Is it essential that I begin with Book 1?

[Gomer]

I have experience with lots of rpgs, and nowadays, with the intensity of school and my other interests/hobbies I can't afford to dedicate as much time as I'd like. I can appreciate the hardcore rpg that Eschalon is, but can I skip out the first 2 and play the third in order to experience the most up to date version of the game's engine? or will I feel out of place within the narrative arch?

[n1x0r]

The developers said there is a introduction in the beginning and book 3 can be played straight up without missing out on anything.

[Sunicle]

The story won't give much of a problem, but the engine hasn't changed much between the games and Book III is the most challenging game.
I would recommend downloading a demo for Book I or II first, see if that draws you in...

[Hobo Elf]

At least start with Eschalon 2. Eschalon 1 is more or less the same, yes, however the series has had some revamps to the rule system and made it a bit better since the first game. I've got 10 hours clocked in Eschalon 3 and so far I still think that Book 2 is my favorite in the series. You may want to start off with that.

[Kordanor]

I would rather say that you should start with the 3rd one right away. It seems to have much more structure than the second one had (unless this changes after the first couple of hours).
The second one wasn't bad, but I think the third is better so far and I don't think you need to play the second. If you want to play them anyways, well, then of course it makes sense to start with the second.

[Bijat]

Well if you only want to play this game it works story wise without probs but the other 2 games r so similar to this one, with ofcurse some tweaks (one problem on the other games was wast empty areas without anthing intresting) but the experience is pritty mutch the same..abit harder more intense story about same rule set like 2 etc