R. A. Salvatore

Robert Anthony Salvatore
Born	(1959-01-20) January 20, 1959 Leominster, Massachusetts
Pen name	R.A. Salvatore
Occupation	Novelist
Nationality	American
Period	1982 to the Present
Genres	Fiction
Subjects	Fantasy, Science fiction
Notable work(s)	Forgotten Realms and The DemonWars Saga novels
Spouse(s)	Diane Salvatore
Influences J. R. R. Tolkien, Terry Brooks
www.rasalvatore.com

Robert Anthony Salvatore (born January 20, 1959), who writes under the name R. A. Salvatore, is an American author best known for The DemonWars Saga, his Forgotten Realms novels, in which he created the popular character Drizzt Do'Urden, and Vector Prime, the first novel in the Star Wars: The New Jedi Order series. He has sold more than 15 million copies of his books in the USA alone and twenty-two of his titles have been New York Times best-sellers.

Biography

R.A. Salvatore at a book signing

Robert Salvatore was born in Leominster, Massachusetts, the youngest of a family of seven. A graduate of Leominster High School, Salvatore has credited his high school English teacher with being instrumental in his development as a writer. During his time at Fitchburg State College, he became interested in fantasy after reading J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, given to him as a Christmas gift. He developed an interest in fantasy, and with literature in general and promptly changed his major from computer science to journalism. He earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Communications in 1981 and later a Bachelor of Arts in English. Before taking up writing full-time he worked as a bouncer. He is noted for his intense and descriptive battle scenes which have been attributed to that experience.

In the fall of 1997, his letters, manuscripts, and other professional papers were donated to the R.A. Salvatore Library at his alma mater, Fitchburg State College in Fitchburg, Massachusetts.

Personal life

He and his wife Diane have three children: Bryan, Geno, and Caitlin. They also have three Japanese Chins named Oliver, Artemis, and Ivan as well as four cats, one being named Guenhwyvar.

His older brother, Gary Salvatore, died of pancreatic cancer in 2000.

Writing

In 1982 he started writing more seriously, developing a manuscript he titled Echoes of the Fourth Magic. He created the setting of Ynis Aielle for the novel, writing it in longhand by candlelight. In an interview with comic book website Project Fanboy, Salvatore said he landed the deal for his first book when, after finishing the script for Echoes of the Fourth Magic in early 1987, he sent the work to TSR and several other publishers. TSR was looking for an author to write the second book in the The Forgotten Realms line and asked Salvatore to audition. In July 1987, Salvatore won the spot to write the book. His first published novel was The Crystal Shard from TSR in 1988. His novel The Silent Blade won the Origins Award. He went on to publish several series of books in the Forgotten Realms campaign world, while lately his popularity surged due to his Demon Wars sagas and his two Star Wars books.

One of his most popular characters is Drizzt Do'Urden, a drow, or dark elf, portrayed against the stereotypes of his race, who defied a nation of evil enemies with his swordsmanship and courage. He abandoned the Underdark, a merciless and barren land of unmarked and limitless tunnels where deadly creatures continually lurk. His journey for freedom leads him to the surface where he faces discrimination at every turn because of his dark heritage. Drizzt stumbles along in a harsh world until he finally comes upon friends who understand the kindness of his heart. Together, they fight for justice against sinister enemies who dare to disrupt the peace of Drizzt's newfound homeland.

In 1999, Salvatore was tasked with writing Vector Prime, the first novel in the Star Wars: The New Jedi Order series. Vector Prime was extremely controversial among Star Wars fans in that its plot called for the death of Chewbacca, making the Wookiee the first major character from the original trilogy (and one of the most popular characters in the franchise) to be permanently killed off in the Expanded Universe novels. Salvatore was ordered by Lucasfilm Ltd. (specifically George Lucas himself) to kill off the character. Many fans thought that Salvatore himself had made this decision, but it was actually Randy Stradley, the then-editor at Dark Horse Comics.

In February 2008, Devil's Due Publishing published Spooks, a comic book about a U.S. government anti-paranormal investigator/task force created by Larry Hama and Salvatore. Hama created the military characters and plots, and Salvatore covered the monster characters.

In 2010, Wizards of the Coast announced a new deal with R.A. Salvatore to write six more Drizzt books, to be released between 2011 and 2016.

Writing for video games

In addition to his novels, Salvatore wrote the story for the PS2, Xbox and PC video game Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone (2004), working with the design team at Stormfront Studios. The game was published by Atari and was nominated for awards by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences and BAFTA. CDS books commissioned him to edit a four book series based on the interactive online Everquest game. He also wrote the bot chat lines for the Quake III bots.

R.A. Salvatore worked as Creative Director for 38 Studios, formerly named Green Monster Games, along with pitcher Curt Schilling and Spawn comic creator Todd McFarlane. He was responsible for the story and dialog for the game Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, which received praise for the storyline. On May 24, 2012, 38 Studios laid off all of its employees, including Salvatore, and the company was dissolved.^{[citation needed]}

Bibliography

Forgotten Realms

Listed in order of publication

The Icewind Dale Trilogy

(chronologically subsequent to The Dark Elf trilogy)

• The Crystal Shard (1988) (Between 1351 DR and 1356 DR)
• Streams of Silver (1989) (1356 DR)
• The Halfling's Gem (1990) (Between 1356 DR and 1357 DR)

The Dark Elf Trilogy

(chronologically precedes the Icewind Dale trilogy)

• Homeland (1990) (Between 1297 DR and 1328 DR)
• Exile (1990) (Between 1338 DR and 1340 DR)
• Sojourn (1991) (Between 1340 DR and 1347 DR)

The Cleric Quintet

• Canticle (1991) (1361 DR)
• In Sylvan Shadows (1992) (1361 DR)
• Night Masks (1992) (1361 DR)
• The Fallen Fortress (1993) (Between 1361 DR and 1362 DR)
• The Chaos Curse (1994) (1362 DR)

Legacy of the Drow

• The Legacy (1992) (1357 DR)
• Starless Night (1993) (1357 DR)
• Siege of Darkness (1994) (1358 DR)
• Passage to Dawn (1996) (1364 DR)

Paths of Darkness

• The Silent Blade (1998) (1364 DR)
• The Spine of the World (1999) (Between 1365 DR and 1369 DR)
• Servant of the Shard (2000) (1366 DR) [Now part of The Sellswords Trilogy]
• Sea of Swords (2001) (Between 1369 DR and 1370 DR)

The Sellswords

• Servant of the Shard (2000) (1366 DR)
• The Promise of the Witch King (2005) (1370 DR)
• Road of the Patriarch (2006) (Between 1370 DR and 1371 DR)

The Hunter's Blades Trilogy

• The Thousand Orcs (2002) (1370 DR)
• The Lone Drow (2003) (1370 DR)
• The Two Swords (2004) (Between 1370 DR and 1371 DR)

War of the Spider Queen

Each novel in the series is written by a different author with Salvatore overseeing the development of the overall project.

• Dissolution (written by Richard Lee Byers) (2002) (1372 DR)
• Insurrection (written by Thomas M. Reid) (2002) (1372 DR)
• Condemnation (written by Richard Baker) (2003) (1372 DR)
• Extinction (written by Lisa Smedman) (2004) (1372 DR)
• Annihilation (written by Philip Athans) (2004) (1372 DR)
• Resurrection (written by Paul S. Kemp) (2005) (1372 DR)

Transitions

• The Orc King (September 2007) (1371 DR and 1471 DR-prologue and epilogue)
• The Pirate King (October 2008) (1376 – 1377 DR)
• The Ghost King (October 2009) (1385 DR)

Stone of Tymora

• Stowaway (written with his son Geno Salvatore) (2008)
• The Shadowmask (written with his son Geno Salvatore) (Nov. 2009)
• The Sentinels (written with his son Geno Salvatore) (2010)

Neverwinter

• Gauntlgrym (October 2010) (Between 1409 DR and 1462 DR)
• Neverwinter (October 4, 2011)
• Charon's Claw (August 7, 2012)
• The Last Threshold (March 5, 2013)

The Sundering

• The Companions (2013)

Other series

The Spearwielder's Tale

• The Woods Out Back (1993)
• The Dragon's Dagger (1994)
• Dragonslayer's Return (1995)

Saga of the First King

• The Highwayman (2004)
• The Ancient (2008)
• The Dame (2009)
• The Bear (2010)

The DemonWars Saga

• The Demon Awakens (1997)
• The Demon Spirit (1998)
• The Demon Apostle (1999)

• Mortalis (2000)
• Ascendance (2001)
• Transcendence (2002)
• Immortalis (2003)

Chronicles of Ynis Aielle

• Echoes of the Fourth Magic (completed 1987, published 1990)
• The Witch's Daughter (1991)
• Bastion of Darkness (2000)

Crimson shadow series

• The Sword of Bedwyr (1995)
• Luthien's Gamble (1996)
• The Dragon King (1996)

Star Wars

• Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (film novelization, 2002)

Star Wars: The New Jedi Order

• Vector Prime (2000)

Graphic novel adaptations

• Homeland
• Exile
• Sojourn
• The Crystal Shard
• Streams of Silver
• Trial by Fire (2001)
• The Halfling's Gem
• Eye for an Eye
• Legacy
• Starless Night (Incomplete, only 1 of 3 issues published)

Other novels

• Tarzan: The Epic Adventures.

Short stories

• "The First Notch" (in Dragon magazine #152, 1989)
• "A Sparkle for Homer" (in Halflings, Hobbits, Warrows, and Weefolk, 1991)
• "Dark Mirror" (in Realms of Valor, 1993)
• "The Third Level" (in Realms of Infamy, 1994)
• "Guenhwyvar" (in Realms of Magic, 1995)
• "The Coach With Big Teeth" (in Otherwere, 1996)
• "Gods' Law" (in Tales of Tethedril, 1998)
• "Mather's Blood" (in Dragon magazine #252, 1998)
• "That Curious Sword" (in Realms of Shadow, 2002)
• "Three Ships" (in Demons Wars: Trial By Fire Comic TP, 2003)
• "Empty Joys" (in The Best of the Realms, 2003)
• "The Dowry" (in The Highwayman, 2004)
• "Wickless In the Nether" (in Realms of Dragons, 2004)
• "Comrades at Odds" (in Realms of the Elves, 2006)
• "If Ever They Happen Upon My Lair" (in Dragons: World Afire, 2006)
• "Bones and Stones" (in Realms of War, 2008)
• "Iruladoon" (in Realms of the Dead, 2010)
• "Hugo Mann's Perfect Soul" (in The Guide to Writing Fantasy and Science Fiction: 6 Steps to Writing and Publishing Your Bestseller, 2010)
• "To Legend He Goes" (in Legend of Drizzt Anthology, 2011)

Comics

• Spooks (with co-authors Larry Hama and Ryan Schifrin, and art by Adam Archer, Devil's Due Publishing, 2008)

Other media

• The Accursed Tower, A 2nd Edition AD&D Module
• Demon Stone role-playing Game released on PS2, Xbox, and PC
• In collaboration with Seven Swords, R A Salvatore created the bot chat responses for the computer game Quake 3 Arena
• Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning role-playing Game released Xbox 360, PS3, and PC February 2012

Reviews

• Cassada, Jackie. “The Lone Drow (book).” Library Journal September 15, 2003, Vol. 128 Issue 15, p95
• Cannon, Peter. Zaleski, Jeff. THE THOUSAND ORCS (BOOK) Publishers Weekly. 10/7/2002, Vol. 249 Issue 40, p57
• THE HIGHWAYMAN: a Novel of Corona Publishers Weekly. 3/1/2004, Vol. 251 Issue 9, p54.

External links

• R. A. Salvatore's official website
• R. A. Salvatore's Saga of the First King official series website
• R. A. Salvatore Collection, Fitchburg State College
• R. A. Salvatore's Live Chat on Suvudu
• R. A. Salvatore's Fantastic Fiction Author Page
• R. A. Salvatore at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database

Interviews

• Interview on Random musings of a Summer Dreamer (April 30, 2013)
• Interview with the Unpaid Gamers (October 2012)
• Community driven open-interview on Reddit.com
• 2nd Reddit open interview (August 2012)
• Interview on Dork Night (August 2012)
• Questions and Answers with R. A. Salvatore – Hortorian.com (June 2011)
• Interview with Geno and Bob Salvatore at Flames Rising (November 2009)
• R.A. Salvatore Interview with Ashton Gage on ProjectFanboy.com (June 2008)
• Interview with R.A. Salvatore at SFFWorld.com
• Interview with R. A. Salvatore on wotmania.com
• Interview at Flames Rising (May 2006)
• Interview at rasalvatore.com
• Interview at Lavender Eyes (October 2006)
• Interview with CNN, The Man Who Killed Off Chewbacca