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Feanor
Learned Scribe
100 Posts |
 Posted - 18 Feb 2006 : 16:47:33
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This question struck me when I noticed a comment that R.A.Salvatore intended to write something featuring Josidiah Starym, but he dropped the idea because the fate of this character was already known to us.
So, my question is : why so few novels set in the past of Toril ? Even if we don't go too far in the past, only during the last millenium of Cormanthor, there are plenty of subjects to exploit. And if we go earlier, during the Netheril era, the Crown Wars or even during the Golden Age of the elves, there is enough material for a score of epic tales on a scale similar with Lord of the Rings. Or featuring historical characters from Faerun. The fact that their final fate is already known does not seem enough reason to avoid them, at least for me, else no historical novels could have been written.
So, I'm quite curious what makes the authors reluctant about writing such novels. The only one I know to be set in the past are the Netheril trilogy and the Elminster series.
Note : Although it adresses first to authors, this thread is open for comments from the members as well. 
For moderators : I had some hesitations where to post this. If you feel another forum is more appropriate, feel free to move the topic there.
Mod Edit: Changed the topic to more accurately reflect the topic
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Edited by - Wooly Rupert on 18 Feb 2006 17:15:30
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36781 Posts |
Posted - 18 Feb 2006 : 17:27:15
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I don't think the reluctance is as much on the authors as it is on the Wizards of the Coast.
With rare exceptions, FR novels have either stayed with the present and/or moved the timeline forward. I know not everyone agrees with me, but I think this is a large part of what makes the Realms a vibrant and dynamic place: things are always happening, and always moving forward.
With Dragginglance, exploring the past was something they did decide to do. They made constant forays into the past, and there were two seriously negative results: continuity suffered, and the setting became a stagnant, unchanging place. I think part of the reason the past has been avoided is to avoid exactly this thing.
While there are certain areas of the past that could be successfully explored, I don't think we're going to see it happen any time soon. Moving the setting forward keeps things happening, and makes room for more things to happen. I think that the problems with the DL setting, and keeping the setting moving forward, are the reasons WotC has kept away from the past. |
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Edited by - Wooly Rupert on 18 Feb 2006 17:28:09 |
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Feanor
Learned Scribe
100 Posts |
Posted - 18 Feb 2006 : 17:59:09
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
I don't think the reluctance is as much on the authors as it is on the Wizards of the Coast.
With rare exceptions, FR novels have either stayed with the present and/or moved the timeline forward. I know not everyone agrees with me, but I think this is a large part of what makes the Realms a vibrant and dynamic place: things are always happening, and always moving forward.
With Dragginglance, exploring the past was something they did decide to do. They made constant forays into the past, and there were two seriously negative results: continuity suffered, and the setting became a stagnant, unchanging place. I think part of the reason the past has been avoided is to avoid exactly this thing.
While there are certain areas of the past that could be successfully explored, I don't think we're going to see it happen any time soon. Moving the setting forward keeps things happening, and makes room for more things to happen. I think that the problems with the DL setting, and keeping the setting moving forward, are the reasons WotC has kept away from the past.
A pity. The Crown Wars are fascinating. Not to mention that I would have prefered to see the elves as the major players in the Realms instead of humans. 
But, BTW, a question for you : what you say above it is just WotC's preference or an open interdiction ? I mean if WotC had put a warning "Do not touch" about the Faerun's past.
And about placing the novels exclusively in the present, this has some major drawbacks as well :
1. The FR timeline is advancing with the speed of a turtle. This presents problems if an author wants to create a novel dealing with events on an epic scale. Some examples : the Empires trilogy dealing with the tuigan invasion takes place in 1358-1360. I think that WotC is responsible for such a short period of time, because a war on such a scale lasts much more than 2 years. The tuigan invasion was obviously inspired by the mongol invasion and that one lasted for 30 years : it started in 1211 with the attack on China, it devastated the islamic countries from Central Asia in 1220-1225 and reached Europe in 1237-1240. Only 2 years for the tuigan invasion, when we speak about an area from Shou Lung to central Faerun, it is incredibly short. Only with modern ways of transport you could do it. The same thing about Last Mythal series : have not read them yet, but if indeed those books are about the elves' return to Faerun, then again this is an event which would take much more than 1-2 years which R.Baker has for it (and it will probably change the structure of Faerun).
2. The freedom of the authors is limited by their care not to step on their colleague's territory. One example : in Starlight&Shadows, Liriel Baenre reaches Waterdeep. There she has the usual problems of being accepted. Well, I find it quite odd that no one does not even mention Drizzt's name, although at the time Drizzt was sailing with Deudermont, carving quite a reputation on the Sword Coast. I don't say that Drizzt should have appeared in the book, but I find it weird that no one does not even make a reference to him. |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36781 Posts |
Posted - 18 Feb 2006 : 18:10:07
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quote:
Originally posted by Feanor
But, BTW, a question for you : what you say above it is just WotC's preference or an open interdiction ? I mean if WotC had put a warning "Do not touch" about the Faerun's past.
I don't think it's as much an interdiction as it is a preference. There have been the occasional forays into the past -- the Netheril Trilogy, Star of Cursrah, Evermeet, Cormyr... But that's it.
Granted, the timeline doesn't surge forward as much as it just inches along... But it's a heck of a lot better than the DL books were: a couple of major events, and then nothing moved forward at all for several years of realtime. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen! |
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Feanor
Learned Scribe
100 Posts |
Posted - 18 Feb 2006 : 19:53:45
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by Feanor
But, BTW, a question for you : what you say above it is just WotC's preference or an open interdiction ? I mean if WotC had put a warning "Do not touch" about the Faerun's past.
I don't think it's as much an interdiction as it is a preference. There have been the occasional forays into the past -- the Netheril Trilogy, Star of Cursrah, Evermeet, Cormyr... But that's it.
Well, I always felt that Faerun's past has a lot of potential which is not used.
But on the other hand, this way you cannot write books about events on an epic scale. I mean, let's take "Hunter's Blades" trilogy : R.A.Salvatore had the very good idea of setting the events several years before the present time of Faerun, so he has more years at his disposal. But the consequences are that the war is somehow isolated. This war affects the whole North, yet other novels set in 1369-1370 don't mention it. Another example is Last Mythal trilogy : forces from Silverymoon seem to be implicated in the war with House Dlardrageth, yet remains the problem how R.Baker will deal with the fact that, at the same time, Silverymoon is pressed by Obould's kingdom. Those conflicts just to simply ignore each other seems very unlikely and illogical.
Unless novels focus on limited adventures, there will be complications.
quote:
Granted, the timeline doesn't surge forward as much as it just inches along... But it's a heck of a lot better than the DL books were: a couple of major events, and then nothing moved forward at all for several years of realtime.
Bah ! This means Catti-Brie will outlive me.
Anyway, I'm curious what some authors have to say. |
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Novels about Faerūn's past
