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Promise of the Witch-King 
Summer - Autumn, 1368 DR (The Year of the Banner)

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PUBLICATION HISTORY:

1st ed. published as The Sellswords, Book 2: Promise of the Witch-King (hardcover), OCT-2005.

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PUBLISHER'S OFFICIAL DATE:

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RATIONALE FOR ALTERNATIVE DATE:

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CONSISTENT TIME CLUES:

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INCONSISTENT TIME CLUES:

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"If Ever They Happened Upon My Lair", short story
Spring - Winter, late 1348 DR (The Year of the Spur)

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PUBLICATION HISTORY:

1st published in <Dragons: Worlds Afire (Forgotten Realms Anthology)> (hardcover) in JUN-2006.

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CONSISTENT TIME CLUES:

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INCONSISTENT TIME CLUES:

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The Orc King
Winter - Summer, 1372 DR (The Year of Wild Magic)

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PUBLICATION HISTORY:

1st ed. published as Transitions, Book 1: The Orc King (hardcover), OCT-2007.

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PUBLISHER'S OFFICIAL DATE:

This novel is dated within the text in the Year of Wild Magic (1372 DR).  The events of the main body of text begin in the winter, a few tendays after the end of TTS.  Wulfgar returns to Icewind Dale near the end of the book, which another source tells us takes place in the summer of 1372 DR, just before the signing of the treaty.

The Prologue and Epilogue, however, appear to take place roughly a century after the rest of the events of the book (i.e., ~1472 DR), as a sort of flash-forward or sneak preview.

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CONSISTENT TIME CLUES:

Winter, early 1372 DR : The Year of Wild Magic arrives (TOK, P1:C1).

1 Flamerule (July), Summer, 1372 DR : Wulfgar returns to Icewind Dale (TOK, P4:C31; specific date cited in The Grand History of the Realms, p.153)

Summer, 1372 DR : The signing of the Treaty of Garumn's Gorge, apparently right after Wulfgar's return to ID (TOK, P4:C31)



Post-1385 DR : Post-Spellplague, rise of Netheril, coming of aboleths, discordant joining of two worlds (TOK, Pro.)

1408 DR : A reference to Drizzt having "fought again against Obould II in the great war in the Year of the Solitary Cloister" (TOK, Pro.)

decades before the 1470s DR : Bruenor Battlehammer "was" (spoken of in the past tense), and it is said of Drizzt that he "had known those decades before" the dwarves Bruenor, Pwent, and Dagnabbit (i.e., decades before the 1470s DR; TOK, Pro.)

~1472 DR : Glance at events dealing with the orc nation under the reign of Obould VI after "a century of progress" (TOK, Pro.), "a hundred years" after the signing of the treaty (TOK, Pro.), and "a century beyond that ceremony" (TOK, Epi.). 1372 DR + 1 century = Pro. & Epi. should be dated around 1472 DR


(It is important to note that this book also quotes the epitaph on Delly's grave marker, indicating her death (described in TTS) in the year 1371.)  This helps to date the books of "The Hunter's Blades Trilogy". 

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INCONSISTENT TIME CLUES:

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The Stowaway, with Geno Salvatore
Summer, 1362 DR (The Year of the Helm)

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PUBLICATION HISTORY:

1st ed. published as Stone of Tymora, Volume 1: The Stowaway (hardcover), SEP-2008. 

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PUBLISHER'S OFFICIAL DATE:

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RATIONALE FOR ALTERNATIVE DATE:

The following promotional interviews indicated that the events within this novel took place concurrently with the Companions' first sailing voyage aboard the Sea Sprite, as described in The Halfling's Gem:

• youtube <"Geno Salvatore on Stowaway and D&D"> 00:09-00:44, 01:51-02:15. 08-16-2008;
• WOTC <"D&D Podcast - Bob and Gino Salvatore"> 01:36-01:46. 10-16-2008.

While the majority of events in this book do indeed coincide with the Companions' first sailing voyage aboard the Sea Sprite, which would initially indicate a chronological setting of 1356 DR, those events are actually told in flashback, with "Part" passages serving as a narrative framework set six years later (1356 DR + 6 yr = 1362 DR).  This seems to be the current time of the book.

Thus, the most logical date for this novel would appear to be 1362 DR. 

CONSISTENT TIME CLUES:

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INCONSISTENT TIME CLUES:

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The Ghost King 
Late summer (late Flamerule/July through Eleasis/August), 1385 DR (The Year of Blue Fire)

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PUBLICATION HISTORY:

1st ed. published as Transitions, Book 3: The Ghost King (hardcover), OCT-2009.

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CONSISTENT TIME CLUES: 

Backstory (Summer, 1362 DR):

• Danica was hoping to conceive for the first time just after the high summer (The Chaos Curse, Epi.).

Backstory (Summer, 1364 DR):

• Danica has two twin toddlers running around in the summer of 1364 DR when Drizzt and Catti-brie first visit the Spirit Soaring (Passage to Dawn, P3:C13; later named as Temberle and Hanaleisa).
  
  
• She conceals the secret that she is pregnant again (PTD, P4:C18; with the child concerned later to be named as Rorick).

Backstory (Spring, 1377 DR):

• Drizzt battles Arthrogate in Luskan in the novel The Pirate King (TPK, P4:C33).

Backstory (Spring, Tarsakh/April, 1385 DR):

• A major Realms-Shaking Event (RSE) has begun, shortly before the events of this story, which is known in Forgotten Realms lore as the Spellplague.  The WOTC webpage <"Spellplague: The Wailing Years"> tells us that the Spellplague began on 29 Tarsakh/April, 1385 DR.

The Ghost King begins: 

The year 1385 DR (The Year of Blue Fire):

• The first time that the Ghost King disappears in a blue haze, Cadderly suddenly realizes the coincidence of the timing, as this year is 1385, the Year of the Blue Fire (TGK, P3:C23).
  
  
• We are twice reminded that Drizzt battled with Arthrogate eight years before (TGK, P1:C4 & P1:C6).  Since that battle took place in spring of 1377 DR, this would indicate that TGK takes place in 1385 DR.  1377 DR + 8 yr = 1385 DR.
  
  
• The ages of Cadderly and Danica Bonaduce's two older children generally agree with this date, as well.  Rorick ("Rorey") is said to be seventeen years old, "five years their junior" to his twin siblings (TGK, P1:C3).  This would indicate that the twins are both twenty-two years old.  17 + 5 = 22.  The sister Hanaleisa ("Hana") is confirmed as being twenty-two (TGK, P1:C3).  (See "Extraneous" section below for more on Rorey's age.)  Since Danica was hoping to conceive for the first time in summer, 1362 DR (TCC, Epi.), and since she indeed had twin toddlers in summer, 1364 DR (PTD, P3:C13), this therefore indicates that the twins were probably born sometime in 1363 DR (perhaps in the spring).  1363 DR + 22 yr = 1385 DR.

Late summer, 1385 DR:

• "A few months earlier", the young wizard Wanabrick Prestocovin's temper tantrum might have earned mostly contempt by the other personnel at the Spirit Soaring, but now roughly half of the people present seem to relate to his sense of frustration (TGK, P1:C7).  This seems to indicate that in the last "few months", these mages, sages, and clerics have all been struggling with the effects of the unfortunate magical event that has just hit the Realms.  That is to say, this passage appears to take place "a few months" after the onset of the Spellplague.  Since the Plague hits in late Tarsakh/April, "a few months" later would probably be sometime in the summer--perhaps in the month of Flamerule/July (three months later).
  
  
• While Cadderly Bonaduce had previously experienced a series of odd aging events, both aging much faster than normal and then aging in reverse, in previous novels, here, "he appeared to be aging more normally with the passage of the past several months" (TGK, P1:C7).  This would indicate that the onset of the Spellplague had somehow interfered with the Spirit Soaring cathedral's magical ability to preserve Cadderly in a perpetual state of youth, causing him to age normally over "the past several months".  Again, with the Spellplague hitting in Tarsakh/April, it would seem that the present time would be sometime in the summer (perhaps Flamerule/July).
  
  
• At the beginning of the story, the Spellplague has been afflicting the planet of Toril for enough time that Alustriel has had sufficient opportunity to call a conference for people from lands near and far.  The text tells us:

  "Something was in the air, something dangerous and frightening, some feeling among the wizards that all was not well with the Weave of magic.  Reports and whispers from all over Faerûn spoke of spells gone horribly awry, of magic misfiring or not firing at all, of brilliant spellcasters falling to apparent insanity.
  
  [...] 
  
  Vigilance, observation, and meditation were Alustriel's orders of the day, as she and all others scrambled to try to discern what in the Nine Hells might be happening." (TGK, P1:C2)

  In this passage, Drizzt and Catti-brie are on the way back home, on foot, from this conference.  Therefore, a considerable amount of time must have passed between the onset of the Plague and this return trip for the couple: at least a few months after late Tarsakh/April, indicating a summertime present setting.
  
  
• Cadderly Bonaduce apparently had enough time to convene a similar conference of mages, sages, and clerics at the Spirit Soaring cathedral and library:

  "[... A]nd so there, at a time of fear and uncertainty, at the time of the failing Weave, rushed scholars from far and wide.
  
  And Cadderly greeted them, every one, with open arms and shared concern. [...]
  
  The time was unsettling, the magic of the world possibly unraveling [...]." (TGK, P1:C3)

  Again, as the parties concerned appear to have traveled on foot or by wagon, some considerable time must have transpired since the onset of the Plague.  This passage is probably best seen as taking place during the summer.
  
  
• Early on in the story, Jarlaxle notices around his campsite a bird cawing and a rabbit darting through the grass (TGK, P1:C1).  At another point, he wonders where the frogs, night birds, and beetles have gone (TGK, P1:C1).  Of major interest is the fact that we're told of a cicada whining off in the distance (TGK, P1:C1).  Now, in the real world, cicadas are generally known to be active during summer months, according to <this wikipedia article>, so perhaps this Realmsian cicada was also signaling that it was indeed summertime at the beginning of this story.
  
  
• Twice, we are told that the air really isn't all that cold during nighttime hours: first, when Rorey confirms to his brother Temberle that he had slept in the forest overnight ("'But it wasn't that cold'";  TGK, P1:C5); and second, when the Baldur's Gate wizards' contingent has left the Spirit Soaring one night, and it is said that Pearson Bluth is accurate in denying that it is cold out ("'Not so chilly, eh?'";  TGK, P1:C7).  Warm temperatures even at night would probably be indicative of summer. 
  
  
• In her solo search for Ivan and the kids, Danica notices a trail of death "stark in contrast with the vibrancy of the forest itself" (TGK, P2:C14).
  
  
• [There are no time clues indicating a degradation in the weather or transition into autumn.]

TGK ends (A little over a month later, Late summer, 1385 DR):

• By my analysis of the time clues in the book, the story takes place over the course of approximately 38 days (from  the transformation of Hephaestus into a dracolich {TGK, Pre.}), or 36 days (from Catti-brie's exposure to wild magic {TGK, P1:C2}), until the closing funeral scene (TGK, Epi.). 
  
  
• During the funeral scene, it is said that "[j]ust over a month earlier, Drizzt and Catti-brie had been on the road to Silverymoon, [when they encountered] trouble with the Weave [...]" (TGK, Epilogue).  (The couple was actually on their way back home from Silverymoon, rather than enroute to the city, at the beginning of the story {TGK, P1:C2}); and according to my analysis, it would appear that this was 36 days before the funeral.)

Taken as a whole, the time clues in the book indicate that the story takes place over the course of a 38-day time period, beginning in the summer, a few months after the onset of the Spellplague.  And since we are never told that the weather turns cool by the end of the novel, it would appear that the story ends within the summer season, as well.  Thus, it now seems that The Ghost King should be dated in the late summer, perhaps late Flamerule/July through Eleasis/August, of 1385 DR.

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INCONSISTENT TIME CLUES:

Drizzt's personal history:

• We are told here that "Drizzt had been on the surface for forty-five years, but he had never seen any natural phenomenon quite like that [blue ground lightning ...]" (TGK, P1:C2).
  
  
• However, review of all the time clues of the Drizzt saga would indicate that Drizzt came to the surface at the end of the novel Exile in the summer of the year 1339 DR.  Since TGK takes place in the summer of 1385 DR, this points toward Drizzt having been on the surface for 46 years.  1385 DR - 1339 DR = 46 yr.

Cadderly's age:

• Twice, we are told that Cadderly Bonaduce is forty-four (44) years old (TGK, P1:C3 & P1:C7).
  
  
• However, two other prior novels indicate a different age for Cadderly.  Canticle tells us that Cadderly had been 14 years old seven years before (Can., C1), which effectively made him 21 years old.  It is confirmed that he had passed his twenty-first birthday (Can., C3).  This novel was set in the late spring (Can., C6).  The beginning of the next novel in "TCQ" clarifies that the events in that series primarily take place in 1361 DR, the Year of the Maiden (In Sylvan Shadows, Pro.).  So if Cadderly was 21 years old in the spring of 1361 DR (Can.), then he would have to be 45 years old in the summer of 1385 DR (TGK).
  
  
• An alternative age for Cadderly is posited by way of time clues in the novel Passage to Dawn, which says that he was 29 years old, and about to turn 30 in two weeks/tendays during that particular adventure (PTD, P2:C13).  This passage apparently took place during the summer: summer has begun by PTD, P2:C10; and it is nearly mid-summer by PTD, P3:C16.  Drizzt and Catti-brie joined the crew of the Sea Sprite in the short story "The Dowry", apparently in the year 1359 DR.  We are told that Drizzt and Catti-brie had crewed the Sea Sprite for five years (PTD, P2:C9 & P4:C18; also Sea of Swords, P3:C15), which would indicate that PTD must begin in the year 1364 DR.  1359 DR + 5 yr = 1364 DR.  Also, Wulfgar was abducted from the Material Plane by a yochlol in the novel The Legacy (TL, P4:C19) in spring (TL, P1:C1 & P5:C24) of the year 1358 DR.  The barbarian is returned to the Material Plane after 6 years of torment (PTD, P5:C27 & C28).  This, too indicates that PTD is set in 1364 DR.  1358 DR + 6 yr = 1364 DR.  Therefore, according to these time clues, Cadderly would've turned 30 years old in summer of 1364 DR, which would indicate a birth date in summer of 1334 DR.  1364 DR - 30 yr = 1334 DR.  This, in turn, would mean that Cadderly should have been turning 51 years old in TGK.  1385 DR - 1334 DR = 51 yr.

My best guess is that the reader should probably trust the time clues and age indicated in the books of "TCQ", indicating that Cadderly was 21 years old in 1361 DR (Can.), which would indicate that he must be 45 years old in TGK.

Rorick's age:

• Rorick Bonaduce is said to be "seventeen, five years their junior" to his twin older siblings (TGK, P1:C3).
  
  
• However, the time clues of prior novels would indicate a different age for Rorey, in closer proximity to the twins.  The children's mother Danica was hoping to conceive in the summer of 1362 DR (TCC, Epi.), and she is shown those twins actually running around in summer of 1364 DR (PTD, P3:C13), which would indicate that the twins were probably born in spring of 1363 DR.  This is borne out by other time clues in TGK (see above in "Consistent Time Clues").  At the same time, Danica was said to be secretly pregnant again in summer of 1364 DR (PTD, P4:C18), which would indicate that the third child was probably born in early 1365 DR.  This would indicate a probable age of 20 years for Rorick in TGK, rendering him only two years younger than the twins.  1385 DR - 1365 DR = 20 yr.  (Consider, as well, that even though the three Bonaduce offspring are regularly referred to as "children" and "kids", at two different times Ivan actually considers all three children to be adults: "The kids [...] them [...] adulthood" {TGK, P2:C16}; and "children [...] three young adults" {TGK, P4:C18}.)

The length of time since the Time of Troubles:

• One passage refers to "the Time of Troubles some two decades before" (TGK, P1:C7).
  
  
• However, since TGK takes place in 1385 DR and the TOT took place in 1358 DR (see Siege of Darkness), this would seem to indicate that the TOT had actually occurred more like three decades before.  1385 DR - 1358 DR = 27 yr, or ~ 3 decades.

The length of time Jarlaxle and Arthrogate have been adventuring companions:

• Jarlaxle says that he has been suffering from Arthrogate's rhymes "for the last decade" (TGK, P2:C11).
  
  
• However, as Jar took Arthrogate on to be a traveling companion in the novel Road of the Patriarch late in the year 1368 DR, it would apparently be more precise to say that he had been suffering from Arthrogate's rhymes for nearly two decades.  1385 DR - 1368 DR = 17 yr, or ~ 2 decades.

The length of time of the Bouldershoulder brothers' past service to Mithral Hall:

• Danica muses about "the few years they [the Bouldershoulders] had been away serving King Bruenor in Mithral Hall" (TGK, P1:C3).  (It would seem that this passage was a reference to the publisher's official determination that "The Hunter's Blades Trilogy" took place over the course of both 1370 and 1371 DR, which would allow for the Bouldershoulders to serve Mithral Hall over the course of two separate years.) 
  
  
• However, portions of the two separate calendar years 1370 DR and 1371 DR would still be less than than a "few years", in total. 
  
  
• Also, despite the official time setting for "THBT", the time clues within that mini-series indicate that all of those books were set within the same calendar year: 1371 DR.  The heroic characters arrive at Mithral Hall in the summer of 1371 DR in The Lone Drow, and by winter of that same year, the Bouldershoulders depart (The Two Swords).  Therefore, the two dwarven brothers were described as being at the Hall for a total of less than one year--a "few months" would be more accurate. 

The length of time Drizzt and Catti-brie have been married:

• At the end of the novel, we read:

  "For more than eight years, Drizzt had felt complete, had felt as if all the joys had been doubled and the pain halved as he danced through his life arm-in-arm with that wonderful woman who had never shown him anything less than honesty and compassion" (TGK, Epi.).

• However, as Drizzt and Catti-brie were first openly considered a couple in the year 1370 DR in the novel in Sea of Swords, and they first consumated their relationship in late 1371 DR in TTS, and Catti-brie considered herself married in early 1372 DR in The Orc King (TOK, P2:C8), the time clues would indicate that Drizzt and Cat had been married for far longer than 8 years.  1385 DR - 1372 DR = 13 yr.  It would appear that "more than a dozen years" would have been a more precise way to describe it.

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"Iruladoon", short story
Spring, between 1390 DR (The Year of the Walking Man) and 1395 DR (The Year of Silent Death)

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PUBLICATION HISTORY:

First published in <Realms of the Dead: The Haunted Lands Anthology (Forgotten Realms Anthology)> (paperback), JAN-2010.

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CONSISTENT TIME CLUES:

The story appears to take place during the Spellplague. The wizard Addadearber's spells are still considered unreliable, though they all seem to have worked during this story.

And the Spellplague's major effects occurred from the year 1385 through 1395 DR, according to the WOTC web article "Spellplague: The Wailing Years".

We are specifically told that the story is dated in the spring during the waning years of the Spellplague. This would point to the last few years of the event: 1390 - 1395 DR.

As the novel Gauntlgrym tells us that Addadearber died in the Spellplague, that would seem to confirm that this short story takes place before 1395 DR.

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The Sentinels
1362 DR (The Year of the Helm)

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PUBLICATION HISTORY:

1st ed. published as Stone of Tymora, Volume 3: The Sentinels (hardcover), NOV-2010. 

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PUBLISHER'S OFFICIAL DATE:

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RATIONALE FOR ALTERNATIVE DATE:

<R.A. Salvatore facebook announcement>  


CONSISTENT TIME CLUES:

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INCONSISTENT TIME CLUES:

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Neverwinter Tales (original graphic novel)
Spring, ? DR (The Year of ?)

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PUBLICATION HISTORY:

1st published as Forgotten Realms: The Legend of Drizzt: Neverwinter Tales in 5 separate paperback volumes, AUG-2011 - FEB-2012.
1st hardcover omnibus ed., APR-2012.

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PUBLISHER'S OFFICIAL DATE:

? DR

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CONSISTENT TIME CLUES:

- Throughout the story, the vegetation is lush and vibrant, and Dahlia adventures in her signature barely-there clothing, with nary an indicator of snow or cold. The season is probably spring or summer.

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<Amazon link>

<WOTC The Legend Of Drizzt: Neverwinter Tales Interview>, AUG-2011 
RAS is deliberately vague about the timing of the graphic novel, because of other pending writings.

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Charon's Claw
1463 DR (The Year of the Reborn Hero)

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PUBLICATION HISTORY:

1st ed. published as The Neverwinter Saga, Book III: Charon's Claw, AUG-2012.

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PUBLISHER'S OFFICIAL DATE:

? DR

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CONSISTENT TIME CLUES:

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<Amazon link>


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