How To Read All 39 Drizzt Do'Urden Books In Order (It's Complicated)

Summary Drizzt Do'Urden is the most recognizable D&D character, featured in 39 novels over 30 years.

Drizzt's books follow a consistent release and story formula grouped into trilogies.

Some books in the series aren't about Drizzt, focusing on supporting characters like Wulfgar.

The titular hero of The Legend of Drizzt series has headlined 39 fantasy novels across a period of more than 30 years. Created by R.A. Salvatore, the dark elf ranger Drizzt Do'Urden is easily the most recognizable character associated with the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop game. Existing in a world based on the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, Drizzt has enjoyed numerous adventures, battling all sorts of Dungeons & Dragons monsters and visiting a long list of established locations from the game.

The character has accumulated dozens of roles in D&D media. He's been featured in D&D campaigns, comic books, and iconic fantasy RPG video games like Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn. Drizzt even came close to a Honor Among Thieves cameo, which would have marked his live-action debut. Before that, he was heavily rumored to be leading a Dungeons & Dragons TV show, and could still wind up taking that route. Unsurprisingly, the foundation of Drizzt's fame is his prolific catalog of book appearances.

How To Read The Drizzt Books In Release Order

The Legend of Drizzt consists of 13 book series

Since Drizzt's story didn't officially start at the beginning, there's more than one way to dive into the Drow hero's world. To experience it the way book readers were originally introduced to him in the 1980s, the book to pick up first would be The Crystal Shard. Published in 1988, Salvatore's novel featured the debuts of Drizzt and several of his most well-known companions, including Catti-brie, Bruenor, Regis, Wulfgar, and of course, Guenwyvar, the magical panther that follows him throughout his journeys.

The Crystal Shard leads directly into the sequel, Streams of Silver, followed by the third and final installment in the Icewind Dale trilogy, The Halfling's Gem. After concluding the Icewind Dale trilogy, Salvatore began a new Drizzt series, called the Dark Elf trilogy, which explored the dark elf's days in the Underdark. From there, Salvatore penned several more series, including The Legacy of the Drow, Paths of Darkness, and Transitions. The most recent series was Way of the Drow, which wrapped up in 2023.

The Legend of Drizzt follows a rather consistent release and story formula. Typically, Drizzt's Dungeons & Dragons stories are grouped into trilogies or sets of four to five books. Most of his books are complete stories, but each installment in a series is typically connected by a theme or a setting. Or, they end in a way that sets up the sequel. With some series, though, like Legacy of the Drow, individual entries are basically chapters in a wider narrative.

Book Series Release Year The Crystal Shard Icewind Dale 1988 Streams of Silver Icewind Dale 1989 The Halfling's Gem Icewind Dale 1990 Homeland Dark Elf 1990 Exile Dark Elf 1990 Sojourn Dark Elf 1991 The Legacy Legacy of the Drow 1992 Starless Night Legacy of the Drow 1993 Sige of Darkness Legacy of the Drow 1994 Passage to Dawn Legacy of the Drow 1996 The Silent Blade Paths of Darkness 1998 The Spine of the World Paths of Darkness 1999 Servant of the Shard The Sellswords 2000 Sea of Swords Paths of Darkness 2001 The Thousand Orcs The Hunter's Blades 2002 The Two Swords The Hunter's Blades 2003 The Lone Drow The Hunter's Blades 2004 Promise of the Witch King The Sellswords 2005 Road of the Patriarch The Sellswords 2006 The Orc King Transitions 2007 The Pirate King Transitions 2008 The Ghost King Transitions 2009 Gauntlgrym Neverwinter Saga 2010 Neverwinter Neverwinter Saga 2011 Charon's Claw Neverwinter Saga 2012 The Last Threshold Neverwinter Saga 2013 The Companions The Sundering 2013 Night of the Hunter Companions Codex 2014 Rise of the King Companions Codex 2014 Vengeance of the Iron Dwarf Companions Codex 2015 Archmage Homecoming 2015 Maestro Homecoming 2016 Hero Homecoming 2016 Timeless Generations 2018 Boundless Generations 2019 Relentless Generations 2020 Starlight Enclave Way of the Drow 2021 Glacier's Edge Way of the Drow 2022 Lolth's Warrior Way of the Drow 2023

How To Read The Drizzt Books In Chronological Order

In terms of reading order, The Legend of Drizzt is similar to George Lucas' Star Wars model

Close

To enjoy Drizzt's story from the beginning, the ideal starting point would be Homeland. Homeland, book 1 in the Dark Elf trilogy, was the fourth Drizzt book written by Salvatore, but is retroactively considered the first book in The Legend of Drizzt. The reason for this is because at the start of The Crystal Shard, Drizzt was already a highly skilled warrior with a rich backstory. By this point, he already knew Catti-brie and Bruenor. And while Drizzt didn't have his iconic scimitars yet, he did have his panther companion, Guenwyvar.

All of these things are covered in the Dark Elf trilogy, which essentially acts as a prequel to the Icewind Dale trilogy. Salvatore offers glimpses into Drizzt's past over the course of the Icewind Dale trilogy, but saves the full story for the Dark Elf trilogy. If avoiding the mystery of Drizzt's backstory and having an understanding of who he is and how he formed his relationships with his friends before investing in the Icewind Dale trilogy's story is preferred, it would be best to start with the Dark Elf series, and then proceed to The Crystal Shard, and so on.

Complicating the chronology of the series is The Sellswords trilogy. Officially, they're counted as books 14, 15, and 16 in the series, which correctly dictates where they fit into The Legend of Drizzt's timeline. However, they weren't published in this order. The Sellswords trilogy takes place between the events of the second Paths of Darkness book and its third installment, even though two of The Sellswords' entries weren't published until after Salvatore had already published the full Hunter's Blades trilogy.

Book Series Release Year Homeland Dark Elf 1990 Exile Dark Elf 1990 Sojourn Dark Elf 1991 The Crystal Shard Icewind Dale 1988 Streams of Silver Icewind Dale 1989 The Halfling's Gem Icewind Dale 1990 The Legacy Legacy of the Drow 1992 Starless Night Legacy of the Drow 1993 Sige of Darkness Legacy of the Drow 1994 Passage to Dawn Legacy of the Drow 1996 The Silent Blade Paths of Darkness 1998 The Spine of the World Paths of Darkness 1999 Servant of the Shard The Sellswords 2000 Promise of the Witch King The Sellswords 2005 Road of the Patriarch The Sellswords 2006 Sea of Swords Paths of Darkness 2001 The Thousand Orcs The Hunter's Blades 2002 The Two Swords The Hunter's Blades 2003 The Lone Drow The Hunter's Blades 2004 The Orc King Transitions 2007 The Pirate King Transitions 2008 The Ghost King Transitions 2009 Gauntlgrym Neverwinter Saga 2010 Neverwinter Neverwinter Saga 2011 Charon's Claw Neverwinter Saga 2012 The Last Threshold Neverwinter Saga 2013 The Companions The Sundering 2013 Night of the Hunter Companions Codex 2014 Rise of the King Companions Codex 2014 Vengeance of the Iron Dwarf Companions Codex 2015 Archmage Homecoming 2015 Maestro Homecoming 2016 Hero Homecoming 2016 Timeless Generations 2018 Boundless Generations 2019 Relentless Generations 2020 Starlight Enclave Way of the Drow 2021 Glacier's Edge Way of the Drow 2022 Lolth's Warrior Way of the Drow 2023

Four Books In The Series Aren't About Drizzt

Some books aren't essential to following Drizzt's story

Four books in The Legend of Drizzt series, including those in The Sellswords trilogy, aren't about the character, hence why some may be interested in potentially skipping them. After all, The Sellswords were once regarded as spinoffs in the first place, and were only designated as The Legend of Drizzt entries years after publication. As for the other one, The Spine of the World, it's the third book in Drizzt's Paths of Darkness trilogy and is intertwined with the overarching story. The Spine of the World shifts the focus to Wulfgar, one of Drizzt's most important allies.

Meanwhile, The Sellwords follows Jarlaxle and Artemis Entreri, two recurring characters in Drizzt's books. Since he doesn't appear in them at all, none are necessarily crucial to Drizzt's personal arc. Their relevance pertains mostly to the developments in the lives of his supporting characters, as what happens in those three novels to Jarlaxle Entreri do come into play in later Drizzt books since they shape the duo's dynamic.

Will There Be More Drizzt Books?

Wizards of the Coast hasn't said if there will be more Drizzt books

Published in 2023, Lolth's Warrior was the final installment in the Way of the Drow trilogy and is currently the last published book in The Legend of Drizzt series. However, it's too soon to say if it should be classified as Drizzt's swan song in the Forgotten Realms. It properly ended that book's specific adventure, but didn't close the door on Drizzt's story for good. While there's so much that he's already overcome in his long career as a sword-fighting ranger, the world of D&D is so expansive that it's not hard to imagine Drizzt one day embarking on another journey.