''Paths of Darkness'' is an

epic fantasy High fantasy, or epic fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy defined by the epic nature of its setting or by the epic stature of its characters, themes, or plot.Brian Stableford, ''The A to Z of Fantasy Literature'', (p. 198), Scarecrow Press, Pl ...

series of

novels A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itself ...

chronicling adventures of the renegade drow elf character

Drizzt Do'Urden 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 ...

written by

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 ...

. It is the follow-up series to ''

Legacy of the Drow 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. This series is followed up by the ''Paths of Darknes ...

'' and is followed up by ''

The Hunter's 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 Swo ...

'', and also followed on from the ''Servant of the Shard'' in ''

The Sellswords ''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'' (also included as the ...

'' trilogy.

Todd Lockwood Todd Wills Lockwood, (born July 9, 1957 in Boulder, Colorado, United States) is an American artist specializing in fantasy and science fiction illustration. He is best known for his work on the role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'', and for his ...

painted the covers for ''The Silent Blade'' and ''The Spine of the World''.

Works included

# ''

The Silent Blade ''The Silent Blade'' is the first book of the Legend of Drizzt grouping Paths of Darkness. It is the eleventh book in the ever expanding Legend of Drizzt series and is followed by ''The Spine of the World'' which came out the next year. It was rel ...

'' (1998) # ''

The Spine of the World ''The Spine of the World'' is the second book in R. A. Salvatore's book series, ''Paths of Darkness''. Publication history ''The Spine of the World'' was written by R. A. Salvatore. It was republished in April 2009 as the twelfth book in the "Leg ...

'' (1999) # ''

Servant of the Shard ''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. Plot summary ...

'' (2000)* # ''

Sea of Swords ''Sea of Swords'' is the third and final novel in R.A. Salvatore's book series Paths of Darkness. Plot summary Drizzt and his friends try and track down Wulfgar's magical hammer Aegis Fang. They stop Wulfgar's new wife Delly Curtie from being mu ...

'' (2001) *''Servant of the Shard'' (2000) is also the first book of ''

'' series, which follows

Jarlaxle ''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 ...

and

Artemis Entreri ''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 ...

Literary significance and reception

''The Silent Blade'' debuted on the ''New York Times'' bestseller list at No. 32. ''The Spine of the World'' debuted on the ''New York Times'' bestseller list at No. 25. ''Servant of the Shard'' debuted on the ''New York Times'' bestseller list at No. 25. ''Sea of Swords'' debuted on the ''New York Times'' bestseller list at No. 14. It was positively reviewed in ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

'', where it debuted at No. 10 on the hardcover bestsellers list. The reviewers described the novel as a "fast–moving fantasy adventure", although they acknowledged that the book, as the last in a sequence of four, was not for the uninitiated. Matt Drake of

RPGnet RPGnet is a role-playing game website. It includes sections on wargaming, wargames, tabletop games and video games, as well as columns on gaming topics. RPGnet was founded in 1996 by Emma and Sandy Antunes, Shawn Althouse ( etrigan) and Brian Dav ...

gave the series a 4 (out of 5) for style, stating that "Salvatore's chrome is starting to tarnish in a few spots, but he is still a great fantasy novelist." He gave it a 3 (out of 5) for substance, stating "With the exception of Spine of the World, these stories are a little predictable and trite."

References

External links

* {{D&D topics Book series introduced in 1998 Forgotten Realms novel series Novels by R. A. Salvatore zh:黑暗之路系列