 Cover of the first edition | |
| Author | R. A. Salvatore |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Legacy of the Drow |
| Genre | Fantasy literature |
| Publisher | Wizards of the Coast |
Publication date | August 23, 1993 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover, Paperback) |
| Pages | 311 |
| ISBN | 1560766530 |
| Preceded by | The Legacy |
| Followed by | Siege of Darkness |
Starless Night is a 1993 fantasy novel by American writer R. A. Salvatore. It is the second book in his Legacy of the Drow series.
In Starless Night, Drizzt decides to return to Menzoberranzan in an attempt to keep the evil drow from launching another attack on Mithral Hall. He gives Guenhwyvar to Regis and tells him not to tell anyone where he went. When Cattie-brie later questions Regis about Drizzt's disappearance, and she makes Regis tell the truth. Regis then gives her Guenhwyvar and she decides to follow Drizzt . She first stops at the city of Silverymoon to meet with Lady Alustriel and to procure supplies. Alustriel, who has feelings for Drizzt, gives Catti-brie horses with magic horseshoes and makes a dwarven attendant, Fret, accompany her to the entrance of the Underdark. Meanwhile, Drizzt meets several elves in the woods near the Underdark, and recalls the surface raiding party that he was a part of as a young drow when he saved a young girl by pretending to kill her. She meets Drizzt, and the elves send a guide, Tarathiel, to help him through the woods. The pair encounters a unicorn in the grove of Montolio and Drizzt is able to pet it. He takes it as a sign that Mielikki, the goddess of rangers, approves of his sacrifice. He makes his way into the Underdark several days later. Catti-brie also arrives at the entrance to the Underdark within two days of Drizzt, and Fret goes back to Silverymoon.
Drizzt goes first to Blingdenstone, the Underdark city of the deep gnomes, and stays for several days. Catti-brie also encounters a group of deep gnomes a day later and they show her a shortcut to Menzoberranzan. Then in Menzoberranzan, Drizzt is able to disguise himself for a little while as a slave driver on the Isle of Rothé, but is later found out. Catti-brie is near Drizzt at this point, and she witnesses his capture before being taken by Jarlaxle and held prisoner by the mercenary group Bregan D'arthe. Drizzt is taken to Matron Baenre's dungeon and tortured by one of Baenre's daughters, Vendes, the chief torturer. Entreri, somehow surviving the fall in the previous book, is now essentially the prisoner of Jarlaxle. He makes a deal with Cattie-brie in a bid to return to the surface and escape the evil drow city. He and Catti-brie steal a number of magical items from Bregan D'arthe and the sorcerer Gromph in order to free Drizzt from House Baenre during a ceremony involving all of the matrons of the eight ruling Houses of Menzoberranzan. Drizzt then kills Vendes, and in the daring escape out of the compound fights Dantrag Baenre, who was always considered the second-best to Zaknafein (and after Zaknafein's death, Drizzt). Drizzt is victorious, obtaining Dantrag's magical bracers, while Catti-brie chooses Dantrag's evil sentient sword Khazid'hea, who wanted to be wielded by Drizzt but could not (as Drizzt favors the scimitar). Catti-brie then explodes a section of the tunnel above the House Baenre compound, destroying most of the chapel dome and interrupting the ceremony of the Matron Mothers. Entreri escapes to the surface, and Catti-brie and Drizzt return to Mithral Hall, on the way stopping by the resting place of Wulfgar.
Starless Night debuted on The New York Times bestseller list at number 12. [1]
"Starless Night is good sword-and-sorcery fare and keeps a lively pace throughout."—Adam Paul Hunt of the Library Journal . [2]
The drow or dark elves are a dark-skinned and white-haired subrace of elves connected to the subterranean Underdark in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game. The drow have traditionally been portrayed as generally evil and connected to the evil goddess Lolth. However, later editions of Dungeons & Dragons have moved away from this portrayal and preassigned alignment. More recent publications have explored drow societies unconnected to Lolth.
Drizzt Do'Urden is a fictional character appearing in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Drizzt was created by author R. A. Salvatore as a supporting character in the Icewind Dale Trilogy. Salvatore created him on a whim when his publisher needed him to replace one of the characters in an early version of the first book, The Crystal Shard. Drizzt has since become a popular heroic character of the Forgotten Realms setting, and has been featured as the main character of a long series of books, starting chronologically with The Dark Elf Trilogy. As an atypical drow, Drizzt has forsaken both the evil ways of his people and their home in the Underdark, in the drow city of Menzoberranzan.
Menzoberranzan, the "City of Spiders", is a fictional city-state in the world of the Forgotten Realms, a Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting. The city is located in the Upper Northdark, about two miles below the Surbrin Vale, between the Moonwood and the Frost Hills. It is famed as the birthplace of Drizzt Do'Urden, the protagonist of several series of best-selling novels by noted fantasy author R. A. Salvatore. Menzoberranzan has been developed into a video game and a tabletop RPG setting. Menzoberranzan has been described as "a perfect unjust state" and compared to Glaucon's vision of a state that is held together only by the fear of retribution.
Catti-brie is a fictional character in the Forgotten Realms setting, based on the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. The creation of American author R.A. Salvatore, she is primarily known as the love interest of the drow ranger Drizzt Do'Urden and has appeared in multiple media alongside Drizzt.
The Underdark is a fictional setting which has appeared in Dungeons & Dragons role-playing campaigns and Dungeons & Dragons-based fiction books, including the Legend of Drizzt series by R. A. Salvatore. It is described as a vast subterranean network of interconnected caverns and tunnels, stretching beneath entire continents and forming an underworld for surface settings. Polygon called it "one of D&D's most well-known realms".
The Dark Elf Trilogy is a prequel to the Icewind Dale Trilogy by R. A. Salvatore. Drizzt Do'Urden, a drow, or dark elf, was originally written as a supporting character in the Icewind Dale Trilogy to Wulfgar the barbarian. However, the author soon realized how popular the character was, and Drizzt became the main character. The final book Sojourn made the New York Times Best Seller list.
The Thousand Orcs is a fantasy novel by American writer R. A. Salvatore, the first book in his series The Hunter's Blades Trilogy. In it, Drizzt Do'Urden is separated from his friends while orcs, giants, and a few drow are determined to destroy everything in their path.
Streams of Silver is a fantasy novel by American writer R. A. Salvatore. It is the second book in his The Icewind Dale Trilogy.
The Halfling's Gem is a fantasy novel by American writer by R. A. Salvatore, the third book in The Icewind Dale Trilogy.
Homeland is a fantasy novel by American writer R. A. Salvatore, the first book in The Dark Elf Trilogy, a prequel to The Icewind Dale Trilogy. It follows the story of Drizzt Do'Urden from the time and circumstances of his birth and his upbringing amongst the drow.
Siege of Darkness is a 1994 fantasy novel by American writer R. A. Salvatore. It is the third book in his Legacy of the Drow series.
Servant of the Shard was originally the third book in R.A. Salvatore's Paths of Darkness book series. It was also made the first book of the trilogy The Sellswords. In this novel, Artemis Entreri acquires Charon's Claw.
The Legacy is a 1992 fantasy novel by American writer R. A. Salvatore. It is the first book in his series Legacy of the Drow.
The Orc King is a fantasy novel by American writer R. A. Salvatore, the first book in the Transitions series.
The Ghost King is the third book in the Transitions series, written by R. A. Salvatore.
Wulfgar, son of Beornegar, is the barbarian hero of Icewind Dale in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, and one of the Companions of the Hall along with Drizzt Do'Urden, Catti-brie, Regis the halfling, and Bruenor Battlehammer. He is the creation of R.A. Salvatore.
Gauntlgrym is a fantasy novel by American writer R. A. Salvatore set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting; it is the first book in the Neverwinter Saga. Released in October 2010, it follows the continued adventures of drow elf renegade, Drizzt Do'Urden. This story is set 24 years after the end of Transitions: The Ghost King.
Exile is a fantasy novel by American writer R. A. Salvatore, the second book in The Dark Elf Trilogy. It was published in 1990.
Charon's Claw is a novel set in the Forgotten Realms campaign world by R. A. Salvatore released on August 7, 2012. This is the third book in the Neverwinter Saga and follows the adventure of Drizzt Do'Urden and Dahlia. The resurrected Artemis Entreri also joins the team. This story is set days after the events of Neverwinter and brings back returning characters while introducing new ones.
The Last Threshold is a novel by R. A. Salvatore set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, and is the fourth book in the Neverwinter Saga. It was released on March 5, 2013.