Transitions (novel series)

Last updated
Transitions

Author R. A. Salvatore
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Genre Epic fantasy
Publisher Wizards of the Coast
Published2007 - 2009
Media typePrint
No. of books3
Preceded by The Hunter's Blades Trilogy, The Sellswords
Followed by Neverwinter Saga

Transitions is a series of fantasy novels by R. A. Salvatore, the famous science fiction and fantasy author, consisting of three novels: The Orc King, The Pirate King, and The Ghost King. It continues the tale of the famous renegade drow (dark elf) Drizzt Do'Urden and his friends. This series is a follow-up to The Hunter's Blades Trilogy. Like the rest of the saga, it is set in the Forgotten Realms, a popular Dungeons & Dragons role-playing setting.

Contents

Works included

The Orc King was published in September 2007, The Pirate King in October 2008, and The Ghost King in October 2009.

Plot summary

The Orc King

In this novel, an uneasy peace between dwarves and orcs begins to fail as orc tribes fight each other, and the dwarf Bruenor Battlehammer seeks to finish the war between the two races.

The Pirate King

In this novel, Captain Deudermont seeks to rescue the city of Luskan which is under the control of the Arcane Brotherhood.

The Ghost King

In this novel, the Spellplague ravages Faerûn, catching Drizzt Do'Urden and his companions in the chaos, and Drizzt must face off against his old foe the Crenshinibon.

Reception

Salvatore mixes neatly choreographed battles with philosophical musings from self-styled "renegade soul" Drizzt, lending a little depth to an otherwise straightforward hack-and-slash adventure.

Publishers Weekly review of The Orc King, [1]

The Orc King was No. 8 on the fiction hardcover bestseller list as reported by The Buffalo News in October 2007. [2]

The Orc King, which marked the 20th anniversary of the character, made it to #7 on the list, as well as #9 on the Wall Street Journal list, #6 on the Publishers Weekly bestseller list, and #36 on the USA Today list of top sellers. [3]

The Pirate King reached 8 on the New York Times bestseller list on November 2, 2008. [4]

Related Research Articles

Forgotten Realms is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers alike as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as a setting for his childhood stories. Several years later, Greenwood brought the setting to publication for the D&D game as a series of magazine articles, and the first Realms game products were released in 1987. Role-playing game products have been produced for the setting ever since, as have various licensed products including novels, role-playing video game adaptations, and comic books.

Drizzt DoUrden Fictional character from Dungeons & Dragons

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.

R. A. Salvatore American writer

Robert Anthony Salvatore is an American author best known for The DemonWars Saga; and The Legend of Drizzt, for which he created the popular character Drizzt Do'Urden; and Vector Prime, the first novel in the Star Wars: The New Jedi Order series. He has sold more than 15 million copies of his books in the United States alone and twenty-two of his titles have been New York Times best-sellers.

Catti-brie Fictional character from Dungeons & Dragons

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 Legacy of the Drow is a New York Times best-selling fantasy series by R. A. Salvatore. It is the third series following the adventures of the Forgotten Realms character Drizzt Do'Urden.

<i>The Thousand Orcs</i> Book by R. A. Salvatore

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.

<i>The Lone Drow</i>

The Lone Drow is a 2003 Forgotten Realms novel and the second book in R. A. Salvatore's book series, The Hunter's Blades Trilogy. In this novel, Drizzt Do'Urden is mourning what he believes is the death of his closest friends. He is helped to regain his sense of purpose after two elves and their pegasus decide to help. He goes around killing orcs and preventing new clans from joining the army that has been gathering. While this happens, Drizzt's friends are fighting desperately against the horde.

The Icewind Dale Trilogy is a trilogy of epic fantasy novels by the American writer R.A. Salvatore. The books are The Crystal Shard, Streams of Silver and The Halfling's Gem. They tell the tale of ranger Drizzt Do'Urden the drow, Wulfgar the barbarian warrior, Regis the halfling, dwarf king Bruenor, and Bruenor's adopted human daughter Catti-brie. It is the first of Salvatore's Forgotten Realms novels, describing the events that created some of the best-known characters in that world. The final book of this series, The Halfling's Gem, appeared in The New York Times Best Seller list.

The Hunters Blades Trilogy

The Hunter's Blades Trilogy is a fantasy trilogy by American writer R.A. Salvatore. It follows the Paths of Darkness series and is composed of three books: The Thousand Orcs, The Lone Drow, and The Two Swords. The Two Swords was Salvatore's 17th work concerning one of his most famous characters, Drizzt Do'Urden. In this series, Drizzt takes a stand to stop the spread of chaos and war by an overambitious orc king across Drizzt's adopted homeland. The series reached the New York Times bestseller list and is followed by the installments of the Transitions series.

<i>The Crystal Shard</i>

The Crystal Shard is a 1988 fantasy novel by American writer R. A. Salvatore. The first book in The Icewind Dale Trilogy, it was his first published novel.

Paths of Darkness is an epic fantasy series of novels chronicling adventures of the renegade drow elf character Drizzt Do'Urden written by R. A. Salvatore. It is the follow-up series to Legacy of the Drow and is followed up by The Hunter's Blades Trilogy, and also followed on from the Servant of the Shard in The Sellswords trilogy.

<i>Sojourn</i> (novel)

Sojourn is a fantasy novel by American writer R. A. Salvatore, the third book in The Dark Elf Trilogy. It was published in 1991.

<i>The Two Swords</i>

The Two Swords is a fantasy novel by American writer R. A. Salvatore, the third and final book in his series The Hunter's Blades Trilogy. The Two Swords was his 17th work concerning one of the most famous characters Salvatore has created, the drow, or dark elf, Drizzt Do'Urden. It follows The Thousand Orcs and The Lone Drow.

The Legend of Drizzt is a series of fantasy novels by R. A. Salvatore that began in 1988, and consists of 37 books as of August 2021. They are based in the Forgotten Realms setting in the dimension of Abeir-Toril on the continent Faerûn in the popular D&D universe currently published/owned by Wizards of the Coast. It combines the series The Dark Elf Trilogy, The Icewind Dale Trilogy, Legacy of the Drow, Paths of Darkness, The Hunter's Blades Trilogy, and other sets into an abridged compilation. Drizzt Do'Urden is the main character of most of the books.

<i>The Orc King</i>

The Orc King is a fantasy novel by American writer R. A. Salvatore, the first book in the Transitions series.

The Sellswords is a trilogy of fantasy novels written by R. A. Salvatore, whose related works include The Legend of Drizzt series and The Hunter's Blades Trilogy. It contains three books, Servant of the Shard, Promise of the Witch-King, and Road of the Patriarch.

Wulfgar (Forgotten Realms) Fictional character

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.

Neverwinter Saga is a saga written in the Forgotten Realms campaign world, a popular Dungeons & Dragons role-playing setting, by fantasy and science fiction author R.A. Salvatore. The tetralogy begins with Gauntlgrym which is set twenty-four years after the events of The Ghost King. Gauntlgrym is also the twentieth book concerning one of Salvatore's famous characters, Drizzt Do'Urden. The saga contains Gauntlgrym, Neverwinter, Charon's Claw, and The Last Threshold. This tetralogy is preceded by The Transitions Series.

This is a complete bibliography of the written works of American fantasy author R. A. Salvatore.

References

  1. "Forgotten Realms: The Orc King". Publishers Weekly . Barnes & Noble. 2007. Retrieved 2009-01-22.
  2. "Best Sellers; Hardcover". The Buffalo News . October 21, 2007. Archived from the original on June 29, 2014. Retrieved June 21, 2013.  via  HighBeam Research (subscription required)
  3. "R.A. Salvatore's The Orc King Makes Top 10 Rankings on Bestseller Lists: Publishers Weekly..." Business Wire. All Business. October 11, 2007. Archived from the original on January 16, 2013. Retrieved 2009-01-09.
  4. "Best Sellers: Fiction : Sunday, November 2nd 2008". New York Times. November 2, 2008. Retrieved 2009-01-09.