R.A. Salvatore‘s first published novel, The Crystal Shard, exploded onto the book scene in 1988 and cemented his name as one of today’s greatest fantasy authors. His first trilogy, set in the Dungeons & Dragons‘s Forgotten Realms, was such a huge hit that he was signed to write both prequels and sequels in the years following. Now, after more than twenty years and over twenty New York Times bestsellers, he continues to excite and amaze his readers with his heroic tales in his latest book, Neverwinter: Neverwinter Saga, Book II.

His most popular character, Drizzt Do’Urden, has been featured in more than two dozen books with no real ending in sight. A Drow Elf ranger is probably not the first choice most people would have picked to write about, but Salvatore did just that. I recently had the chance to sit down the author to talk about various topics, but one subject we touched upon was Drizzt and his weapon of choice, the scimitar. See here below an excerpt for our interview where Salvatore reveals why Drizzt carries scimitars.

May the Force be with you all! Geeks of Doom will be posting a couple of Star Wars articles today, May 25, for Universal Day of the Jedi, which celebrates the anniversary of the release of the first Star Wars movie.

This year, Universal Day of the Jedi also celebrates the anniversary of Timothy Zahn‘s novel, Heir to the Empire. The initial release of this novel 20 years ago this month is significant, because it was quite literally groundbreaking: its impact would open the floodgates for an amazing deluge of Star Wars novels and comics – turning the Expanded Universe into an EXPANDING Universe.

Zahn’s Thrawn Trilogy, of which Heir to the Empire is the first part, is widely regarded by many fans as one of the best series of Star Wars books to ever have been released. Some fans even consider the trilogy to be the equivalent of the closest we may ever get to a Star Wars Sequel Trilogy. Timothy Zahn has continued his journeys into the Expanded Star Wars Universe through the years – exploring deeper into the history and legacy of Grand Admiral Thrawn, the continual growing relationship between Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade, and also the mysteries behind the enigmatic Outbound Flight.

I figured with this month being the anniversary of Zahn’s masterpiece, and also with today being Universal Day of the Jedi, it would be a good opportunity to take a look back at some of the finer examples of Star Wars novels over the years.

On Thursday at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con the first game from Curt Schilling‘s 38 Studios was announced — a fantasy RPG titled Kingdom of Amalur: Reckoning.

Schilling, a former MLB pitcher and self described hard core gamer (who apparently had specific internet connection for hotel rooms written into his later contracts) is the heart and soul behind the project, but he has assembled an A-list of talent to create his first game. Writing the story for the game is New York Times best selling author R.A. Salvatore, who is well known in fantasy circles for writing some of the most successful novels based on the Dungeons and Dragons brand. Providing a lot of the art for the game, as well as supervising all the other art is comic creator Todd McFarlane, creator of Spawn. And the lead designer for the game is Ken Rolston, who was the lead designer on two modern classic RPG’s: The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind as well as its sequel The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.