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On Wednesday, August 14, the world of the Dungeons & Dragons invaded the Columbus Museum of Art for our special event, The Sundering: Re-imagining the Forgotten Realms of Dungeons & Dragons.  Wizards of the Coast has brought together six bestselling fantasy authors to independently write a book that together will complete The Sundering, a series that re-imagines The Forgotten Realms. Three of the authors, R.A. Salvatore, Erin Evans, and Ed Greenwood, joined us for a panel discussion on this special evening to discuss the collaboration process as well as their past and future writing careers.

R.A. Salvatore kicked off the series with his recent release of The Companions. Erin Evans, one of the youngest authors on this project, will release the third book in the series on December 3, 2013. In contrast, Ed Greenwood the most seasoned writer and the creator of the Forgotten Realms setting has the task of ending the series.

The collaboration process was the hot topic of the evening. Having six authors write within the same world and using some of the same characters seems like it would be complicated, right? Not according to the authors themselves. If anything, they find it a fascinating process and an adventure to have to alter their original story a little because someone else had an amazing idea. Sitting in the audience and listening to them discuss their processes of storytelling was an inspiring experience. While all three authors had different processes, they all shared on commonality: they like to let their characters write the stories. R.A. Salvatore explained that when he sits down to write, he typically has an outline in the form of a fairly straight line. However, as he moves forward looking through the characters’ eyes, the line quickly develops branches and continues to grow until he has something that resembles a large tree. Both he and Erin Evans admitted that while they’re writing they get so caught up in the story that sometimes at the end, they realize one of their characters has actually been acting out of character. Rather than go back and fix it, they just think “what’s wrong with them?!” Salvatore told the audience that it took him a few novels once to figure out exactly what was wrong with one of his most beloved characters.

The evenings’ moderater and Creative Manager of Dungeons & Dragons, James Wyatt, kept conversation moving and allowed the audience to feel as if they were part of one of a group brainstorming session. It was extremely apparent that this amazing group of authors has a strong and loyal following of fans, as most fans couldn’t have been happier to wait over 2 hours to meet their favorite authors.

Thanks to everyone who attended this very special event! We hope to see you again!

For more information about future events at Thurber House, click here.

May Contain Spoilers

From Amazon:

The two most popular fantasy topics–dragons and magic–combine in this fascinating new volume of the New York Times best-selling series…

Do you wish you could fly on wings of your own? Breathe fire? Cast spells in the blink of an eye? These are the secrets only dragon magic can teach you.

In this next edition in the Practical Guide family of fantasy essentials, dragon expert Sindri Suncatcher opens up his notebooks one last time to give readers an insider’s look into the Darastrix Academy, a place where young wizards and dragon hatchlings live side-by-side mastering the powerful magic that makes dragons so special.

For every fantasy fan who loves dragons and wants to know everything about these enigmatic creatures, this book reveals the greatest dragon secrets of all.

Review:

A Practical Guide to Dragon Magic is a lavishly illustrated addition to the Wizards of the Coast guide books.  If you have read any of the previous releases, this guide to dragon magic will feel very familiar.  Covering such topics as apprenticing with a dragon, training techniques, and becoming a dragon master, this book provides all of the information ambitious young dragon magic students need to get their careers rolling.

The book is sectioned off in to easy to understand chapters, and each page is loaded with advice and notes about undertaking the arduous task of studying dragon magic.  I love the full color illustrations, and find that each of these books had been painstakingly put together.  From the heavy paper that is printed to resemble parchment, to the charts and tables that offer tips to prevent angering a dragon, there’s a helpful knowledge base to be found within these pages.  Insulting a dragon will bring disaster, so it’s important to always be respectful in their presence, and the book even details the proper gifts to bring when visiting various dragon species. 

A Practical Guide to Dragon Magic is sure to please the dragon lovers in your life, and with the vivid and appealing artwork, the book merits many rereads.  If you have a reluctant reader in the house, I think this book will get the pages turning.  I have enjoyed the novel tie-ins, and the aspiring wizards in your life might will find them engaging as well.

Grade: B+

Review copy provided by publisher