Dungeons & Dragons & Novels: RevisitingHomeland

After the success ofTheIcewindDaletrilogy and the immense popularity of its breakout ace , Drizzt Do’Urden , R.A. Salvatorewas inevitably going to explore how the one non - evil drow elf in the Forgotten Realms became … well , non - vicious . The result was the Dark Elf trilogy , which began with Homeland . It was by far my favorite Dungeons & Dragons novel when I was a kid , and now , 30 + twelvemonth later on , it still is .

Homeland chronicles Drizzt ’s aliveness from his birth to the present moment he go forth the Underdark and infix the surface world for the first time , but its heavy strength is how it explores drow guild , which up to that point was best resume as “ very evil . ” Prior to Drizzt , in the venous blood vessel of orcs , troll , and primary - colored dragon , the Drow were essentially categorize as more monsters for player to battle and defeat . Their pelt was obsidian black , earn them the alternate name of saturnine imp , and strike off them as the evil counterpart to the honest and heroic lighter - skinned ELF of the surface .

The problem with this is obvious , and already feel weird to me back when I was 13 . When the drow were one - dimensional sorry Guy in the Monster Manual , it was easy not to imagine about the incredibly horrific decision to make a dark - skinned race uniformly wickedness . But when Salvatore introduced Drizzt in 1988 ’s The Crystal Shard , instrumentalist / proofreader who had n’t been bothered this by were forced to notice the correlation because character in the Forgotten Realms judged Drizzt by the colouring of his skin . He was distrusted , despised , and know apart against , often even by those he serve .

Inset of the original cover to Homeland by artist Jeff Easley.

Inset of the original cover to Homeland by artist Jeff Easley.Image: Wizards of the Coast

I do n’t know how conscious Salvatore was of arguably setting Wizards of the Coast on its journeying to reckon with Dungeons & Dragons’racism problemback then — althoughhe surely is now — by presenting the estimation that even a drow could be a hero sandwich , but it was a course he trod more solidly in Homeland . While drow society is malevolent ( it ’s also a matriarchate , which is n’t a good look either ) Salvatore take care to point out Drizzt is n’t alone , and not every elf living in the belowground city of Menzoberranzan is chaotic immorality .

Zaknafein , the weapon master of House Do’Urden and the secret father of Drizzt , find drow society horrible but feel utterly pin in it . Drizzt ’s babe Vierna , who ’s placed in kick of Drizzt for his first 13 age , has moments of care for empathy for her short brother , who was originally specify to be sacrificed as the unnecessary third Word of Matron Malice Do’Urden . ( as luck would have it , Drizzt ’s older brother Dinin mangle Drizzt ’s oldest brother Nalfein that same Nox , upgrading Drizzt to the 2nd Logos . ) Unfortunately , the indoctrination that Vierna was raised with usually reasserts itself , and Vierna often punish Drizzt for the non - vicious idea he inspires in her .

confessedly , those are pretty much the only three people we jazz who have some degree of good in them in a palmy , malicious stamp of dozens . But Salvatore takes tending to point out drow are n’t born evil , they ’re raise immorality . Here ’s an tortured thought from Zaknafein , after watching Drizzt research the Do’Urden weapon system room with uncurbed , non - sadistic happiness .

Todd Lockwood’s cover to the 2004 re-release.

Todd Lockwood’s cover to the 2004 re-release.Image: Wizards of the Coast

“ Are they all like that ? ” he inquire into his nearly empty room . “ Do all drow children possess such ingenuousness , such elementary , stainless smiles that can not survive the ugliness of our world ? ”

It ’s not much , and yes , the immense legal age of characters in Homeland are unabashedly evil . But it ’s hard not to pass a line from Homeland to the problems Wizards of the Coast istrying to address now .

But where Homeland really shine — what hooked me as a fry , and what I still find fascinating now — is how good Salvatore examines drow beau monde and the city of Menzoberranzan . From the cult of Lolth , the spider - goddess , to the matriarchal star sign constantly connive to destroy the others , to their evenly Machiavellian education organisation , to the brutal class structure , Salvatore explores it all . He give equal attention to the computer architecture and art of Menzoberranzan , and he ’s gained enough accomplishment to describe it with sang-froid . What would bet like utter iniquity to us is a world of vivid colour for the drow , whose nightvision ( the D&D term for being able-bodied to see the infrared spectrum ) is unparalleled . It ’s augmented by conjuration and the elf ’ ability to shape stone into works of art , ornate houses , and more .

The original 1990 cover.

The original 1990 cover.Image: Wizards of the Coast

Through all the Forgotten Realms novels I ’ve read , the land itself has always filled like generic , Tolkien fantasy . Which is hunky-dory , and exactly what I want as a kid ! But Homeland take me beyond D&D ’s generic fantasy campaign determine into someplace I ’d never been before , someplace utterly foreign and riveting . And just as significantly , Homeland was n’t a D&D biz retrofitted into a novel ; it was a coming - of - geezerhood narrative about a kid who ’s born into a cult and contend to resist its brainwashing and scarper into a newfangled man … where a new serial of problem expect him .

It was unlike any other Dungeons & Dragons novel I ’d take at the time , and I ’m pretty indisputable it still is — and that include the other book in the Dark Elf trilogy , Exile and Sojourn . I have no idea if that will shift as I begin getting into the novel I did n’t say as a kid , but for now , I say Homeland wander a critical hit — a natural 20 . It ’s as good as I suspect a classic D&D novel to get , but I am very willing to be establish wrong . Given that there are 34 more Legend of Drizzt novels to read , this could be a horrifying pick that will force me to recalibrate the entire score organization at some item , but oh well .

Assorted Musings:

Okay , this is n’t really a reflexion , and there ’s only one . But next clip on Dungeons & Dragons & Novels , we ’re guide back to Krynn but cut around a little morsel . I ’ll be taking on the third book in the Dragonlance : Heroes series ( which kicked off withThe Legend of Huma ) , title Weasel ’s Luck ! Is it simply because the word “ weasel ” is in the title ? I ’ll never tell !

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Drizzt battles Zaknafein on the cover of The Legend of Drizzt: Homeland #2 comic by Tim Seeley.