It's a Drizzt! "Timeless" - New Drizzt Do'Urden Trilogy by R.A. Salvatore

*Deleted by user*

 

[Parmandur]

This is the exact same release date as the as-yet-unnamed D&D hardcover adventure, codenamed "Broadway". Makes me think the novel and adventure will be tied together in some way; perhaps dealing with the aftermath of the demonic incursions from the Out of the Abyss storyline.

Probably not, considering the way that the APs have been carefully sequestered from metaplot.

 

[TheSwartz]

I used to read all of these D&D books, especially ALL of the Drizzt material. It's ironic that it was WoTC deciding to stop publishing books that I've finally taken the advice of others and have been reading Appendix N material.

Now I finally realize why the grognards complained about these TSR/WoTC books and it's a shame that I wasted so many years not taking the advice of those who came before me.

Read ANYTHING from RE Howard, Leiber, or Vance before any of the D&D books, and you'll be a much better Dungeon Master for it.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Call me if they get Erin Evans to write more Farideh books...!

Or anything else, for that matter. Erin is one of the best FR novelists of recent years, and criminally underrated/unknown.

 

[DRF]

Then again I am old and cantankerous... I've replaced Salvatore with Polansky and Rothfuss, but if any young one finds inspiration in the likes of Drizzt I will not begrudge them that, I know I did!

You haven't really moved up the literary ladder, haha!

 

[Parmandur]

One of the interesting possibilities of a WotC/Harper Collins partnership is that Harper Voyager is massively better equipped to identify new talent in the field than TSR or WotC ever were.

 

[gyor]

One of the interesting possibilities of a WotC/Harper Collins partnership is that Harper Voyager is massively better equipped to identify new talent in the field than TSR or WotC ever were.

I honestly wish I knew more about Harper Voyager/Collins and what they bring to the table.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

I am not surprised that Salvatore had the info for this new book taken down, seeing as how the same day this happened, Feb 6, was also the release date for his newest book, Child of a Mad God, which is not connected to D&D at all. I can understand him not wanting attention for that being sidetracked by news of more Drizz't in the works.

I also find it interesting that he is working with two different publishers at the same time, Tor for the new release and Harper for the next Drizz't book. I remember the days when even big name authors signed a contract with only one publisher at a time. And since Child of a Mad God is supposed to be the first in a new series, it is not the final book of an old contract or something like that.

 

[gyor]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/HarperCollins

Their Sci Fi/Fantasy Imprint has some big names including JRR Tolkien and H.G. Wells, it's absorbed Avon's Sci Fi imprint Eros, Harper Prism, and the older Sci Fi/Fantasy works of it's two major founding publishing houses (plus of course whatever they've published since.

So they are a big name and a power house, still getting the Forgotten Realms rights and possibly D&D period is huge, D&D is both a long cherished brand with a solid fan base and is in a state of major growth with great sales for it's RPG books, so it's a really big asset for Harper Voyager.

I look forward to getting more details on the deal.

 

[Parmandur]

I honestly wish I knew more about Harper Voyager/Collins and what they bring to the table.

Hard to overstate: they published the Sharpe books, the Master & Commander books, Neil Gaiman, Sir Terry Pratchett, Tolkien, Michael Crichton, Clive Barker...quite a bit. Huge resources.

 

[Mouseferatu]

I am not surprised that Salvatore had the info for this new book taken down

It's very unlikely that Salvatore had any involvement with this decision whatsoever. Almost all of the communication with distributors, channels, etc. goes through the publisher, with basically zero author input or consultation.

Now, Salvatore's a big enough name that it's vaguely possible, if he asked, a publisher might act on his behalf on such things. But even then, it's unlikely. And given the speed with which this all happened, and the fact that it's improbable he even knew about this information getting out there, I'd actually put money down that this was entirely a publisher communication thing.

(The fact is, authors generally have very little involvement with any stage of publishing beyond "writing the book," though again, there are exceptions.)

 

[gyor]

Hard to overstate: they published the Sharpe books, the Master & Commander books, Neil Gaiman, Sir Terry Pratchett, Tolkien, Michael Crichton, Clive Barker...quite a bit. Huge resources.

And now R.A. Salvatore!

 

[Swift Nimblefoot]

I stopped following the Dark Elf books after they, y'know, stopped being about Drizzt. One long boring book about Wulfgar being drunk and aimless at a tavern (no, I am not kidding), then later several books centered on Artemis and Jarlaxle playing buddy cop comedy with an added dwarf dude to make a trio and I eventually lost interest when plots were about magic dracolich-spawning portable towers, Artemis bedding female copper dragoness sisters (why?) and him confronting the memories of his abusive childhood... I lost interest so hard, when the 1000 orcs storyline came I never even looked it up what it is about (mind you, it's hard to find info, even obscure movies have giant articles on wikipedia, but not books, oddly).

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

It's very unlikely that Salvatore had any involvement with this decision whatsoever. Almost all of the communication with distributors, channels, etc. goes through the publisher, with basically zero author input or consultation.

Now, Salvatore's a big enough name that it's vaguely possible, if he asked, a publisher might act on his behalf on such things. But even then, it's unlikely. And given the speed with which this all happened, and the fact that it's improbable he even knew about this information getting out there, I'd actually put money down that this was entirely a publisher communication thing.

(The fact is, authors generally have very little involvement with any stage of publishing beyond "writing the book," though again, there are exceptions.)

Considering the opening post says the plot details taken down at Salvatore's request, if accurate, it seems he has a lot of say on his work.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Considering the opening post says the plot details taken down at Salvatore's request, if accurate, it seems he has a lot of say on his work.

*shrug*

As I said, anything's possible. But I'd want to know whether the original poster knows it was Salvatore, or simply assumed when he found out that someone wanted it taken down, before I took my bet off the table.

What I can say with certainty is that the process normally doesn't work that way. Salvatore may be an exception, and may indeed have asked personally, but it would be unusual. Most of the time, it's the publisher doing all the communication at this stage of the game.

 

[Matt Adler]

*shrug*

As I said, anything's possible. But I'd want to know whether the original poster knows it was Salvatore, or simply assumed when he found out that someone wanted it taken down, before I took my bet off the table.

What I can say with certainty is that the process normally doesn't work that way. Salvatore may be an exception, and may indeed have asked personally, but it would be unusual. Most of the time, it's the publisher doing all the communication at this stage of the game.

I posted the info to a fan group Salvatore is a part of. An hour later, the admins contact me and tell me they've just spoken to Salvatore, and they are taking the post down because he says "contracts haven't been signed yet" and they also don't want to step on the release of "Child of a Mad God". 15 minutes later, the plot description and all reference to Drizzt are removed from the catalog page. Suspecting this would happen, I had already taken a screenshot. And here we are. I'm sure if the publisher disagreed with Salvatore, it wouldn't have been taken down, though.

 

[Morrus]

I posted the info to a fan group Salvatore is a part of. An hour later, the admins contact me and tell me they've just spoken to Salvatore, and they are taking the post down because he says "contracts haven't been signed yet" and they also don't want to step on the release of "Child of a Mad God". 15 minutes later, the plot description and all reference to Drizzt are removed from the catalog page. Suspecting this would happen, I had already taken a screenshot. And here we are. I'm sure if the publisher disagreed with Salvatore, it wouldn't have been taken down, though.

How odd. Nobody had contacted me.

 

[Matt Adler]

How odd. Nobody had contacted me.

I think once the screenshot was out there, there was no putting the cat back in the bag.

 

[Morrus]

I think once the screenshot was out there, there was no putting the cat back in the bag.

Whooosh.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Fair enough. I stand corrected.

 

[Matt Adler]

Those plot details have now been released on the publisher's site:

http://www.harpervoyagerbooks.com/book/9780062688583/unti-drizzt-1/