Ravenloft Novels

[Resonant Curse]

Don't forget to add:

Castle of the Undead

Night of the Tiger
I give goth of them a pretty low rating, even for Endless Quest pick a path books.

Don't know if you'd want to count it as a novel, but

Master of Ravenloft
is out there too, kind of a pick a path with minor game mechanics.

[Deewun]

I read two or three of these YEARS ago. I think it was I, Strahd, Shadowborn (which I LOVED and hated that I couldn't find any information on that domain in the Domains of Dread) and Knight of the Black Rose, though there may have been another.

I recently got my hands on a few of these at a local used bookstore. I've got to try and find the rest, I'd love to have the whole line.

[Paladyn]

Recently I learned that "Death of Darklord" was translated to polish! It bears no Ravenloft logo (only word "Ravenloft) and I as a translator and RL fan Ifind it unthinkable, I did not known about it and was not invited to translate book

[G man]

I have read them all except for Death of a Darklord (didn't want to waste my time) and Lord of the Necropolis. A few I have read and don't recall so well because it has probably been ten or fifteen years ago since I read them. Tales of RL was the first RL "novel" I read, but the interaction between Strahd and Azalin was very entertaining for me in I, Strahd 2. I have read that book twice along with Knight of the Black Rose and Dance of the Dead. Definitely these three are my favorite RL novels. Most recently (about a year ago) I finally read Scholar of Decay and although it was my second attempt at it, it was worth the second effort.

[Brandi]

Recently I learned that "Death of Darklord" was translated to polish! It bears no Ravenloft logo (only word "Ravenloft) and I as a translator and RL fan Ifind it unthinkable, I did not known about it and was not invited to translate book

The reissue very studiously avoids mentioning Ravenloft or indeed any game ties (saw a copy at a library sale last week), instead attempting to capitalize on the popularity surge of Laurell K Hamilton. I am certain readers who came looking for male characters with ankle-length hair and knee-length penises were miserably disappointed.

[HuManBing]

True story. A man meets a genie and unwisely wishes for his manhood to become two-thirds as big as he is.

So the genie makes him three inches tall.

The end.

[Strahdsbuddy]

I just read Enemy Within for the first time, and I have some pros and cons

VIEW CONTENT:

Having the curse handed down to Tristan rubbed a lot of people the wrong way, so having him cursed directly, even erroneously, seemed to remedy this pretty well. This book is the first mention I had ever seen of Vistani BEFORE entering Ravenloft, and it sort of threw me, since I had assumed that Nova Vaasa and its residents were from Toril (2nd edition carryover, I suppose). I thought the creation of Malken as a character was great, particularly his nihilistic views.

What I did not like was the pace. The entire book rakes about a month, and in this short time Malken makes his transition from signature murderer to all-consuming crime boss. Also, Tristan manages to take the mystery out of his dual nature far too quickly for my liking. Story arcs that were thought to take decades took place in the span of a few weeks. Another complaint is that the greusomeness of some of the scenes seems unnecessary. A little more slasher than I like in my Ravenloft, but that may just be a personal preference.

Back to positives, Tristan is displayed as a real person with real emotions, not just a white knight that is the sorry victim of his curse. He gets angry and talks down to people and it is shown that it really is not that far of a jump from him to Malken after all. I think this was an important aspect of the character that needed developing.

Overall I thought the book was average, certainly not as good as Golden's other book, Vampire of the Mists. I'm going to go looking for Dance of the Dead to make sure I have read all her Ravenloft contributions.

[BedrockBrendan]

Anyone know where you can buy the old Ravenloft novels? I haven't read them in a while, and wanted to pick some up, but having trouble finding them at stores or on amazon (at a reasonable price).

[Deewun]

I'm a flea market and used book store kind of guy. I enjoy finding it just as much as reading.

[Strahdsbuddy]

Anyone know where you can buy the old Ravenloft novels? I haven't read them in a while, and wanted to pick some up, but having trouble finding them at stores or on amazon (at a reasonable price).

If by reasonable, you mean less than a buck, Amazon really is the place to go. With shipping it is more than face value, sure, but I got both Enemy within and Scholar of decay last week for about 80 cents total and $7 shipping. In U.S.

[BedrockBrendan]

Anyone know where you can buy the old Ravenloft novels? I haven't read them in a while, and wanted to pick some up, but having trouble finding them at stores or on amazon (at a reasonable price).

If by reasonable, you mean less than a buck, Amazon really is the place to go. With shipping it is more than face value, sure, but I got both Enemy within and Scholar of decay last week for about 80 cents total and $7 shipping. In U.S.

Were they in good condition? And do you remember the name of the seller? I've bought used ravenloft products before on Amazon, but the result has been mixed.

[Strahdsbuddy]

both motor_city_books and international books sent me the RL novels, the condition was absolutely excellent, they had obviously never been read. Slight page crinkle on the bottom corner of one of the books, nothing that even spills onto the margin and I only noticed it when i put the book down and saw it from its side for the first time.

I saw Dance of the Dead for $1 the other day, I'm confident in these sellers as far as quality goes. There just isn't much demand for out of print paperbacks, everything they sell in this genre is pure profit since they probably already wrote off the face value of the books. Their shipping costs seem fair to me.

[The Giamarga]

For US residents theres also the excellent http://www.half.com. Or else look on ebay for small lots of multiple Ravenloft books.

[lostboy]

Apologies for thread ressurection... but

I would just like say although VotM was my favourite RL novel by far, I loved Spectre of the Black Rose. Not for the RL/DL shenanigans, certainly not for the annoying badger thing or the murky shadow girl or really even for the story so much (although it was eminently readable). But simply for the Bloody Cobbler, I love that character and idea sooo much. Its just creepy and weirdly not that scary, yet quite scary at the same time, masterful.

[ewancummins]

Apologies for thread ressurection... but

I would just like say although VotM was my favourite RL novel by far, I loved Spectre of the Black Rose. Not for the RL/DL shenanigans, certainly not for the annoying badger thing or the murky shadow girl or really even for the story so much (although it was eminently readable). But simply for the Bloody Cobbler, I love that character and idea sooo much. Its just creepy and weirdly not that scary, yet quite scary at the same time, masterful.

I loved him so much he made an appearance in my Ravenloft game, here on FoS.