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A long time ago, when I was a wee child I read some of the Drizzt Do'Urden books, they really captured my imagination. I'd like to continue reading, but I've lost track of which books contain him, and indeed what order they should be read in.

I'm specifically interested in the chronological order (not publication order).

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  • personally I advice against reading the book in chronological orders since often there are references to later events or short cameos that you wouldn't get. The same was for me: you will miss the excited of seeing for the first appearance of a certain "black figurine" or after the cameo of certain characters you will simply wonder "why did he spend an entire chapter on this guy? What was his part in the plot?".
    – Cavaz
    Jan 12, 2014 at 16:19
  • I read the Neverwinter Series and enjoyed it. If you follow some of the advice here, I would add that you should read Neverwinter series LAST. I read it and realized (despite knowing much of the back story) that I wanted to re-read the stories to better understand the Neverwinter series.
    – user24831
    Apr 9, 2014 at 1:25
  • Please Please Please, If you enjoy Drizzt novels, Read through the transition series.... Amazing finish to your adventures with our beloved drow, if you feel you can stop there...
    – user25820
    May 2, 2014 at 0:03
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    R.A. Salvatore posted a suggested reading order for his Forgotten Realms stories in April 2015.
    – Valorum
    Jan 2, 2016 at 22:56

2 Answers 2

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In chronological order, they are:

  • The Dark Elf Trilogy (Homeland, Exile, Sojourn)
  • The Icewind Dale Trilogy (The Crystal Shard, Streams of Silver, The Halfling's Gem)
  • Dark Mirror, a short story in the Realms of Valor anthology.
  • The Legacy of the Drow series (The Legacy, Starless Night, Siege of Darkness, Passage to Dawn)
  • The Paths of Darkness series (The Silent Blade, The Spine of the World, Servant of the Shard*, Sea of Swords)
  • The Hunter's Blade trilogy (The Thousand Orcs, The Lone Drow, The Two Swords)
  • The Transitions trilogy (The Orc King, The Pirate King, The Ghost King)
  • The Neverwinter series (Gauntlgrym, Neverwinter, Charon's Claw, The Last Threshold)
  • The Sundering (The Companions, Book 1)
  • The Companions Codex series (Night of the Hunter, Rise of the King, Vengeance of the Iron Dwarf).
  • Homecoming (Archmage, Maestro, Hero).
  • Generations (Timeless, Boundless, Relentless).
  • The Way of the Drow (Starlight Enclave, Glacier's Edge).

My actual recommendation is to read them in publication order (swap the first two series) as Drizzt changes significantly between the first series and later ones. To my mind he is more an atypical drow rather than the pure force for good he ends up being in later series.

And if you want my really harsh recommendation, speaking as someone who read up to the Hunter's Blade trilogy, read the Icewind Dale Trilogy and stop there.

*Servant of the Shard is also the first book of The Sellswords series

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    +1 for harsh truths. Even if you find you like and want to read more, definitely stop before the Hunter's Blade trilogy. The editorial-forced-plot will scar your soul.
    – Tynam
    Apr 26, 2012 at 21:21
  • Bonus for harsh truths +1
    – Canadian Girl Scout
    Sep 12, 2012 at 20:54
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    +1 I wholeheartedly agree with the above. Just read the Dark Elf Trilogy and the Icewind Dale trilogy and stop. I recently read the Legacy of the Drow series and, while there is a little bit that's interesting, it's mostly the same plot and the same character issues rehashed four times.
    – Discord
    Nov 14, 2013 at 15:00
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    Any chance you could work in the stories from "The Legend of Drizzt: The Collected Stories" into this timeline? Dark Mirror is already there. amzn.com/B00L5F1IXM
    – ckittel
    Sep 16, 2015 at 21:31
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The books that feature Drizzt as a primary character, listed in the in-universe chronology, should be:

The Dark Elf Trilogy

  • Homeland
  • Exile
  • Sojourn

The Icewind Dale Trilogy

  • The Crystal Shard
  • Streams of Silver
  • The Halfling's Gem

Legacy of the Drow Tetralogy

  • Legacy
  • Starless Night
  • Siege of Darkness
  • Passage to Dawn

Paths of Darkness

  • The Silent Blade
  • The Spine of the World
  • Sea of Swords

The Hunter's Blades Trilogy

  • The Thousand Orcs
  • The Lone Drow
  • The Two Swords

Transitions

  • The Orc King
  • The Pirate King
  • The Ghost King

The Neverwinter Saga

  • Gauntlgrym
  • Neverwinter
  • Charon's Claw
  • The Last Threshold

The Sundering:

  • The Companions

The Companions Codex:

  • Night of the Hunter
  • Rise of the King
  • Vengeance of the Iron Dwarf

Homecoming:

  • Archmage
  • Maestro
  • Hero

Generations:

  • Timeless
  • Boundless
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  • There's also a short story, Dark Mirror (in the anthology Realms of Valor) - I removed it from my list above because the question specifies "books about", but you might still find it interesting.
    – TML
    Aug 10, 2011 at 21:43

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