Fiction Which Book Should a CMDR New to the Lore of ED Purchase First?

Rengal Black

Rengal Black
Hey guys,

So the title itself is pretty self explanatory, I'm looking for the book that would take my fancy the most and drive forward my interest into the lore. I was hoping that some of the community members that have already read some, or all, of these books could point me in the right direction toward which one I should go for first. Whether its due to chronological ordering, or simply because one is a much more gripping tale. I'd love for some of you to make suggestions.

Thanks!
 

drew

drew
Thanks to Geomon I've been spared the potential embarrassment of recommending my own book! Thanks btw!

There isn't really a chronological order of Elite Dangerous books that you *must* follow, the books were independently written, though they are licensed by Frontier. Most are set in and around the original game time of 3300 or thereabouts, but some delve into the history before this point. You can get a feel for them (and what readers think of them) by having a look at the Amazon reviews. Some are funny, some are serious. It's fair to say some are more popular than others.

A series of them (4 in total) were converted into audiobooks too, if that's preferable. They feature in game sound effects direct from the game courtesy of Frontier. If you're not already a member of audible you can get one for free when you sign up. :)

There are also quite a lot of older bits of fiction associated with the game detailed on various threads in this forum. The key one (already mentioned above), although it has been 'retconned', is the Dark Wheel, which came with the original game back in 1984. This remains quite a good scene setter for the background legends still in the game today.

Hope that helps! :)

Cheers,

Drew.
 
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Rengal Black

Rengal Black
Thanks Goemen and Drew both! I do think I'll have to read your book first Drew, it does grab my interest and with the recommendation I think it's clearly the right choice! Loved seeing you on stream yesterday by the way, looking forward to hearing more from you in future! This fairly new player is fascinated by the things he's seeing and hearing.
 

drew

drew
Rengal Black said:
Thanks Goemen and Drew both! I do think I'll have to read your book first Drew, it does grab my interest and with the recommendation I think it's clearly the right choice! Loved seeing you on stream yesterday by the way, looking forward to hearing more from you in future! This fairly new player is fascinated by the things he's seeing and hearing.
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Hope you enjoy it. I do believe having a bit of background lore makes the game much more fun to play and you can join in this particular story right now. :) Check out the Formidine Rift thread and get stuck into the mystery!

Cheers,

Drew.
 

Rengal Black

Rengal Black
More mystery!! My friend who has played this for a long time has told me all about this. I'm gonna have to visit the rift at some point.
 

Rengal Black

Rengal Black
Update: Purchased the audible version of Reclamation last night, and I am happy to say so far I've loved it. Already a couple chapters in! The next one, I'll get a hardback copy, I love having some physical to read, but audible seemed sensible with it being a free taster test so to speak. Thanks again.
 

Jaiotu

Jaiotu
Rengal Black said:
Update: Purchased the audible version of Reclamation last night, and I am happy to say so far I've loved it. Already a couple chapters in! The next one, I'll get a hardback copy, I love having some physical to read, but audible seemed sensible with it being a free taster test so to speak. Thanks again.
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A very good choice to get started with. It isn't just a good Elite: Dangerous book. It is a good book PERIOD.

Another good choice is "Tales from the Frontier". It is an anthology collection of short stories ... some of which are better than others but the short story format gives the opportunity to shine a light more corners of the galaxy. Several of the short stories are pretty brilliant. The Silver Comet was brilliant.
 

Rengal Black

Rengal Black
I'll make that my next project after this one, then. I'd like to get the others in hardback copy, so that'll be next on the list.
 

Jack Shaftoe

Jack Shaftoe
Rengal Black said:
Hey guys,Whether its due to chronological ordering, or simply because one is a much more gripping tale.Thanks!
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I had the same question a bit of time ago, and decided to start with "The Dark Wheel" (which was the very first Elite story), and then read Drew's "Oolite Saga". It's non-canon fan-fiction, but it's still pretty damned good...and makes a couple parts of "Reclamation" a bit more poignant.
 

drew

drew
Jaiotu said:
A very good choice to get started with. It isn't just a good Elite: Dangerous book. It is a good book PERIOD.

Another good choice is "Tales from the Frontier". It is an anthology collection of short stories ... some of which are better than others but the short story format gives the opportunity to shine a light more corners of the galaxy. Several of the short stories are pretty brilliant. The Silver Comet was brilliant.
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Tales from the Frontier has some real gems in it. The "Silver Comet" is excellent, as is "Children of Zeus" and I also particularly liked "Blood is Thicker". But, no spoilers! ;)

Cheers,

Drew.
 

madbilly

M
Rengal Black said:
... I was hoping that some of the community members that have already read some, or all, of these books could point me in the right direction toward which one I should go for first. Whether its due to chronological ordering, or simply because one is a much more gripping tale.
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The Gollancz ones seem to be permanently at bargain prices on Ebay and Ama, at least in the UK.
drew said:
...If you're not already a member of audible you can get one for free when you sign up. :)
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Do the authors get any money when this happens, or do they just have to accept that some may get given away free?
 

Allen Stroud

Allen Stroud
madbilly said:
The Gollancz ones seem to be permanently at bargain prices on Ebay and Ama, at least in the UK.

Do the authors get any money when this happens, or do they just have to accept that some may get given away free?
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I expect the latter. The Gollancz books were commissioned contracts, so the authors were paid up front. I think the royalties on them in their contract are pretty low. They were also completed in draft before Frame Shift Drive was conceptualised for the game, so there's a couple of inconsistencies.

Making recommendations is difficult. I'm glad people have enjoyed the fiction and can recommend good books to others. I think its important to note there's a lot of works and you can explore all sorts of different paths into the Frontier/Elite universe. I don't think there's a best book, but then I don't think its fair for any of us authors to champion one over the other. There's an assortment of publishers and writers who you can check out, which is a great thing.
 
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madbilly

M
Thanks Alan. My question about authors getting paid was in relation to what Drew said about free audio books from Audible; my question was completely unrelated to my observation about the Gollancz books. Your reply was still enlightening however, so thanks :)
 

Allen Stroud

Allen Stroud
I know. My points were separate to your two questions. I probably answered them the wrong way around.

What authors get money for with regards to sales is down to individual contracts and the honouring of those contracts. Every publishing contract with a different publisher is different. I think its best we leave the point at that.
 

Ben Ryder

Ben Ryder
Rengal Black said:
Hey guys,

So the title itself is pretty self explanatory, I'm looking for the book that would take my fancy the most and drive forward my interest into the lore. I was hoping that some of the community members that have already read some, or all, of these books could point me in the right direction toward which one I should go for first. Whether its due to chronological ordering, or simply because one is a much more gripping tale. I'd love for some of you to make suggestions.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

The Dark Wheel. A far as I know that is the very first Elite book there ever ever ever was.
 

drew

drew
Ben Ryder said:
The Dark Wheel. A far as I know that is the very first Elite book there ever ever ever was.
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It was indeed. Perhaps not the best thing that Robert Holdstock wrote, but very much where it all began as far as Elite is concerned. 😀

Cheers,

Drew.
 

Mu77ley

Volunteer Moderator
Mu77ley
OK, so here are my Goodreads star ratings for all the Elite books I've read so far (in alphabetical order within each star rating).

5 Stars
Reclamation - Drew Wagar

4 Stars
Lave Revolution - Allen Stroud
Legacy - Michael Brookes
Mostly Harmless - Kate Russell
Nemorensis - Simon Spurrier
Wanted - Gavin Deas

3 Stars
And Here the Wheel - John Harper

2 Stars
Docking is Difficult - Gideon Defoe

The only book I wouldn't really recommend reading is Docking is Difficult, which to me fell short as both a comedy and a sci-fi book.

Needless to say, these opinions/ratings are all completely subjective, YMMV, etc.
 

madbilly

M
Allen Stroud said:
I know. My points were separate to your two questions. I probably answered them the wrong way around.

What authors get money for with regards to sales is down to individual contracts and the honouring of those contracts. Every publishing contract with a different publisher is different. I think its best we leave the point at that.
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Good point, thanks for the clarification.

My reason for asking was basically in case a freebie from Audible meant no income for the creators, something I would prefer to avoid.
 
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