Not all of them but I probably an encroaching at least 100 or more. My wife constantly tries to get me to get rid of them. But you are correct I've been reading and collecting them for well over 15 yrs.

ganiries · February 2013

niway most problematic is
getting to know which books come 1st in FR timeline ^^
as in which ones come before the other..

http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_novels_in_chronological_order

Here's a nice book timeline from the FR wiki. The Neverwinter Campaign Setting book says it's the year 1479 DR. Not sure about the game yet, but would think it's the same(ish).

Best books to read to get into the Forgotten realms mood

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