A while ago, on another social media site, someone posted a question along the lines:
What books might provide inspiration for playing a wizard in D&D?
My (long-ish) answer was:
Part of the problem with finding stories which really fit the mold of D&D wizards is that even the source material that inspired D&D doesn’t perfectly fit how D&D magic works. And even the D&D fantasy novels themselves often gloss over how magic works in various editions.
1/X
That said, I can see various stories that capture some aspect of the spirit of wizardry in D&D, if not reflecting every aspect of it perfectly in the game:
Myth Adventures by Robert Lynn Asprin - These stories are humorous and the magic reflects a strong “fake it ‘till you make it” ethos. This is the sort of thing I would love to see low level magicians trying to pull off using their cantrips.
2/X
The Black Company by Glen Cook - This is dark fantasy with fairly brutal violence being not uncommon. But I think these books do an interesting job of portraying how conventional armies might play a part in a conflict among high powered wizards. Also they give an interesting contrast between the few extremely powerful wizards going up against each other, and the significantly less powerful sorts of minor wizards who are able to help out in useful, but less overt ways.
3/X
The Dying Earth by Jack Vance - The inspiration for the D&D magic system, although D&D magic doesn’t exactly work like this. Mostly picaresque stories about ethically flexible scoundrels and magicians of convenience.
The Book of Jherg by Steven Brust - First in a series. Portrays a human(ish) underworld figure in an empire run by (essentially) elves. Use of magic is pervasive in society.
4/X
The Verdant Passage by Troy Denning - Maybe the only D&D tie-in novel I'd recommend for wizardry in particular. First in a series, and IMHO, possibly the best in the bunch. This is a D&D novel, but taking place in the Dark Sun setting. Although things on that world are much different than most other D&D settings, I think it does an interesting job of portraying a neophyte magician (Sadria) trying to survive and achieve her goals.
5/X
The Unschooled Wizard by Barbara Hambly - In some ways a little like the Black Company books in that it follows a somewhat gritty military unit and their commander. But interestingly pursues the investigations and struggles of a newly minted magician coming into his power.
6/X
The Death Gate Cycle by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman - While this set of books was written by a couple famous D&D authors, it is not D&D and I actually liked it better than their D&D books. It interestingly portrays a world rent asunder and bizarrely shaped by magic and hubris. Although the magic doesn’t work like in D&D, different levels of ability are present, and a bunch of fantasy tropes are put to interesting use.
7/X
There are other magician-related books I enjoy (The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle, The Runelords series by David Farland, The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan, Mainly in Moonlight by Nicholas Stuart Gray, The Towers of Sunset series by L.E. Modesitt, The Earthsea books by Ursula K. Le Guin).
But, at least in my mind, none of these quite resonates with any aspects of D&D very closely. Though your milage may vary of course.
8/8