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.
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