| Icewind Dale Trilogy | |
| Books: | |
| Author: | R. A. Salvatore |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Genre: | Epic fantasy |
| Publisher: | |
| Pub Date: | 1988–1990 |
| Media Type: | Print (paperback) |
| Number Of Books: | 3 |
| Preceded By: | The Dark Elf Trilogy |
| Followed By: | Legacy of the Drow |
The Icewind Dale Trilogy is a trilogy of epic fantasy novels by the American writer R.A. Salvatore. The books are The Crystal Shard, Streams of Silver and The Halfling's Gem. They tell the tale of ranger Drizzt Do'Urden the drow (or dark elf), Wulfgar the barbarian warrior, Regis the halfling, dwarf king Bruenor, and Bruenor's adopted human daughter Catti-brie. It is the first of Salvatore's Forgotten Realms novels which introduces some of the best-known characters in that world. The final book of this series, The Halfling's Gem, appeared in The New York Times Best Seller list.[1]
A prequel trilogy, The Dark Elf Trilogy, followed, as did several subsequent sequel series such as Legacy of the Drow and Paths of Darkness.
In later years, these and other books featuring the character Drizzt Do'Urden have been rebranded as installments of The Legend of Drizzt, and such publications of the Icewind Dale Trilogy are identified on their covers as books IV, V, and VI of that series.
Following from the comic adaptation of The Dark Elf Trilogy, Devil's Due Publishing continued with the adaptation of Crystal Shard. The second issue (October 2006) earned 20th[2] place and the third issue (December 2006) earned 18th place in the list of top 100 Independent comics for their respective months.[3]
Devil's Due Publishing announced the individual issues for this series would be collected into a trade paperback with Tyler Walpole serving as the cover artist. The series was adapted by Andrew Dabb and pencilled by Val Semeiks.[4] The trade paperback for Streams of Silver was ranked 34 in the top 100 Graphic Novels for August 2007, with an estimated pre-order sale quantity of 2,524.[5]
The final issue of Halfling's Gem was announced on 18 September 2007 and was shipped in December 2007.[6] The final issue #3 completes the adaptation of Dark Elf Trilogy and Icewind Dale Trilogy.
The entire trilogy was ranked 9th in Banophernalia's top 10 books for 2000.[7] In the same site, the series was given 3 stars for Crystal Shard and 3.5 stars for Streams of Silver and The Halfling's Gem. It was considered standard enjoyable fantasy fare, although clichéd.[8]
Ian Strelec, staff reviewer for d20zines.com, awarded Streams of Silver a B+ rating. He praised the vivid descriptions and good characterizations in the novel, but was critical of unrealistic situations as well as an overemphasis on combat scenarios.[9]
The last volume of the trilogy, The Halfling's Gem, was ranked 14th in the New York Times paperback best sellers' list on 11 March 1990.[1]
Paul Hughes, in an editorial review of the trilogy on Amazon's website, wrote that, while the book is not Tolkien, it has "brought legions of enthusiastic fans to the genre". The reviewer also stated that it is essential for any "Drizzt true believer".[10]