30. 1989 (Mar.) - Warhammer Fantasy - Jack Yeovil (Kim Newman) - Drachenfels (Warhammer Fantasy #1)

 

Series: Vampire Genevieve, 1.

The first novel to ever come out in the Warhammer setting, set in their Fantasy universe, is also one of the first novels by renowned novelist, film connoisseur and vampire enthusiast Kim Newman, who would later be better known for his Anno Dracula novel series (which is still ongoing) as well as being a staple on horror DVD and Blu-Ray special features as an ubiquitous talking head.

For the first novel for a medieval miniature game this is an amazingly entertaining, fun and innovative novel. Influenced by Dracula but also influencing the later Anno Dracula novels, the story tells of a playwright/actor, Detlef, who is hired by an important noble to retell the story of the killing of the wizard Drachenfels years ago. As the play starts being produced the story of the fiction and that of the real events start mixing together as those involved in the death of Drachenfels are brought together. 

Divided into acts and with a memorable cast, particularly the Vampire Genevieve who would take centre role in further novels in this and other universes, the book is, in good Newman tradition, full of references to other tales, movies and events, this is also a one off story, completely self-contained and really satisfying by itself. This is not always the case in these kinds of novelizations, so that's refreshing. A definite recommendation if you are a fan of the Anno Dracula series particularly, but generally if you like a good vampire novel. 

TL;DR: 8/10

29. 1989 (Feb.) - Forgotten Realms (D&D) - Douglas Niles - Darkwell (Forgotten Realms #8)

 

Series: The Moonshae Trilogy 3

The conclusion to the ok, but frankly underwhelming Moonshae trilogy, particularly when compared to other Forgotten Realms series coming out at the same time, like the Icewind Dale trilogy which introduced us to Drizzt or even the Azure Bonds and Spellfire first  volumes that had already come out, this is another Forgotten Realms book centred about the threat to the Moonshae Islands posed by the dark god Bhaal. 

It suffers from a lot of the problems of badly planned out conclusions to series, particularly trying to do too much and tying everything up with a convenient bow, without it feeling really earned. Lot's of good and bad guys to kill off in quick successions, intercalated with long battle sequences which are often dull.

The upside of that convenient plot fixing is that at least by the end of the book we have the story done and dusted, the evil guys are banished and the good guys get married and live happily ever after (or do they?). There will be eventual continuations to this story, obviously, but can't say I'm looking forward to them. As a final note, if you read this, I strongly advise you stay away from the Audiobook, worst narrator ever, can't pronounce half the words, not only the fantasy ones but even regular English words like gas (pronounces "gazze" and "gazzes") or brethren (pronounces "breath ren"). This is a professional reader on Audible, just read the book, if you must, dump the audio version. 

TL;DR: 4/10

28. 1989 (Jan.) - Forgotten Realms (D&D) - R. A. Salvatore - Streams of Silver (Forgotten Realms #7)

 

Series: Icewind Dale Trilogy 2

The second by order of publication of both the Icewind Dale trilogy and the Drizzt series of novels (there would eventually be prequels and that's why you might find this as volume 5, when it was really the second one published), this picks up shortly after the end of the first volume. 

Drizzt, Bruenor, Wulfgar and Regis go off in search of Bruenor's ancestral home of Mithral Hall, all the way being chased by a party of villains interested in stopping their progress and if needed kill them. 

The general and fun idea is of having an adventuring party in classic D&D style, but with a counterparty chasing them, as if they were parallel D&D games. The writing is fun and the book is fluid, the story works well enough on its own but gains from the previous volume and sets things up nicely for the next one. Fun, nostalgic read.

TL;DR: 7/10

27. 1988. (Dec.) - Dragonlance - Michael Williams - Weasel's Luck (Dragonlance #12)

 

Series: Heroes Volume 3

The third volume in the Dragonlance Heroes series, this is one of the least heroic of the bunch. The titular Weasel is the youngest son of a modest aristocrat and is a thoroughly egotistical, opportunistic scoundrel. The book is, however, a kind of High Fantasy Bildungsroman with Weasel learning about life and what it means to be a hero.

Unfortunately, Weasel's transformation from anti-hero to hero does take place a bit too quickly towards the end and is not totally convincing, but I do understand why this happens. The truth is Weasel is a lot more fun to read about when he is just being a little shit, playing pranks on his brothers and playing both sides against each other in a supernatural good versus evil fight in order to survive. 

In the end it is a really enjoyable book, above average writing for the franchise with interesting characters and a plot which includes ghosts, revenge, knights, palatial intrigue, centaurs and satyrs. Definitely worth a read.

TL;DR: 7/10

26. 1988. (Nov.) - Greyhawk (Gygax) - Gary Gygax - Dance of Demons (Gygax #4)

 

Series: Gord, the Rogue #6

There is much to be thankful to Gary Gygax for, he invented Dungeons and Dragons which brought such joy to so many people, for example, but his forays into fiction are surely not a thing to thank him for. 

Dance of Demons is the last of his Greyhawk novels and much like his previous ones it is pretty terrible. By this time Gygax had acrimoniously separated from what was then TSR, the company which sold D&D and there was clearly a lot of bitterness in the air. In this last volume he decided to burn his remaining bridge by just destroying the world that he had created.

This could be the premise for a pretty interesting novel, but it wasn't to be. Gygax writes in an overly florid way which commits all the worst sins of fantasy writing. The two greatest of these are his penchant for long, drawn-out, battle sequences, which are really dull and the creation of an overly complex cast of pretty indistinguishable characters. There must be some 20 different demons here all with nearly unpronounceable names and paper-thin characterisations for whom you care nothing if they live or die. It feels like the novel should come with a 500 page volume of extra material fleshing out the world and characters, I kind of need to see Gygax's notes to make sense of this, or even care. By the end the universe is destroyed and our main characters live on in parallel realities, thank god I don't have to read 100 page battle scenes again.

TL;DR: 1/10 Thank fuck it's over. 

25. 1988 (Oct.) - Forgotten Realms (D&D) - Kate Novak, Jeff Grubb - Azure Bonds (Forgotten Realms #6)

 

Series: Finder's Stone #1

The first book in the Forgotten Realms "Finder's Stone Trilogy" this is actually an above average entry in the Realms books. With a compelling story and a great cast of secondary characters, plenty of mysteries to unravel and a satisfying ending, it's a light and fun read.

The main character, Alias, is a badass woman warrior with a mysterious past that gets unravelled as the book goes on. I get the feeling that this was possibly not imagined as the first of a trilogy, because the book does add up to a full story and wraps up quite neatly at the end, but that also makes it more satisfying as a read.

It's typical of D&D books that the central characters form a party, and this is no exception, we get a warrior, a thief/bard, a paladin and a mage, but all of them are quirky enough to make them fun. The warrior is an amnesiac, the bard is not a bard really but a halfling thief with dubious morals, the paladin is a lizard who speaks through smell and the mage is actually a merchant who dabbles. You also get dragons, ancient gods and dark rituals. Fun!

TL;DR: 7/10 Read it! 

24. 1988 (Aug.) - Forgotten Realms (D&D) - Ed Greenwood - Spellfire (Forgotten Realms #4)

 

Series: Shandril Saga #1

The introduction of Elminster into the Forgotten Realms novels (he had already appeared in earlier short stories in magazines) and written by Ed Greenwood, the actual creator of The Forgotten Realms setting, based on his own campaign setting, this isn't a great novel, but it's ok.

The story follows Shandril Shessair, a young orphan barmaid who becomes imbued with Spellfire as part of her genetic heritage as she plows through some dracoliches, adventures around, gets married on a whim and is pursued by evil forces who want to get her power.

There is little to no character development here, except for Elminster who feels fully fleshed, everyone else is kind of a cardboard stereotype of who they are supposed to be. Just the suddenness of how Shandril and Narm's relationship goes from perfect strangers to married is an indication of that. Pretty much a paint by numbers Forgotten Realms novel, it entertains but doesn't enthuse.

TL;DR: 6/10 Ok, but not great. 

23. 1988 (Aug.) - Dragonlance (D&D) - Nancy Varian Berberick - Stormblade (Dragonlance #11)

Series: Heroes Volume 2

A part of the Heroes cycle, Stormblade is a perfectly good Dragonlance novel, but it seems to be stuck in the wrong place. The Heroes cycle usually follows the story of an important character in the universe, the first volume covering Huma, an almost mythical hero of the universe, and the volumes after this one doing a similar job of fleshing out great characters.

Stormblade is a more typical D&D novel of the style where you get a party together and give them a quest which they must achieve before the end of the book. In this case they have to retrieve a new kingsword which was stolen and which would give the wielder the power to be the new regent king of the Dwarves of Thorbardin. 

The story is fun, happening parallel to the "Dragons" trilogy, with some of the characters being not too original (the Kender here is just a copy of Tasslehoff, but older), still it fleshes out the universe nicely and it's a fun read. By the end it feels like there's a sequel being set up, but that was not to come, further cementing the idea that this is somewhat out of place in the Dragonlance novels.

TL; DR: 6/10

22. 1988. (Jun.) Greyhawk (D&D) - Rose Estes- The Name of the Game (Greyhawk #7)

 

Series: Greyhawk Adventures Vol. 6 

Actually a pretty nice D&D novel in what is a pretty disappointing run of Greyhawk set novels. Greyhawk never really rose above the level of standard Fantasy world, with none of the originality in Dragonlance, Ravenloft or even Forgotten Realms, in spite of it being the original D&D setting. This makes sense as it was created by Gygax as the game was developed, not so oriented to make it a salable property, but as a basic fantasy setting.

That being said, this is a good book. Moving on from the overly complicated Mika trilogy, this book keeps Mika as the main character but has a whole new story for him, only with references to events of the trilogy but no deep connection to it. All that remains of those books are Mika and Tam, his wolf. 

Storywise, it's good and more focused than previous entries. The story takes Mika to a country in turmoil as everyone is addicted to a game with such huge wins and losses that it changes people's lives completely. The previous ruler has lost the kingdom in this game and stuff has gone weird. I actually had to go check if this was a rip-off of Iain M. Bank's Player of Games, but it isn't, neither is it vice-versa, they're both from 1988, so it's just one of those really weird convergences. Recommended and pretty fun. 

TL;DR: 7/10 Fun and focused, one of the best Greyhawk novels. 

21. 1988. (Apr.) - Forgotten Realms - Douglas Niles - Black Wizards (Forgotten Realms #3)

Series: Moonshae Trilogy #2

As usual, for me at least, with a lot of these D&D novels, I really enjoy the first half of the novels much more than the second. This is probably because I get bored with the inevitable long battle scenes towards the end of the books, and because to do those well you have to be a really good writer, which Niles isn't... he´s ok, but no great.

So I enjoy mostly the plotty and character based stuff, and this, being a middle book in a trilogy has slightly less of that than the first one, there's no need to set up the world or the main characters, as that was done in the first part, to you jump straight into the action after giving up an update on what is going on with our characters.

It starts pretty well, with a kind of murder mystery and mysterious assassins and a quest to find those responsible, but soon it devolves into battle after battle, set in different locations and with constantly shifting casts. I enjoyed the book when it was taking a breather, but soon got bored with the extended fight scenes. Oh well. Still, it's ok.

TL;DR: 6/10 Like the characters, bored of the battles. 

20. 1988. (Mar.) - Greyhawk (Gygax) - Gary Gygax - Come Endless Darkness (Gygax #3)

Series: Gord, the Rogue #5

More like Come Endless Dorkness, am I right? Frankly this isn't a fun read, on each page you can hear the dice roll and endless fight follows endless fight, like a live commentary of a D&D game. Very little character development and it just feels like a succession of boss fights in a game. Overall it's an incredibly dull read. 

Gygax clearly knows his world, of course he created the universe of Greyhawk where this is set, but unfortunately he isn't as good at communicating it to the reader, it's a universe full of demons and lords of evil and good and balance, our heroes fight for balance against evil and that's pretty much it. Previous novels in the series made a much better job at developing the characters, but you can't just have a whole installment where it just feels like nothing is going anywhere.

It is also a confusing read, I am sure Gygax can keep all the demons straight in his mind, but here we get a bunch of them which are just so many faceless enemies to kill and unfortunately the same happens with the main character, who are, of course, all male. We have a bard, a druid, a rogue and a barbarian as a typical D&D party all with names starting with the letters C or G making everything even more confusing. If you've read previous installments you know who they are, but the characterization is so slight that even when you get deaths the lack any kind of impact. The worst possible kind of tie-in, dull, repetitive and uninteresting.

TL;DR: 2/10 Exceedingly dull and repetitive.

19. 1988 (Mar.) - Dragonlance (D&D) - Richard A. Knaak - The Legend of Huma (Dragonlance #10)

Series: Heroes Volume 1

The first of the Dragonlance novels not to feature the characters from the Chronicles series, this goes into the backstory of the world and to a character that although was never actually present in the Chronicles is mentioned several times in them. 

Huma is a mythical figure in the Dragonlance universe as the first to have found the Dragonlances, magical weapons that could be used against dragons in a really effective way. He was also a hero to the Solamnic orders of Knights, a kind of folk hero and ideal knight blessed by the god Paladine and defeater of the dragonqueen Takhisis. The original chronicles were full of references to him and to a song based on his exploits, Strum Brightblade being a particular fan of him.

As a novel it is a competent bit of writing, Knaak is pretty good at this kind of stuff. It's of course no some kind of masterpiece but it is also thoroughly enjoyable, with some cool characters, particularly in Kaz the nice Minotaur and the dragon/cleric/love interest Gwyneth. It's ultimately a story of heroic sacrifice in the Dragonlance universe, and it does its job well. 

TL; DR: 7/10

18. 1988 (Feb.) - Greyhawk (D&D) - Rose Estes - The Demon Hand (Greyhawk #6)

Series: Greyhawk Adventures Vol. 5, Mika Trilogy Vol. 3

As D&D novels go, the Greyhawk series was never as popular as the Forgotten Realms with the Drizzt stories or the Dragonlance chronicles. Although Greyhawk is actually the original setting of D&D, D&D Vanilla if you will, it never captured the imagination like those other universes did. That being said, this is a really cool novel actually. 

For the last few books set in this universe we've followed Mika who is a kind of Warrior-Shaman of a wolf themed clan and his companions which include a princess turned into a wolf by magic. Ok. So now I open this book and resume the adventures of Mika... up until about a third into the book where the whole party of heroes gets stuck inside a column in a cave for 20 years. 

Yes, they get completely out of the main plot, and we now follow attempts to save them by their then infant children which are now around 20 years old. Oh and those children are a half-human, half-harpy, product of Mika being raped by a harpy; and a half-wolf, half-enchanted wolf princess man, product of sex between two wolves, one of which is actually an enchanted princess. Makes sense? It actually does, just not when explaining it. The whole thing becomes an underground adventure 20 years later with Dwarves and Trolls and demon people, and it's a riot. Not great literature, but at times so weird, as you slowly see the harpy and werewolf falling in love, that it feels original. Great fun. 

TL;DR: 7/10 

17. 1987 (Dec.) - Forgotten Realms (D&D) - R. A. Salvatore - The Crystal Shard (Forgotten Realms #2)

Series: Icewind Dale Trilogy 1

This is the first book on the Forgotten Realms Drizzt saga, yes the first book and not the fourth book and they are now trying to tell us it is... this was the first to be published, it introduces us to the characters and so on. Just because Salvatore decided to make some prequels years later that doesn't retroactively make this the fourth book. This isn't even like Star Wars as there was no previous plan to have three previous novels, that was just cashing in to the success of the series (well, so was Star Wars, but the idea was there very close to the beginning).

It's an OK fantasy novel, not much here is great, not the writing or even most of the characters or the plot-line but it helps flesh out the world and sets up an interesting basis for further adventures, and the book ends clearly pointing us towards the next volume in the series, this isn't really a stand-alone. Many see Drizzt as a paragon of the fantasy genre growing up by having a black character... as having an anti-racist message, well that might indeed be partially the case but it is undermined by the fact that Drizzt is very much an exception among exceptions, he's the one good black elf, all other black elves are horrible criminals, this guy is special... so you know, not a great message. Still, it's a fun read. 

TL;DR: 6/10

16. 1987 (Nov). - Dragonlance (D&D) - Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman (Eds.) - Love and War (Dragonlance #9)

Series: Dragonlance Tales Volume 3

The last volume of the Tales series continues with a variety of short stories, which are cool precisely because of their variety and not necessarily due to any great literary quality. Still these are fun tales to read which help flesh out the Dragonlance universe.

Unlike previous volumes there is no contribution by Margaret Weis or Tracy Hickman here, they serve only as editors, it doesn't suffer particularly from that, however. There are a couple of longish tales on Goldmoon and Riverwind, how they met and fell in love, tales about Huma and about a rumored daughter of Raistlin. These tales effectively flesh out the universe and feel cozy when you return to well loved characters, this doesn't mean that there is much original going on here, but that isn't really what you'd read these books for, is it? That's where this book, to me at least, becomes a bit better than the others in the series, it focuses on some stories about big characters and big events which you actually want to read about, more so than the previous volumes. 

TL;DR: 7/10 A nice read.

15. 1987. (Sep.) - Greyhawk (Gygax) - Gary Gygax - Night Arrant (Gygax #2)

Series: Gord, the Rogue #4

Another Gygax book, another Gord book. This is a little different, however. In this volume Gygax gives us 9 short stories with Gord at their centre. Although they work independently they are interconnected and flow nicely from story to story, as is usual in these kinds of books there is always a bit of an element of hit and miss when it comes to anthologies. However, Gygax actually manages to pull off a feat by making this the most enjoyable of all the Gord books up until now. It still owes a lot to Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser stories, but it also gives us a better sense of place and setting than the previous volumes. The world of Greyhawk feels more alive and deep here than anywhere else up until now, and this has a lot to do with the format, the 9 interconnected stories manage to cover different aspects, places and subcultures in a way which fleshes the world out nicely.

All in all my favourite Gygax volume by far, it misses something by having only one memorable female character and stereotypes gay characters in one of the stories, but at least it has gay characters! Something which has happened in none of the other books. So, you know, meh.

TL;DR: 7/10 Best Gord/Gygax book until now, recommended. Essential for Greyhawk fans.

14. 1987. (Aug.) - Greyhawk (D&D) - Rose Estes - The Price of Power (Greyhawk #5)

Series: Greyhawk Adventures Vol. 4, Mika Trilogy Vol. 2

So the second volume of the Mika Trilogy, which has replaced the Gord the Rogue novels in the official Greyhawk publications continues the story last seen in Master Wolf earlier in 1987. Frankly it's an improvement on the previous installment. The book chugs along nicely and the ending doesn't feel as rushed as it did in the previous volume, leaving space for a concluding book in the trilogy. 

Mika is a cool character, there are some good secondary characters added here, particularly Lotus Flower and the development of a slightly freaky love triangle between Mika, his wolf and the princess from the previous book which has been cursed into wolf form add quite a bit to the book's interest.

Still not a great novel or any kind of classic, but it is engaging, has a good main character and while the villains are still pretty much two-dimensional I hope the third volume will fix that. All said, it was a fun read.

TL;DR: 6/10 

13. 1987 (Aug). - Dragonlance (D&D) - Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman (Eds.) - Kender, Gully Dwarves, and Gnomes (Dragonlance #8)

Series: Dragonlance Tales Volume 2

Another volume in the Dragonlance Tales series, much like the previous one, The Magic of Krynn, this is a collection of short stories with a pretty long one in the middle. They are by a variety of writers some better known than others, and some better writers than others. The timeline is also varied but it focuses on the main characters of the previous series. 

The longest tale is by the editors and writers of the Dragonlance Chronicles and Legends, and it is the most substantial of the pieces not only in page-length but as a story. This has a lot to do with the format, seeing as the story is some three times the size of the others in the volume. The cool thing about this book is that it has a great variety of tales, from a Gnomish treatise on poetry to a tale seen from the point of view of an enchanted dagger. We get to know a bit more about the sons of Caramon who were introduced in the previous volume so there is some forward movement in terms of the Dragonlance timeline, which is cool. 

The downside of this volume, much as in most anthologies, is the fact that the writing is uneven, some tales are great, some not so great. Fortunately no real stinkers here, so it's a fun volume to dip into. 

TL;DR: 6/10 As in the previous in the series it's a fun read.

12. 1987 (Jun.) - Greyhawk (Gygax) - Gary Gygax - Artifact of Evil (Gygax #1)

Series: Gord, the Rogue #3

So Gary Gygax after having created D&D eventually leaves TSR. This leaves a problem, he had started writing novels for TSR, with his character of Gord the Rogue, set in the Greyhawk world which he also created. He leaves TSR who retain the rights to D&D and takes with him his character from the novels, publishing them elsewhere. This is the first volume of the non-official Greyhawk series, which is actually the third volume of the Gord series, and the 4th in the Greyhawk series, but not really... see?

Gygax will continue to publish these things over the next couple of years until he tires of it as we will eventually see. All that being said the book isn't amazing, really. It is clearly a way for Gygax to flesh-out his world and that's fine. Some elements here such as the Drow love-interest, cloning, the Cat World etc. are interesting and Gord himself is a compelling character, however many of the secondary characters are one dimensional and the plotting is all over the place, confusing and often boring. So... not really essential reading, it will impact nothing in the official line, and isn't great.

TL;DR: 4/10 Not great. 

11. 1987 (May.) - Forgotten Realms (D&D) - Douglas Niles - Darkwalker on Moonshae (Forgotten Realms #1)

Series: Moonshae Trilogy #1

First of all I must apologize to my 0 readers the long hiatus I had here. But I'm back! We've already had books from several other D&D universes, namely Dragonlance and Greyhawk. However, the longest running, and still ongoing novel universe in D&D is Forgotten Realms, this is due in large part to the popularity of the Drizzt novels, which will start coming up soon here and are still coming out today!

We start the universe with the first of the Moonshae Trilogy, originally intended as a stand-alone work, it left enough of an open door... actually a wide-open door to sequels at the end of it, so it is only natural that with the success of the Dragonlance trilogies they would eventually turn this into one. Moonshae is not the most interesting of territories, basically it's a version of some Druidic British Isles, with pretty traditional monarchy and some dwarfs, elves, unicorns and firbolgs for good measure... also a fairy dragon. It feels quite a bit like a mix of Arthurian Legend and Tolkien and for this reason quite standard fantasy. This is true even in the D&D context, with the interesting anti-heroes of both the Dragonlance setting and Gord in the Greyhawk setting. All that being said it is a fun and light read, there is a sense of threat pervading the book, the titular Darkwalker, and it is always good to see the female member of the party save the day. So not the most auspicious start to the Forgotten Realms, but mindlessly enjoyable read anyway.

TL;DR: 5/10 Easy read but very unoriginal.