Recommend Exalted novels to me

[Erinys]

My browser is playing tricks on me and I can't edit my posts. Please disregard the werewolf thread.


I want to read Exalted stories -- novels, or anthologies. I don't think I really care about edition. But I do care about quality, character development, plot holes, and good writing.

Please tell me which Exalted novels or anthologies you suggest for a longtime Exalted fan?

[Tytalus]

I read the series of 5, one about each signature solar exalt back in 1e. They were okay.

I personally never have terribly high expectations for any novel based on an rpg... They are much more enjoyable that way.

[DrLoveMonkey]

The best I've read has been the most recent DB novella, also the anthology had some real hit-or-miss quality. The hits were good though, like the Plentimon story. Are you looking for a good novel to introduce somebody to exalted?

[Erinys]

Nope, just looking for some good Exalted stories to read, and because I can afford to buy a few books to (I hope) send some $ to OPP, hoping they still get a share of it. I have several of the game books and they're fascinating, but I've got nobody to play with (and just don't have time to play either).

I saw bad reviews of the first anthology for 3E though - people saying the stories were too different from the actual setting material of any edition.

I'll also say... I'm not enthusiastic to read about the Dynasts trading soul-drained slaves with the Fair Folk, crushing mortal nations, and going on Wyld Hunts against Celestials and "heretics". I can read about that kind of thing in the daily news. I don't care what kind of Exalted are the protagonists, but I read fantasy for escapism from the horrors of the real world.

[DrLoveMonkey]

send some $ to OPP

Ah, well there goes my other suggestion which was the Exalted Fanthology then.

I saw bad reviews of the first anthology for 3E though - people saying the stories were too different from the actual setting material of any edition.

Some were actually quite good and most of those were the ones that didn't have weird glaring inconsistencies with the setting. On the other hand there was like, double exalted Dragonblooded/Solar and a first age sorcerous academy in the vein of Hogwarts except every student was a Twilight.

I'll also say... I'm not enthusiastic to read about the Dynasts trading soul-drained slaves with the Fair Folk, crushing mortal nations, and going on Wyld Hunts against Celestials and "heretics". I can read about that kind of thing in the daily news. I don't care what kind of Exalted are the protagonists, but I read fantasy for escapism from the horrors of the real world.

Well you're in luck there because mostly the novels out right now just completely avoid that kind of thing. The two corebook ones take place in Nexus with one of them centering around exigent exaltation and sidereals, and the other around Novia squaring off against mysteries and conspiracies and a Wyld Hunt. The DB novel is about a pair of terrestrials battling forces of death and saving a small town from the predations of an ancient long-sleeping evil and a ruthless organization of exorcists who brook no competition with their trade.

[TheCountAlucard]

It’s not a novel, but Chancel Aleph has a log of Doom and Gloam, an Exalted chronicle played by Vance, Elliott Freeman, Rand Brittain, and Jenna Moran.

[Lioness]

I saw bad reviews of the first anthology for 3E though - people saying the stories were too different from the actual setting material of any edition.

Most of the content of the anthology is very middle of the road, stories that can be called 'okay' so the online discourse focused on Singular Justice which was a genuine stinker.

[Erinys]

The best I've read has been the most recent DB novella, also the anthology had some real hit-or-miss quality. The hits were good though, like the Plentimon story.

OK! So, the titles of these books are..... ?
Or is this a test of my renown as a secret-finding, data-digging loremaster...?

Ah, well there goes my other suggestion which was the Exalted Fanthology then.

No I'll read that too! But please give me a url?

Some were actually quite good and most of those were the ones that didn't have weird glaring inconsistencies with the setting. On the other hand there was like, double exalted Dragonblooded/Solar and a first age sorcerous academy in the vein of Hogwarts except every student was a Twilight.

Most of the content of the anthology is very middle of the road, stories that can be called 'okay' so the online discourse focused on Singular Justice which was a genuine stinker.

OK, so then I'll ask, which are great and which are best skipped?

Well you're in luck there because mostly the novels out right now just completely avoid that kind of thing. The two corebook ones take place in Nexus with one of them centering around exigent exaltation and sidereals, and the other around Novia squaring off against mysteries and conspiracies and a Wyld Hunt. The DB novel is about a pair of terrestrials battling forces of death and saving a small town from the predations of an ancient long-sleeping evil and a ruthless organization of exorcists who brook no competition with their trade.

Great!
Edit: So what are "the two corebook ones" titled?

It’s not a novel, but Chancel Aleph has a log of Doom and Gloam, an Exalted chronicle played by Vance, Elliott Freeman, Rand Brittain, and Jenna Moran.

Thanks!

[TheCountAlucard]

Welcome back, by the way.

[DrLoveMonkey]

OK! So, the titles of these books are..... ?
Or is this a test of my renown as a secret-finding, data-digging loremaster...?

Circle of Protection is the Exigent Sidereal story one
False Images is the Novia Claro one
The Silence of OUr Ancestors is the Dragonblooded one

No I'll read that too! But please give me a url?

I actually can't find the whole compilation, just mine and LeTipix's entries.

[Tikor]

I enjoyed Carl Bowen's Exalted novel (he's the guy who wrote a lot of 2e comics, I think.) It's called Pillar of the Sun.

[Erinys]

So far I'm planning on buying the Dragon-Blooded and Novia novels.

Does it work to read Pillar of the Sun (for example) without reading the other 4 books in that set? Has anyone else here read them?

Circle of Protection... got a bad review on DriveThru that makes the plot out to be nonsensical. I dunno about that.


Can anyone tell me which Tales From the Age of Sorrows are good and which to contradict the game lore? Besides the Hogwarts academy and the double-Exalted, I read that there's a story in which Solars are destined from birth, like Sidereals.

[DrLoveMonkey]

I personally liked the Maiden's Kiss. A Resting Place at the Heart of the Mountain was okay, although a bit of an odd reference to Emperor instead of Regent. What You Do Not Understand was pretty interesting, although part off that may be the bold move to tell a story in second person. Herald of Glorious Death was okay too.

[Dex Davican]

So far I'm planning on buying the Dragon-Blooded and Novia novels.

I hope you enjoy The Silence Of Our Ancestors. It's a novella, so it'll probably just take you an afternoon or two.

Circle of Protection... got a bad review on DriveThru that makes the plot out to be nonsensical. I dunno about that.

Circle of Protection has a very different tone. Less high fantasy, more YA adventure. It's an extension of the anthology story The Circle Will Be Broken, with help from me to better fit the setting. If you liked the tone of that short story and just wanted it to have an extra shot of Exalted, you might enjoy the novel. If you didn't like the tone, it won't have changed too much.

[Erinys]

I haven't heard of The Circle Will Be Broken...