R.A. Salvatore

Author profile

born

in Leominster, The United States

January 20, 1959

gender

male

website

http://www.rasalvatore.com/

genre

Science Fiction & Fantasy

influences

Ian Fleming, Arthur Conan Doyle, Fritz Leiber, and of course, J.R.R. T...more

About this author

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As one of the fantasy genre’s most successful authors, R.A. Salvatore enjoys an ever-expanding and tremendously loyal following. His books regularly appear on The New York Times best-seller lists and have sold more than 10,000,000 copies. Salvatore’s most recent original hardcover, The Two Swords, Book III of The Hunter’s Blade Trilogy (October 2004) debuted at # 1 on The Wall Street Journal best-seller list and at # 4 on The New York Times best-seller list. His books have been translated into numerous foreign languages including German, Italian, Finnish, Greek, Hungarian, Turkish, Croatian, Bulgarian, Yiddish, Spanish, Russian, Polish, Portuguese, Czech, and French.

Salvatore’s first published novel, The Crystal Shard from TSR in 1988, beca...more As one of the fantasy genre’s most successful authors, R.A. Salvatore enjoys an ever-expanding and tremendously loyal following. His books regularly appear on The New York Times best-seller lists and have sold more than 10,000,000 copies. Salvatore’s most recent original hardcover, The Two Swords, Book III of The Hunter’s Blade Trilogy (October 2004) debuted at # 1 on The Wall Street Journal best-seller list and at # 4 on The New York Times best-seller list. His books have been translated into numerous foreign languages including German, Italian, Finnish, Greek, Hungarian, Turkish, Croatian, Bulgarian, Yiddish, Spanish, Russian, Polish, Portuguese, Czech, and French.

Salvatore’s first published novel, The Crystal Shard from TSR in 1988, became the first volume of the acclaimed Icewind Dale Trilogy and introduced an enormously popular character, the dark elf Drizzt Do’Urden. Since that time, Salvatore has published numerous novels for each of his signature multi-volume series including The Dark Elf Trilogy, Paths of Darkness, The Hunter’s Blades Trilogy, and The Cleric Quintet.

His love affair with fantasy, and with literature in general, began during his sophomore year of college when he was given a copy of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings as a Christmas gift. He promptly changed his major from computerscience to journalism. He received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Communications from Fitchburg State College in 1981, then returned for the degree he always cherished, the Bachelor of Arts in English. He began writing seriously in 1982, penning the manuscript that would become Echoes of the Fourth Magic. Salvatore held many jobs during those first years as a writer, finally settling in (much to our delight) to write full time in 1990.

The R.A. Salvatore Collection has been established at his alma mater, Fitchburg State College in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, containing the writer’s letters, manuscripts, and other professional papers. He is in good company, as The Salvatore Collection is situated alongside The Robert Cormier Library, which celebrates the writing career of the co-alum and esteemed author of young adult books.

Salvatore is an active member of his community and is on the board of trustees at the local library in Leominster, Massachusetts. He has participated in several American Library Association regional conferences, giving talks on themes including “Adventure fantasy” and “Why young adults read fantasy.” Salvatore himself enjoys a broad range of literary writers including James Joyce, Mark Twain, Geoffrey Chaucer, Shakespeare, Dante, and Sartre. He counts among his favorite genre literary influences Ian Fleming, Arthur Conan Doyle, Fritz Leiber, and of course, J.R.R. Tolkien.

Born in 1959, Salvatore is a native of Massachusetts and resides there with his wife Diane, and their three children, Bryan, Geno, and Caitlin. The family pets include three Japanese Chins, Oliver, Artemis and Ivan, and four cats including Guenhwyvar.

When he isn't writing, Salvatore chases after his three Japanese Chins, takes long walks, hits the gym, and coaches/plays on a fun-league softball team that includes most of his family. His gaming group still meets on Sundays to play.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/rasalv...(less)

85 posts
R.A. Salvatore's Blog

R.A. Salvatore isn't a Goodreads Author (yet), but he does have a blog, so here are some recent posts imported from his feed.

The Companions e-signing

How long lived our memory of you when you are gone? Because in the end, that is the only measure. - Drizzt Do'Urden

In The Companions R.A. Salvatore launches a major world-shaping event that will move Drizzt into a restored era of the Forgotten Realms.

Reserve The Companions read more »

View more on R.A. Salvatore's website »

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Published on May 12, 2013 05:57 • 117 views

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combine editions
R.A. Salvatore's Books

Average rating: 4.08 · 290,530 ratings · 5,107 reviews · 245 distinct works · Similar authors

	Homeland (Forgotten Realms: The Dark Elf Trilogy, #1; Legend of Drizzt, #1) 4.25 of 5 stars 4.25 avg rating — 19,736 ratings — published 1990 — 25 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Exile (Forgotten Realms: The Dark Elf Trilogy, #2; Legend of Drizzt, #2) 4.2 of 5 stars 4.20 avg rating — 17,325 ratings — published 1990 — 23 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Sojourn (Forgotten Realms: The Dark Elf Trilogy, #3; Legend of Drizzt, #3) 4.19 of 5 stars 4.19 avg rating — 16,985 ratings — published 1990 — 25 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Crystal Shard (Forgotten Realms: Icewind Dale, #1; Legend of Drizzt, #4) 4.08 of 5 stars 4.08 avg rating — 16,152 ratings — published 1988 — 24 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Halfling's Gem (Forgotten Realms: Icewind Dale, #3; Legend of Drizzt, #6) 4.09 of 5 stars 4.09 avg rating — 13,797 ratings — published 1990 — 23 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Streams of Silver (Forgotten Realms: Icewind Dale, #2; Legend of Drizzt, #5) 4.09 of 5 stars 4.09 avg rating — 13,290 ratings — published 1989 — 24 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Dark Elf Trilogy Collector's Edition (Forgotten Realms: Dark Elf Trilogy, #1-3; Legend of Drizzt, #1-3) 4.3 of 5 stars 4.30 avg rating — 11,053 ratings — published 1980 — 10 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Legacy (Forgotten Realms: Legacy of the Drow, #1; Legend of Drizzt, #7) 4.15 of 5 stars 4.15 avg rating — 9,902 ratings — published 1992 — 24 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Starless Night (Forgotten Realms: Legacy of the Drow, #2; Legend of Drizzt, #8) 4.06 of 5 stars 4.06 avg rating — 9,749 ratings — published 1992 — 21 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Siege of Darkness (Forgotten Realms: Legacy of the Drow, #3; Legend of Drizzt, #9) 4.1 of 5 stars 4.10 avg rating — 9,396 ratings — published 1993 — 20 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by R.A. Salvatore…

Series by R.A. Salvatore

The Icewind Dale Trilogy (3 books)
by R.A. Salvatore
4.1048889422980634 of 5 stars 4.10 avg rating — 49,929 ratings

Legacy of the Drow (4 books)
by R.A. Salvatore
4.1050731087094725 of 5 stars 4.11 avg rating — 39,325 ratings

Hunter's Blades (3 books)
by R.A. Salvatore
4.10276608266558 of 5 stars 4.10 avg rating — 22,089 ratings

The Sellswords (3 books)
by R.A. Salvatore
4.11888984174008 of 5 stars 4.12 avg rating — 12,827 ratings

Transitions (3 books)
by R.A. Salvatore
4.04004754503063 of 5 stars 4.04 avg rating — 10,937 ratings

More series by R.A. Salvatore…

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Quotes by R.A. Salvatore

“It is better, I think, to grab at the stars than to sit flustered because you know you cannot reach them.”
― R.A. Salvatore, Sojourn

2,518 people liked it

“Sane is boring.”
― R.A. Salvatore

tags: boring, crazy, forgotten-realms, funny, humor, jarlaxle, salvatore, sane, servant-of-the-shard

438 people liked it

“No, I would not want to live in a world without dragons, as I would not want to live in a world without magic, for that is a world without mystery, and that is a world without faith.”
― R.A. Salvatore, Streams of Silver

tags: dragon, faith, magic, mystery, world

310 people liked it

See all R.A. Salvatore's quotes »

Polls

JUNE FANTASY: This poll decides which 2 books move on to the run-off poll for the June Fantasy Book of the Month

The Magicians by Lev Grossman

35 votes, 35.0%

Vellum: The Book of All Hours by Hal Duncan

19 votes, 19.0%

The Crystal Shard by R.A. Salvatore

13 votes, 13.0%

Never Knew Another by J.M. McDermott

9 votes, 9.0%

Sarah Canary by Karen Joy Fowler

9 votes, 9.0%

The Elder Gods by David Eddings

7 votes, 7.0%

Vampire$ by John Steakley

4 votes, 4.0%

The Silent Gondoliers by William Goldman

4 votes, 4.0%

100 total votes

9 comments

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Topics Mentioning This Author

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SciFi and Fantasy...: * Master Fantasy Book List	15	626	Apr 06, 2008 10:37am
SciFi and Fantasy...: What do we know about elves etc.	12	200	Feb 25, 2009 05:54am
The Rory Gilmore ...: Any good books?	39	348	Jun 13, 2009 05:55pm
Fantasy Junkies: Top 5 Fantasy Books	119	172	Sep 15, 2009 08:25pm

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R.A. Salvatore

Author profile

85 posts
R.A. Salvatore's Blog

combine editions
R.A. Salvatore's Books

Series by R.A. Salvatore

Upcoming Events

Quotes by R.A. Salvatore

Polls

Topics Mentioning This Author

Add NewVideos

R.A.'s Fans (2509)

R.A. Salvatore

Author profile

85 postsR.A. Salvatore's Blog

combine editionsR.A. Salvatore's Books

Series by R.A. Salvatore

Upcoming Events

Quotes by R.A. Salvatore

Polls

Topics Mentioning This Author

Add New
Videos

85 posts
R.A. Salvatore's Blog

combine editions
R.A. Salvatore's Books