Elfy? Check. Two scimitars? Check. Accompanied by a large feline? Check. Uh oh.
MB: You’ve written more than 20 novels featuring Drizzt Do’Urden. That’s a lot of books, a lot of New York Times bestseller lists and a lot of built-in and built-up fan assumptions and desires. Do you ever find your creative direction—be it for a character or an entire story—altered by the pull of reader expectations?
RS: It’s hard to find that balance emotionally between satisfying yourself and satisfying the fans. I’ve always erred on the side of satisfying my own creative needs; I’m letting the story tell me where to go. And let’s be honest, when Wizards of the Coast decides to fast-forward the Forgotten Realms a hundred years, that forces some changes upon me that I might not have done otherwise. That’s just the reality of working in a shared world. I’m not going to be mad about. If I don’t like it, I can go write in somebody else’s sandbox or make my own. But as far as the fans go, their reactions do have an impact.
MB: Can you give us an example?
RS: I wrote a book called Road of the Patriarch, featuring Artemis Entreri and Jarlaxle—both villains. Entreri has been a intricate part of the Drizzt series pretty much from the beginning. I wrote a short story [called “The Third Level” that recounts] his origin—as a child he was betrayed by a relative, by his mother, by a church, by everybody around him. At the end of Road of the Patriarch, Entreri has just burned down this temple in the city and he’s got a priest up on the ledge. He tells him to go, rebuild, stop lying to the people and to follow the tenets of his god, or Entreri will come back and burn the temple down again, this time with the priest in it. Right after that, he tells Jarlaxle, “Go away, I don’t need you anymore.” To me, that was Entreri for the first time in his life not hating himself. To me, that was a proper ending for Artemis Entreri.
Then the letters started coming in. Letters and emails from people sharing really personal stories of betrayals as children where they had been similarly abused, and begging me to keep going with Entreri. They had to see him healthy; they had to see him come through the other side of this epiphany he had in that book.
MB: That sounds like a pretty heavy load to put on a fantasy writer.
RS: It’s humbling. It’s a reminder that when you’re writing books and putting them up there for public consumption, people are letting you into their lives just a little bit as well. There’s no other way to put it—it’s humbling.
MB: And how do you feel about fan fiction?
RS: I won’t be beholden to it, but I love that people think enough of [my work] to go and do that. I’m not going to read it because that would get me in trouble, but if people want to do it, fine. If they try and sell is, they’re going to get sued, but that’s a whole different ball game.
MB: What’s the latest on a Drizzt movie?
RS: The good news is Hasbro really wants a Drizzt movie now. [Hasbro owns Wizards of the Coast, which owns the Forgotten Realms setting.] The company has a record now of movie making. With the Transformers movies and G.I. Joe, they’ve made lots of money in movies, so they are very interested in doing it. They are raising the profile; they are contacting people. Will anything come of it? I don’t know.
One of the things working against us? They are protecting an enormously successful and stable franchise. Every year a Drizzt book comes out, we know how many we’re going to sell. A good movie would help that franchise, but a really bad one could hurt something we all love.
If they are convinced they can do it right, they will probably pull the trigger, but that’s a big if. I understand and appreciate [Hasbro’s] care and concern—I have a lot to lose here, too. If they did a cheesy movie, how would anyone pick up Homeland after that movie and take it seriously? I don’t want cheese. I don’t want camp. I like serious fantasy. I believe in serious fantasy. Sure, some of the action might be over the top, but that’s what fantasy is.
MB: Any movie interest with your non-Drizzt properties?
RS: My DemonWars books are being well-represented: I’ve got a major star signed on, a major producer signed on, and a really great writer signed on. Will anything come of that? I have no idea. It’s Hollywood. When the check shows up, you know they are serious. When it hits the theaters or DVD, you know they actually made it. (And then you hold your breath and hope they made it right.)
MB: There are some authors who are infamous for complaining about the film treatments of their source material—Alan Moore springs to mind. How do you view the author-film relationship?
RS: I would hope I would never complain about whom they cast or how they do it. That’s not fair. If I’ve sold them the rights to do a movie, they’ve paid me a lot of money for those rights. It’s up to them to mess it up or fix it on their own. I hope it won’t work like that. I’d rather be involved. First of all, I need something new. I’ve been writing books for a quarter of a century. It would be nice to go and do something different for a few months. So I’m hoping I’ll be involved. Then again, when I see their proposal, if I don’t like it, no amount of money will get me to say yes.
Interview: R. A. Salvatore
MB: You’ve written more than 20 novels featuring Drizzt Do’Urden. That’s a lot of books, a lot of New York Times bestseller lists and a lot of built-in and built-up fan assumptions and desires. Do you ever find your creative direction—be it for a character or an entire story—altered by the pull of reader expectations?
RS: It’s hard to find that balance emotionally between satisfying yourself and satisfying the fans. I’ve always erred on the side of satisfying my own creative needs; I’m letting the story tell me where to go. And let’s be honest, when Wizards of the Coast decides to fast-forward the Forgotten Realms a hundred years, that forces some changes upon me that I might not have done otherwise. That’s just the reality of working in a shared world. I’m not going to be mad about. If I don’t like it, I can go write in somebody else’s sandbox or make my own. But as far as the fans go, their reactions do have an impact.
MB: Can you give us an example?
RS: I wrote a book called Road of the Patriarch, featuring Artemis Entreri and Jarlaxle—both villains. Entreri has been a intricate part of the Drizzt series pretty much from the beginning. I wrote a short story [called “The Third Level” that recounts] his origin—as a child he was betrayed by a relative, by his mother, by a church, by everybody around him. At the end of Road of the Patriarch, Entreri has just burned down this temple in the city and he’s got a priest up on the ledge. He tells him to go, rebuild, stop lying to the people and to follow the tenets of his god, or Entreri will come back and burn the temple down again, this time with the priest in it. Right after that, he tells Jarlaxle, “Go away, I don’t need you anymore.” To me, that was Entreri for the first time in his life not hating himself. To me, that was a proper ending for Artemis Entreri.
Then the letters started coming in. Letters and emails from people sharing really personal stories of betrayals as children where they had been similarly abused, and begging me to keep going with Entreri. They had to see him healthy; they had to see him come through the other side of this epiphany he had in that book.
MB: That sounds like a pretty heavy load to put on a fantasy writer.
RS: It’s humbling. It’s a reminder that when you’re writing books and putting them up there for public consumption, people are letting you into their lives just a little bit as well. There’s no other way to put it—it’s humbling.
MB: And how do you feel about fan fiction?
RS: I won’t be beholden to it, but I love that people think enough of [my work] to go and do that. I’m not going to read it because that would get me in trouble, but if people want to do it, fine. If they try and sell is, they’re going to get sued, but that’s a whole different ball game.
MB: What’s the latest on a Drizzt movie?
RS: The good news is Hasbro really wants a Drizzt movie now. [Hasbro owns Wizards of the Coast, which owns the Forgotten Realms setting.] The company has a record now of movie making. With the Transformers movies and G.I. Joe, they’ve made lots of money in movies, so they are very interested in doing it. They are raising the profile; they are contacting people. Will anything come of it? I don’t know.
One of the things working against us? They are protecting an enormously successful and stable franchise. Every year a Drizzt book comes out, we know how many we’re going to sell. A good movie would help that franchise, but a really bad one could hurt something we all love.
If they are convinced they can do it right, they will probably pull the trigger, but that’s a big if. I understand and appreciate [Hasbro’s] care and concern—I have a lot to lose here, too. If they did a cheesy movie, how would anyone pick up Homeland after that movie and take it seriously? I don’t want cheese. I don’t want camp. I like serious fantasy. I believe in serious fantasy. Sure, some of the action might be over the top, but that’s what fantasy is.
MB: Any movie interest with your non-Drizzt properties?
RS: My DemonWars books are being well-represented: I’ve got a major star signed on, a major producer signed on, and a really great writer signed on. Will anything come of that? I have no idea. It’s Hollywood. When the check shows up, you know they are serious. When it hits the theaters or DVD, you know they actually made it. (And then you hold your breath and hope they made it right.)
MB: There are some authors who are infamous for complaining about the film treatments of their source material—Alan Moore springs to mind. How do you view the author-film relationship?
RS: I would hope I would never complain about whom they cast or how they do it. That’s not fair. If I’ve sold them the rights to do a movie, they’ve paid me a lot of money for those rights. It’s up to them to mess it up or fix it on their own. I hope it won’t work like that. I’d rather be involved. First of all, I need something new. I’ve been writing books for a quarter of a century. It would be nice to go and do something different for a few months. So I’m hoping I’ll be involved. Then again, when I see their proposal, if I don’t like it, no amount of money will get me to say yes.