A question for fans of fantasy & fiction:

[Barbara CeVille]

I hope I'm in the right forum thread for this question. (I'm brand new to the site.)

 

When I was much younger, circa mid-1980's, I came across a paperback novel whose title and author I've since forgotten. The summary of the novel is as follows: A group of college friends gather weekly to play a table-top role playing game. (I don't remember if the author actually called it Dungeons and Dragons, but that's essentially what it was.) Their dungeon master happens to be a professor at their college. The novel begins when the professor announces they're going to start a new campaign, and promises them they'll love it. He starts to describe the scenario, and the players seem to go into a trance. They "awaken" to find they have somehow been transported "into" the game. They're looking at each other and immediately recognize each other's characters. One of the players was in a wheelchair, possibly physically handicapped, but his character was a sturdy and powerful dwarf. One of the characters is a mage, and is so startled that he releases a spell he was "holding", which destroys a nearby stack of equipment and supplies. The explosion draws the attention of a group of armed men, guardsmen or police, who confront the disoriented "players". As a result of the ensuing confrontation, one of them is killed. They find themselves running for their lives from the people who essentially rule the city they're in. The "bad guys" are slavers/human traffickers. The group also encounters a relatively young dragon (as in, even though he's possibly centuries old, he's barely adolescent), who is chained up in a garbage pit. The group frees the dragon, who aids them in escaping the slavers.

 

This was the beginning chapter or two of the novel, which wasn't especially lengthy, and concluded with the players coming back to the "real world" and confronting their professor. The group collectively decides to return to the other world/universe, and that first novel spawned a series of sequels, a half-dozen or so between the mid-1980's and mid-1990's.

 

If anyone can provide the name of that book, or the series, and/or the author, I'd really, really appreciate it. At one point, I had all of the books, in paperback, but the family member whose garage they were stored in had a garage sale, and when I returned home after an overseas deployment, I found that my whole collection had either been sold for 25 cents per book, or "donated" to a local library. It's my hope that I might be able to find those books again, either individually or perhaps they've been reprinted in a collection.

 

Thanks in advance for any help anyone might provide.

[Little Pixie]

Is it Guardians of the Flame- Joel Rosenberg ?

 

Boo at your books going missing.

[Athena]

I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your books .

 

Based on the description of the book Little Pixie mentioned, it sounds like that could be it. I did some Googling and it came up with the same, the first book being The Sleeping Dragon. I hope that's the series you're looking for!

[Barbara CeVille]

Thank you for your help. (And so quick, too!) Yes, it was definitely Joel Rosenberg's series. I've already found a book seller who has a copy of Guardians Of The Flame, which contains the first three of the ten total books in the series. With a little luck, I'll be able to track down the rest of the books, second hand, as well. I appreciate the kind words regarding the loss of my books. I don't know for certain I'd have held on to all of my paperbacks, but I kept them in almost new shape, and I had a LOT of them. (The whole John Carter of Mars series of books, for starters. )

 

I know that a lot of books are becoming available in digital format, but I prefer the tactile feeling of holding an actual book in my hand while I read. And I also know that far too many books are simply lost, out of print, and impossible to find without deep pockets.

 

Thanks again for your speedy help. Good reading to you.

[Little Pixie]

Aw, happy to help.