The city is located in the Upper Northdark, about two miles below the Surbrin Vale, between the Moonwood and the Frost Hills (north of the Evermoors and under the River Surbin[1]).

[2] The prequel series, The Dark Elf Trilogy, features the origin of Drizzt Do'Urden and the main setting is his home city of Menzoberranzan.

Shannon Appelcline (author of Designers & Dragons) wrote that "from the time of that first book of Salvatore's Icewind Dale trilogy, Drizzt was a breakout success, due in no small part to his mysterious origins and his 'years in Menzoberranzan, or in the wilds of the Underdark .

[6] Pornokitsch, in their review of Homeland, wrote that "Menzoberranzan is a stunning metropolis - svelte architecture, omnipresent magic and an atmosphere of choking paranoia.

[11] In Siege of Darkness, while Menzoberranzan is heavily impacted by the Time of Troubles and magic going awry, the Drow still plan and then launch an attack on Mithral Hall.

[25][26] This leads to a conflict called the War of the Silver Marches which continues throughout the rest of the series, Rise of the King (2014) and Vengeance of the Iron Dwarf (2015).

[27][28] Salvatore said that "the War of the Silver Marches seems straightforward from afar - the orcs of Many Arrows, prodded by the drow, have decided to take on the alliance known as the Kingdoms of Luruar.

Up close, however, it gets much more complicated, as the drow tease the frost giants to the side of the orcs, then throw in a couple of dragons (who have their own ulterior motives) for good measure.

Weaving throughout this tale are a number of disaffected drow, of particular note are Jaraxle, of the Bregan D'aerthe mercenary company, and the eponymous Archmage, Gromph of House Baenre".

[31][32] The second book, Maestro, deals with the fallout of the "Rage of Demons" storyline in Menzoberranzan with a particular focus on Drizzt Do'Urden returning to the city and the story concludes in Hero (2016).

In the first novel, Timeless (2018), Menzoberranzan is one of the main locations and "it follows the tumultuous life of Drizzt's father, mentor figure, and idol Zaknafein, both in the past, when his friendship with the infamous mercenary captain Jarlaxle opened the door for his heresy, and in the present, after he is resurrected and reunited with his son".

[37] Ed Greenwood, Salvatore, and Douglas Niles collaborated to release a three-book box set in December 1992 called Menzoberranzan: The Famed City of the Drow.

Now Dungeon Masters and players alike could fill their campaigns with feuding noble houses, evil matron mothers, and vile plots, but this time with actual maps of the city and ready-made NPCs.

It talks about the major peoples of the Underworld and details dozens of cities, including Menzoberranzan" and that "Boyd's extensive research results in Underdark being full of tiny references.

[1] In the 4th edition Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide (2008), Menzoberranzan is described as a key settlement in the Underdark and features an updated map.

It was featured in the popular Menzoberranzan PC game from SSI/DreamForge, part of their Forgotten Realms product line, in 1994, and very prominently in the six volume War of the Spider Queen novels, but it's been far too long since my favorite underdark city-state appeared in a new edition".

[19] Alex Lucard, for Diehard Gamefan, wrote that "all in all, if you even remotely interested in the Drow as a race, Menzoberranzan: City of Intrigue is a book well worth picking up.

[46] Wired included the book on a seasonal gift guide and wrote that "it's a wicked underground city packed full of scheming dark elves and their henchmen and slaves.

Many players will remember Menzoberranzan, the City of Spiders, but even lesser-known areas such as Blingdenstone and Gracklstugh are fully developed and ready to be explored".

[50][51] The city has 20,000 drow inhabitants and hundreds of thousands of humanoid slaves such as goblins, kobolds, bugbears, duergar, svirfnebli, orcs, ogres, minotaurs, and giants, as well as herds of rothé kept as livestock.

Foreseeing her temporary loss of power due to the Time of Troubles, Lolth had asked the demon Errtu to protect her worshippers, should she herself fail to do it.

Students in their 9th and final year serve as guards for Tier Breche, as well as participating in practice patrols within short distances outside of the city cavern.

During this event the students are set loose in a maze chamber outside the city cavern, wielding simple wooden poles as imitation weapons.

Males will spend 30 years in study of the arcane arts, learning to channel the strange and unique magic of the drow that emanates from the Underdark.

Acceptance as a student at Sorcere is highly coveted by young males as magic is the only path to any kind of real power in their matriarchal world.

Standing at the center of Tier Breche, the school resembles a giant obsidian spider, sporting eight legs and a large central hall.

Female clerics will spend 50 years in study under the Mistresses of Arach-Tinilith, learning the deeper codes, beliefs, and dogma of Lolth's faith.

This band of societal malcontents consists of approximately 150 members (though at times known to employ many more, having nearly one thousand agents at work with the Calimport initiative), mainly houseless males.

Bregan D'aerthe has been very influential in the chaotic happenings of Menzoberranzan and has connections with Blingdenstone and has agents in Ched Nasad as well as major cities on the surface, most notably Luskan, Waterdeep, Calimport, and Heliogabalus.

From the cult of Lolth, the spider-goddess, to the matriarchal houses constantly scheming to destroy the others, to their equally Machiavellian education system, to the brutal class structure, Salvatore explores it all.