The Death of a Hero

Yesterday, a hero died. Not an actual hero, but a fictional one. And he really didn't die yesterday, I just finished reading that he died yesterday, so to me I fee- well you get the point. The hero, or character if you will, that I’m talking about is Drizzt Do’Urden.

For those unfamiliar with the Forgotten Realms world and/or Dungeons & Dragons universe where he is most well-known, Drizzt is the name of a rogue drow (dark elf) ranger that is the main character in a large number of books. He’s well versed in combat and always trying to grow and find his way in the world above; all the while taking on grand adventures.

So why should I care that this character is dead? Fictional characters die all the time in literature, even main characters. Hell, from what I hear about the Game of Thrones series, EVERYONE dies eventually. What makes this character so important to me? Well, to me, Drizzt can almost symbolize my love of reading.

I’m not saying that now that he’s dead I’m going to stop reading books; that would be silly. So what AM I saying? Let me explain with a story.

When I was younger, I was never really interested in reading books. I’m not a fast reader, and I usually didn't find anything we read in English or L.A. very engaging. It showed with my terrible book related assignments. I mean, I liked reading manga when I discovered it, and some comics were okay too, but actual books were never my thing.

I would read the odd book here and there, something from my church library, or a” choose your own adventure” Goosebumps book, but nothing major. I still remember the only book that truly engaged me and interested me, The Stone and the Maiden. It was a fantasy book that was on clearance at the Cole’s book store at Northgate mall. But other than that, I hated to read.

I mentioned The Stone and the Maiden because it was a little bit after that when I first encountered the stories of the most interesting drow. I was in junior high at the time, and I don’t remember why I was even in the school library at the time. I think it was because I was actually looking for comics or manga to read. Instead I found a small paperback book describing a journey that a dark elf takes to escape his homeland.

To this day I have no idea why I ended up borrowing it, but I’m glad I did. I was instantly hooked on the story, but more-so on the interesting character that was Drizzt Do’Urden. For me, connecting to a character is probably one of the most important things to me in a story, and not really the story itself. I know this may apply to many people, but this is about me, not them!

I couldn't put the book down, and I was finished reading it in a few days. I had enjoyed the book so much, and was overjoyed to find a list of books on the first few pages of the book that took place in the same world; and better yet, it told me the title of the next book in the series I was reading. I went to the library after school that day and took it out, and when I was done with that I took out the next one.

I had soon read a good eight books in the few months following, the most books I have read in that length of time. But it wasn’t enough. I began going to the public library and looking for more books to read. I thought I had done it, I finally found a genre of book that I could get excited about! So I borrowed another fantasy book that seemed to have an interesting premise. To my disappointment, when I started reading, I found myself less than satisfied.

This dissatisfaction continued until I almost gave up on read novels again, but then I found him again. Drizzt. The Thousand Orcs had come out, and I found it sitting on the shelf. I was once again drawn into that wonderful world. Since then, I really only anticipated when the next book in the series came out, and nothing more. Even the side trilogy that followed two side characters was interesting to me.

No other writer has really captured me with a world and characters like R. A. Salvatore has with Drizzt. Even looking at the books I've bought with my own money, excluding World War Z and The Zombie Survival Guide, they’re all Drizzt related. But now he’s dead. Sure, some of the other characters had died before, but he felt like the glue holding it all together. And now that glue is gone. The worst part is (in my opinion), that his death wasn't worthy of a great character of his ability.

So Drizzt is dead, and so too perhaps, my main reason to be excited to read books. I know that there is another book coming out featuring Drizzt later this year, but I fear that it will only be an encore, a last hurrah.

What will I do then? Will I just simply reread the books? Finish reading the Drizzt stories that I have yet to read? What do I have to look forward to now?

This series has been with me for a long time, and looking back I’ve rarely deviated to read something else. I stated at the start that it would be silly to say that I would stop reading entirely, but what if I never find anything that grabs me like these books have. I was a really picky reader to begin with, and not much has changed in that sense.

 So where does that leave me? Well, all I've been able to as myself is:

“What now?”