Grab an e-reader and get ready, because Kalen Dren, Champion of a Dead God, is about to rock your fantasy world.
WHAT IS THE SHADOWBANE SERIES?
The Shadowbane Series tells the story of Kalen Dren, a thief turned paladin chosen by Helm, the long-dead God of Guardians, to fight darkness in the world. With his divinely-blessed sword Vindicator, Shadowbane dons dark leathers and haunts the rough streets of city after city, punishing the guilty and meting out justice where there is none.
Cursed with a numbing disease that slowly consumes his capacity for sensation, he can push himself harder and faster than other men, fearless of pain. As he wages his one-man crusade against evil, he unlocks deeper power and strength within himself, faces loss and trial, and finds and pursues love. All these things he must reconcile against the demands of his divine patron, whose face he has never seen.
Who are the Characters?
Kalen “Shadowbane” Dren: Wielder of the powerful artifact sword Vindicator, bearer of a magical curse that gradually strips him of pain and pleasure. Mild-mannered guardsman by day, vigilante paladin by night, chosen servant of a dead god at all times. Kalen constantly walks a razor line between the noble path of the knight he strives to be, and the darker pragmatism of the thief he once was. Helm, dead god of guardians, demands stringent service from him, but what if the cost is more than he can pay?
Myrin Darkdance: Mysterious wizard with no memory, heir to terrifying magical power. Bearer of a sovereign spellscar that draws all others to it, possessed of an overpowering need to help the poor and weak around her. Myrin is on a quest to fix the broken world around her and uncover the secrets of her forgotten past. When she touches others, she steals their magic and sometimes their memories, if those memories concern her. In time, she will find herself again, but what if she doesn’t like what she finds?
Fayne, the Trickster of Waterdeep: Professional character assassin and con artist, cloaked in illusion and lies. Impossible to outwit or upset, bearer of a secret and eternal enmity. A creature that is both demon and elf lurks beneath Fayne’s carefully constructed identity, and beneath those, a full and passionate heart. Will love for her friends let her finally come out of hiding, or will she forsake all she holds dear for a chance to avenge herself?
Lady Ilira “Fox-at-Twilight” Nathalan: Liar and thief, swashbuckler and assassin. Her past is the stuff of legends, her present as dangerous as a drawn blade. Unable to touch anyone for fear of burning their flesh, Ilira lives out her many centuries impossibly alone even in a crowd. There comes a time in her life when she cannot keep running from her enemies, but must instead turn to face them.
Read the Shadowbane series (in chronological order):
Last Legend of Gedrin Shadowbane 2019 (free e-story)
“Sword of Shadowbane” (prologue to SB: EOJ, sample chapter—don’t read chapter 1!)
“Heir of Shadowbane” (free e-story)
Book 1: Downshadow (Wizards, Kindle, Nook, Kobo)
“Chosen of the Sword” (free e-novella)
“A New Purpose” (story included in the Shadowbane bundle, AFTER the main book–see table of contents)
Book 2: Shadowbane (Wizards, Kindle, Nook, Kobo)
Book 3: Shadowbane: Eye of Justice (Wizards, Kindle, Nook, Kobo) (note the prologue is set between “The Last Legend of Gedrin Shadowbane” and “Heir of Shadowbane”)
Book 4: Shadowbane: Kingdom of Night (working title) — This book is not (yet) contracted by Wizards of the Coast. I include it here in order to fuel speculation. 🙂
Cheers,
Erik
P.S. Ask Kalen your questions!
Worldswalker 
Is there another link where we can read “Heir of Shadowbane”? The link here goes to an error page. Thank You in advance 🙂
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Heir of Shadowbane is just the prologue of SHADOWBANE: EYE OF JUSTICE, so you should be able to read it there.
I’ll see if there’s a link to the sample anywhere and get back to you.
Thanks!
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Any word on Shadowbane: Kingdom of Night? *fingers crossed*
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Not yet, but hang in there. 🙂
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I hate to ask again as I’m sure you get many people daily asking about the 4th book in the Shadowbane series, if and when it will be released?
Shadowbane is one if not the best characters to come along period. I would to keep following along with his and the gangs continuing adventures.
Please tell us anything about the future of this wonderful series. Thanks for your time!
C
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That is really up to Wizards of the Coast, not me. I’m happy to write it and have written a good chunk of it–it’s entirely in their court as to whether they’ll revive the novel line or license it out.
If Realms novels return, I will do what I can to get this book out to you and all Shadowbane’s fans. 🙂
Cheers
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Just finished Eye of Justice today. Great read! Looking forward to the next one 🙂
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Stay tuned! You never know when such a thing will appear.
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Not just your wonderful series, but wish WoTC would go back to having more books by people NOT named Greenwood, Evans, or Salvatore (not that I don’t enjoy their works)
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Well, Troy Denning is supposed to have another novel coming out one of these days, but WotC is indeed limiting its authors just at the moment. I’d love to publish the fourth Shadowbane novel at some point . . .
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Just finishing my fourth read through of the series so far and i’m enjoying it just as much as my first read. I cannot wait for the continuation. Fingers crossed, hoping it’s soon.
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A fantastic series + one of the best I have found & purchased on my ebook + Audible, it’s also the series that got me into Wizards of the Coast novels.
I really hope Wizards of the Coast will finally move forward with Book 4: Shadowbane: Kingdom of Night.
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I read your article in dungeon #208 Elves with Demonic Designs and liked it. The Fey’ri are my favorite race in the realms What are your stats for them in 4e and if got around to it for the 5e. My fey’ri is a female rogue who is a renegade alot like Drizzt. She has demon blood in her like all Fey’ri but not their evil taint. I read a post you left on the Candlekeep forum about not all Fey’ri having wings. She doesn’t have wings. She doesn’t have much of a demonic taint since is 3/4 Sun elf and 1/4 demon. In her true form the only signs of her demonic heritage is that she has fiery red eyes and a long pointed tail. Which are easy to hide. I made Fey’ri a elf sub race. I depowered their 3.5 stats meaning for a Fey’ri to get wings they have to take a feat. Fey’ri demonic abilities are a feat as well and they only get two instead of four. The abilities like dimensional door and damage reduction. I like to know what think of my 5e stats for them. Do you see them making a come back in the realms even if its a small one.
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Well met!
Glad you enjoyed the article. That’s about as much design of fey’ri as the Realms are likely to get, sadly, but one never really knows. WotC isn’t publishing anymore novels after Ed’s last one for the foreseeable future, and there’s a FR movie in development. We’ll just have to see what happens.
I liked the concept from 2e/3e of tieflings having various traits, depending on their fiendish ancestry. The 4e tieflings with the devil horns and tails etc are specifically Asmodeus tieflings who have become populous enough they are *the* model for tiefling (more detail in the Brimstone Angels series), but the fey’ri as a subrace haven’t evolved into a single homogenous group yet. Hence different traits, and I’m glad you’ve embraced that in your character. (And your revisions to make the fey’ri fit in 5e sound good, as long as they fit in your game. I’d suggest you look at the tiefling as a model for how spell-like abilities should work.)
25% demon is actually a pretty strong bloodline: that makes your fey’ri second generation (child of a half-demon and a sun elf), which is the same generation as Fayne. The demon is strong in her, as reflected in those powerful abilities, and I hope you play up how powerful her demonic urges probably are, even as she tries to be a renegade and not give in. That’s a powerful story. Good luck!
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Hi!
I saw one of the comments here saying WotC needs more authors who are not part of the Salvatore-Evans-Greenwood trinity and I couldn’t agree more. I’ve been reading Realms novels now, to the point of finishing the entire library and found yours to be my favorites!
Question – There doesn’t appear to be any available background story on Vaelis and how he came to be at fierce odds with Kalen, and also how he ended up throwing in his lot with Kirenkirsalai / Hoar. Did I miss out anything from your Shadowbane series? Or will you in future (if fate and WotC decree it) plan to expand on what actually transpired between the two Shadowbanes?
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Check out the Chosen of the Sword short story (downloadable here) for more about Vaelis. If/when WotC wants to publish Shadowbane: Kingdom of Night, that will go into more detail as well.
Cheers!
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Thanks! I’ve just finished it reading it along with the short story on Gedrin and how he came to bequeath Vindicator to Kalen. Two very impressive stories!
The suspense with WotC’s novels line is tearing my heart apart and I hope all goes well with you and the company regarding future releases. I can’t wait to see Kingdom of Night on Amazon!
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Concerning Shadowbane: Kingdom of Night… any news yet? Just read books 2 & 3 in the last 2 days! Good works! I would really love to keep the flow by reading the 4th very soon.
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Thanks for the kind words! Glad you enjoyed.
Alas, WotC is not currently releasing any new novels (not Bob, not Ed, not Erin, not RLB, etc), so SHADOWBANE: KINGDOM OF NIGHT is currently on hold. I do plan to release a WESTGATE CAMPAIGN GUIDE on the DMs Guild that will relate to the characters and story from the gaming side, but fiction is still up in the air.
For the moment, allow me to recommend my World of Ruin series, which is a similar sort of genre and might be just what you need for the wait. 🙂
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Any word on progress with the 4th novel? Every couple of months, I come back to check. I’ve got to have some closure with the end of the 3rd…..
Love the series and advocate it strongly when I can! I swear Kalen is Forgotten Realms Batman.
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Alas, WotC still isn’t publishing any novels, let alone mine.
Never say never, though. Bob Salvatore is publishing another Drizzt novel this autumn, so it’s always possible WotC (or whoever owns the Realms at some future time) will go back to fill out those stories.
I’ve written about half the novel at this point, and I have it all planned out. I could probably finish it in about a week, if I get the word.
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You should do a goFundme to show Wotc the support of the continuation
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I would’ve checked back sooner if I thought you’d reply so quickly.
As the other gentleman that commented suggested, if some sort of GoFundMe or another similar fund raising site would kick the 4th book into motion, I’d certainly throw money at it.
A friend had requested suggestions for fiction novels, as they’re interested in writing and wanted to delve into fiction for a year before writing, and I gave them the name of the series with links.
I still need my fix, as well. If there’s anything us fans can do to help, let us know! 😀
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So I have been trying to complete my Forgotten Realms novel collection and have looked high and low for Shadowbane for ages now, but the I saw a reply on an old Candlekeep forum post where you said Downshadow was the only novel in print – the rest are ebooks. So just to clarify – Book 2 Shadowbane is an ebook only novel along with Book 3?
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That is correct. SHADOWBANE and SHADOWBANE: EYE OF JUSTICE are both ebook only.
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Thanks very much!
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I appreciate the votes of confidence, but there’s not a lot I can do personally to continue the series.
I can’t do a gofundme campaign for a property I don’t own, as it would be irresponsible of me to promise to publish a book I can’t legally publish. It is entirely up to WotC, and they are currently not publishing novels directly.
There is some sign that novels might be possible, in the form of Salvatore recently publishing TIMELESS and its forthcoming sequel through special agreement with WotC. They might be open to doing something like that.
In the meantime, here are some things YOU as fans can do:
1) Write to WotC: contact them in writing to express your enthusiasm for the series and desire to see it finished. Calls and emails are ok, too, but physical letters have a strong impact.
2) Talk about Shadowbane on Social Media, generate buzz and enthusiasm. The more copies of the books that sell, the more profitable WotC will see that it could be, particularly if they released some kind of physical omnibus version to accommodate new readers.
3) Watch the DM’s Guild for my eventual forthcoming publication of the Westgate Campaign Setting, a project I’ve had in the works for some time now. That will feature the characters and stories of Shadowbane quite heavily. (I have previews available through Patreon.)
4) Consider supporting me as a writer in the meantime! Buy my other work (https://erikscottdebie.com/bibliography), buy my Realms novels for your friends, check out my Patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/erikscottdebie), etc. What you’re buying is time for me to write and develop more, and also entertainment for yourself. It’s a win-win!
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