Elaine Cunningham (born August 12, 1957 in New York City) is an American

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

and

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

author, especially known for her contributions to the '' Dungeons & Dragons''

role playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal a ...

campaign setting of Forgotten Realms.

Biography

Cunningham was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, and grew up in

New York state New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...

and

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

. A voracious reader since childhood, she earned a degree in

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

education with a minor in

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

. She started writing in 1987, after her older son was born. A lifelong fascination with

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

and

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...

led her to the

genre,Elaine Cunningham's website
/ref> and her background in music and history gave her an affinity for

bards In Celtic cultures, a bard is a professional story teller, verse-maker, music composer, oral historian and genealogist, employed by a patron (such as a monarch or chieftain) to commemorate one or more of the patron's ancestors and to praise t ...

such as Danilo Thann, created for her first novel, '' Elfshadow'' (1991). Many of her stories focus on

elves An elf () is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology. They are subsequently mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's Icelandic Prose Edda. He distinguishes "ligh ...

, which she attributes to her excessive fondness for cats. Cunningham is also the ''New York Times'' bestselling author of '' Dark Journey'', book 10 from the ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...

'' '' New Jedi Order'' saga. '' Shadows in the Starlight'' (2006), the second book the '' Changeling Detective'' series, was named to the 2006 ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

'' list “Ten Best SciFi Novels."SF Signal magazine "Kirkus Best Books of 2006"
/ref>

Personal life

Now a full-time arts administrator, Cunningham continues to write, albeit mostly in the early morning hours. She lives in coastal

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

Bibliography

* '' Songs & Swords'' (featuring Arilyn, Danilo and Elaith) ** I. '' Elfshadow'' (1991/2000 reprint) ** II. '' Elfsong'' (1994/2000 reprint) ** III. '' Silver Shadows'' (1996/2001 reprint) ** IV. ''

Thornhold This is a list of fantasy fiction novels based in the role-playing game setting of the Forgotten Realms. They are published by Wizards of the Coast (WotC), with some originally published by TSR before it was incorporated into WotC. Abolethic Sov ...

'' (1998/2001 reprint) ** V. '' The Dream Spheres'' (1999) *'' Spelljammer anthology novellas'' ** The Cloakmaster Cycle *** The Radiant Dragon (1992), ISBN 9781560763468 * ''

Starlight and Shadows ''Starlight & Shadows'' is a series of novels by Elaine Cunningham, set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting. Plot summary The ''Starlight & Shadows'' trilogy covers the adventures of the drow outcast Liriel Baenre and her companion, Fyodor o ...

'' (featuring Liriel, Fyodor, and Gorlist) ** I. ''

Daughter of the Drow ''Daughter of the Drow'' is a fantasy novel by Elaine Cunningham, set in the world of the Forgotten Realms, and based on the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game. It is the first novel in the " Starlight & Shadows" series. It was published in ...

'' (1995) ** II. ''

Tangled Webs ''Tangled Webs'' is a fantasy novel by Elaine Cunningham, set in the world of the Forgotten Realms, and based on the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game. It is the second novel published in the " Starlight & Shadows" series. It was publish ...

'' (1996) ** III. '' Windwalker'' (2003) * ''Evermeet: Island of Elves'' (1998) * ''Counselors & Kings'' (featuring Matteo and Tzigone) ** I. '' The Magehound'' (2000) ** II. '' The Floodgate'' (2001) ** III. ''

The Wizardwar ''The Wizardwar'' is a fantasy novel by Elaine Cunningham, set in the world of the Forgotten Realms, and based on the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game. It is the third and final novel in the "Counselors & Kings" series. It was published ...

'' (2002) * '' City of Splendors: A Novel of Waterdeep'' (With

Ed Greenwood Ed Greenwood (born July 21, 1959) is a Canadian fantasy writer and the original creator of the ''Forgotten Realms'' game world. He began writing articles about the Forgotten Realms for ''Dragon'' magazine beginning in 1979, and subsequently sold ...

; 2005) *Forgotten Realms

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

novellas **'' The Best of the Realms, Book 1'' (2003) *** "Rite of Blood"—''

Realms of the Underdark A realm is a community or territory over which a sovereign rules. The term is commonly used to describe a Monarchy, monarchical or Dynasty, dynastic state. A realm may also be a subdivision within an empire, if it has its own monarch, e.g. the G ...

'' (1996) **'' The Best of the Realms, Book III: The Stories of Elaine Cunningham'' (2007) *** "The Bargain"—''

Realms of Valor This is a list of fantasy fiction novels based in the role-playing game setting of the Forgotten Realms. They are published by Wizards of the Coast (WotC), with some originally published by TSR, Inc., TSR before it was incorporated into WotC. Abo ...

'' (1993) *** "The More Things Change"—''

Realms of Infamy A realm is a community or territory over which a sovereign rules. The term is commonly used to describe a monarchical or dynastic state. A realm may also be a subdivision within an empire, if it has its own monarch, e.g. the German Empire. Etym ...

'' (1994) *** "The Direct Approach"—'' Realms of Magic'' (1995) *** "Secrets of Blood, Spirits of the Sea"—''

Realms of the Arcane A realm is a community or territory over which a sovereign rules. The term is commonly used to describe a monarchical or dynastic state. A realm may also be a subdivision within an empire, if it has its own monarch, e.g. the German Empire. Etym ...

'' (1997) *** "The Great Hunt"—''

Dragon magazine Dragon Magazine may refer to: * ''Dragon'' (magazine), an American magazine for ''Dungeons & Dragons'' players * ''Dragon Magazine'' (Fujimi Shobo), a Japanese light novel magazine {{disambig ...

'' #246 (1998) *** "Speaking with the Dead"—'' Realms of Mystery'' (1998) *** "Stolen Dreams"—''

'' #259 (1999) *** "Fire is Fire"—'' Realms of the Deep'' (2000) *** "Possessions"—''

'' #282 (2002) *** "A Little Knowledge"—''

Realms of Shadow A realm is a community or territory over which a sovereign rules. The term is commonly used to describe a Monarchy, monarchical or Dynasty, dynastic state. A realm may also be a subdivision within an empire, if it has its own monarch, e.g. the G ...

'' (2002) *** "Gorlist's Dragon"—'' Realms of Dragons'' (2004) *** "Games of Chance"—''

'' #335 (2005) *** "The Knights of Samular" *** "Tribute" *** "Answered Prayers" * Del Rey's ''

books'' ** '' Dark Journey'', Book 12 of the New Jedi Order series (featuring

Jaina Solo The Skywalker family is a fictional legendary human family in the '' Star Wars'' franchise. Within the series' fictional universe, the Skywalkers are presented as a bloodline with strong inherent capabilities related to the Force and sometimes ...

) *''The Changeling Detective Agency'' series ** I. '' Shadows in the Darkness'' (2004) ** II. '' Shadows in the Starlight'' (2006) *''

Pathfinder Pathfinder may refer to: Businesses * Pathfinder Energy Services, a division of Smith International * Pathfinder Press, a publisher of socialist literature Computing and information science * Path Finder, a Macintosh file browser * Pathfinder (w ...

Tales'' series ** ''Winter Witch'' (2010), ISBN 978-1-60125-286-9, with

Dave Gross Dave Gross () is a game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games. He is also a magazine editor, and has held the position of Editor-in-Chief at ''Star Wars Insider'' and at ''Amazing Stories''. Career Dave Gross, Michael Mikael ...

Quotes

*(''Fro
Candlekeep
web forums''): Ravens and crows will also interact with humans. Occasionally they'll imitate human behavior (such as helping gardeners pull weeds.) Sometimes they're willing to cut a deal. I've got one going with the local "raven mafia." They always gather on trash pickup day, but in exchange for some "protection bread," they'll leave my trash alone and even chase other birds away from it.

References

External links

Elaine Cunningham's websiteInterview at Flames Rising
(September 2008) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cunningham, Elaine 1957 births 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers American fantasy writers American science fiction writers American women novelists Living people Women science fiction and fantasy writers