| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| SirUrza |
Posted - 04 Apr 2005 : 22:06:43
So I received my copy of The Crystal Shard from RA Salvatore's e-signing, and you know what! There's a TIMELINE IN IT! *rejoice*
Homeland
Begins 1297, Ends 1328
Exile
Begins 1338, Ends 1340
Sojourn
Begins 1340, Ends 1347
The Crystal Shard
Begins 1351, Ends 1356
Streams of Silver
Begins 1356
The Halfing's Gem
Begins 1356, Ends 1357
The Legacy
Begins/Ends 1357
Starless Night
Begins/Ends 1357
Siege of Darkness
Begins/Ends 1358
Passage of Dawn
Begins/Ends 1364
The Silent Blade
Begins/Ends 1364
The Spine of the World
Begins 1365, Ends 1369
Sea of Swords
Begins 1369, Ends 1370
The Thousand Orcs
Begins/Ends 1370
The Lone Drow
Begins/Ends 1370
The Two Swords
Begins 1370, Ends 1371 |
| 30 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| BEAST |
Posted - 15 Aug 2009 : 09:42:06
quote:
Originally posted by Mr. Coyote
Thanks for the shove in the rite direction there Mr, Beast
You betchya! I live for this stuff!
quote:
Is there an point in the Drizzt sage that I sould read the The Cleric Quintet or the rest of The Sellswords before getting to?
I would agree with D'manchild that "The Cleric Quintet" ("TCQ") is best read in chronological sequence, between Siege of Darkness (SOD) and Passage to Dawn (PTD). In PTD, Drizzt meets the characters introduced in "TCQ", so you might as well read up on them in their own mini-series, first, so you know what's up when he meets them.
It's your personal choice whether you want to read "The Sellswords" ("TSe") in its proper chronological placement, between The Spine of the World (TSOTW) and Sea of Swords (SOSw), or if you want to wait a while before reading it. Its characters are an offshoot from the Drizzt stories, and don't connect back until later. Just make sure and check out "TSe" before picking up The Pirate King (TPK), as that's when the two separate storylines converge again. |
| Arivia |
Posted - 15 Aug 2009 : 08:24:28
Technically, the Silent Blades, Spine of the World, and Sea of Swords were struck as one trilogy. |
| Drizztsmanchild |
Posted - 15 Aug 2009 : 07:25:12
Actually Mr Coyote. Read the Cleric Quintet before Passage to Dawn if you want to get a view of who Cadderly and Danica etc...are.
Also as far as the Faerunian timeline goes I personally would read the following novels before the Sellswords trilogy in this order:
Dark Elf Trilogy:
Homeland
Exile
Sojourn
Icewind Dale trilogy:
The Crystal Shard
Streams of Silver
The Halfling's gem
Now I don't know if this is a trilogy but these novels are next:
Legacy
Starless Night
Siege of Darkness
Passage to Dawn
Silent Blade
After the Silent Blade I think you can feel free in reading the next books as you see fit:
Spine of the world
Sea of Swords
The Sellswords Trilogy(read these in order)
The Servant of the Shard
The Promise of the Witch King
The Road of the Patriarch
Now we get back to reading in order
The Hunters Blade trilogy
Thousand Orcs
The Lone Drow
The Two Swords
The Transitions Trilogy:
The Orc King
The Pirate King
The Ghost King(Oct 2009)
Plus there are other small novella's in the best of the realms collections
Hope that helps, and that it didn't step on anyones or BEAST'S domain or sphere ;) |
| Mr. Coyote |
Posted - 13 Aug 2009 : 17:22:02
Thanks for the shove in the rite direction there Mr, Beast, I only started reading Salvatote's work this past year although I've had most of his books for a long while now. Is there an point in the Drizzt sage that I sould read the The Cleric Quintet or the rest of The Sellswords before getting to? |
| BEAST |
Posted - 08 Aug 2009 : 09:22:36
quote:
Originally posted by Mr. Coyote
What about The Stowaway, where would it fall in to line?
If you check the chronology in my sig, you will see that I estimate The Stowaway (TSt) as taking place in the year 1362 DR.
Most of its events take place concurrently with the main events of The Halfling's Gem, which took place in 1356 DR. But the "Part" sequences of TSt are said to take place six years after those events.
1356 DR + 6 yr = 1362 DR
This would place the "current time" of the novel roughly in the middle of Drizzt's and Catti-brie's sailing voyages aboard the Sea Sprite with Captain Deudermont, between Siege of Darkness (1358 DR) and Passage to Dawn (1364 DR). |
| Mr. Coyote |
Posted - 07 Aug 2009 : 20:06:14
What about The Stowaway, where would it fall in to line? |
| mnb128 |
Posted - 07 Nov 2008 : 20:01:41
I think it all depends on how anal retentive you are. I happen to be quite anal when it comes to chronology. Even when the books aren't in any way related I still want to know what else was going on in "the world" at that time. I think the difficulty with the Drizzt books is that RAS seems to march to the beat of his own drum when he can, and Wizards doesn't seem to be all that interested in making their timeline sensible until a new edition of FR is about to come out. Anyway, I'm with Beast on this one. It drives me crazy to see "Bones and Stones" dated 1370 DR when context clues in the Orc King make it obvious that the events took place in 1371. O-Love's site is great, but when it comes to Drizzt, Beast's timeline is much more accurate. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 07 Nov 2008 : 14:40:08
quote:
Originally posted by BEAST
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
Not only that, but if everyone toes the company line, it's much easier to keep track of it all.
But what about those times when the company line for the books doesn't match what the books themselves say, for no apparent reason? If someone asks when did such-and-such in the books happen, or how old is who-and-who at this point in the books, how should that be answered: by the info in the books, or by the company line? (We can go into this on a detailed, case-by-case basis once I eventually get the chrono up, so you can see what I mean.)
That's really a hard one to answer... Most books don't have any chronological issues, so following the company line isn't a problem. When it is a problem, I guess it depends on the reader -- if they're concerned about such things -- to pick which they'd like better. It matters less when the events of a novel or series happen independently of anything else. |
| BEAST |
Posted - 07 Nov 2008 : 08:18:14
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
Not only that, but if everyone toes the company line, it's much easier to keep track of it all.
But what about those times when the company line for the books doesn't match what the books themselves say, for no apparent reason? If someone asks when did such-and-such in the books happen, or how old is who-and-who at this point in the books, how should that be answered: by the info in the books, or by the company line? (We can go into this on a detailed, case-by-case basis once I eventually get the chrono up, so you can see what I mean.)
I go by the books themselves, except when WOTC decided to force the Drizzt saga ahead in the timeline considerably in order to prepare for "The Hunter's Blades Trilogy". They didn't wait for RAS to write a transition to that later time period; they just announced that the books The Spine of the World and Sea of Swords were then to be dated later than what had been thought before, and then "THBT" would hopefully pan out with the 3rd or 3.5E.
SOSw, I get, as it immediately precedes "THBT", so if they needed "THBT" to fit a certain time period, then SOSw would have to come along for the ride. Plus, SOSw begins after Wulfgar has been sailing aboard the Sea Sprite, which can be effectively stretched from a matter of months to a matter of years without too much trouble.
But the notion of arbitrarily saying that TSOTW takes place later is problematic in several ways: 1) all of the events take place surrounding a pregnancy, which only takes nine months, and not a matter of three years; and 2) Morik the Rogue returns to Luskan and has a run-in with the drow at the end of the book, and this event was referred to in flash-back in Servant of the Shard, which means TSOTW's ending cannot happen later than the beginning of SOTS.
So my chronological reckoning for the works of RAS strives to go strictly by the time clues within the works of RAS themselves, except when it is absolutely necessary to make a correction, such as with SOSw in relation to "THBT" and 3E/3.5E. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 06 Nov 2008 : 15:51:53
quote:
Originally posted by BEAST
quote:
Originally posted by Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
quote:
Originally posted by BEAST
O-Love's timeline is a wonderful starting point, but remember the qualifier that it seems to be towing the company line...
It's more likely that O-Love simply doesn't have the time to read (or re-read) every single FR novel to figure out where it really belongs on the timeline.
Actually, both are equally likely. Because O-Love doesn't have the time, therefore O-Love tows the company line, which requires plenty, but relatively less, time. 
Not only that, but if everyone toes the company line, it's much easier to keep track of it all. |
| BEAST |
Posted - 06 Nov 2008 : 15:28:39
quote:
Originally posted by Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
quote:
Originally posted by BEAST
O-Love's timeline is a wonderful starting point, but remember the qualifier that it seems to be towing the company line...
It's more likely that O-Love simply doesn't have the time to read (or re-read) every single FR novel to figure out where it really belongs on the timeline.
Actually, both are equally likely. Because O-Love doesn't have the time, therefore O-Love tows the company line, which requires plenty, but relatively less, time. |
| Rinonalyrna Fathomlin |
Posted - 06 Nov 2008 : 14:56:18
quote:
Originally posted by BEAST
O-Love's timeline is a wonderful starting point, but remember the qualifier that it seems to be towing the company line...
It's more likely that O-Love simply doesn't have the time to read (or re-read) every single FR novel to figure out where it really belongs on the timeline. |
| BEAST |
Posted - 06 Nov 2008 : 13:48:14
quote:
Originally posted by Jamallo Kreen
Ah.... It was the O Love site which I was seeking but could not find. Mercy buckets!
The catch with that O-Love site's chronology is that it seems to just give the official dates for the various works, without qualifying them by internal time clues within the works themselves. Since I've found quite a few discrepancies between the official dates and the internal info within RAS's works, it's very possible that such hiccups have occurred with other authors' stuff, as well. O-Love's timeline is a wonderful starting point, but remember the qualifier that it seems to be towing the company line... |
| Genis |
Posted - 06 Nov 2008 : 07:24:23
The debate on where is best to start, I'd have to stay the last trilogy, Hunter's Blade ;) lol...im just kidding, thats where I started on accdient, in fact that where I started my entire FR experience...then I went back and read Homeland-whatever...I started reading this thread and then realized it was 3 years old, holy snikies batman, thats probably before I joined this amazing...community. :D |
| Jamallo Kreen |
Posted - 05 Nov 2008 : 22:48:34
Ah.... It was the O Love site which I was seeking but could not find. Mercy buckets!
|
| BEAST |
Posted - 05 Nov 2008 : 16:46:52
quote:
Originally posted by Drakul
quote:
Originally posted by Kuje
quote:
Originally posted by elven_songstress
Wow wouldn't that make Catti like sixty or seventy?
No..... she wasn't in the 1st three...... So she would be like late 20's early 30's.
Actually, she was in Sojourn. Bout near the end of the book. Sorry if this was already mentioned and if this was a dead thread.
Yeppers. Catti-brie was 11 years old near the end of Soj., when Drizzt moved to Icewind Dale in the autumn. By my calculations, that was 1345 DR. So she was probably born in 1334 DR (1345 DR - 11 years = 1334 DR).
This is supported by info in Passage to Dawn. When Drizzt goes to visit Cadderly during the summer of 1364 DR, and while Catti-brie is chatting with Danica, we're told that Cat will soon turn 30. This likewise points to a birth year of 1334 DR.
More specifically, it seems to me that Cat was born probably in the early autumn of 1334 DR. This would allow for her to already be 11 when Drizzt comes to Icewind Dale in Uktar/November of 1345 DR (Soj.), while also allowing her to still be only 29 in late summer 1364 DR (PTD).
With The Pirate King taking place over the course of the autumn of 1376 through spring of 1377 DR, I'd say that Catti-brie appears to have just had her 42nd birthday (1376 DR - 1334 DR = 42 years).
This would appear to contradict the blurb in the book that describes her as still being in her late 30s. And it makes the notion of little half-drow children even more remote.
EDIT:
CAVEAT:
As with so many other things, there are of course exceptions to the above formulation. The Legacy, which I calculate to take place in spring of 1358, tells us that Catti-brie had just turned 20 years old. This would seem to indicate that her birth date was in autumn of 1337, rather than 1334 DR. With that birth year, she would now be 39 years old.
I believe that edit was done in order to retcon Cat and Wulfgar into being the same age. He is described as eighteen in Streams of Silver, which is set in spring through summer, 1356 DR, which would seem to mean that he was born in 1337 or 1338 DR. Since he challenged King Heafstaag for leadership of the tribe the previous autumn, I tend to think of him kinda needing to already be 18 back then in the year 1355, which points to a birth date somewhere around summer or early autumn, 1337 DR.
And then with TPK, we're told that Catti-brie is still in her late thirties, and A Reader's Guide backs this up by citing her birth year as 1339 DR. With that birth year, whe would now be 37 years old.
Just like that, she keeps getting younger! So what we have here is a woman whose birth year magically keeps creeping forward in time, in such a fashion as to keep her from ever turning forty. I guess women don't like acknowledgding their ages even in the Realms! 
Either that, or RAS/WOTC are still holding out for her to give Drizzt some kiddos . . .  |
| BEAST |
Posted - 05 Nov 2008 : 16:28:55
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
If it's a work in progress, it prolly would be better in its own scroll, so that people can offer assistance without having to wade thru posts from years before. I'd include links, though, leading from this scroll to that one, and from that one to this one.
Alrighty. Wilco. Thank you, Sir Hamster! |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 05 Nov 2008 : 15:24:52
quote:
Originally posted by BEAST
I need to update that chronology, and add more time clues. I've been challenged more than a few times to back up my calculations! 
However, as I don't seem to find myself getting along with the staff over at RAS.com, I think it might be better to import it over here in order to continue working on it.
Wooly, in order to facilitate easier access to that timeline here, would it be alright if I started a new scroll for it, with the timeline proper in the first post of the scroll, rather than being buried on page 3 or whatever?
Not a pressing priority, but rather an ongoing project.
If it's a work in progress, it prolly would be better in its own scroll, so that people can offer assistance without having to wade thru posts from years before. I'd include links, though, leading from this scroll to that one, and from that one to this one. |
| Drakul |
Posted - 05 Nov 2008 : 15:20:07
quote:
Originally posted by Kuje
quote:
Originally posted by elven_songstress
Wow wouldn't that make Catti like sixty or seventy?
No..... she wasn't in the 1st three...... So she would be like late 20's early 30's.
Actually, she was in Sojourn. Bout near the end of the book. Sorry if this was already mentioned and if this was a dead thread. |
| mnb128 |
Posted - 05 Nov 2008 : 13:56:17
quote:
Originally posted by BEAST
I need to update that chronology, and add more time clues. I've been challenged more than a few times to back up my calculations!
I'm one of those that's challenged it a little bit, but I'd love to see it over here and updated. It's great work, and it helped me navigate my way through the life and times of Drizzt and friends tremendously. Keep up the great work. |
| BEAST |
Posted - 05 Nov 2008 : 09:10:43
I need to update that chronology, and add more time clues. I've been challenged more than a few times to back up my calculations!
However, as I don't seem to find myself getting along with the staff over at RAS.com, I think it might be better to import it over here in order to continue working on it.
Wooly, in order to facilitate easier access to that timeline here, would it be alright if I started a new scroll for it, with the timeline proper in the first post of the scroll, rather than being buried on page 3 or whatever?
Not a pressing priority, but rather an ongoing project. |
| GRYPHON |
Posted - 05 Nov 2008 : 07:45:17
Good information all around... |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 05 Nov 2008 : 06:16:40
quote:
Originally posted by Jamallo Kreen
Will someone please tell me, or direct me to where I may find, a chronology of R. A. Salvatore's Realms novels which is current to 2008 CE?
Well, BEAST has such a chronology, linked to in his sig. And there's always O Love's Novels Timeline, another wonderful resource. |
| Jamallo Kreen |
Posted - 05 Nov 2008 : 05:37:53
Will someone please tell me, or direct me to where I may find, a chronology of R. A. Salvatore's Realms novels which is current to 2008 CE?
|
| BEAST |
Posted - 13 May 2008 : 16:18:36
Old scroll, I know. But responding here seemed more apropos than starting yet another new scroll . . .
As an alternative or supplement to the official Wizards timeline of Drizzt books, I offer my own RAS Realms Chronology (see sig).
My timeline includes the novellas/short stories, as well as a game module which included a bit of a Drizzt-related story within.
Most notably, my timeline has the benefit of being painstakingly based on the time clues given within each of RAS's Realms works. This timeline was prepared in order to agree as closely with the works themselves.
However, I acknowledge that there may or may not be other Realms lore that Wizards was trying to cause the Drizzt chronology to agree with, which I have not taken into consideration. That might explain any discrepancies between my Drizzt-book-based timeline, and WOTC's official one.
I am here, partially, to find out.
EDIT: Bump (to see if this will actually move the scroll up to the recent topics page). |
| SirUrza |
Posted - 17 Apr 2005 : 06:16:19
quote:
Originally posted by SiriusBlack
Ah, I didn't know those plans. I wonder if each tome will have something extra for previous edition buyers? Thanks for providing this information.
I'm only speculating since in Icewind Dale they list ALL of the Drizzt novels except the Hunter's Blades trilogy as part of the Legends of Drizzt series, which leads me to assume they'll reprint them all.
|
| SiriusBlack |
Posted - 15 Apr 2005 : 18:16:45
quote:
Originally posted by SirUrza
The Dark Elf books have several Q&As in each.
Crystal Shard has the timeline.
We'll see about the others. Personally I'm thrilled Dark Elf and Icewind Dale are in hardcover basically for the first time. What I don't like is it looks like they're going to reprint ALL the Drizzt novels into this Legends of Drizzt series right up to The Thousand Orcs.
Ah, I didn't know those plans. I wonder if each tome will have something extra for previous edition buyers? Thanks for providing this information. |
| SirUrza |
Posted - 15 Apr 2005 : 18:07:05
quote:
I've no idea if the new editions feature any changes/additions or anything special? Can someone who has such information help us out here? Is there anything special with these new editions?
The Dark Elf books have several Q&As in each.
Crystal Shard has the timeline.
We'll see about the others. Personally I'm thrilled Dark Elf and Icewind Dale are in hardcover basically for the first time. What I don't like is it looks like they're going to reprint ALL the Drizzt novels into this Legends of Drizzt series right up to The Thousand Orcs. |
| SirUrza |
Posted - 15 Apr 2005 : 03:23:14
Must be a Fremlin then. |
| Alaundo |
Posted - 14 Apr 2005 : 22:56:46
quote:
Originally posted by SiriusBlack
quote:
Originally posted by SirUrza
Hey, who renamed the title of this thread? :)
Probably some troublemaker. But, whoever it is  , that scribe has just made it easier for the thread to be found by new scribes who are passionate about Drizzt.
Aye, must be those pesky gremlins running around the library altering the spines on tomes and rearranging scrolls again... |
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