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Daaan
Acolyte
Australia
2 Posts |
 Posted - 02 Jul 2008 : 09:42:38
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G'day all...
i just have a question to, well any who will answer...
sorry if this has been discussed already (i couldn't find it if it was).
Are the books in The Dark Elf Trilogy, The Icewind Dale Trilogy, The Legacy of the Drow exactly the same as The Legend of Drizzt?
also is Servant of the Shard from Paths of darkness the same as Servant of the Shard in The Sellswords
I'm just wondering if its worth buying what seems the same books for my collection. Thanks.
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Alisttair
Great Reader
Canada
3054 Posts |
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The Silver Bard
Acolyte
3 Posts |
Posted - 02 Jul 2008 : 13:37:59
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Now, Do keep in mind that I'm not absolutely certain when I say this, but at least mostly sure.
The Legend of Drizzt reprints are updated versions of the previous thirteen books with new cover art by Todd Lockwood. From what I've gathered, the Legend of Drizzt editions were released in a lead up to the "Twenty years of Drizzt" celebratory... Reader's Guide... thing... that comes out next month. They were also a good way to ensure that people seeking the older, possibly out of print, editions had the option of getting the shiny new covered editions to complete thier series.
Beyond that, there might be some small bits of editing to help smooth over some transition pains from book to book, fixing little inconsistancies and the like. You're safe enough getting either edition.
As for the Servant of the Shard, Yes, it is the same book. Years ago, there was a similar occurance with The Harpers series, which used to include parts of Shandril's Saga, the Songs and Swords series and a few others before their respective series continued.
My suggestion would be to buy whichever format you have the most of thus far.
Personally, I'm rebuying all of the Legend of Drizzt books as they are released in paperback, as my old ones are... well, old, but well loved.
Hope I've been of some help. |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 02 Jul 2008 : 14:34:47
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| So far as I know, only one change has ever been made in the Drizzt books. In the original version of Crystal Shard, Drizzt is said to have spent more than two centuries living in the Underdark. After the Dark Elf trilogy came out, this was retconned to agree with his current age. |
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Arrevanthas
Acolyte
USA
19 Posts |
Posted - 02 Jul 2008 : 15:34:39
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| I think Wooly is right. There was issues concerning Drizzt's age so the Crystal Shard was 'fixed.' Me personally, I am not buying the new covers...I like my old well loved ones. Plus I think the covers as so funny! Especially the cover to Starless Night...where Drizzt looks like an old man...cracks me up every time. ^_^ |
www.Arrevanthas.deviantart.com
Go on...you know you want to ^_~ |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 02 Jul 2008 : 16:06:16
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
So far as I know, only one change has ever been made in the Drizzt books. In the original version of Crystal Shard, Drizzt is said to have spent more than two centuries living in the Underdark. After the Dark Elf trilogy came out, this was retconned to agree with his current age.
I've also read (though I haven't confirmed this) that The Crystal Shard featured an account of Drizzt obtaining Guenhwyvar that differs from the account given in the Dark Elf trilogy. I don't know if that's been changed in newer editions, though. |
"Instead of asking why we sleep, it might make sense to ask why we wake. Perchance we live to dream. From that perspective, the sea of troubles we navigate in the workaday world might be the price we pay for admission to another night in the world of dreams."
--Richard Greene (letter to Time) |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 02 Jul 2008 : 17:34:12
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quote:
Originally posted by Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
So far as I know, only one change has ever been made in the Drizzt books. In the original version of Crystal Shard, Drizzt is said to have spent more than two centuries living in the Underdark. After the Dark Elf trilogy came out, this was retconned to agree with his current age.
I've also read (though I haven't confirmed this) that The Crystal Shard featured an account of Drizzt obtaining Guenhwyvar that differs from the account given in the Dark Elf trilogy. I don't know if that's been changed in newer editions, though.
It's been quite some time since I touched any of those books, so I can't recall if there was any real difference in there or not. I don't recall it, but I can't say with 100% certainty that anything was or wasn't changed.
Edit: Okay, I went back and read the relevant passages. The original printing of Crystal Shard says Masoj Hun'ett got Guenhwyvar from a demon lord. I don't recall if this was in the Dark Elf trilogy or not. The encounter with the cave fisher, when Guenhwyvar rescued Drizzt, is implied to have happened some time before Drizzt took Guenhwyvar from Masoj -- no time is mentioned, but the encounter with the svirfnebli is said to happen after this, as well as periodic secret meetings between Drizzt and Guenhwyvar (which I don't recall at all in the Dark Elf books). The encounter with the deep gnomes was the last straw, and a week later, Drizzt found Masoj and slipped "his scimitar through the ribs of his unsuspecting victim" -- which implies murder, to me; that's an exact quote, with my own emphasis added. Drizzt then took the figurine and fled; it doesn't say he went straight from there to the wilds of the Underdark, but it does imply it. This is on pages 69-72 of the original printing.
In Homeland, however, we see that there was a battle between Alton DeVir (who really didn't do much), Masoj Hun'ett, and Drizzt. Masoj sent Guenhwyvar to hunt down and kill Drizzt. She rescued him from the cave fisher, then opted not to kill him. She lead Drizzt back to where the other two were waiting. She was dismissed, but summoned herself back to help Drizzt. She took down Alton, and Drizzt fought Masoj (who was certainly not unsuspecting). After killing Masoj, Drizzt took the figurine and went home, where he discovered more badness had happened, which is when he decided to go it alone and leave home.
The encounter with the gnomes was before all this. I was only skimming, though, so I don't know how much time was between the two events. However, there is a clear difference between the two accounts. They are close, but not quite the same.
I've not read the changed version of Crystal Shard, so I don't know if the Guenhwyvar origin info was changed in later printings. I only knew about the age thing because when I read the Dark Elf trilogy, I noted that more notable discrepancy. |
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Edited by - Wooly Rupert on 02 Jul 2008 18:17:35 |
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
Posted - 02 Jul 2008 : 22:21:10
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I was discussing this with a guy in my gaming group a while back, and I started wondering if the way Drizzt got Guenhwyvar wasn't tweaked a bit because of the TSR "comics code" adherence. What I mean by that is . . . even though we know that Drizzt eventually turned out to be a paragon of virtue, if he had been less than honorable, and had intentionally murdered Masoj to in order to get Guenhwyvar, the first book would have ended with our protagonist having murdered someone for personal gain.
In other words, in order for the book to not end with someone doing something evil and benefiting from it, and that someone being the protagonist, the first book had to speed up Drizzt's progression away from typical drow behavior, by at least making the incident one of self defense. In other words, the TSR folks may not have felt that knowing Drizzt eventually becomes good was enough to keep the book from "portraying evil in a positive light."
Just a thought. |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 02 Jul 2008 : 23:21:55
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Well, it could be argued that it wasn't murder for personal gain. Even in the original Crystal Shard, it's established that Drizzt was outraged at the way Guenhwyvar was being treated -- it specificially speaks of her being a hunter, not an assassin, and yet she was being used to hunt down innocent gnomes. And it says this was the last in a string of outrages. So it could easily be said that what Drizzt was doing was, if not totally justified, at the least morally defensible. He didn't murder to gain a companion, he murdered to free her from unjust servitude to an evil master.
Besides, Crystal Shard did feature a good guy attacking a bad guy for personal gain -- Wulfgar versus Icingdeath. Yeah, Wulfgar was trying to save both his people and the people of Ten Towns, but he still went out of his way to attack and kill someone who was not bothering anyone. But maybe that was okay, since Icingdeath was a dragon, and attacking dragons has always been a moral grey area in D&D (it always seems to be okay to kill evil dragons, and destroy or sell their eggs, even if the dragon isn't really bothering anyone). |
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Edited by - Wooly Rupert on 02 Jul 2008 23:32:09 |
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Daaan
Acolyte
Australia
2 Posts |
Posted - 03 Jul 2008 : 02:11:26
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Hmm... Thanks people, I dare say I'll end up buying the newer versions to check out the discrepancies also the new covers... I haven't seen any of the older covers as i own the collectors eds but I do have a lot of first editions and cant get over those funky 80s hair dos on all the characters(e.g. on the cover of Daughter of the Drow the look like an 80s folk band).
I also agree with Wooly Rupert on the whole justifiable murder. |
Edited by - Daaan on 03 Jul 2008 02:12:38 |
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
Posted - 03 Jul 2008 : 03:02:09
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| I'm not really arguing that there wasn't some degree of moral outrage involved, I guess I'm just wondering how much of the change might have been the TSR equivalent of making sure that "Greedo shot first." |
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Double Troubles
