Robert Salvatore was born in Leominster, Massachusetts, the youngest of a family of seven. A graduate of Leominster High School, Salvatore has credited his high school English teacher with being instrumental in his development as a writer. During his time at Fitchburg State College, he became interested in fantasy after reading J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, given to him as a Christmas gift. He earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Communications and later a Bachelor of Arts in English. Before taking up writing full time he worked as a bouncer.

In 1982 he started writing more seriously, developing a manuscript he titled Echoes of the Fourth Magic. He created the setting of Ynis Aielle for the novel, writing it in longhand by candlelight. In an interview with comic book website Project Fanboy, Salvatore said he landed the deal for his first book when, after finishing the script for Echoes of the Fourth Magic in early 1987, he sent the work to TSR and several other publishers. TSR was looking for an author to write the second book in the The Forgotten Realms line and asked Salvatore to audition. In July 1987, Salvatore won the spot to write the book. He went on to publish several series of books in the Forgotten Realms campaign world, while lately his popularity surged due to his Demon Wars sagas and his two Star Wars books.

One of his most popular characters is Drizzt Do'Urden, a drow, or dark elf, portrayed against the stereotypes of his race, who defied a nation of evil enemies with his swordsmanship and courage. He abandoned the Underdark, a merciless and barren land of unmarked and limitless tunnels where deadly creatures continually lurk. His journey for freedom leads him to the surface where he faces discrimination at every turn because of his dark heritage. Drizzt stumbles along in a harsh world until he finally comes upon friends who understand the kindness of his heart. Together, they fight for justice against sinister enemies who dare to disrupt the peace of Drizzt's newfound homeland.

In addition to his novels, Salvatore wrote the story for the PS2, Xbox and PC video game Demon Stone (2004), working with the design team at Stormfront Studios. The game was published by Atari and was nominated for awards by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences and BAFTA. CDS books commissioned him to edit a four book series based on the interactive online Everquest game. He also wrote the bot chat lines for the Quake III bots. Currently, R.A. Salvatore is busy at work as Creative Director for 38 Studios, formerly named Green Monster Games, along with pitcher Curt Schilling and Spawn comic creator Todd McFarlane.

February 2008, Devil's Due Publishing published Spooks, a comic book about a U.S. government anti-paranormal investigator/task force created by Larry Hama and Salvatore. Hama created the military characters and plots, and Salvatore covered the monster characters.

He is noted for his intense and descriptive battle scenes which have been attributed to his history as a bouncer.

In 2000, Salvatore's collected papers, including correspondence and unpublished works, were donated to his alma mater Fitchburg State College to create the 'R.A. Salvatore Collection.'

In 2010, Wizards of the Coast announced a new deal with R.A. Salvatore to write six more Drizzt books, to be released between 2011 and 2016.

He and his wife Diane have three children: Bryan, Geno, and Caitlin. They also have three Japanese Chins named Oliver, Artemis, and Ivan as well as four cats, one being named Guenhwyvar.His older brother, Gary Salvatore, died of pancreatic cancer in 2000.

Salvatore is also a frequent contributor to the political blog Daily Kos. He supported Barack Obama in the 2008 U.S. Presidential election.

Forgotten Realms

The Icewind Dale Trilogy

• The Crystal Shard (1988) (Between 1351DR and 1356DR)
• Streams of Silver (1989) (1356DR)
• The Halfling's Gem (1990) (Between 1356DR and 1357DR)

The Dark Elf Trilogy

• Homeland (1990) (Between 1297DR and 1328DR)
• Exile (1990) (Between 1338DR and 1340DR)
• Sojourn (1991) (Between 1340DR and 1347DR)

Legacy of the Drow

• The Legacy (1992) (1357DR)
• Starless Night (1993) (1357DR)
• Siege of Darkness (1994) (1358DR)
• Passage to Dawn (1996) (1364DR)

Paths of Darkness

• The Silent Blade (1998) (1364DR)
• The Spine of the World (1999) (Between 1365DR and 1369DR)
• Servant of the Shard (2000) (1366DR) - Now in The Sellswords Trilogy
• Sea of Swords (2001) (Between 1369DR and 1370DR)

The Cleric Quintet

• Canticle (1991) (1361DR)
• In Sylvan Shadows (1992) (1361DR)
• Night Masks (1992) (1361DR)
• The Fallen Fortress (1993) (Between 1361DR and 1362DR)
• The Chaos Curse (1994) (1362DR)

The Hunter's Blades Trilogy

• The Thousand Orcs (2002) (1370DR)
• The Lone Drow (2003) (1370DR)
• The Two Swords (2004) (Between 1370DR and 1371DR)

The Sellswords

• Servant of the Shard (2000) (1366DR)
• The Promise of the Witch King (2005) (1370DR)
• Road of the Patriarch (2006) (Between 1370DR and 1371DR)

Transitions

• The Orc King (September 2007) (1371DR and 1471DR-prologue and epilogue)
• The Pirate King (October 2008)
• The Ghost King (October 2009)

Neverwinter

• Gauntlgrym (October 2010) (Between 1409 DR and 1462 DR)

War of the Spider Queen

Each novel in the series is written by a different author with Salvatore overseeing the development of the overall project.

• Dissolution (written by Richard Lee Byers) (2002) (1372DR)
• Insurrection (written by Thomas M. Reid) (2002) (1372DR)
• Condemnation (written by Richard Baker) (2003) (1372DR)
• Extinction (written by Lisa Smedman) (2004) (1372DR)
• Annihilation (written by Philip Athans) (2004) (1372DR)
• Resurrection (written by Paul S. Kemp) (2005) (1372DR)

Stone of Tymora

• Stowaway (written with his son Geno Salvatore) (2008)
• The Shadowmask (written with his son Geno Salvatore) (Nov. 2009)
• The Sentinels (written with his son Geno Salvatore) (2010)

Other series

The Spearwielder's Tale

• The Woods Out Back (1993)
• The Dragon's Dagger (1994)
• Dragonslayer's Return (1995)

Saga of the First King

• The Highwayman (2004)
• The Ancient (2008)
• The Dame (2009)
• The Bear (2010)

The DemonWars Saga

• The Demon Awakens (1997)
• The Demon Spirit (1998)
• The Demon Apostle (1999)

• Mortalis (2000)
• Ascendance (2001)
• Transcendence (2002)
• Immortalis (2003)

Chronicles of Ynis Aielle

• Echoes of the Fourth Magic (completed 1982, published 1990)
• The Witch's Daughter (1991)
• Bastion of Darkness (2000)

Crimson shadow series

• The Sword of Bedwyr (1994)
• Luthien's Gamble (1996)
• The Dragon King (1996)

Star Wars

• Attack of the Clones (film novelization, 2002)

Star Wars: The New Jedi Order

• Vector Prime (2000)

Graphic novel adaptations

• Homeland
• Exile
• Sojourn
• The Crystal Shard
• Streams of Silver
• Trial by Fire (2001)
• The Halfling's Gem
• Eye for an Eye
• Legacy
• Starless Night

Other novels

• The Epic Adventures.

Short stories

• "The First Notch" (in Dragon magazine #152, 1989)
• "A Sparkle for Homer" (in Halflings, Hobbits, Warrows, and Weefolk, 1991)
• "Dark Mirror" (in Realms of Valor, 1993)
• "The Third Level" (in Realms of Infamy, 1994)
• "Guenhwyvar" (in Realms of Magic, 1995)
• "The Coach With Big Teeth" (in Otherwere, 1996)
• "Gods' Law" (in Tales of Tethedril, 1998)
• "Mather's Blood" (in Dragon magazine #252, 1998)
• "That Curious Sword" (in Realms of Shadow, 2002)
• "Three Ships" (in Demons Wars: Trial By Fire Comic TP, 2003)
• "Empty Joys" (in The Best of the Realms, 2003)
• "The Dowry" (in The Highwayman, 2004)
• "Wickless In the Nether" (in Realms of Dragons, 2004)
• "Comrades at Odds" (in Realms of the Elves, 2006)
• "If Ever They Happen Upon My Lair" (in Dragons: World Afire, 2006)
• "Bones and Stones" (in Realms of War, 2008)

Comics

• Spooks (with co-authors Larry Hama and Ryan Schifrin, and art by Adam Archer, Devil's Due Publishing, 2008)

Other media

• The Accursed Tower, A 2nd Edition AD&D Module
• Demon Stone Role-playing Game released on PS2, Xbox, and PC
• In collaboration with Seven Swords, R A Salvatore created the bot chat responses for the computer game Quake 3 Arena

As the author tasked with writing the first book of the New Jedi Order series, Salvatore was ordered by Lucasfilm to kill off Chewbacca, one of the most popular characters in the franchise. Many fans thought that Salvatore himself had made this decision, but it was actually Randy Stradley, the then-editor at Dark Horse Comics.

• Cassada, Jackie. “The Lone Drow (book).” Library Journal 9/15/2003, Vol. 128 Issue 15, p95
• Cannon, Peter. Zaleski, Jeff. THE THOUSAND ORCS (BOOK) Publishers Weekly. 10/7/2002, Vol. 249 Issue 40, p57
• THE HIGHWAYMAN: a Novel of Corona Publishers Weekly. 3/1/2004, Vol. 251 Issue 9, p54.

Interviews

• Interview with Geno and Bob Salvatore at Flames Rising (November 2009)
• R.A. Salvatore Interview with Ashton Gage on ProjectFanboy.com (June 2008)
• Interview with R.A. Salvatore at SFFWorld.com
• Interview with R. A. Salvatore on wotmania.com
• Interview at Flames Rising (May 2006)
• Interview at rasalvatore.com
• Interview at Lavender Eyes (October 2006)
• Interview with CNN, The Man Who Killed Off Chewbacca

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