Dragonlance series -is it worth finishing?

slimykuotoan · Post by **slimykuotoan** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 9:11 pm

I've only read chronicles, legends, preludes, tales, etc. but none of the newer 'no magic' stuff.

Rigon · Post by **Rigon** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 9:59 pm

I kind of lost interest after the twins series, so I can't help you much Slimey.

R-
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Deogolf · Post by **Deogolf** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 10:02 pm

I read the first two series - Chronicles and Legends. Never went further than that really - a book here, a book there. I know it really doesn't help you out, but read what you like.

I find books the same as art in a lot of ways, it's all in the eye of the beholder. What one person hates, another one loves...read and enjoy!
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NulSyn · Post by **NulSyn** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 10:40 pm

I've read it all and I like it all.

Apparently when compared to others online, this makes me a rare breed. I thought the story line of Fifth Age was great, and really liked the twist of "no magic".

Though I will say that the latest series about Mina and Chemosh, has me wondering if Weis is starting to lose her "want" of doing anything DL.
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Treebore · Post by **Treebore** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 11:09 pm

I stopped reading the blasted thing after Flint died. I don't read novels to have characters I like die of heart attacks. Especially HEROES! They get killed, not die of natural causes.

I have done fine without having ever read the rest of them.
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Matthew · Post by **Matthew** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 11:27 pm

Chronicles and legends are pretty much the only ones worth reading. I read tons of DL and FR fiction back in the day and I loved it, but in retrospect it really wasn't very good. I think I was about twelve or thirteen years old when I first started reading TSR fiction (having just finished The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings) and about sixteen or so when I stopped. I went back and read some of them in later years, having fond memories, but I found them to be very disappointing. I read Dragons of Autumn Twilight for the third time a couple of years and had a slightly better opinion of it, but it was still recognisably not very good. By contrast, I have read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings five or six times over the years and each time was a better experience than the last.
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gideon_thorne · Post by **gideon_thorne** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 12:04 am

Lets see... I've read everything both Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance all the way up untill 2e went away. Once it got into the Wotc owned stories I more or less stopped save for the odd author like Salvatore

I enjoyed 99% of what I read too.
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rabindranath72 · Post by **rabindranath72** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 9:06 am

As a HUGE fan of everything Dragonlance, I can say that Chronicles and Legends give a very good picture of the setting. The Second Generation is a collection of short tales which is set after the Legends, and it is a good read, too.

Then, there is Dragons of Summer Flame, which was supposed to put an end to Dragonlance. Also this book is quite good IMO, and the last I have read from Weis and Hickman that I liked.

After that book, a new trilogy by Jean Rabe was written...I strongly despised it, since it opened the way to "smashing" the setting (again!) to introduce the new SAGA rules. And the writing was terrible.

Then, with the introduction of the 3.x rules and the rewriting of the setting, a new "reboot" was thought to pass from SAGA to 3.x. So, you find a new trilogy about the War of Souls. It is mildly interesting, since there is a bit of a twist to "bring back" Dragonlance to its D&D roots. Read it if you want to keep up to date with Weis & Hickman's view of the setting.

Finally, Amber & Ashes: Dragonlance meets the worst of Anne Rice. Utterly disgusting IMO (sexy vampires in Dragonlance...yes...)

It is sad it was written by Weis & Hickman, and I guess as another poster said, that perhaps they are losing interest in the setting. And it shows.

A trilogy not directly related to the timeline which started with Chronicles, is the Kingpriest Trilogy, which narrates of the years before the Cataclysm. It is a VERY good read, and lays out all the background for the War of the Lance.

Finally, one of the favorites of mine: The Legend of Huma. Well written, nice story, narrates the legend of the greatest Dragonlance hero, the First Lancer, and the Third Dragonwar.

So, overall I suggest:

Chronicles, Legend, Second Generation, Summer Flame, Kingpriest trilogy, Legend of Huma.

If you feel brave, read the War of Souls too.

All the rest is negligible IMO.

Antonio

moriarty777 · Post by **moriarty777** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 1:00 pm

rabindranath72 wrote:
So, overall I suggest:

Chronicles, Legend, Second Generation, Summer Flame, Kingpriest trilogy, Legend of Huma.

If you feel brave, read the War of Souls too.

All the rest is negligible IMO.

Antonio

I agree that the Chronicles and Legends are a must... and beyond that I did enjoy Dragons of Summer Flame. The Legend of Huma is *VERY* good too.

I'm afraid to touch War of Souls when I found out a few details about it and decided I rather *not* read it.

I'm curious about the Lost Chronicles though ... these take place during the original trilogy. Anybody been reading them (the third book of the trilogy is not out yet)?

M
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rabindranath72 · Post by **rabindranath72** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 1:17 pm

moriarty777 wrote:
I'm curious about the Lost Chronicles though ... these take place during the original trilogy. Anybody been reading them (the third book of the trilogy is not out yet)?

M

The idea is quite cool, but I have not had the chance to read through them. One of the nicest things about the original DL modules is that they covered time frames which were skipped from the books.

yzarCritS · Post by **yzarCritS** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 2:43 pm

If you enjoyed the original trilogy, the newest additions help to fill in a few of the gaps of that storyline.

Dragons Of The Dwarven Depths: The Lost Chronicles, Volume One

Dragons of the Highlord Skies: The Lost Chronicles, Volume Two

Never being much of a Kitiara fan, I enjoyed volume 1 more then volume 2. Volume 3, Dragons of the Hourglass Mage is due out this summer.

Omote · Post by **Omote** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 4:36 pm

I think the War of Souls Trilogy is quite good... but it doesn't exaclty feel like Dragonlance. The characters I like a great deal, but again without the "main heroes" of the DL saga (kinda) it doesn't feel like the same DL to me.

Dragons of Summer Flame was awesome IMO. Treebore, don;t read this book because there is another main character death that is nothing out of the realm of truely heroic fantasy... which makes said character more heroic and visceral in my mind but hey, DoSF is the goods.

If you wanted CORE Dragonlance, these are the only books I read in this order:

Dragons of Autum Twilight

Dragons of Dwarven Depths

Dragons of Winter Night

Dragons of the Highlord Skies

Dragons of Spring Dawning

Dragons of the Hourglass Mage

Time of the Twins

Test of the Twins

War of the Twins

Second Generation

Dragons of Summer Flame

Dragons of a Fallen Sun

Dragons of a Lost Star

Dragons of a Vanished Moon

The ABSOLUTE BEST outside of the normal DL books mentioned above is:

Kingpriest Trilogy

Chosen of the Gods

Divine Hammer

Sacred Fire

Very, very good writing, highly recommended!

-O
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torren · Post by **torren** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 9:32 pm

I have to say for a long time I didn't read most of the DL stuff, but have recently picked up the Raistlin solo books (Soulforge, and Brothers in Arms) and they are really good, but have Dragons Of The Dwarven Depths: The Lost Chronicles, Volume One

Dragons of the Highlord Skies: The Lost Chronicles, Volume Two on the slate and am about 150 pages into the the Dwarven Depths and it is really nice so far...I always wondered what happened between the books in the 1st books and this set goes back and picks that up...

I have a confession... I missed the old group and wanted to get back to that really great feeling of what is going on with them. I picked them up on Ebay for very little and if it has to with Weis and Hickman in DL I am picking it up now...

If you have anymore questions please ask

T
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Plaag · Post by **Plaag** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 10:57 pm

I liked the dwarven trilogy books (not sure the name of them), but found the elven trilogy (again name escapes me) quite boring. It's been a while though since I've read any DL books, think I'll wait for the movies
ShaneG.

slimykuotoan · Post by **slimykuotoan** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 12:57 am

Thanks for the helpful responses guys!

yzarCritS wrote:
If you enjoyed the original trilogy, the newest additions help to fill in a few of the gaps of that storyline.

Dragons Of The Dwarven Depths: The Lost Chronicles, Volume One

Dragons of the Highlord Skies: The Lost Chronicles, Volume Two

Yeah, I just picked up Dragons of the Dwarven Depths and am completely surpised; it -so far- is completely on par with Chronicles!

It's simply awesome, and I love the draconian perspectives...

Dragonhelm · Post by **Dragonhelm** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 4:12 am

As one of the rabid DL gurus around here and a freelance designer for the d20 Dragonlance game, I thought I'd chime in on a couple of points.

rabindranath72 wrote:
Then, with the introduction of the 3.x rules and the rewriting of the setting, a new "reboot" was thought to pass from SAGA to 3.x. So, you find a new trilogy about the War of Souls. It is mildly interesting, since there is a bit of a twist to "bring back" Dragonlance to its D&D roots. Read it if you want to keep up to date with Weis & Hickman's view of the setting.

War of Souls was an excellent series for the most part and did much to bring DL to its roots, while simultaneously providing a new and interesting dynamic to the world. I absolutely love it.

Quote:
Finally, Amber & Ashes: Dragonlance meets the worst of Anne Rice. Utterly disgusting IMO (sexy vampires in Dragonlance...yes...)

It is sad it was written by Weis & Hickman, and I guess as another poster said, that perhaps they are losing interest in the setting. And it shows.

The Dark Disciple trilogy (Amber and Ashes, Amber and Iron, and the upcoming Amber and Blood) are some of the best DL books out there. Just to clarify, too, this is a Margaret Weis solo novel. I have few quibbles with the series (the Beloved are a vampire ripoff, for example). However, I really dig the characters (especially the dog, Atta!), the focus on other gods (Chemosh, Zeboim, Majere, etc.), the showcasing of Dragonlance monks, and so on. Damn fine series, and one I've been long awaiting the conclusion to.

I'll agree on your Legend of Huma point, too. My absolute favorite DL book beyond Weis and Hickman. Perhaps my favorite ever. There was this really great comic book adaptation for it as well...
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SilverFire85 · Post by **SilverFire85** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 3:07 am

I think the Dragonlance novels are pretty good. I actually read them out of order. I started with the War of Souls trilogy, then went back and read Chronicles and Legends. I haven't read much that doesn't deal with the Heroes of the Lance though. I love the world and the characters. My advice is to read them for yourself. Only you know what kinds of books you like. I personally love the Dragonlance novels.

SilverFire85 · Post by **SilverFire85** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 3:08 am

I think the Dragonlance novels are pretty good. I actually read them out of order. I started with the War of Souls trilogy, then went back and read Chronicles and Legends. I haven't read much that doesn't deal with the Heroes of the Lance though. I love the world and the characters. My advice is to read them for yourself. Only you know what kinds of books you like. I personally love the Dragonlance novels.

Tadhg · Post by **Tadhg** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 4:04 am

I somehow missed this thread, but better late than never.

I very much enjoyed reading Dragons of Autumn Twilight ~ thanks to recommendations from Rigon, Jaybird and Treebore (and maybe some others in our DL game - sorry if I've forgotten anyone)!

And special thanks to Jaybird for sending me the books. I will begin the 2nd book in the next month or two.

Great stuff, IMO!

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torren · Post by **torren** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 4:24 am

I am about half way thru the Dragons of Highlord Skies and it is all about Kit and so far really slow to me as I never cared to know this much about her...
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yzarCritS · Post by **yzarCritS** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 4:14 pm

torren wrote:
I am about half way thru the Dragons of Highlord Skies and it is all about Kit and so far really slow to me as I never cared to know this much about her...

Yup, I agree it was a slower read as compared to Dwarven Depths. It's heavily focused on Kit and the dragon highlords. I will say that I really enjoyed the end of the book, so keep at it and hopefully you'll feel there is a reward at the end as well.

Omote · Post by **Omote** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 4:36 pm

yzarCritS wrote:
Yup, I agree it was a slower read as compared to Dwarven Depths. It's heavily focused on Kit and the dragon highlords. I will say that I really enjoyed the end of the book, so keep at it and hopefully you'll feel there is a reward at the end as well.

Wow, I actually thought the opposite. Dwarven Depths was pretty slow, but I Highlord Skies deals with fewer characters then Depths.

-O
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torren · Post by **torren** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 3:01 am

Well, I finished and yzarCritS you are right it did pick up and finished ok... not that I think it was as good as the previous one, but I am really looking forward to the next book in the series...I was always really partial to Raistlin and so is Wies so it should be really good...

I picked up the Second Generation now as I have never read it...and then on to the Fifth Age Dragon series...

Later
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gideon_thorne · Post by **gideon_thorne** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 3:40 am

torren wrote:
Well, I finished and yzarCritS you are right it did pick up and finished ok... not that I think it was as good as the previous one, but I am really looking forward to the next book in the series...I was always really partial to Raistlin and so is Wies so it should be really good...

I picked up the Second Generation now as I have never read it...and then on to the Fifth Age Dragon series...

Later

*chuckles* I'm rather partial to Raistlin myself. Similar difficulties growing up and all.
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slimykuotoan · Post by **slimykuotoan** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 3:05 pm

I'm sooo into Dragon Highlords.

Ariakas baby!