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Originally posted by jcfore21

Awesome this is good to know. So is my version still applicable? Or in other words did he revise anything else?

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Originally posted by Kentinal

From what I recall reading, he was only to be a supporting character. Not the main one, however he appears to have taken off better then planned.

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Originally posted by BEAST

Aye, that's the older edition's version of events. I have the original paperback, which was simply called The Crystal Shard, as there was no "Icewind Dale Trilogy" yet.

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Originally posted by Kentinal

From what I recall reading, he was only to be a supporting character. Not the main one, however he appears to have taken off better then planned.

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When I later discovered the actual size and scope of the Realms and was told that TSR did not want to share characters (as they did with the DRAGONLANCE saga), I was truly relieved, and that was the end of it--for a time.

Then the proposal got accepted, and when Mary Kirchoff, then senior editor in TSR's book department, told me I'd be writing the second FORGOTTEN REALMS novel, she reminded me that now we had to set the book thousands of miles from Doug's stomping ground, I needed a new sidekick for Wulfgar. I assured her that I'd get right on it and come up with something the following week.

"No, Bob," she responded, words I seem to hear too often from editors. "You don't understand. I'm going into a meeting right not to sell this proposal. I need a sidekick."

"Now?" I, in my never-before-in-the-world-of-publishing naivete, responded.

"Right now," she answered, rather smugly.

And then it happened. I don't know how. I don't know why. I merely said, "A drow."

There came a pause, followed by, in a slightly hesitant tone, "A dark elf?"

"Yeah," I said, growing more confident as the character began to take more definite shape in my mind. "A drow ranger."

The pause was longer this time. Then, in barely a whisper, the tremor of having to go tell this one to the mucky-mucks evident in her tone, she said, "What's his name?"

"Drizzt Do'Urden, of D'aermon N'achezbaeron, Ninth House of Menzoberranzan."

"Oh." Another pause. "Can you spell that?"

"Not a chance."

"A drow ranger?"

"Yup."

"Drizzit?" she asked.

"Drizzt," I corrected, for the first of 7.3 million times.

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Originally posted by jcfore21

Awesome this is good to know. So is my version still applicable? Or in other words did he revise anything else?

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Originally posted by Wooly Rupert

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Originally posted by Kentinal

From what I recall reading, he was only to be a supporting character. Not the main one, however he appears to have taken off better then planned.

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It was in a Dragon interview, long ago, and was later repeated elsewhere. Drizzt was intended to be Wulfgar's sidekick.

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There are two reasons why I brought him [Wulfgar] back. One, I felt bad that he had become a shallow character, because the book [The Crystal Shard] was supposed to have been about him. This “Dark Elf” [Drizzt] kind of nudged in and pushed everybody out of the way. I really wanted to explore him more deeply, which I think I have done since I brought him back.

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It should be pointed out that Bob's earlier order of events concerning the gnome massacre, and the moon/wood elf massacre, and the killing of Masoj Hun'ett was also changed in "The Dark Elf Trilogy", but that has never been revised in any of the later editions of The Crystal Shard. The events are all there, but their sequence is still mixed up.

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Most notably, when Bob wrote "The Dark Elf Trilogy" later on, he revised the length of Drizzt's life, making him much younger (only in his 40s) when arriving in Icewind Dale. And he's never really explained to us why this is. Methinks it's just because he ran out of material, or the page count limits forced him to cut things off after he'd only told about 40 years worth of story. The end result is that Drizzt spends about 31 years in Menzo, then another 10 in the Underdark in exile, and then 6 years on the surface before finally arriving in Icewind Dale. That places him at 47 when arriving in the Dale.

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Originally posted by Zireael

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It should be pointed out that Bob's earlier order of events concerning the gnome massacre, and the moon/wood elf massacre, and the killing of Masoj Hun'ett was also changed in "The Dark Elf Trilogy", but that has never been revised in any of the later editions of The Crystal Shard. The events are all there, but their sequence is still mixed up.

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And this all got published? And became canon until retconned in The Dark Elf Trilogy?

And here people demand perfect coherence from fanfic or original works...

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Originally posted by Chosen of Asmodeus

I'd imagine part of the reason would be that Bob wanted Drizzt to be a played-straight hero and he realized that more than a century in drow society without either having done some fairly unheroic things or getting killed was too much of a stretch, so he had him run away well before that.

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Originally posted by BEAST

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Originally posted by Chosen of Asmodeus

I'd imagine part of the reason would be that Bob wanted Drizzt to be a played-straight hero and he realized that more than a century in drow society without either having done some fairly unheroic things or getting killed was too much of a stretch, so he had him run away well before that.

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When Bob decided that Drizzt would become the star of the show, he may have thought that it would work better to have the drow young, so that he could have more time to tell a fuller tale with him. If he had kept Drizzt old to begin with, then he might've been pressured to kill him off sooner.

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Originally posted by Chosen of Asmodeus

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Originally posted by BEAST

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Originally posted by Chosen of Asmodeus

I'd imagine part of the reason would be that Bob wanted Drizzt to be a played-straight hero and he realized that more than a century in drow society without either having done some fairly unheroic things or getting killed was too much of a stretch, so he had him run away well before that.

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When Bob decided that Drizzt would become the star of the show, he may have thought that it would work better to have the drow young, so that he could have more time to tell a fuller tale with him. If he had kept Drizzt old to begin with, then he might've been pressured to kill him off sooner.

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I wonder,assuming that the case, if he ever regretted that decision, given the rumors a few years back that he wanted to put down Drizzt and move onto other projects and stayed on only because they told him they'd just have someone else write their cash cow instead.

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Originally posted by Brian R. James

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From Mark Anthony

Dear Brian,

I'm constantly surprised how many emails I still receive regarding SHORES OF DUSK. It seems a number of people remain curious about what happened to the book. So, yes, feel free to post this reply to your mailing list, if you think others will be interested.

The story behind SHORES OF DUSK and its eventual cancellation is really pretty simple, at least from my end of things. A few years ago, after he began writing for Del Rey, R. A. Salvatore was unable to come to an agreement with TSR to keep writing the Drizzt series. I'm not aware of the exact reasons for this--you'd have to ask Bob about that. One factor might have been a "no-compete" clause in his contract with Del Rey. (This is quite common--publishers usually want their authors to write only for them.) There may have been other factors, such as compensation. (At the time, TSR was in pretty dire financial straits.)

Regardless, Brian Thomsen, then Executive Editor at TSR, approached me to write a new novel starring Drizzt. Brian was of course familiar with my writing, as I had done several novels for TSR, and I he had previously assigned me to write a novella set in the Drizzt milieu as a sort of test, which I apparently passed ("The Fires of Narbondel" in REALMS OF THE UNDERDARK). I'll be honest--writing about Drizzt was not my idea, and it was not something I would have sought out myself, but Brian asked me, and so I accepted.

I wrote what I thought was a fun and interesting novel, trying to be as sensitive to the characters and worlds Bob Salvatore had created as I possibly could. It was without doubt the most difficult book I had ever written for TSR, as I worked hard to stay true to Bob's earlier novels. It was also made difficult by the fact that Bob was clearly unhappy that someone else was writing a novel about Drizzt. Not that I could really blame him--but therein lies the danger of writing in a licensed world like the Forgotten Realms.

Anyway, as things turned out, just months before SHORES OF DUSK was to be published, TSR was bought (and saved from bankruptcy) by Wizards of the Cost. Brian Thomsen was replaced as editor by Mary Kirchoff (who had headed up the book department before him). She managed to work out a deal with Del Rey that allowed Bob Salvatore to write for both publishers, and Bob was still interested in writing Drizzt novels. With Bob back, there was no need for my novel, and so the project was canceled. I did get paid for it, but obviously only a fraction of what I would have gotten had it seen publication.

It was disconcerting, of course, to have the book canceled so close to publication. Ads for it had already appeared in Dragon Magazine! But I can't blame Mary for her decision. The Drizzt novels were TSR's biggest asset, and a Drizzt novel by Bob Salvatore is certainly worth more than one by anyone else, no matter how well written or researched it might be. So I certainly bear TSR/WotC no hard feelings in the matter.

In fact, later on, Mary Kirchoff offered me a Forgotten Realms trilogy, which was very kind of her. However, I had to turn the project down. By that time, I had sold my own fantasy series to Bantam Spectra, and I had neither the time to write a trilogy for TSR, nor could I legally do so, given the no-compete clause in my own contract with Bantam. And the fact is, I'd much rather write novels set in my own worlds starring my own characters.

So everything turned out well in the end. Bob Salvatore got to keep writing Drizzt, which I'm sure his fans appreciate. And I got to write my own fantasy series. It's doing well by the way. The third of six books, THE DARK REMAINS, is due out February 27th. I'm glad to hear people enjoyed the books I wrote for TSR, and I believe my current books are a big leap above those in quality, so I hope you'll check them out. You can learn more at my web site: http://www.thelastrune.com

Well, I hope that answers your questions. Feel free to pass the word along to others. And if you have any further questions about SHORES OF DUSK, please direct them to Mary Kirchoff at TSR/WotC.

All the Best,

Mark Anthony

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Originally posted by Firestorm

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Originally posted by Chosen of Asmodeus

I wonder,assuming that the case, if he ever regretted that decision, given the rumors a few years back that he wanted to put down Drizzt and move onto other projects and stayed on only because they told him they'd just have someone else write their cash cow instead.

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I think those rumors sprung up right around the time realms of the underdark came out and Mark Anthony wrote that short story with Zaknafein and a very young Drizzt, along with a character who disappeared. Jalynfein the spider mage, an archmage Drow in menzo.

Not sure if they were true or not, but I doubt it

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Originally posted by Euranna

Am I not mistaken that Bob and Geno wrote it together?

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And Beast, thank you for knowing them like the back of your hand. You have pointed out some things I missed in my readings.

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<snip> But Bob is still writing the main Drizzt books by himself, though.

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