Before Baldur's Gate was a thing, I remember reading Homeland by RA Salvatore. It was 1994 and my sister gave it to be as a bday present. I couldn't put it down and it firmly cemented me into Dungeons & Dragons. I already had been playing some gold box games like Hillsfar, but that book got me seriously addicted.

This series was amazing... until it wasn't.

Right around the time D&D shifted to 4th Edition, the writing quality of these books dropped so drastically that, combined with how everyone I talked to felt about 4E, it honestly felt like Salvatore was trying to get himself fired so he wouldn't have to write for 4th Edition anymore. (If you have never had the misfortune of trying it, 4E is basically D&D for people who would rather be playing WoW.)

Considering how much 5e sucks, I can't imagine writing for it is any more pleasant.

That said, everything up until the beginning of the Spellplague was fucking incredible, and The Sellswords spin-off series, too. (I still can't decide if I like Drizzt or Artemis Entreri better, but it doesn't matter because Jarlaxle is the best.)

The Dark Elf Trilogy is one of the greatest fantasy stories ever written, and I hope they make another Icewind Dale game. I'd break the laws of physics pulling my wallet to buy it lol

Also worth mentioning is the Cleric Quintet, same author.

I can't recall if its a FR books (I believe it is, but been a long time) but I remember it being a satisfying read on a rainy day.

I read it in a week at work, no business because it was a walk in only location for fast food, it was raining to the point that it was overflowing the glass caulking for exterior floor to ceiling windows. So mop up once in a while, and read.

Just an FYI...

I read the first 3 Drizzt books in the 90s. Probably was what influenced my love for the Ranger class. Anyways, for those that can do audiobooks at work, etc. There's a dude who is working on creating them all in audiobook form, and does a great job of it...

https://youtube.com/@thelegendofdrizztdourden3921?si=s5jkOnJRk795kztb

Back in highschool my local library had a program where it could borrow books from the surrounding counties. On three separate occasions I requested the first book to be transferred to my library to check out and each time, being a dumb highschool kid, I would get busy and forget to pick it up and it would invariably get shipped back to its home library. So now every time I think about starting the books I'm met with that shame.

There's a Drizzt reference in Act 3.

There’s 30 Drizzt books?

I read and listen to the series through and then start again, usually by the time I'm going through again there's another book in rotation. Good series.

I've only ever read the Icewind Dale trilogy and I never found Drizzt to be as interesting as most fans make him out to be. But those books are what got me into Forgotten Realms for 3e. Faerun is awesome!