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{{quote|''"Life has no meaning but what we give it. I wish a few more of ye would give it a little."''|Elminster of Shadowdale}}
The Elminster Series is an ongoing series of novels set in the [[
The series currently includes the following books:
* ''Elminster: The Making of a Mage'' (1994): Elminster's quiet life as a shepherd in his hometown is violently disrupted by a dragon-riding wizard. The murder of his parents and entire village sets the stage for his long life as one of the Chosen of Mystra.
* ''Elminster in Myth Drannor'' (1997): Now one of the Chosen, but still in his twenties and relatively inexperienced, Elminster is sent to the elven realm of Cormanthor to learn magic.
* ''The Temptation of Elminster'' (1998): Several hundred years later. After accidentally getting himself [[Sealed Good in
* ''Elminster in Hell'' (2001): The first entry set following the Time of Troubles, during which the original Mystra was killed and the mortal wizard Midnight [[Ascend to
* ''Elminster's Daughter'' (2004): Centered not around Elminster, but rather one of his various children, a Waterdhavian thief named Narnra Shalace. By dumb luck, she tries to rob him one night, follows him through a portal, and becomes involved in a plot by the Red Wizards of Thay against the crown of Cormyr.
* ''The Annotated Elminster'' (2007): Omnibus edition of the first three books.
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=== The Elminster Series contains examples of the following tropes: ===
* [[The Casanova]]: One of Elminster's defining traits is that he'll flirt and/or sleep with virtually anything that is female and not related to him. Even ghosts {{spoiler|and dragons in human form}}. If we account for the disparity in series entries, the number of his conquests probably rivals [[James Bond]]. Even outside of his saga it's pretty much a [[Running Gag]].
** Seriously. The first thing he does after emerging from the [[Sealed Good in
** The series also doesn't shy away from the results of all that sex. ''Daughter'' is centered on one of Elminster's several illegitimate children. And mentions others. Technically, fertility of the Chosen is under Mystra's complete control, but she rarely have good reasons to veto a magically strong bloodline.
* [[Deus Ex Machina]]: The literal version: it's hard to face Mystra's top-rank servants with overwhelming power or control them, but doing this tend to attract her personal (and rather annoyed) attention. In ''Myth Drannor'' several elven High Mages were quite disconcerted to have a goddess manifest and wag her finger at them. During [[The Very Definitely Final Dungeon|The Very Definitely Final Battle]] of ''Elminster in Hell''. {{spoiler|The Red Wizards are invading Aglarond, blasting everything in sight, Elminster and the Simbul are exhausted, and then an avatar of Mystra rejuvenates them and [[Curb Stomp Battle|the battle ends very quickly.]]}}
* [[Deus Sex Machina]]: Elminster is made one of the Chosen at the end of ''Making of a Mage'' by having sex with an [[God in Human Form|avatar of Mystra]]. [[Zero-G Spot|In midair]]. And they get seen by a merchant on the road, which becomes [[Crowning Moment of Funny|one of the most hilarious moments in the book]].
* [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?]]: {{spoiler|The Simbul rescues Elminster from the grip of an archdevil at the climax of ''Elminster in Hell''. And blows said archdevil to smithereens.}} He starts to worry only when she blasts a pit fiend out of her way ''without even slowing down''. Hell hath no fury like Alassra when she gets really mad.
* [[Divine Date]]: Elminster and the first Mystra have a romantic, sometimes sexual, relationship {{spoiler|that started when he knew her as [[God in Human Form|Myrjala Darkeyes]]}}. Said relationship does not continue after Midnight [[Ascend to
* [[Doomed Hometown]]: Elminster's village is burned to the ground by a dragon-riding wizard at the beginning of ''Making of a Mage'' {{spoiler|with the intent of assassinating Elminster's father, a [[King Incognito|Prince Incognito]]}}. Elminster survives because he was herding sheep in the hills.
** Hastarl falls to an orc horde about a century after ''Making of a Mage''. The current-day town of Secomber is built on its ruins.
* [[Foregone Conclusion]]: The first three books, since the initial version of the [[
* [[God in Human Form]]: In ''Making of a Mage'', {{spoiler|Myrjala Darkeyes is an avatar of Mystra, which Greenwood manages to keep unclear until the very end of ''Making of a Mage''. She teaches Elminster magic, takes his virginity, then is incinerated by a dragon during the final battle, only to have her body reform to admonish him after he screams that he'll never work magic again.}} Later some of her other avatars also enjoyed his company.
* [[I Have Many Names]]: Elminster's titles include Chosen of Mystra and Sage of Shadowdale, among others.
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* [[People Puppets]]: In ''Myth Drannor'' he received a resurrection with some strings attached.
* [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]]: Elminster and Myrjala go on one in Hastarl during the climax of ''Making of a Mage'', killing every magelord in the city.
* [[Sealed Good in
** Vangerdahast's subplot in ''Daughter'' consists of his attempts to seal ''dragons'' in a can to replace Cormyr's previous Sealed Good, unsealed and destroyed in the Devil Dragon war. {{spoiler|He eventually shapeshifts into a dragon and seals himself and a volunteer song dragon in the can.}}
* [[Vapor Wear]]: The cover art of ''Temptation'' makes it pretty clear that the Lady of Shadows doesn't wear underwear.
* [[Touched
** Elminster was born with "Mystra's gift" -- a minor magic ability. In his case, spellsight.
* [[Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe]]: Elminster uses an archaic form of Common that involves 'ye's, 'thy's, and 'thou's.
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