Reading OotS Books

[Flip75]

Hi All,

Thanks to the Kickstarter drive I will soon be the proud owner of all the print books. Now my question is what is the best order to read them in? Should I start with On the Origin of PC's or Dungeon Crawlin' Fools ? When should I read Start of Darkness?

Also I plan on introducing my wife to the series who has never read OotS before. Should I have her start with Dungeon Crawlin' Fools or the prequel books (On the Origin of PC's & Start of Darkness)?

Thanks in advance for any responses to my inquiry.

[fergo]

You should definitely not read SoD until after NCftPB. I'm not sure about OtOoPCs, not having read it myself (I'm eagerly awaiting my copy :smallbiggrin:), but probably somewhere around the same time. You could probably get away from reading it earlier, from what I've heard, but if you wanted to do it in between two of the compilation books, after NCftPB seems like the best bet for me.

As for getting someone else into the series... I know that for non-gamers (like myself) some of DCF may be unappealing (it wasn't for me personally, but probably because I'd picked up just enough about RPGs to understand the jokes, and I loved the characters in any case). Nevertheless, it's probably the best starting point. If they find it a bit tedious, you could just make sure they persevere until the plot kicks in.

[The Derider]

I think the books are best read in this order, for the jokes/punchlines to make sense and to stop spoilers from the natural progression of the plot.

Dungeon Crawlin' Fools
No Cure for the Paladin Blues
On the Origin of PCs
Start of Darkness
War and XPs
Don't Split the Party
Snips, Snails and Dragon Tales

Buuuuuuuuut...

I would recommend your wife start with On The Origin of PCs and then read Dungeon Crawlin' Fools, spoilers be damned, because it's a better story and more in line with how OOTS really reads in the later books. It'll grab her interest better, I think.

[Kobold-Bard]

If you've read the Dorukan's Dungeon arc online then you can start with Origins, it ends just before the online issues start.

In Start of Darkness Rich suggests not reading it unless you've read the No-Cure arc, but again if you've read it online you can read SoD whenever you like since it's just so you have enough background to appreciate the story being told in SoD, rather than any direct connection.

tl;dr - If you've read the online comic up to at least the Azure City War, you can read them in whatever order you like. Since your wife hasn't go DCF, Origins, NCftPB, SoD.

[psijac]

Start of Darkness should be the last book you read its spoileriffic and imho the best book

[Morgan Wick]

If you've read the Dorukan's Dungeon arc online then you can start with Origins, it ends just before the online issues start.

Aside from the fact it assumes you've already read #131.

[RMS Oceanic]

I read them in approximate "publication" order, by which I mean I read the prequel books at roughly the time they came out while reading the online strip, so for me that represents a reading order of DCF, NCFTPB, OOPCs, W&XPs, SoD, DSTP, SSDT and the current book.

[FireDrake]

I know this is kind of weird, but I would suggest reading DCF then up to about #251 of NCftPB, then treat OtOoPC as the Order thinking back over their pasts on the journey to azure city, then back to the rest of NCftPB, SoD fits pretty much anywhere between the end of NCftPB and the start of the battle in WaXP then just finish WaXP and DStP.

I said it was weird.

[Unisus]

I recently began to give the books to my eldest son and startet with DCF, next book i gave him was OtOotPC, because i don't think it is too early for it. I wanted him to read DCF first so he knows about the characters. Next books will be the compilations in chronological order, with SoD thrown in after NCftPB. The D-book can come wherever it fits, as soon as the characters are familiar, so i have no idea where to put it exactly...

[The Derider]

I recently began to give the books to my eldest son and startet with DCF, next book i gave him was OtOotPC, because i don't think it is too early for it. I wanted him to read DCF first so he knows about the characters. Next books will be the compilations in chronological order, with SoD thrown in after NCftPB. The D-book can come wherever it fits, as soon as the characters are familiar, so i have no idea where to put it exactly...

Well, the StickTales section seems canon to me. And it takes place immediately after the final page of Don't Split The Party. I see no reason why you wouldn't put it right there.

[Mighty]

I read them in approximate "publication" order, by which I mean I read the prequel books at roughly the time they came out while reading the online strip, so for me that represents a reading order of DCF, NCFTPB, OOPCs, W&XPs, SoD, DSTP, SSDT and the current book.

I second this. The print order is the optimal order of reading. It'll also mean you get Rich's commentaries in the correct order :smallsmile:

[Flip75]

Thanks everyone for your replies. Now I am justs waiting by my mailbox for the books to arrive :>

[Skavensrule]

I read them in approximate "publication" order, by which I mean I read the prequel books at roughly the time they came out while reading the online strip, so for me that represents a reading order of DCF, NCFTPB, OOPCs, W&XPs, SoD, DSTP, SSDT and the current book.
I second this. The print order is the optimal order of reading. It'll also mean you get Rich's commentaries in the correct order :smallsmile:

I would add two things to this;
Consider reading up to 316 in W&XPs before reading OtOoPCs as you get a better appreciation for Durkons story that way.
Not reading the translations for Haley's aphasia until after she gets cured, then go back and reread the strips to get the jokes. Rich has said that if he knew that people would solve the encryption as easily as they did he would have made it random jumbles. For myself I had read all these strips for more than a year without owning the books or thinking to look in the forums and as a result read the strips the way they had been intended.
But most of all I hope you and your wife enjoy the books and the extra strips that are in each one.

[rgrekejin]

I read them in approximate "publication" order, by which I mean I read the prequel books at roughly the time they came out while reading the online strip, so for me that represents a reading order of DCF, NCFTPB, OOPCs, W&XPs, SoD, DSTP, SSDT and the current book.

I would also recommend reading them in publication order. By date, that is:

1. Dungeon Crawlin' Fools
2. On the Origins of PCs
3. No Cure for the Paladin Blues
4. Start of Darkness
5. War and XPs
6. Don't Split the Party
7. Snips, Snails, and Dragon Tales

That gives you minimum spoilers and makes the whole thing go rather seamlessly. Really, I suppose, you can read On the Origins of PCs any time you want, it spoils relatively little (although I would recommend reading Dungeon Crawlin' Fools first). You can read Start of Darkness any time after No Cure for the Paladin Blues, but it'll be majorly spoilery any time before that. Snip, Snails and Dragon Tales can also be read any time after War and XPs with minimal problems. Any time before that and Julio Scoundrel is confusing. Stick Tales takes place at just after the very end of Don't Split the Party, though, so there is that.

Obviously, all the main books should be read in order.

[Gift Jeraff]

You're supposed to read them? :smalleek:
That makes so much more sense... :smallredface: