Elaine Cunningham

Elaine Cunningham
Professional Information
Occupations	Author
Biographic Information
Home	New England
Birthplace	New York City

Elaine Cunningham is an American fantasy and science fiction author, especially known for her almost poetic literary style. Her contributions to the Forgotten Realms campaign world include the realms of Evermeet, Halruaa, Rashemen, Ruathym and Waterdeep.

Amongst Elaine's most popular characters are the half-elf Arilyn Moonblade, the bard Danilo Thann, the quirky drow wizard Liriel Baenre, her companion the Rashemi berserker Fyodor, and Elaith "The Serpent" Craulnober (created by Ed Greenwood).

The final book of the Songs & Swords novel series, to be called Reclamation, was cancelled by Wizards of the Coast, as Cunningham was unable to complete the book in time. She had tried to rewrite the book several times, changing character appearances, plots, and subplots. The book, would it have been complete, tied up several loose ends and expanded the lore of Evermeet. Due to the close release of 4^th-edition Dungeons & Dragons, which brought major changes to the Forgotten Realms, the content of this book would mostly be rendered irrelevant anyway. Despite the cancellation, Cunningham had no complaints with the way it was dealt with, and would continue to write about the Realms.

Works

Novels

• The Radiant Dragon (1992)
• Evermeet: Island of Elves (1998)
• The City of Splendors: A Waterdeep Novel (2005)

Songs & Swords

1. Elfshadow (1991, reprinted in 2000)
2. Elfsong (1994, reprinted in 2000)
3. Silver Shadows (1996, reprinted in 2001)
4. Thornhold (1998, reprinted in 2001)
5. The Dream Spheres (1999)

Starlight and Shadows

1. Daughter of the Drow (1995)
2. Tangled Webs (1996)
3. Windwalker (2003)

Counselors & Kings

1. The Magehound (2000)
2. The Floodgate (2001)
3. The Wizardwar (2002)

Short stories from Forgotten Realms anthologies

• "The Bargain" – Realms of Valor (1993)
• "The More Things Change" – Realms of Infamy (1994)
• "The Direct Approach" – Realms of Magic (1995)
• "Rite of Blood" – Realms of the Underdark (1996), later reprinted in The Best of the Realms (2003)
• "Secrets of Blood, Spirits of the Sea" – Realms of the Arcane (1997)
• "Speaking with the Dead" – Realms of Mystery (1998)
• "Fire is Fire" – Realms of the Deep (2000)
• "A Little Knowledge" – Realms of Shadow (2002)
• "Gorlist's Dragon" – Realms of the Dragons (2004)
• "The Knights of Samular" - The Best of the Realms III (2007)
• "Tribute" - The Best of the Realms III (2007)
• "Answered Prayers" - The Best of the Realms III (2007)
• "The Great Hunt " - The Best of the Realms III (2007) Originally published in DRAGON #246, April 1998)
• "Stolen Dreams" - The Best of the Realms III (2007) (Originally published in DRAGON #259, May 1999)
• "Possessions" - The Best of the Realms III (2007) (Originally published in DRAGON #282, April 2002)
• "Games of Chance" - The Best of the Realms III (2007) (Originally published in DRAGON #335, August 2005)

Dragon magazine

• "The Great Hunt " - DRAGON #246, April 1998
• "Stolen Dreams" - DRAGON #259, May 1999
• "Possessions" - DRAGON #282, April 2002
• "Games of Chance" - DRAGON #335, August 2005
• "Rogues Gallery: Dream Spheres", DRAGON #259, May 1999

Appendix

Further Reading

• Allen Varney (April 1998). “ProFiles: Elaine Cunningham”. In Dave Gross ed. Dragon #246 (TSR, Inc.), p. 120.

External links

• Elaine Cunningham's website
• Wizards of the Coast Biography
• Author Profile: Elaine Cunningham (archived 2004-06-04)