Is Drizzt destined to become a Classic?

[Desdichado]

Also, I don't think Tolkien would be as remotely popular as he is today without Peter Jackson.

Before the movies came out, the Lord of the Rings was the second best-selling book ever, beat out only by the Bible. It was also voted Book of the Millenium by a non-genre poll in England -- again, before the movies were released.

Your position above is complete hogwash, in other words. Sorry!

 

[gfunk]

Before the movies came out, the Lord of the Rings was the second best-selling book ever, beat out only by the Bible. It was also voted Book of the Millenium by a non-genre poll in England -- again, before the movies were released.

Your position above is complete hogwash, in other words. Sorry!

Unfortunately, this is completely untrue.

http://www.bestwebbuys.com/books/greatest/alltime

It is not even in the top 10.

And again here,

http://www.askmen.com/toys/top_10_60/62_top_10_list.html

 

[LGodamus]

I hear alot of people screaming hack , like it actually means anything....I have heard literary critics call every single one of the other authors put forward so far hacks as well...including Howard, Tolkien, heck even my favorite Lovecraft. So as far as quality...you cannot judge that as a criteria for classics status, since it is very subjective you have to look at lasting influence....and since ole Drizz't has been with us for nearly two decades it looks like he is on the way to me.

 

[cybermonkey]

Are the Drizzt novels a classic?

They must be on their way. After all, if the first novel was released back in 1989, it's just five years shy of being around for 20 years. There must be something to it.

But to be completely honest... It's way too soon to even say that one Drizzt novel would be considered a classic. But the reprints of novels is a good indication that the market is still there.

This arguement would be better suited five to ten years from now.

The biggest crime committed by Drizzt is that the WOTC folks ruined the ranger class to be some sort of specialized fighter. However, it did open the arguement "that hey, why can't I play this race with this class."

 

[Nightfall]

LG,

Yeah there are some people that bash Dante's Inferno and Shakespeare for goodness sake. That being said, I don't dislike Salvatore's writing, I do think that he's just created a character that's been a little overdone. Druss, if you ask me, is a better post-modern answer for people looking for ole sword and sorcery stuff.

 

[Desdichado]

Unfortunately, this is completely untrue.

http://www.bestwebbuys.com/books/greatest/alltime

It is not even in the top 10.

And again here,

http://www.askmen.com/toys/top_10_60/62_top_10_list.html

Your sources didn't do their research very well. Most of those books in the top ten had less units sold than what the Lord of the Rings reported in 1992, not to mention the updates from four years ago:
http://legend_x7.tripod.com/onering.txt

"Here is HarperCollins UK response to my query Re: what are the true total sales figures of LotR ....following my irritation at the outdated figures of ' 50million copies in 25 languages ' ALWAYS being used in newspaper/magazine articles over last 10 YEARS or so!"

"Thank you for your enquiry. It is difficult to ascertain exact sales, not least because the book is sold in single- and three-volume editions across the world. A figure of 50 million copies and 25 languages was researched and declared for the Tolkien Centenary in 1992, and the press always hark back to this. Patrick Curry conservatively updated the figures for his book ("Defending Middle-earth",) but we think that we're well on the way to 100 MILLION COPIES WORLDWIDE ACROSS 40-50 LANGUAGES.

We hope to have more accurate figures soon, as we are working on this question for New Line Cinema, although much of it has to remain educated guesswork. I suspect that Bookworm's claim (BBC programme aired in 1997) of 5 million per year rather exaggerates the truth about "The Lord of the Rings," although if you included The Hobbit and the other Tolkien books it probably wouldn't be far out."

My second point here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2003/12_december/11/big_read_final.shtml
I can pull up sources too. Although you're probably right -- I can imagine books like quotes from Mao Tse Tung probably beat it out on units printed.

 

[Nightfall]

I prefer quoting Shakespeare or the Bible myself. Next to quoting Tolkien and MP and the Holy Grail, those are the most fun.

 

[gfunk]

I can pull up sources too. Although you're probably right -- I can imagine books like quotes from Mao Tse Tung probably beat it out on units printed.

Heh, the Net once again reveals itself to be the supreme research tool . Maybe they should re-tool that old saying,

"There are lies, damn lies, and the internet."

 

[Nightfall]

Heh, the Net once again reveals itself to be the supreme research tool . Maybe they should re-tool that old saying,

"There are lies, damn lies, and the internet."

Nah cause stats still lie too.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Stats don't lie; it's just that if you torture them enough, they'll say whatever you want.