"Zelda"-type fantasy novels?

[TransformersFan]

Wow, nerd alert. (that would be me)

With the new Zelda game looming on the horizon like the Giant Gorgon swordsmith, I wondered: Are there any fun, fantasy novels that have the same magical feel as a Zelda game? A quest to gather lost artifacts, exploring remote towns and villages, secret dungeons and tombs, and populated with weird, interesting creatures, peoples and villains.

Anything?

[Michael P]

Reading a novel and playing a video game aren't really very comparable experiences.

That being said, you'd probably get a kick out of R.A. Salvatore's Forgotten Realms novels.

[Mike Pothier]

Yeah, reading a book that felt like Zelda would be really boring.

"you enter the dungeon and immediately saw the beginning puzzle. First, you move the giant block on the left wall so you can get onto the ledge, and then shoot a fire arrow to light up the torch near the ceiling. Behold, the door across from the entrance opens!"

Yeah, snoozer. Zelda purposely keeps the story to a minimum, and Link is devoid of personality because he is supposed to be an avatar of the player.

[TransformersFan]

oh I know.

but the two mediums can certainly inspire each other.

[TransformersFan]

Yeah, reading a book that felt like Zelda would be really boring.

"you enter the dungeon and immediately saw the beginning puzzle. First, you move the giant block on the left wall so you can get onto the ledge, and then shoot a fire arrow to light up the torch near the ceiling. Behold, the door across from the entrance opens!"

Yeah, snoozer. Zelda purposely keeps the story to a minimum, and Link is devoid of personality because he is supposed to be an avatar of the player.


there are some fans who'd like to argue with you about that. Whole websites are devoted to zelda and it's continuity.

but I was asking about fantasy books that "feel" like a zelda game. not something that reads like one.

One could argue that The Hobbit by Tolkien would be a candidate.

[Mike Pothier]

there are some fans who'd like to argue with you about that. Whole websites are devoted to zelda and it's continuity.

but I was asking about fantasy books that "feel" like a zelda game. not something that reads like one.

One could argue that The Hobbit by Tolkien would be a candidate.

I never said Zelda was devoid of story. Just that the series doesn't focus on it. They tend to build the game and somewhere along the line come up with a plot to keep things moving.

[Matthew E]

Try Paul Kidd's D&D novels--White Plume Mountain, Descent Into the Depths of the Earth and Queen of the Demonweb Pits. I don't know anything about Zelda, but these would at least match your description.