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PS Novels: Teen Fic, or Something More?

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Sun, 2013-08-04 11:36
#1
Tequila Sunrise
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PS Novels: Teen Fic, or Something More?

Lately I've been thinking how sad it is that I've never read a PS novel, but my teen fic phase is over. Heck, I knew most of those game-novels were garbage even when I was a kid!

Anyway, if you've read any of the PS novels: Can you tell me that any of them are more than teen fic? I'm not expecting any strong recommendations on this basis, but hey it's like the lottery -- you never know, right?

(There is one game-novel that I reread as an adult and still think is pretty great -- if you get the chance, pick up Jeff Grubb's The Brothers' War, especially if you're a Magic fan.)

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Sun, 2013-08-04 14:41
#2
KnightOfDecay
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Re: PS Novels: Teen Fic, or Something More?

I really like Pages of Pain.
It takes a little to get used to 'hearing the Ladys thoughts' but the language and the mythological slide-ins are great and catch the settings atmosphere quite well.

Fire and Dust has interesting passages too, but all in all it didn't convince me.

Sun, 2013-08-04 19:04
#3
VikingLegion
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Re: PS Novels: Teen Fic, or Something More?

Blood Wars Trilogy - while you'll find a defender or two on this site, I found this trilogy to be embarassingly bad. It's the kind of writing that de-legitimizes the fantasy genre. I'm not trying to be a literary snob or anything - I wanted to LOVE this trilogy, but it became apparent early on that it was going to be of the lowest tier of quality - comparable to many of the throwaway Dragonlance or Forgotten Realms series - this coming from someone who reads a ton of TSR/WOTC books, the good, the bad, and the ugly. It got to the point where the only reasons I continued reading was because I'd already invested the time in the first 2 books, and also I had this morbid curiousity to keep turning pages to see if it could get even more awful - like a train crash that you just can't stop staring at.

Pages of Pain - I agree with the above poster, this was a pretty interesting read. Darker and grittier than your typical teenage fair. If you're expecting GRRM type quality - no, it's not that. But it is quite a bit different from what I was expecting, and I enjoyed the expierience.

Torment - a novelization of the game, it was more-or-less your standard effort. It don't recall it being particularly good or bad, it was just a book. I do recall enjoying the ending, though I can't tell you why without letting too much slip.

I was under the impression that these 5 were the only official novels published in the Planescape setting. The above poster mentioned Fire and Dust... is that a novel or a short story in a PS supplement? Maybe an article from a Dragon magazine? Something in electronic format only?

Sun, 2013-08-04 20:45
#4
Tequila Sunrise
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Re: PS Novels: Teen Fic, or Something More?

So far, PoP gets 2/2, so I'll probably pick that up.

Never played Torment, so maybe I'll pick up that one too just to boost my PS fanboy cred. Eye-wink

VikingLegion wrote:
It got to the point where the only reasons I continued reading was because I'd already invested the time in the first 2 books, and also I had this morbid curiousity to keep turning pages to see if it could get even more awful - like a train crash that you just can't stop staring at.
Yup, been there, done that! I wasted many hours of my life that I'll never get back slogging through a two-part series called Mordant's Need. I still have the compulsion, but since then I live by the one chapter rule: If a book doesn't show at least a modicum of promise within the first chapter, I toss it.

Mon, 2013-08-05 00:53
#5
sciborg2
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Re: PS Novels: Teen Fic, or Something More?

Sorry, I'm going to say the Blood Wars Trilogy is among the best fantasy I've ever read.

At least on the Young Adult side of things.

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Mon, 2013-08-05 02:27
#6
KnightOfDecay
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Re: PS Novels: Teen Fic, or Something More?

Fire and Dust is a Planescape novel by James Gardner which was (if i remember correctly) rejected by WOTC and published as fan-fic on the net.
You can find it here:
http://www.deathstar.org/~krlipka/ps/fiction/local.html

Sat, 2013-08-24 03:36
#7
Mask
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Re: PS Novels: Teen Fic, or Something More?

I'v read all those books some time ago, and imho Fire and Dust was the best of it, while I didn't like Pages of Pain much.

If you never played Torment, there are two novels:
First the official one by Vallese, and second someone novelised the game.
http://www.wischik.com/lu/senses/pst-book.html
It's okay to read, but in some parts it's just the in-game dialog with litle between.

Sat, 2013-11-23 18:09
#8
Mississippi Bennu
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Re: PS Novels: Teen Fic, or Something More?

Afraid I can't comment on the Planescape novels, haven't read any of them.

I do recall reading through the official novel release of the game, found it a really disappointment compared to the game itself. Where the game goes for the non-conventional and really spins a few genre assumptions on its head, the book is much more contemporary/forgettable.

The novelization of the game is great -if- you've played the game first. It doesn't work so well if you haven't explored the game first hand, seen the landscapes, or listened to the pretty excellent voice acting.

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