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Matthus
Senior Scribe
Germany
393 Posts |
 Posted - 26 Nov 2007 : 12:47:28
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This is the title of one of the canceled books from FR author Mark Anthony.
The Description is from the Library:
In the years between Siege of Darkness and Passage to Dawn, the legendary Drizzt traveled Faerun before returning to Icewind Dale. Though he didn't go back to Menzoberranzan, he did journey through the underdark... and found that the evilness of drow was not exclusive to the land of his birth.
Anybody with clues why it was cancelled? Or would this be a better question for Mr. Salvatore? 
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Edited by - Matthus on 26 Nov 2007 12:51:22
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Matthus
Senior Scribe
Germany
393 Posts |
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Jorkens
Great Reader
Norway
2950 Posts |
Posted - 26 Nov 2007 : 12:55:05
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I am going to be careful here as I am just retelling what I have heard. It seems like there was some trouble between Salvatore and TSR at the time, the company wanted to continue with Drizzt and had this book commissioned. When the situation with Salvatore was resolved the book was canceled as he (Salvatore) did not want toe see others write about his characters.
But as I said, i could be wrong and the truth could be something totaly different. |
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Matthus
Senior Scribe
Germany
393 Posts |
Posted - 26 Nov 2007 : 14:04:38
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Oops, seems to be a sensible topic. As R.A. is one of the few authors who isn’t in this halls, please tell me great broom-sweeping moderators if a little speculating about this will be out of the code .
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Brian R. James
Forgotten Realms Game Designer
USA
1098 Posts |
Posted - 26 Nov 2007 : 14:26:15
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quote:
From Mark Anthony
Dear Brian,
I'm constantly surprised how many emails I still receive regarding SHORES OF DUSK. It seems a number of people remain curious about what happened to the book. So, yes, feel free to post this reply to your mailing list, if you think others will be interested.
The story behind SHORES OF DUSK and its eventual cancellation is really pretty simple, at least from my end of things. A few years ago, after he began writing for Del Rey, R. A. Salvatore was unable to come to an agreement with TSR to keep writing the Drizzt series. I'm not aware of the exact reasons for this--you'd have to ask Bob about that. One factor might have been a "no-compete" clause in his contract with Del Rey. (This is quite common--publishers usually want their authors to write only for them.) There may have been other factors, such as compensation. (At the time, TSR was in pretty dire financial straits.)
Regardless, Brian Thomsen, then Executive Editor at TSR, approached me to write a new novel starring Drizzt. Brian was of course familiar with my writing, as I had done several novels for TSR, and I he had previously assigned me to write a novella set in the Drizzt milieu as a sort of test, which I apparently passed ("The Fires of Narbondel" in REALMS OF THE UNDERDARK). I'll be honest--writing about Drizzt was not my idea, and it was not something I would have sought out myself, but Brian asked me, and so I accepted.
I wrote what I thought was a fun and interesting novel, trying to be as sensitive to the characters and worlds Bob Salvatore had created as I possibly could. It was without doubt the most difficult book I had ever written for TSR, as I worked hard to stay true to Bob's earlier novels. It was also made difficult by the fact that Bob was clearly unhappy that someone else was writing a novel about Drizzt. Not that I could really blame him--but therein lies the danger of writing in a licensed world like the Forgotten Realms.
Anyway, as things turned out, just months before SHORES OF DUSK was to be published, TSR was bought (and saved from bankruptcy) by Wizards of the Cost. Brian Thomsen was replaced as editor by Mary Kirchoff (who had headed up the book department before him). She managed to work out a deal with Del Rey that allowed Bob Salvatore to write for both publishers, and Bob was still interested in writing Drizzt novels. With Bob back, there was no need for my novel, and so the project was canceled. I did get paid for it, but obviously only a fraction of what I would have gotten had it seen publication.
It was disconcerting, of course, to have the book canceled so close to publication. Ads for it had already appeared in Dragon Magazine! But I can't blame Mary for her decision. The Drizzt novels were TSR's biggest asset, and a Drizzt novel by Bob Salvatore is certainly worth more than one by anyone else, no matter how well written or researched it might be. So I certainly bear TSR/WotC no hard feelings in the matter.
In fact, later on, Mary Kirchoff offered me a Forgotten Realms trilogy, which was very kind of her. However, I had to turn the project down. By that time, I had sold my own fantasy series to Bantam Spectra, and I had neither the time to write a trilogy for TSR, nor could I legally do so, given the no-compete clause in my own contract with Bantam. And the fact is, I'd much rather write novels set in my own worlds starring my own characters.
So everything turned out well in the end. Bob Salvatore got to keep writing Drizzt, which I'm sure his fans appreciate. And I got to write my own fantasy series. It's doing well by the way. The third of six books, THE DARK REMAINS, is due out February 27th. I'm glad to hear people enjoyed the books I wrote for TSR, and I believe my current books are a big leap above those in quality, so I hope you'll check them out. You can learn more at my web site: http://www.thelastrune.com
Well, I hope that answers your questions. Feel free to pass the word along to others. And if you have any further questions about SHORES OF DUSK, please direct them to Mary Kirchoff at TSR/WotC.
All the Best,
Mark Anthony
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Brian R. James - Freelance Game Designer
Follow me on Twitter @brianrjames |
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Matthus
Senior Scribe
Germany
393 Posts |
Posted - 27 Nov 2007 : 13:44:19
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Thanks Brian,
this post doesn’t left any further questions, even if I would have loved seeing more from Mark in Forgtten Realms.  
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Theophilus
Learned Scribe
Australia
143 Posts |
Posted - 12 Dec 2007 : 02:27:45
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Actually I have a question about this matter if anyone can help? Mr Anthony mentions that the project was cancelled just months before publication date and that he was paid for the job - does this imply that the novel was complete/near complete?
If it was complete/near complete I'd love to get my hands on a draft! |
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Purple Dragon Knight
Master of Realmslore
Canada
1796 Posts |
Posted - 12 Dec 2007 : 03:57:29
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quote:
Originally posted by Theophilus
Actually I have a question about this matter if anyone can help? Mr Anthony mentions that the project was cancelled just months before publication date and that he was paid for the job - does this imply that the novel was complete/near complete?
If it was complete/near complete I'd love to get my hands on a draft!
Fat chance Theophilus...
Remember the end of the Lost Ark movie... that large vault with millions and millions of crates, containers, chests, etc... |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36876 Posts |
Posted - 12 Dec 2007 : 04:10:21
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quote:
Originally posted by Theophilus
Actually I have a question about this matter if anyone can help? Mr Anthony mentions that the project was cancelled just months before publication date and that he was paid for the job - does this imply that the novel was complete/near complete?
If it was complete/near complete I'd love to get my hands on a draft!
It likely was completed, if the kill date was close to publication. But TSR/WotC likely retained the rights, and/or put some version of an NDA on the author... So even if he's still got a copy of the draft sitting right on his desk, he prolly cannot legally share it. |
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Jorkens
Great Reader
Norway
2950 Posts |
Posted - 12 Dec 2007 : 09:07:35
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| I dont think theres much chanse of the novel ever being seen, even though it went so near to publication that there was a notice in Dragon, with the finished cover. |
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Matthus
Senior Scribe
Germany
393 Posts |
Posted - 12 Dec 2007 : 10:50:27
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Maybe Mark could loose the draft near a copy shop - this wouldn’t be any violation of rights, wouldn’t it? 
With the copy money he even might get a good lawyer to argument against WotC about this 
(Just in case: This is not a serious proposal - I don't have the money for a lawyer myself ) |
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Ergdusch
Master of Realmslore
Germany
1720 Posts |
Posted - 12 Dec 2007 : 13:22:43
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quote:
Originally posted by Jorkens
I dont think theres much chanse of the novel ever being seen, even though it went so near to publication that there was a notice in Dragon, with the finished cover.
I'd like to take a look at that. Do you remember the issue it was in? By chance I have the issue at hand somewhere.... |
"Das Gras weht im Wind, wenn der Wind weht." |
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Hawkins
Great Reader
USA
2131 Posts |
Posted - 12 Dec 2007 : 18:51:08
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| It would be interesting if they would publish the book with a different character as the lead, but I doubt they will do that. I love novels that are non-Drizzt that take place in the Underdark. Well, I love them when they are written well. That also explains why RAS did not have a short story in Realms of the Underdark. |
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Theophilus
Learned Scribe
Australia
143 Posts |
Posted - 13 Dec 2007 : 00:11:51
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Thanks PDK/Wooly (and others).
I don't mean to be controversial but here goes!
What if (and its a big if) the story was considered a better Drizzt story by fans than Mr Salvatore's output?
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Purple Dragon Knight
Master of Realmslore
Canada
1796 Posts |
Posted - 13 Dec 2007 : 02:16:02
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quote:
Originally posted by Theophilus
Thanks PDK/Wooly (and others).
I don't mean to be controversial but here goes!
What if (and its a big if) the story was considered a better Drizzt story by fans than Mr Salvatore's output?
Whoa! you're fishing with the boomsticks today ain't ye?  |
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Jorkens
Great Reader
Norway
2950 Posts |
Posted - 13 Dec 2007 : 06:46:58
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quote:
Originally posted by Ergdusch
quote:
Originally posted by Jorkens
I dont think theres much chanse of the novel ever being seen, even though it went so near to publication that there was a notice in Dragon, with the finished cover.
I'd like to take a look at that. Do you remember the issue it was in? By chance I have the issue at hand somewhere....
I think it was right around issue 250. Can’t remember the exact one though. |
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Jorkens
Great Reader
Norway
2950 Posts |
Posted - 13 Dec 2007 : 06:50:34
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quote:
Originally posted by Theophilus
Thanks PDK/Wooly (and others).
I don't mean to be controversial but here goes!
What if (and its a big if) the story was considered a better Drizzt story by fans than Mr Salvatore's output?
Well (Unless I am completely loosing my memory here) Anthony wrote one short story about Drizzt.. You could read it and judge by that.
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The Shores of Dusk
