Robert Anthony Salvatore is a well-known American author of fantasy books who writes under the name R. A. Salvatore. He is best known for his saga “The Demon Wars,” his “Forgotten Realms” books, in which he created “Drizzt Do’Urden,” a brave dark elf who fights a whole nation of evil enemies using only his courage and skill with a sword, and “Vector Prime,” the first book in the “Star Wars: The New Jedi Order” series. Twenty-two of his books have been on the New York Times bestseller list, and he has sold more than 15 million copies of his books just in the United States. When he read J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings,” he became interested in writing fantasy. He kept writing fantasy all through high school and college, and after a lot of hard work, he got a writing contract with TSR, Inc.
Early years and childhood
Salvatore was born in Leominster, Massachusetts, to a big family of seven people. He went to Fitchburg State College, where he changed his major from computers to journalism because he was becoming more and more interested in writing and literature.
He got his Bachelor of Science in Communications in 1981, and then he got his Bachelor of Science in English a few years later. After high school, he didn’t start writing right away. Instead, he worked as a bouncer for a while to make money.
R. A. Salvatore’s Career
In 1982, Salvatore decided that he wanted to write full-time and spend all of his time doing it. He wrote a book called “Echoes of the Fourth Magic.” It is well-known that he wrote it by candlelight in longhand.
After he finished writing the script for “Echoes of the Fourth Magic,” he sent it to TSR, Inc., an American company that publishes games, as well as to other publishers.
Salvatore was asked to try out for the job because TSR was looking for a new writer to write stories like “Forgotten Realms.” In 1987, he was hired to write the second book in the “Forgotten Realms” series because he did well in the audition.
TSR put out Salvatore’s first book, “The Crystal Shard,” in 1988. It is part of “The Icewind Dale Trilogy,” which tells the story of Drizzt, a famous drow, Wulfgar, a barbarian warrior, Regis, a halfling, and a dwarf king.
“Streams of Silver” (1988) and “The Halfling’s Gem” (1989) are the other two books in “The Icewind Dale Trilogy.”
The year that “The Halfling’s Gem” came out, it was on the New York Times Best Seller list.
The Legacy, by Salvatore, was TSR’s first hardcover book. It came out in 1992. There were four books in the fantasy series: “The Legacy” in 1992, “Starless Night” in 1993, “Siege of Darkness” in 1994, and “Passage to Dawn” in 1995. (1996).
After “Passage to Dawn” came out in 1996, TSR’s board decided to hire a new author to write more “Drizzt” stories. However, Wizards of the Coast bought TSR and decided to keep Salvatore on to write more “Drizzt” stories.
Salvatore started to write about “Drizzt,” and in 1998, he published the book “The Silent Blade.” In the same year, the book won the Origins Award, and he went on to write several series of books about “Drizzt.”
In 1999, he wrote “Vector Prime,” the first book in the New Jedi Order series set in the Star Wars world. The book became part of the Star Wars Expanded Universe, which is made up of books, video games, and other things that are officially licensed and set in the Star Wars universe.
In 2004, he wrote the story for the video game “Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone.” He is also the author of many books. He worked on the design team at Stormfront Studios, and both the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences and BAFTA-nominated it for an award.
Salvatore worked with Larry Hama on the 2008 comic book Spooks by Devil’s Due Publishing. Spooks are about a U.S. government agent who investigates paranormal events. Hama came up with the military characters and plot, and Salvatore made the monsters.
In 2010, Wizards of the Coast made a new deal with Salvatore to write six more books about Drizzt, a drow or dark elf who uses his sword skills and bravery to kill off a country’s evil enemies.
Works of note
Salvatore is best known for his series “The Demon Wars,” in which he created the good dark elf Drizzt Do’Urden, and for “Vector Prime,” the first book in the Star Wars: The New Jedi Order series.
Personal History and Legacies
Salvatore is married to Diane Salvatore, and they have three children together: Bryan, Geno, and Caitlin. He lives with his family in Massachusetts.
Estimated Net worth
American author R. A. Salvatore has a net worth of $8 million. In January 1959, R. A. Salvatore was born in the town of Leominster, Massachusetts. In the U.S., he has sold more than 15 million books, and 22 of them have been best-sellers on the New York Times list.
Trivia
The R.A. Salvatore Collection has been set up at Fitchburg State College, where he went to school, in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. It has his letters, manuscripts, and other professional papers.
He talks about topics such as “Adventure Fantasy” and “Why do young adults read fantasy?”
James Joyce, Mark Twain, Geoffrey Chaucer, Dante, Arthur Conan Doyle, Fritz Leiber, and many others have influenced his writing.
Oliver, Artemis, and Ivan are his three Japanese Chins, and Guenhwyvar is one of his four cats.
He was the Creative Director for 38 Studios and wrote the story and dialogue for the game “Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning.” In 2012, the company went out of business and Salvatore lost his job.