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.

How To Read The Drizzt Books In Chronological Order

The Legend Of Drizzt Novels Weren't Released In Accordance With The Character's Timeline

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.

Four Books In The Series Aren't About Drizzt

Some Legend Of Drizzt 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 ing 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.

What Order Should First-Time Readers Follow?

The Chronological Order Is The Best Order For Newbies, But With Considerations

Generally speaking, the chronological order is the best approach for tackling The Legend Of Drizzt novels, as they provide a cohesive timeline for the character. However, there are some considerations to take before embarking on this lengthy literary quest. Some existing knowledge of Dungeons & Dragons definitely helps, not so much in of gameplay mechanics, but definitely of its various settings, such as the Forgotten Realms.

The novels do explain a great deal of this, but they're definitely much easier to enjoy with some pre-existing knowledge (similarly to the various Star Wars or Halo novels that exist, they're written with fans of an existing franchise in mind). Many fans online have also put forward a key point that, since Drizzt's stories tend to be divided into trilogies, it is possible to start a trilogy that occurs later in the character's timeline, then jump back to an earlier one, and still follow what's going on.

Which Drizzt Do'Urden Book Is The Best?

The Icewind Dale Trilogy Is Still Considered The Pinnacle Of The Legend Of Drizzt

While it's ultimately subjective, there does seem to be many fans who see the Icewind Dale trilogy as the best books in The Legend Of Drizzt series. This was the first trilogy of Drizzt novels released, and as a cohesive story they're definitely the most approachable and self-contained. This is perhaps why so many fans of the franchise rank them highly, as these three Drizzt books — The Crystal Shard, Stream of Silver, and The Halfling's Gem — were written by R. A. Salvatore with no goal beyond telling a good story about an interesting character.

Everything that followed was still of an exceptionally high quality, but they were also the stories constructed to exist as part of a much wider franchise. The Halfling's Gem also made it to the New York Times bestseller list, and of all The Legend Of Drizzt novels, the Icewind Dale trilogy is perhaps still the only segment of the wider saga with broader appeal beyond Dungeons & Dragons players and fans.