''The Cleric Quintet'' is a series of five

fantasy novels Fantasy literature is literature set in an imaginary universe, often but not always without any locations, events, or people from the real world. Magic, the supernatural and magical creatures are common in many of these imaginary worlds. Fant ...

by American writer

R. A. Salvatore Robert Anthony Salvatore (born January 20, 1959) is an American author best known for ''The Legend of Drizzt'', a series of fantasy novels set in the Forgotten Realms and starring the popular character Drizzt Do'Urden. He has also written ''The ...

, set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting of the '' Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

. They follow the story of Cadderly Bonaduce, a scholar-cleric, as he attempts to stop the "Chaos Curse" unleashed upon the world. It is also a spiritual journey for Cadderly, where he begins to see things in a new light and becomes closer to his god. Recurring characters in this series include Cadderly Bonaduce, Danica Maupoissant, the dwarven brothers Ivan and Pikel Bouldershoulder, and Shayleigh, an elf maiden of Shilmista Forest.

Novels

Plot summary

The evil wizard Aballister has spent two years collecting and brewing a potion of power, as told to him by the imp, Druzil, sent by the Goddess of Poison, Talona. When he reveals it to his evil fellowship at the hidden stronghold Castle Trinity, the priest Barjin takes control of it and sets off to the major stronghold of the Snowflake Mountains — the Edificant Library. He finds an innocent, intelligent, and young, low-ranking priest, to open the potion, the Chaos Curse, which makes all who breathe it lose self-control. Cadderly must fight a memory-blocking spell in order to lift the curse and save the Library.

Creation

The character of Cadderly was created specially for the Cleric Quintet, after six

Drizzt 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 D ...

books were completed – as Salvatore wrote in his introduction, "We were done with Drizzt. Or at least, we thought we were". The new protagonist was originally planned to be a

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

, but it got rejected due to changes in '' Dungeons & Dragons'' 2nd Edition, where the class of monks was absent.

Mary Kirchoff Mary L. Kirchoff is an American author of fantasy and young adult novels. Biography Kirchoff was born and raised in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, the city where the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game was invented. "I went to school with Ernie G ...

proposed that the protagonist should be a cleric. Salvatore invented a concept of spiritual journey for his character, who initially treats his religion as just a lifestyle, but gradually becomes more tied to his god, Deneir.Foreword from the Collectors Edition
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References

External links

ReviewRPGnet review
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cleric Quintet American fantasy novels Book series introduced in 1991 Dwarves in popular culture Forgotten Realms novel series Novels by R. A. Salvatore