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Free download or read online The Crystal Shard pdf (ePUB) book. The first edition of this novel was published in January 1st 1988, and was written by R.A. The book was published in multiple languages including English language, consists of 344 pages and is available in Mass Market Paperback format. Legacy of the Crystal Shard is a Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game adventure that can be played using the rules for 3rd Edition (v.3.5), 4th Edition, and the D&D Next playtest. The people of Icewind Dale have long stood against the perils of the North. For most of these folk, the events that shook. 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.

The Crystal Shard is a 1988 fantasy novel by American writer R. A. Salvatore. The first book in The Icewind Dale Trilogy, it was his first published novel.

Plot summary[edit]

Even in the remote far northern region of Icewind Dale, the renegade dark elf ranger Drizzt Do'Urden was not fully accepted, except by the dwarves whom he had eventually befriended. He roamed the tundra, hunting down yeti and giants that threatened the Ten Towns of Icewind Dale. When the barbarians that were the native people of the Dale banded together to slaughter the people of Ten Towns, whom they viewed as invaders, Drizzt, with his drow stealth and ranger's knowledge of the terrain, was able to discern their plans and relay the information to his friends, the halfling Regis and the dwarf Bruenor. Regis, on the council of Ten Towns, used persuasion and a magical hypnotic ruby pendant to convince the stubborn leaders of the towns to work together to thwart the barbarian attack.

Because of the warning and their unified efforts, Ten-Towns and the dwarves successfully repelled the barbarian attackers, decimating the proud warriors. Drizzt fought in the battle, personally meeting the barbarian king, Heafstaag, in combat. Drizzt wounded Heafstaag many times, including a stab to the stomach that should have been fatal. But Drizzt himself was wounded, and Heafstaag escaped and survived. During this same battle, Bruenor met a young barbarian standard bearer, who broke the shaft of his banner over the dwarf's head. Bruenor, unfazed, slammed the youth with his shield, rendering him unconscious. After the battle, Bruenor saved this same youth from being killed in cold blood by the townspeople, taking the young man, Wulfgar, son of (the late) Beornegar into his care. Bruenor also defended the wounded and unconscious Drizzt, slamming Kemp to the ground and breaking the nose of his lieutenant when he found them kicking the injured drow. Bruenor told the people of Ten Towns, quite truthfully, that if not for Drizzt Do'Urden, they would now be dead. After this, Drizzt found more acceptance in Icewind Dale, even respect.

Five years passed, with Wulfgar indentured to the dwarves. Bruenor taught him to smith and mine, and came to love him like a son. Though Wulfgar originally resented the dwarves and his indenture, he came to respect and even love Bruenor, like the father that had died years past.

During this same time, the failed wizard Akar Kessel, left to die in the Spine of the World, found Crenshinibon, the Crystal Shard, a magical, sentient crystal with the ability to lend power to its wielder, make tower sanctuaries in the likeness of itself, and insinuate itself into the minds of others, including that of its wielder. Crenshinibon, obsessed with gaining power, twisted Akar Kessel's mind to get him to do its will. Kessel, with no idea that he was being controlled, decided to conquer Icewind Dale for his own. He enslaved the goblins and orcs of the nearby mountains, building them into his own army, their wills completely destroyed by Crenshinibon. He even managed to gain control of Heafstaag, and through him the tribes of barbarians. He also acquired the services of a balor demon named Errtu to be his general, though it was far more interested in sticking around long enough to get his hands on Crenshinibon than anything else.

Near the end of Wulfgar's indenture, Bruenor forged Aegis-fang, the magical warhammer, for his adopted son. He then took Wulfgar to be trained in the ways of battle, choosing Drizzt as the young man's instructor. Wulfgar was ambivalent when he saw that his teacher was a drow, but quickly came to respect and admire the dark elf. Drizzt turned the young man into a formidable warrior. The two of them took out an entire lair of verbeeg (the least of the giant species, around a height of ten feet), led by a frost giant named Biggrin with only the help of Drizzt's magical black panther companion Guenhwyvar. Wulfgar then left to hunt down a white dragon, Ingeloakastimizilian, more commonly known as Icingdeath. Drizzt tracked him, and the two of them killed the dragon. Drizzt found a scimitar in the treasure hoard, and took it for his own, eventually naming it after the dragon.

As Akar Kessel moved in on Ten-Towns, his armies sweeping aside the disorganized defense with little trouble, Wulfgar took the horns of Icingdeath and challenged Heafstaag for kingship. He won the challenge, killing the old king. Drizzt, sensing the demon Errtu, and recognizing the balor from his days living in the deep underground drow city of Menzoberranzan, called the demon and faced it alone with Guenhwyvar. After a battle, and the aid of the fire-banishing properties of the scimitar Icingdeath, he managed to defeat the demon, banishing it to the abyss for one hundred years.

After defeating the demon, Drizzt used his stealth and Guenhwyvar's unnatural eyes to find his way into the Crystal Tower, Cryshal-Tirith, where he fought his way past Akar Kessel's orcs and trolls to face the wizard himself. The wizard, sure of victory, imprisoned the drow in a cage of magical light, and taunted him with images of the barbarians joining the battle for Ten Towns, thinking that Heafstaag still led them. However, Wulfgar led his people not against Ten Towns, but against Kessel. With the help of Regis, a halfling prisoner in the tower, Drizzt escaped his cage, and followed Kessel through a portal to the top of a mountain. There, after a short battle, the magical heat of Crenshinibon destabilized the snow cap, and an avalanche killed Kessel and took Drizzt back down the mountain. Crenshinibon, buried under the avalanche and blocked from the light of the sun (its power source) and weakened by Regis' destruction of Cryshal-Tirth lost its control over the orcs and goblins, who lost cohesion and were slaughtered. Bruenor, faking mortal injury, tricked Drizzt into agreeing to search for Mithral Hall, Bruenor's boyhood home.

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Development[edit]

In 1987 R.A. Salvatore sent Mary Kirchoff, then managing editor of TSR's book department, a manuscript for what would become his 1990 novel Echoes of the Fourth Magic. She liked it, but asked if he could rewrite it to take place in the Forgotten Realms. Gta 4 pc download full game free. She sent him Darkwalker on Moonshae by Douglas Niles, the only novel at the time set in the Forgotten Realms. Salvatore sent her a proposal for a sequel to Darkwalker, but Kirchoff sent back a large map of the Forgotten Realms and told him she wanted a new story set in a different part of the Realms. After two weeks of phone calls, Salvatore found a spot on the map that was not already designated for another project, and he located Icewind Dale there.^[1] According to Salvatore, the book was 'set on the Moonshae Isles, because at the time I thought that was the Realms. When I found out how big the Realms were, I moved the story a thousand miles to the north.'^[2]

Salvatore had sent an early version of The Crystal Shard (what would become his first published novel) to TSR, and one day Kirchoff called him. She was on her way to a marketing meeting concerning the book, and informed him that they could not use one of the characters. He asked for time to think, but she was already late for the meeting. Off the top of his head, Salvatore said he had a Dark Elf. Kirchoff was skeptical, but Salvatore convinced her it would be fine because he was just a sidekick. She asked his name, and he replied Drizzt Do'Urden. She asked if he could spell it, and he said 'not a chance'.^[1][3]

Reception[edit]

Banophernalia gave 3 stars for The Crystal Shard.^[4]

References[edit]

1. ^ ^abWeinlein, Sue (December 1992). 'Novel Ideas'. Dragon Magazine. TSR (188): 79, 80, 84.
2. ^Varney, Allen (October 1998). 'ProFiles: R.A. Salvatore'. Dragon. Renton, Washington: Wizards of the Coast (#252): 120.
3. ^Huddleston, Kathie. 'Novelist R.A. Salvatore crosses over into his newest magical realm and brings along his favorite character'. SciFi.com. Archived from the original on May 14, 2008. Retrieved 2009-01-08.
4. ^'R.A. Salvatore'. Banophernalia. Retrieved 2008-03-03.

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 rangerDrizzt 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, describing the events that created 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.

• 3Comic adaptation

Works included[edit]

• The Crystal Shard (1988)
• Streams of Silver (1989)
• The Halfling's Gem (1990)

In later years, these and other books featuring the character Drizzt Do'Urden have been rebranded as installments of The Legend of Drizzt. Current^[when?] publications of the Icewind Dale Trilogy are identified on their covers as books IV, V and VI of that series.

Characters[edit]

• Akar Kessell is the former apprentice of Morkai the Red. He is left to die in a bowl-shaped dell of Icewind Dale by Dendybar the Mottled, who tricked Kessel into killing Morkai with promises to become the new head of the mage's guild. He comes across Crenshinibon, which allows him to survive and grants him great power. He commands a large army of creatures (mostly goblins, with lesser numbers of orcs, ogres and giants) and builds a large tower. He also forms an alliance with Errtu, who also seeks the crystal. He is defeated by Drizzt and killed when he teleports the two of them to the base of a mountain only to by buried in an avalanche.
• Errtu is the powerful balor who originally sought the Crystal Shard. After leaving the Abyss, he comes to the Prime Material Plane and stumbles upon Crenshinibon and Akar Kessel-its wielder. Akar, after reminding Errtu of his newfound power, appoints him general of his army. Soon enough, Errtu is magically beckoned by Drizzt Do'Urden, who attempts to trick the balor into thinking he is part of larger drow force whose eyes are set on the Crystal Shard. Once this ruse fails, Errtu attacks Drizzt and Guenhwyvar, but is destroyed in the process and sent back to the Abyss for 100 years' banishment.

Comic adaptation[edit]

Crystal Shard[edit]

Following from the comic adaption of The Dark Elf Trilogy, Devil's Due Publishing continued with the adaptation of Crystal Shard. The second issue (October 2006) reaching 20^[2] and the third issue (December 2006) reaching 18 in the top 100 Independent comic for their respective months.^[3]

Streams of Silver[edit]

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]

Halfling's Gem[edit]

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.

Reception[edit]

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. Vivid descriptions and good characterisations were praised in the novel however he was critical of unrealistic situations as well an over emphasis 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]

Forgotten Realms

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]

References[edit]

1. ^ ^ab'PAPERBACK BEST SELLERS: March 11, 1990'. NY Times. 11 March 1990. Retrieved 3 March 2008.
2. ^Albert, Aaron. 'Top 100 Indy Comics for October 2006'. About.com. Retrieved 3 March 2008.
3. ^Albert, Aaron. 'Top 100 Indy Comics for December 2006'. About.com. Retrieved 3 March 2008.
4. ^'Devil's Due Comics for August, 2007'. comicsnewsi. Retrieved 4 March 2008.
5. ^'Top 100 Graphic Novels Actual--August 2007'. icv2.com. Retrieved 4 March 2008.
6. ^'December 07 Solicits — Tuesday, 18 September 2007'. Devil's Due. Archived from the original on 25 February 2008. Retrieved 5 March 2008.
7. ^'Best books of 2000'. Banophernalia. Retrieved 3 March 2008.
8. ^'R.A. Salvatore'. Banophernalia. Retrieved 3 March 2008.
9. ^Strelec, Ian. 'Streams of Silver Review'. d20zines.com. Retrieved 8 March 2008.
10. ^Hughes, Paul (2000-01-01). The Icewind Dale Collector's Edition: (World: Forgotten Realms) (Forgotten Realms) (Hardcover). ISBN978-0786915576.

External links[edit]

• Forgotten Realms: The Icewind Dale Trilogy series listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database

The Crystal Shard Movie