Is Drizzt destined to become a Classic?

The other thing about the Drizzrt novels that I believe hasn't been mentioned yet but is most obvious, he's using a setting, race, and a lot of other detail created by other authors.

Compare that to Lieber, Tolkien, and Howard (among others) who created their own fantasy worlds and fleshed them out with original detail.

CCamfield said:

Does anyone have actual sales figures for Salvatore? I wouldn't have expected his to be close to Tolkien, just on the general principle that most fantasy doesn't sell all that well. Then again if he hits bestseller lists...

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Salvatore is the third-highest selling fantasy author who is still alive. The first two being Robert Jordan and Terry Brooks.

I think that it'll take a long period of time (50+ years) before the character could truly be deemed a classic. I think that the stories will have to endure the test of time, as well as a change in the "targeted" readership (i.e., the same category of readers, but generations or so down the line), to see if it holds up as well.

Would I deem Drizzt a classic? Probably not. Though I enjoyed the stories, they seem rooted in the D&D game--something which a particular audience (D&D/RPG players) may get easily, but outside that audience (i.e., readers who don't/never played D&D/RPGs) they may lose their currency (so to speak).

I'm tempted to say that Drizzt is more likely to be an "iconic" character rather than a classic--then again, I'm tempted to say that about a lot of fantasy characters (esp. ones such as Conan & Elric--the lone heroes who face countless odds & survive). In a way, they are well-liked & well-loved characters, but they aren't truly "complete" characters--they don't technically change, per se (a very common phenomenon with comic book characters). It's part of the appeal of the character--Conan will always be Conan, Batman will always be Batman, Wolverine will always be Wolverine, etc. These characters are appealing, yet static (and, to a degree, it's why they maintain their appeal). And, it seems like their stories will never end. Great for comics, serials, TV & movie series, etc., but that doesn't always equal great literature. There'll be several stories about them, yet the stories never really change--it usually deals with the character doing their usual thing. Action heroes like Mad Max, McLane from the Die Hard series, or Riggs from the Lethal Weapon series fit this mold, too.

Hearkening back to the Original question:

"Is Drizzt destined to become a Classic... of the Sword-and-sorcery genre?"


I'd say he already is.

Think about this:

How many times have we heard complaints about "those damned drizzt clones?" How many times in this thread alone?

The nature of a "classic" is how many times it is referenced in relation to its age.

Tolkien, with LOTR going on 50 years old now, still attracting new readers, sporting literary complexity unparalleled in a fantasy genre novel, is obviously a classic. It's age and mindshare contribute to this.

Te Drizzt character, being almost 20 years old itself, and STILL having DM's lament that those damned Drizzt clones are still running around, tell me that Drizzt is INDEED a staple, and therefore a classic, of the genre. A character so compelling that gamers young and old try to emulate the "cool factor" tell me he is a memorable and compelling character for at least the casual reader.

About Hacks - if Hacks are writers who wrote to popular audiences, Shakespeare was a hack. The fact that he packed his works with beauty, symbolism, and truths of the human condition all while meeting deadlines and subjects required speak to the quality of the writer, not for whether his work was temporarily popular.

About Salvatore: I have not read much of his work outside of the FR stuff, but it's not really fair to associate him ONLY with Drizzt; he does have more than that to his credit. But since the question concerned Drizzt specifically, that's where I'm concentrating on.

Henry,

You bring up very good points. The reason I brought up Salvatore's other works though, was simply because a lot of people, both supporters and detractors, sometimes seem to conclude that Salvatore has written nothing else in his carerr, or they seem to choose to ignore it.

I also, of course, forgot his two Star Wars novels. If nothing else, I think the man is a master of writing in other people's worlds. He takes what he's given, what he's allowed to do, and makes the best of it he can.

And as far as people complaining about Drizzt-clone characters in their games...I remember a time when I first started gaming back in the '70s when people complained if your fighter was too much like Conan or your thief was too much like the Grey Mouser. Or your halfling was too much like Frodo. We've been through this time and time again.

hunter1828

Great post, Henry, and very true. If Drizzt weren't a classic, would people still be complaining about him 16 years after he was created? Would people still be creating Drizzt clones if he weren't classic?

Besides, Larry Elmore seems to believe that Drizzt is a classic character.

Dark Jezter, I love that pic. I'm going to have to see if Elmore ha a slightly larger version posted somewhere for my desktop. Anyway, I'm only going to weigh in on this once and I'm not going to defend my position should anyone decide they want to attack it.

I suspect Drizzt might become a classic. Not positive, but I have a hunch. Regardless of whether he does or not, I've been reading Salvatore's Drizzt books since I was 15 years old. When a new one came out I used to devour them in 2 or 3 days. I've met Salvatore twice, once at a book signing and again at the office and he is one of the nicest authors you will ever have the pleasure of speaking with. During the book signing I happened to hit the only location where only about 15 people showed up. He could have left 10 minutes in, but instead he hung out for over an hour shooting the bull with us and talking about what he liked about his books, what he didn't like so much, and the direction they might be taking in the future. In short, unlike many people who have acheived the level of fandome that he has, he was willing to actually sit down and talk at length with his audience. It was an experience I won't forget, even if I do have the opportunity to do this sort of thing much more often now.

For what its worth, I think Salvatore's writing isn't perfect in many ways, but he does action sequences better than just about any other author that I've read. So will Drizzt be a classic? At the end of the day, I really don't care. He has had an impact on my life, which makes him a classic to me. The rest of the chips can fall where they may.

Henry said:

Hearkening back to the Original question:

"Is Drizzt destined to become a Classic... of the Sword-and-sorcery genre?"


I'd say he already is.

Think about this:

How many times have we heard complaints about "those damned drizzt clones?" How many times in this thread alone?

The nature of a "classic" is how many times it is referenced in relation to its age.

Tolkien, with LOTR going on 50 years old now, still attracting new readers, sporting literary complexity unparalleled in a fantasy genre novel, is obviously a classic. It's age and mindshare contribute to this.

Te Drizzt character, being almost 20 years old itself, and STILL having DM's lament that those damned Drizzt clones are still running around, tell me that Drizzt is INDEED a staple, and therefore a classic, of the genre. A character so compelling that gamers young and old try to emulate the "cool factor" tell me he is a memorable and compelling character for at least the casual reader.

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Well said. If I punch up webster.com I get this -

Main Entry: clas·sic
1 a : serving as a standard of excellence : of recognized value

If I'm going by the book, I could make an arguement either way for Drizzt's "classic" status. Let's get out of the way that I am a huge RAS fan and have been for years. I'd also like to think I'm an objective person.

For a book series (14 and growing) as long as it is, there isn't a ton left for Drizzt to do that is new. Also, RAS (like many genre authors) blatently ripped off LotR many times in the series. The writing at some points wasn't great and I found many of the books in the later parts of the series a little grating (which has oddly changed with the newest trilogy, the first real trilogy since The Dark Elf Trilogy). However, none of that actually speaks to the character of Drizzt.

I think the comparisons to Wolverine are pretty good. There has been some dreck associated with that character but it doesn't make him any less identifible. Sure, the writing makes the character but it doesn't end there. RAS writing is not classic but I believe Drizzt is, as Henry pointed out above.

Henry said:

About Salvatore: I have not read much of his work outside of the FR stuff, but it's not really fair to associate him ONLY with Drizzt; he does have more than that to his credit. But since the question concerned Drizzt specifically, that's where I'm concentrating on.

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Many of my favorite RAS books do not have Drizzt in them. The Demon Wars series, as noted by DJ, is some damn fine writing. But we aren't talking about that now as I could ramble on forever about it.

Will Drizzt be remembered as an iconic fantasy character 50 years from now? Based on the length of this thread and the readership out there right now I could see it happening more than I cannot see it happening. Just as pen and paper RPGs aren't going anywhere, I don't think Drizzt is going anywhere either. The popularity of the Forgotten Realms and the current generation of his readers will keep the character in the eyes of genre readers. And who is to say the character won't make it to the big or small screen? That will certainly help things, as others have mentioned.

John Crichton said:

Many of my favorite RAS books do not have Drizzt in them. The Demon Wars series, as noted by DJ, is some damn fine writing. But we aren't talking about that now as I could ramble on forever about it.

Will Drizzt be remembered as an iconic fantasy character 50 years from now? Based on the length of this thread and the readership out there right now I could see it happening more than I cannot see it happening. Just as pen and paper RPGs aren't going anywhere, I don't think Drizzt is going anywhere either. The popularity of the Forgotten Realms and the current generation of his readers will keep the character in the eyes of genre readers. And who is to say the character won't make it to the big or small screen? That will certainly help things, as others have mentioned.

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When you say DJ, are you referring to me, or somebody else in this thread? Because I still haven't read the Demonwars books.

Much like you, though, my favorite RAS book dosen't even have Drizzt in it. My favorite book of his is Servant of the Shard, which stars Artemis Entreri and Jarlaxle.

Dark Jezter said:

When you say DJ, are you referring to me, or somebody else in this thread? Because I still haven't read the Demonwars books.

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This just proves that I should pay more attention to things. It was hunter1828 who referenced the Demon Wars. I guess I just figured it was you as we typically agree on RAS-related issues.

My apologies to you both. I just remembered hunter being involved in RAS threads before, too.

Dark Jezter said:

Much like you, though, my favorite RAS book dosen't even have Drizzt in it. My favorite book of his is Servant of the Shard, which stars Artemis Entreri and Jarlaxle.

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Best Realms novel he wrote in years. Only topped, in my mind, by Homeland and Legacy. [/fanboy]