You've probably heard me rattle on about this series of books, but they were among my favorites growing up. Looking back, I'm sure a part of it had to do with the characters being transported into their game master's world. The series is a bit dark (takes on issues like rape and slavery), but they're very good and deserve a mention as a forefather of modern LitRPG. The series includes ten books ... The Sleeping Dragon (1983) The Sword and the Chain (1984) The Silver Crown (1985) The Heir Apparent (1987) The Warrior Lives (1988) The Road to Ehvenor (1991) The Road Home (1995) Not Exactly the Three Musketeers (1999) Not Quite Scaramouche (2001) Not Really the Prisoner of Zenda (2003) I personally like the old covers better, but the insides of the books are still meaty! Also, unfortunately, only the first three are available as an eBook currently. Maybe we should start a letter-writing campaign to the publisher to tell them to get the others up and on the store? Small smile. You can buy print copies of the others on Amazon, or you might check your local bookstore if you're lucky enough to have one in your city/town. Here's some cool art from the original books. Leave a comment if you read this series or want to read it. I may need to read the whole series again soon.
I remember reading the first three when I was in high school, and loving them. In the preinternet days, I lost track of the series, and never read the others. I knew there had been a fourth book, but never realized it had continued after that. I will need to find them.
Yeah, they kinda got stretched out toward the end. I wonder sometimes if he got tired of writing them but then realized they were his best-selling books? Something just clicked in all the right ways with at least the first four. I don't think I've read the last ones, but I want to start over from the beginning. Ooh! Idea! This series (complete in paperback form) would make a great prize for a LitRPG Forum Giveaway. *Jots down notes.* Carry on!
I just picked up a complete set of used copies off ebay. The thing I enjoyed about them, is they had a more realistic approach to what would happen if you found yourself in your game. Or at least the more harsh realities you would face. At the time it was a nice change from the D&D cartoon, which was great but restrained due to Saturday morning timeslot.
I need to scout some out this week. Might attract older gamers, which isn't necessarily a bad thing! (I put a few easter eggs into Goblin for the old school gamers...) But, yeah, I agree that the series was dark in tone. Fantasy-realism, of sorts? If I recall correctly, I was a teenager when I first read them. Maybe still a tween? I remember waiting for the new books. In any case, good to have you here. Hope you enjoy your stay.
I remember finding these and absolutely devouring them. Younger me was annoyed (I suppose I was a purist) when there was a fairly random way to use magic to make projectile weapons into a common thing. Now, I think I'd be okay with it, thought (from memory) the explanation seemed to be a little too pat. The main character can't have been the ONLY guy to think "I wish I could shoot THIS at THAT"... Anyway, I never finished the series. Better try and get on that.
I think it was the first three that were released together, read that version and not the individual copies. Joel Rosenberg also has a space mossad story that features the jewish people after securing their own planet in the future. Features a technology restriction for certain planets, so the space mossad mercenaries can't just go in lazer guns blasting, they have to use era appropriate armor and weapons. There is a whole bureaucratic space governing body that approves their inventory when the mercs drop in. I had access to a huge 80s collection of books as a kid so I read a scattershot sampling of everything that crazy era had to offer. Which was cocaine, sex, a lot of garbage borderline incoherent plots, and more Sean Penn and Madonna jokes than a kid of any era should know. Thanks 80s comics, Bloom County especially. This songs for you @Seagrim. Mucky Pup "U-Stink-But-I-♥-U" (1989)
Yeah, I still need to read the rest. I'm gonna try to find them here locally and maybe do a giveaway soon.
I read and enjoyed the first few novels, but as the series continued, it sort of lost some of it's momentum, and I went on to reading other things.
Update: Halfway thru Sleeping Dragon. Amazing how much I had forgotten, but it all seems familiar at the same time. I am also enjoying reading a 'real' book again, instead of the kindle.
Knocked out Sword and the Chain a couple weeks ago, and The Silver Crown tonight. I will be starting Heir Apparent this week. I know I read the first three in high school, I want to say the fourth also, but not sure. I know I didn't go beyond that. For once nostalgia stands the test of time, and what I loved back then is still awesome today. I would comment more on some things, but I hate spoilers. One thing I have noticed with the series compared to modern litrpg, is the lack of "stat talk." There is no leveling up comments or mentions of skill checks which seem to pop up a lot in the modern titles I have read. I am hoping to knock out the next 7 books by February. At that point I would be willing to gift the series to someone else, if they would be willing to pass it on when they finished.