Shared Universe Stories 3: Variations on a Theme by Gygax

Welcome once again to my round up of my favorite shared universe series. So far I've discussed Warhammer, in which Gotrex and Felix novels are my favorites, and Star Trek, which offers a great sci-fi experience with lots of different stories. Today, though, I'm going to talk about the series I read all through college. These two series are both based on Dungeons & Dragons and have their own pen and paper RPGs. Have you guessed it yet? I'm talking about Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms!

I love both of these series for several reasons. First, I feel they have a more compelling central story line than other shared universe series. Warhammer has basically no main story arc. Sure, Gotrek and Felix are a story line unto themselves, but they aren't the focus of the Warhammer world. I feel like every Warhammer book I read is a side story to the main adventure, which doesn't actually exist except in your table top game. Star Trek has a main line I suppose, but I tend to read the side stories more anyway. But Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms both have strong main story lines, plus the tons of side tales you would expect from a shared universe story.

The main arc of Dragonlance starts with Dragons of Autumn Twilight, the first book in the Chronicles trilogy. This trilogy, and the other core stories that follow, revolve around a group of companions and the war of the lance. You get to learn a lot about the world and these characters, and the nice part of an RPG tie in is you can find more information about anything you're curious about by searching the different guides online. I found the stories confusing at times, with jumps in the plot, but that is partly because I read them out of order. There is a great guide to the reading order here. I found that I liked the different characters and they had well thought out, if a little formulaic, personalities. TSR put together a standard group of D&D adventurers (a half-elf, warrior, mage, dwarf, human, and kender) and gave them a fun adventure. Despite the fact that the Dragonlance tales are in no way groundbreaking in their depiction of fantasy characters, they are fun to read and the story will draw you in. You will want to know what happens next in the war and the betrayal from one of the main group will leave you as angry as if you were there.

There are many other stories in the Dragonlance world to choose from. I liked the Heroes series, which tells the stories of some of the famous historical figures you hear mentioned in other books. There's also a set of Tales books which deal with the history of certain events and tales of the different races such as The Cataclysm and Kender, Gully Dwarves, and Gnomes. There's even a trilogy written about the minotaurs, and I always love stories written from the perspective of the "bad guys". Sadly, it seems like Dragonlance books aren't coming out much any more. Even if this series is done being written it had a life of more than 20 years. There are lots of stories to fall in love with and I would suggest it highly.

Forgotten Realms is another D&D spin-off with it's own set of playing manuals and books. The main story line within the Forgotten Realms is all about Drizzt Do'Urden, everyone's favorite dark elf. No, this is not another one of my tales from the evil side of fantasy. Drizzt is the archetypal black sheep. He's a good dark elf. You can learn about his upbringing and exile from the dark elf society in the Dark Elf trilogy. That story, however, is a prequel to The Icewind Dale trilogy. I would recommend reading Icewind Dale first. There are presently 26 Drizzt books out or being published this year. Many of these have been collected in omnibuses, which makes getting the stories easy and slightly cheaper. Drizzt's life is long, and not always easy, but his tale is well worth reading and the books are well written.

Like all the shared universe books, The Forgotten Realms have many stories to tell in addition to the main story line. The are tales written from all different parts of the world and from different time periods. I've collected several of the omnibus editions and they make a good read when you have a week to power through a story, although I guess most people don't read 600 pages a week. Either way, they are worth the money. Not all of them have caught my attention, in particular the Maztica trilogy. I was surprised, because the series is written by Douglas Niles, whom I really like, but it just didn't grab me. The trilogy is a Forgotten Realms version of the Spanish conquest of Mexico. Aside form that one series, I have liked the other books I've read very much. I would highly recommend The Forgotten Realms, but keep in mind you are getting sucked into a commitment of at least those 26 Drizzt books, because you won't be able to stop.

Great eBook Bargains are Everywhere Right Now

So as I've mentioned before, I'm warming to the idea of eBooks. Slowly. I'm sure finally joining the modern age and getting my Samsung Galaxy has helped. I love that I can send an eBook file from my laptop to my phone or download one from the different online services I get them from whenever I need. It's nice to know my days of being stuck on the train or eating lunch without a book are basically over.

That being said, I'm always on the hunt for great deals and new authors. That's why I'm very excited about the different eBook bargains I've run across recently. I can combine my love of loving authors with my love of being a miserly young curmudgeon.

First, find you favorite authors and follow them on social media. They will often talk about any discounting promotions going on with their books. Also, look through the forums of some of the groups on Goodreads. Authors, especially independents, will often post about discounts they are offering. If any of you aren't regularly looking on the sub-reddit /r/fantasy, you really should be. Just a quick browse today let me see a few bargain priced eBooks , such as The Thousand Names by Django Wexler (what a great name btw) and Hollow World by Michael J. Sullivan, who is a great guy.

Social media is also a great way to follow your favorite publishers. I follow all my favorite publishers on Facebook and get notified every time they have something special going on. Every week I look for a post from Orbit Books advertising their Orbital Drop, a special eBook sale with titles that change all the time. Paying attention to the goings on of your favorite publishers can help you identify new authors to try too.

You can also bargain hunt with sites like Amazon. Amazon is a huge eBook retailer. Although they may be controversial with their practices, you can get a great deal on eBooks they are having a special sale on. Just this week I was introduced to a site called Book Bub, which is free to subscribe to. Book Bub takes your interests and sends you a daily email with bargain priced or free eBooks you can get online. I just started and I already downloaded a book from a new author that I can't wait to try out. There are a lot of sites like that that you can use to find bargains.

Bargain eBooks are a great way to find some new books to read. Hopefully you will find some new favorites and go on to purchase more of the author's work. If you know of any other great places to find a deal on books leave me a comment. I'm always looking for new deals.

The Best in Shared Universe Stories II - The Wrath of Khan

I talked last time about why I love shared universe stories, stories set in the same universe written my multiple authors. I think they are fun to read, and they often offer lots of published stories so there is plenty for a junkie like me to read. If the completely cliched title weren't enough to tip my hand, this post is going to be about Star Trek books.

Cover courtesy of Goodreads

Star Trek isn't just one series. Most people know the various TV series: Enterprise, The Original Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space 9, and Voyager. The books have several more unique series though, such as New Frontier, Stargazer, Titan, and Vanguard. I've read several stories from the TOS set of books, the first few from New Frontier, and several Vanguard books. There are hundreds of Star Trek books to read, and many are quite good. I personally feel the writing has gotten better over time, but I feel that way about most fantasy and sci-fi books. The earlier TOS books have an older style of writing (they should, they were written in the 60's and 70's), with less character development and shallower stories. I can understand the character development problems. I've often run into that when reading early versions of stories that come from shows (I'm mainly talking about Splinter of the Mind's Eye). The later stories are better, and New Frontier and Vanguard, have become some of my favorites.

Cover courtesy of Goodreads

Vanguard is set aboard Starbase 47 in the Taurus Reach, a previously unexplored section of space that has suddenly become of great interest to the Federation, the Klingons, and the Tholians. New Frontier is another series set parallel to the TV shows, in this case the Next Generation, without requiring any knowledge of the shows story line. The series features Captain Calhoun, and the first stories are set aboard the USS Excalibur. Calhoun is a renegade compared to other captains in the Star Trek universe. The Excalibur has been sent into sector 221-G, a section of space formerly controlled by the Thallonian Empire. The Empire collapsed, leaving a power vacuum and an opportunity for Star Fleet to wave the flag for the Federation. It's a really fun series to read, with some pretty crazy adventures and lots of new races to read about. The series will get you hooked till you can't wait to grab the next one.

Cover courtesy of Goodreads

Star Trek has series for everyone to love. You can read about your favorite crew from the TV shows, find a new one to love, or even read stories from the point of view of the Klingons. If you've never read one, the larger series, based on the TV shows, are mostly numbered. I would suggest starting at the beginning if you're like me and need to know everything that has happened to the crew, but aside from some trilogies you could really pick up any book in the main timelines and be ok. The smaller series I've mentioned are best read from the beginning. I hope I've convinced you to try these books. If you liked Star Trek at all, you'll love the books.

Shared Universe Stories

I like Star Trek books. Big surprise, right? All you have to do is look at the titles of my posts and you'd see that. But I'm not all about Star Trek. I also love books set in the Star Wars and Warhammer 40k universes, as well as the Warhammer, DragonLance, and Forgotten Realms worlds. I simply love shared universes.

Shared universe settings allow multiple authors to write stories set in the same fictional world. I recently came across a post on /r/fantasy about Warhammer 40k books, and it was mostly negative. I don't get it. Sure, not every one of these books is a gem. I have some books sitting on the shelf that lost me completely (I hate being negative so I won't mention names), but the majority of the time I like them. There are some that are fun reads, and some that are down right great books. One of the great things I've discovered about these books is publishers often put out omnibus editions, which help me collect a whole trilogy at once, and also cut down on my costs. I'm going to spend a couple of posts running down some of my favorite shared universe stories, and I hope you will be inspired to check some of them out.

Warhammer

Cover Courtesy of Goodreads

 

My favorite stories in the Warhammer world are the Gotrek and Felix tales. There are currently 17 G&F novels, as well as a few spin offs featuring two of the recurring villans from the series, Ulrika the Vampire and Grey Seer Thanquol. The tales are a collection of tales written (within the story) by Felix Jaeger, a merchant's son who made a drunken vow to a dwarf that would change is life forever. He vowed to be the rememberer for a dwarf named Gotrek Gurnisson, the worst Slayer to ever live. To make up for a past shameful act Gotrek joined the Slayer sect, a group of dwarves dedicated to getting themselves killed while going out in a blaze of glory. Gotrek's biggest problem is he never dies, he's too good. So the pair spend years traveling the world and Felix chronicles the whole adventure.

 

The first book is more a collection of adventures, with not much holding them together. I almost stopped reading. Luckily, I had the first omnibus and I figured I may as well finish it. They get much better after that. There are recurring villains and a progression to the stories. I also loved the Gotrek and Felix Anthology, a collection of short stories. I've never finished a book without wanting more. There are currently 4 omnibuses on the market, so getting started on the series is easy, and these books are a great entrance into the Warhammer world. You don't need any prior knowledge and these books will provide a great introduction.

Author Michael J. Sullivan is fighting cancer to honor Jay Lake

Michael J. Sullivan, author of the Riyria Revelations and other great fantasy books has just posted to Reddit that he is joining the Ride to Conquer Cancer. Many of you may have heard that Jay Lake, another beloved author, recently died of cancer. Sullivan has decided to join the Ride to help raise money in honor of Lake and all the other authors we have lost to cancer over the years.

The Ride to Conquer Cancer is a two day, 150 mile bike ride through Maryland, Virginia, and Washington DC. The funds raised in the Ride go to Johns Hopkins Cancer Center. The Center has more than 60,000 patients visit every year, and donations from the Ride go toward helping accelerate research and save lives.The Ride is September 13th and 14th.

You can go to Sullivan's donation page and donate to his team, or, if you live in the area you can join Team Riyria and ride with him. It sounds like an amazing journey doing something really good for the world. Almost everyone knows someone who has been affected by this terrible disease. Please donate if you can share Michael's page with your friends. Even if you can't afford to donate right now, sharing the story may help find others who can.

Why do I always have to wait for the books I'm dying to read?

If you've read any of my reviews (God I hope you have) you may have noticed I have a tendency to mix the old in with the new. Star Trek Vanguard is a great example. There's a really simple reason for this...I'm really, really impatient!

Older series appeal to me because I don't have to wait for new volumes to come out. I can read all of Vanguard in my own time. In the meantime, I have to wait nearly two years to get the 2nd volume in The Way of Kings, and I get a new volume of David Weber's Safehold series about once a year. I'm not complaining about these books. They're some of my favorites and well worth the wait, but often times I don't want to wait. Waiting drives me nuts. Well ladies and gents, there's a new book that's going to drive me crazy for a few months.

Ann Leckie's Website

Ann Leckie has been making news lately (if you read my sort of news) for her book Ancillary Justice. The book has been nominated for many awards this year, and it won a Nebula award. I think it won with good reason. I loved the book, but that's not the point of this post. The point, Ms. Leckie, is that I became aware of the sequel today, Ancillary Sword, which doesn't come out until October. It's all I've been obsessing over all day. Thanks Ann. I guess I know what I'm buying myself for my Fiancé's birthday in October.