Cunningham injects real pathos and humour from these characters, better than anyone else writing in the setting. Rounding out the group is Elaith Craulnober, a crime lord elf whose downfall was directly related to being rejected by his own moonblade. Thann is secretly a brilliant bard, but he puts on the role of a dilettante and a fool so that people let their guard down around him.

Songs and Swords follows Arilyn Moonblade, a half-elf who despite her low birth was capable of wielding the powerful elven Moonblade, and the fop Danilo Thann. She never got the fame that Salvatore achieved, but her books were always some of the best. This IS Waterdeep she’s seeing it through my mind’s eye! It’s PERFECT!”Įlaine Cunningham has always felt like The Realms’ secret weapon. “When I first read Elaine Cunningham’s first Realms novel, ELFSHADOW, I thought: this lady has been reading my mind. But it didn’t take long before Drizzt became the protagonist, and he was never better than in this trilogy exploring his history in his homeland of Menzoberranzan, his exile in the Underdark, and his sojourn among the surface races.Įd Greenwood, creator of the Forgotten Realms, had this to say about Cunningham’s books: The drow with the soul of a ranger was originally meant to be a sidekick and mentor to Wulfgar, the young barbarian that Salvatore had originally conceived of as the protagonist. Salvatore’s Drizzt is by far the setting’s most popular character. Keep reading for the best jumping in points for The Forgotten Realms. There are a few major upheavals to the setting but even those rarely affect the stand-alone nature of the books too much.ĭon’t worry. That can seem daunting, but most of the books are designed to be stand-alone, or in a smaller series. There’s no fantasy setting with more information on it, anywhere. The Forgotten Realms are the most popular setting for Dungeons and Dragons, home to almost 300 novels in addition to the countless associated tabletop role-playing materials, video games, and comic books.

Dnd forgotten realms