 Cover of the first edition | |
| Author | Simon Hawke |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fantasy novel |
| Published | 1995 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | |
| ISBN | 0-7869-0357-0 |
The Iron Throne is a fantasy novel by Simon Hawke, set in the world of the Birthright, and based on the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. It is the first novel published for the setting. It was published in November, 1995.
The Iron Throne is a novel set in a land where humans have tried to create an empire by warring with other races ever since they arrived from another continent. A bitter dispute was caused by the domination of the native elven population, and war is inevitable as the other races want to take control of the continent from the humans. The ambition for someone new to take control of the Iron Throne causes strife among the humans with a civil war brewing, while the elves form an alliance with the humans against the evil forces despite their history of animosity. [1]
Jonathan Palmer reviewed The Iron Throne for Arcane magazine, rating it a 9 out of 10 overall. [1] He describes the novel as "a veritable saga set in a beautifully believable land where humans have vied with other races for empire since their arrival from the ancestral continent." [1] He comments that "The author shows a good understanding of history and geography, of their effects on military campaigns and battlefield strategies, and of the fortifications and defences necessary to withstand attack and siege. Of particular interest to referees will be the impenetrable elven capital." [1] He adds that "Even the erotica is surprisingly well-written by the usual standards of the genre: marriages of political convenience and ill-conceived romantic liaisons of inconvenience abound. There is no respite from the intrigue of court life. The reader feels as though he (or, indeed, she) is a silent servant to the court, observing all the machinations of the courtiers, but at the same time being powerless to intervene. The whole thing is made all the more credible by its generally well-developed characters (even the non-human ones)." [1] Palmer concludes his review by stating, "It has taken a writer who lives alone with his motorcycle on an Indian Reservation in Arizona to have the patience to create such a wonderfully alive fantasy world, with a mythology and captivatingly intricate plot to match. This is a truly splendid read with hardly a weak moment from start to unpredictable end." [1]
Tékumel is a fantasy world created by American linguist and writer M. A. R. Barker over the course of several decades from around 1940. In this imaginary world, huge, tradition-bound empires with medieval levels of technology vie for control using magic, large standing armies, and ancient technological devices. In time, Barker created the tabletop role-playing game Empire of the Petal Throne, set in the Tékumel universe, initially self publishing it in 1974. Later, Barker wrote a series of five novels set in Tékumel, beginning with The Man of Gold, first published by DAW Books in 1984.
Forgotten Realms is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as a setting for his childhood stories. Several years later, it was published for the D&D game as a series of magazine articles, and the first Realms game products were released in 1987. Role-playing game products have been produced for the setting ever since, in addition to novels, role-playing video game adaptations, comic books, and the film Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.
Mystara is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role playing game. It was the default setting for the "Basic" version of the game throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Most adventures published for the "Basic" edition of D&D take place in "The Known World", a central continent that includes a varied patchwork of both human and non-human realms. The human realms are based on various real-world historical cultures. In addition, unlike other D&D settings, Mystara had ascended immortal beings instead of gods.
Dragonlance is a shared universe created by Laura and Tracy Hickman, and expanded by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis under the direction of TSR, Inc. into a series of fantasy novels. The Hickmans conceived Dragonlance while driving in their car on the way to TSR for a job interview. Tracy Hickman met his future writing partner Margaret Weis at TSR, and they gathered a group of associates to play the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. The adventures during that game inspired a series of gaming modules, a series of novels, licensed products such as board games, and lead miniature figures.
Stephen Hunt is a Canadian writer known for his fantasy novels, including the Jackelian series, which contains elements of steampunk and whose central setting is a nation resembling Victorian England, named the Kingdom of Jackals. Influences on his work include Jack Williamson, Stephen Goldin, David Gemmell, Bruce Sterling, Larry Niven and Michael Moorcock.
Warhammer Fantasy is a fictional fantasy universe created by Games Workshop and used in many of its games, including the table top wargame Warhammer, the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (WFRP) pen-and-paper role-playing game, and a number of video games: the MMORPG Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, the strategy games Total War: Warhammer, Total War: Warhammer II and Total War: Warhammer III and the two first-person shooter games in the Warhammer Vermintide series, Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide and Warhammer: Vermintide 2, among many others.
Warcraft is a franchise of video games, novels, and other media created by Blizzard Entertainment. The series is made up of six core games: Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, and Warcraft Rumble. The first three of these core games are in the real-time strategy genre, where opposing players command virtual armies in battle against each other or a computer-controlled enemy. The fourth and best-selling title of the franchise is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), where players control their character and interact with each other in a virtual world.
The Sword of Shannara is a 1977 epic fantasy novel by American writer Terry Brooks. It is the first book in a titular trilogy.
Warhammer is a tabletop miniature wargame with a medieval fantasy theme. The game was created by Bryan Ansell, Richard Halliwell, and Rick Priestley, and first published by the Games Workshop company in 1983.
Birthright is a Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting that was first released by TSR in 1995. It is based on the continent of Cerilia on the world of Aebrynis, in which the players take on the role of the divinely-empowered rulers, with emphasis on the political rulership level of gameplay. The setting revolves around the concept of bloodlines: divine power gained by heroes and passed on to their descendants. Characters with a bloodline create an aura of command known as Regency, which is measured in the game using regency points or RP. Using regency, characters acquire a domain composed of provinces and holdings. The development of these domains is as much a part of the game as development of the characters. The game uses three-month domain turns to model actions of rulers over nations in much the same way as Dungeons & Dragons uses combat rounds to simulate time to model the characters' actions in battle. In 1996, Birthright won the Origins Award for Best Roleplaying Supplement of 1995.
In many works of modern fantasy, elves are depicted as a race or species of pointy-eared humanoid beings. These depictions arise from the álfar of Norse mythology influencing elves in fantasy as being semi-divine and of human stature, whose key traits are being friendly with nature and animals. However, this differs from Norse and the traditional elves found in Middle Ages folklore and Victorian era literature.
The elf is a humanoid race in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, one of the primary races available for player characters, and play a central role in the narratives of many setting worlds of the game. Elves are described as renowned for their grace and mastery of magic and weapons such as the bow and sword. Becoming physically mature by the age of 25 and emotionally mature at around 125, they are also famously long-lived, capable of living more than half a millennium and remaining physically youthful. Possessed of innate beauty and easy gracefulness, they are viewed as both wondrous and haughty by other races in-universe; however, their natural detachment is seen by some as introversion or xenophobia. They were usually portrayed as antagonistic towards dwarves.
Chronicles of an Age of Darkness is a ten-volume series of cross-genre fantasy and science fiction novels created by New Zealand cult author Hugh Cook. The series broadly tells of the events leading to the end of a fantasy world's dark age.
Shadow World is a high-fantasy campaign setting situated on the fictional planet of Kulthea. Originally produced for the Rolemaster role-playing game system, Shadow World is fairly compatible with other d100 games such as High Adventure Role Playing (HARP), Middle-earth Role Playing (MERP) or Against the Darkmaster. The setting blends traditional fantasy elements, such as elves, dwarves, and magic, with science fiction, including such elements as space and time travel, and, to a degree, futuristic technology.
Dragons of Summer Flame is a 1995 fantasy novel by American writers Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. The events of the novel follow the fictional Chaos War in the Dragonlance world.
Age of Wonders III is a 2014 4X turn-based strategy video game developed and published by Dutch developer Triumph Studios. It is the fourth game in the Age of Wonders series, following Age of Wonders, Age of Wonders II: The Wizard's Throne and Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic released in 1999, 2002, and 2003 respectively. It was released on March 31, 2014, through digital distribution, as well as through retail in select territories for Microsoft Windows. A port to Linux and OS X was released on April 14, 2015.
All Shadows Fled is a fantasy novel by Ed Greenwood, set in the world of the Forgotten Realms, and based on the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. It is the third novel published in "The Shadows of the Avatar" trilogy of novels. It was published in paperback, October 1995, ISBN 978-0-7869-0302-3).
War is a fantasy novel by Simon Hawke, set in the world of Birthright, and based on the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. It was published in May 1996 (ISBN 0-7869-0495-X).
Brian Staveley is an American fantasy writer. He has written an epic fantasy trilogy, The Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne, the first volume of a sequel series, Ashes of the Unhewn Throne, a prequel novel, Skullsworn, and a selection of short fiction.
Age of Wonders is a series of 4X turn-based strategy and tactical combat video games. The series is known for its rich universe of fantasy, magic, epic battles and deep customization. All games were developed by Triumph Studios while AoW 1 was co-developed with Epic MegaGames.