That is, if there was a list of recommended reading for D&D, and it needed to be stuff that was reasonably in the popular culture (true classics that have stood the test of time are acceptable, 40 year old books almost no one at all has heard of are not), what would be the "must read" list for D&D as of 2012?

RPGpundit

Let's start with the easy ones.

Lord of the Rings

TSR published so many novels based on their various universes, I think that a lot of those would be good recommended reading.

Icewind Dale and Dark Elf trilogies

Dragonlance, Chronicles and Legends


Outside of that sort of thing...

David Eddings is always fun for me to read (even though he's like Heinlein in his characters)

Reasonably known in pop culture is a high mark (I'd think it would eliminate stuff like TSR's novels and even popular fantasy authors like Eddings or Glen Cook).

Work-in-progress list:

• Conan stories
• The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings
  
• John Carter/Barsoom novels
• Greek Myths
• A Game of Thrones, et cetera
  
• While it doesn't feel very "D&Dish" to me, the Harry Potter series is probably one of the most well-known examples of some D&Dish concepts (wizards, wizards guilds/schools, wands, magical items/formula/incantations, et cetera).

I would argue that Salvatore's books WERE reasonably well known in popular culture, and that they had a lot of impact for recruiting players in the '90's and early '00's.  They've been NYT bestsellers, and received national recognition.  Hell, I've had conversations with people about the books who didn't even know I gamed before or after the conversation, and who wouldn't even be interested in playing if they did know, but they liked the books.

I think that we're really looking for ADDITIONS to the list rather than creating a whole new list, so we should reasonably be looking for things that came out post-1980 that could be said to have had an impact on the gaming culture.

Quote from: Panzerkraken;562834I would argue that Salvatore's books WERE reasonably well known in popular culture...

Depends on how we're drawing that line, I suppose.  If the bar is "reasonably well known to people who read fantasy novels" then all sorts of popular and bestselling fantasy authors could qualify, even if those authors were unknowns outside of the genre.  If the bar is "reasonably well known to popular culture, in general," then I'd only include authors that achieved truly "breakout" recognition.  People who've never opened a fantasy novel know who Conan is, or Harry Potter, or Achilles, or John Carter of Mars, or Frodo.  And they want to slap Joffrey.

My mental acid test is something like "Stop 100 random people in the shopping mall and ask them if they've heard of such-and-such.  Think the majority would have heard of it?  It qualifies."  That may be a higher bar than Pundit had in mind.

I think that having D&D books as recommended reading for a D&D game is madness. It's like... a bit too incestuous.

Quote from: RPGPundit;562826That is, if there was a list of recommended reading for D&D, and it needed to be stuff that was reasonably in the popular culture (true classics that have stood the test of time are acceptable, 40 year old books almost no one at all has heard of are not), what would be the "must read" list for D&D as of 2012?

RPGpundit

Is that what the original Appendix N was? How many of those authors were "reasonably in the popular culture"? I think the proportion of 40 year old books nobody at all had heard of was probably greater...

Anyway, to those already mentioned, I'd add:

-China Mieville's New Crobuzon books
-Tad Williams's Memory, Sorrow and Thorn
-The Terry Goodkind series

What about Discworld, you guys? Do you think it's out of place for the D&D mentality?

He doesn't get nearly the credit he deserves for it, but Michael Moorcock had a massive influence on the whole genre with his Elric books. Most of the Games Workshop stuff was lifted whole cloth directly from it. Maybe a little too dark for a direct D&D comparison, but yes I'd say a real influence.

"40 year old books almost no one at all has heard of" describes a lot of Appendix N as it appeared in the 1st edition DMG fairly well (also, Lovecraft and Howard were not yet household names). Actually, some of the books on the list may be easier to find today than they were in the 1970s, since there has been a small sword&sorcery/pulp revival in the last few years and you can get anything from online bookstores.

But anyway, the purpose of a reading list is not to highlight the most popular fantasy fiction out there; it is to draw the reader's attention to reading material which adds to their understanding of the subject. It can, and it should highlight obscure books if they help someone understand where D&D is coming from. I read a lot of fantasy because it was on that list, or because other people read that list and decided they were worth publishing, and in many cases, I am grateful for the recommendation.

Finally, what a contemporary list needs is computer games, movies and TV shows, none of which existed in the fantasy genre when the list was first assembled. These changes in media consumption should be taken into account, although not slavishly.

Quote from: Melan;562852But anyway, the purpose of a reading list is not to highlight the most popular fantasy fiction out there; it is to draw the reader's attention to reading material which adds to their understanding of the subject. It can, and it should highlight obscure books if they help someone understand where D&D is coming from. I read a lot of fantasy because it was on that list, or because other people read that list and decided they were worth publishing, and in many cases, I am grateful for the recommendation.

I agree, and it's why I would think that the better written books set in the D&D worlds and using the dynamics of the system/settings would be good recommended reading for people to get a feel for how the games are run.

Quote from: Melan;562852"40 year old books almost no one at all has heard of" describes a lot of Appendix N as it appeared in the 1st edition DMG fairly well (also, Lovecraft and Howard were not yet household names). Actually, some of the books on the list may be easier to find today than they were in the 1970s, since there has been a small sword&sorcery/pulp revival in the last few years and you can get anything from online bookstores.

But anyway, the purpose of a reading list is not to highlight the most popular fantasy fiction out there; it is to draw the reader's attention to reading material which adds to their understanding of the subject. It can, and it should highlight obscure books if they help someone understand where D&D is coming from. I read a lot of fantasy because it was on that list, or because other people read that list and decided they were worth publishing, and in many cases, I am grateful for the recommendation.

Finally, what a contemporary list needs is computer games, movies and TV shows, none of which existed in the fantasy genre when the list was first assembled. These changes in media consumption should be taken into account, although not slavishly.

Bolded the important bit.

If we are sensible we can not only provide a set of good books, I refuse to recommend shit like the in house D&D junk, but we can also make D&D play more interesting

So we get

Best current Fantasy

Abercrombie - the Blade Itself trilogy, Best Served Cold & The Heroes
GRR Martin - Song of Fire and Ice
Scott Lynch - Locke Lamora (lets hope he cover comes through his depression and gets the rest of the books written)
Pratchet - Because his best work is exquisite and because the best way to under a trope is to subvert it

Rowling - I am not a fan but you can't ignore it
 

Stuff that has survived to become modern classics

Eddings - Belgariad and the Mallorean - nothing since
Fiest - Magician etc al (but you all must read Fairy Tale just cos its a great book)
Gemmell - Lengend and Knights of Dark Renown are great the rest is a rehash but as a source of RPG material very solid

The Classics
Tolkein - LorT - not the best written of books but the best realised of worlds
Leiber
Moorcock - again not well written but great for ideas

Honorable mentions

Gaiman - a fantastic writer although not realy directly in the D&D field.
Norman - Gor books 2 - 6 are great for teaching DMS how to retrofit an earthly culture to a fanstasy world and the polting and action are good
Vance

He has a new book due october 22 from gollancz called Republic of Thieves(book 3 of the series that began with lies of loch lamora) so i'd say Scott Lynch kicked depressions arse!

Well, if we're talking inspiration for the current d&d, then i'd have to say Xanth...