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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
A welcome return to the beloved fantasy series of my teenage years. As the first Dragonlance book I've read in about 20 years, it all feels quite YA actually. I still love the world and its characters - and this new tale is fun - but the writing is definitely a bit tame these days. Also lots of exposition, presumably for new readers, and lots of repetition.
I'm still quite excited to read the next one!
I'm still quite excited to read the next one!
I pledged this year that I was going to do a read through of the main Dragonlance books and really have a non-stop marathon all the way up to the release of this book. Yeaaah….I didn’t make it. I was 7 books in. But I did cover the ‘holy six’! I really enjoyed them, they are absolutely written for a younger D&D playing high school kid like I was when I first discovered them. Now, at the hump age of 34 I have a new Dragonlance book in hand… and I gotta admit I’m excited. . We’re introduced to Castle Rosethorn in the middle of a small province, seemingly near Palanthus. It’s a Solamnic house and her father Gregory, is a knight and minor lord…he has a modest staff etc… and she’s heir… Okay first pause…They are setting it up hardcore that she’s to inherit the property..literally he starts talking about his will and what she’ll inherit…I’m going out on a limb and calling my shot early…Gregory her father is going to bite it…
Her mother seems…. off. How is it her mother and father are in any way compatible? They seems like two vastly different people. She’s all about nature, the old gods, scrying, and he’s an knight of the Solamnic code… Her mother doesn’t seem to be all there in terms of normal conversation.
Destina wants to marry some rando… her fathers not loving her choice… He doesn’t seem to hate the guy but he’s definitely not of her station. I can see where this is going…
He agrees to the wedding but makes her pledge to him she’ll not sign over anything to him in marriage or do that fornication dance.
Oh and apparently there’s of course a band of roving Goblins and beasts about the area, participating in targeted, almost guided attacks. Her father lord of the province tries to seek aid from the other gathering of the knights but they don’t really listen.
So Gregory and his few chosen men ride out, bid goodbye to their loved ones and they’re gone… I swear I can see it coming a mile away, this guy is toast…
Destina and her mother lead the defense of the castle. The goblin and hobgoblin army is described as disheveled, and sloppy… As we know from prior Dragonlance books, the Hobs are the bigger smarter cousins of the gobs.. who pretty much amount to Gully Dwarves in terms of intelligence. The army (more like small war band) breaks upon the castle but they seem to not dwell too long. They move passed it, with a dragon in their midst.
WHELP!! I called it… Not only is her father dead, but I didn’t realize that this story is set literally in the chronology of the War of the Lance. The events of her father’s death are what happens in book….2 or 3 of the main books. In fact the entire War of the Lance is wrapped up here in a few pages. I really like that this takes place in that time frame as it’s the most familiar to me. She stumbles upon a book that her father checked out before he left…and he has to do with …the possibility of time travel… I’m hoping this doesn’t lean to heavily into this as the whole Test of the Twins story was time travel and to me it wasn’t done very well. Her mother seems pretty flighty, spacey and not very stable mentally..
The book has taken a very interesting turn… So Destina and her mother are summarily kicked out of their own castle and her wormy cousin who has usurped the will of inhertance, leaves them with a tiny house in Palanthas.
We pivot to a very important side story. We get a lot of backstory to catch up new readers on the tower of palanthas and the other magic towers…
So the story continues on, Destina meets with Tasslehoff… and they gather in Solace.. I wasn’t expecting so much entanglement with the heroes of the lance crowd (really it’s just Tasslehoff, Caramon, and Tika). It’s nice to see but does make the world feel a bit small, but I like it…It’s a nice way to catch up on our characters. Destina I really am liking as a character. Right now I’m coming through some stuff, so having a character who’s just digging herself deeper and deeper and trying justify the cost is interesting. I really like characters who are really put through a lot and have to keep justifying their ‘crimes’
There’s also a side story here with Dalamar and Ungar, with some of the magic users. Dalamar who was servant (apprentice?) of Raistlin we see is still friendly with the Majeres. Now for the narrative, there’s a pretty big conceit to be taken here… He meets another Kender named Merry Merryweather…who actually is Destina…and throughout most of this book, Tas refuses to think that they’re the same person, using his simple logic to think that Merry (who has mistakenly married him….it’s a Kender thing) is somehow being harmed by Destina’s true form…. It’s one of those leaps in logic stories where one party doesn’t know something that we do… And while that can indeed be excrutionatingly frustrating, and really annoying, it’s sort of fun since it’s Tas we’re talking about and it’s a bit fun seeing him be so blind some thing.
The story really goes in on the time travel…So Tas, Mary, and ..that one guy go back in time and conveniently meet up with the heroes of the lance at the Inn. While it’s nice seeing everyone here… This is starting to feel like a book too scared to stand on it’s own two feet. Granted, we’ve had plenty of Dragonlance books without the heroes so it’s not like this just “yet another return to the well!” argument. But unless this book is setting something up to undo historical canon here, this seems like a bit of a stretch to involve everyone.
We jump back to the present, with Tikka, Tanis, and Caramon slowing putting the pieces together about “Mary” and Tas, Dalamar’s involvement etc.. The book comes to a finish pretty abruptly… So overall I liked this.. I felt that the whole Tas not knowing who Destina/Mary were got a bit silly…if they had done it in a way where it wasn’t so obvious, it may have played better, but it just makes Tas look like an idiot. Having all of the characters back is kinda cool…If they’re going to play with established historical events this is the way to go, and with so many major motion picture properties doing similar ‘multiverse’ stories, this doesn’t seem too off the trend. I also really like Destina. A flawed character who’s so wrapped up in her goal is always interesting, and I like it that some people go so far, they don’t buy into the sunk cost fallacy and just double down on making bad choices just to get to the end goal.
Her mother seems…. off. How is it her mother and father are in any way compatible? They seems like two vastly different people. She’s all about nature, the old gods, scrying, and he’s an knight of the Solamnic code… Her mother doesn’t seem to be all there in terms of normal conversation.
Destina wants to marry some rando… her fathers not loving her choice… He doesn’t seem to hate the guy but he’s definitely not of her station. I can see where this is going…
He agrees to the wedding but makes her pledge to him she’ll not sign over anything to him in marriage or do that fornication dance.
Oh and apparently there’s of course a band of roving Goblins and beasts about the area, participating in targeted, almost guided attacks. Her father lord of the province tries to seek aid from the other gathering of the knights but they don’t really listen.
So Gregory and his few chosen men ride out, bid goodbye to their loved ones and they’re gone… I swear I can see it coming a mile away, this guy is toast…
Destina and her mother lead the defense of the castle. The goblin and hobgoblin army is described as disheveled, and sloppy… As we know from prior Dragonlance books, the Hobs are the bigger smarter cousins of the gobs.. who pretty much amount to Gully Dwarves in terms of intelligence. The army (more like small war band) breaks upon the castle but they seem to not dwell too long. They move passed it, with a dragon in their midst.
WHELP!! I called it… Not only is her father dead, but I didn’t realize that this story is set literally in the chronology of the War of the Lance. The events of her father’s death are what happens in book….2 or 3 of the main books. In fact the entire War of the Lance is wrapped up here in a few pages. I really like that this takes place in that time frame as it’s the most familiar to me. She stumbles upon a book that her father checked out before he left…and he has to do with …the possibility of time travel… I’m hoping this doesn’t lean to heavily into this as the whole Test of the Twins story was time travel and to me it wasn’t done very well. Her mother seems pretty flighty, spacey and not very stable mentally..
The book has taken a very interesting turn… So Destina and her mother are summarily kicked out of their own castle and her wormy cousin who has usurped the will of inhertance, leaves them with a tiny house in Palanthas.
We pivot to a very important side story. We get a lot of backstory to catch up new readers on the tower of palanthas and the other magic towers…
So the story continues on, Destina meets with Tasslehoff… and they gather in Solace.. I wasn’t expecting so much entanglement with the heroes of the lance crowd (really it’s just Tasslehoff, Caramon, and Tika). It’s nice to see but does make the world feel a bit small, but I like it…It’s a nice way to catch up on our characters. Destina I really am liking as a character. Right now I’m coming through some stuff, so having a character who’s just digging herself deeper and deeper and trying justify the cost is interesting. I really like characters who are really put through a lot and have to keep justifying their ‘crimes’
There’s also a side story here with Dalamar and Ungar, with some of the magic users. Dalamar who was servant (apprentice?) of Raistlin we see is still friendly with the Majeres. Now for the narrative, there’s a pretty big conceit to be taken here… He meets another Kender named Merry Merryweather…who actually is Destina…and throughout most of this book, Tas refuses to think that they’re the same person, using his simple logic to think that Merry (who has mistakenly married him….it’s a Kender thing) is somehow being harmed by Destina’s true form…. It’s one of those leaps in logic stories where one party doesn’t know something that we do… And while that can indeed be excrutionatingly frustrating, and really annoying, it’s sort of fun since it’s Tas we’re talking about and it’s a bit fun seeing him be so blind some thing.
The story really goes in on the time travel…So Tas, Mary, and ..that one guy go back in time and conveniently meet up with the heroes of the lance at the Inn. While it’s nice seeing everyone here… This is starting to feel like a book too scared to stand on it’s own two feet. Granted, we’ve had plenty of Dragonlance books without the heroes so it’s not like this just “yet another return to the well!” argument. But unless this book is setting something up to undo historical canon here, this seems like a bit of a stretch to involve everyone.
We jump back to the present, with Tikka, Tanis, and Caramon slowing putting the pieces together about “Mary” and Tas, Dalamar’s involvement etc.. The book comes to a finish pretty abruptly… So overall I liked this.. I felt that the whole Tas not knowing who Destina/Mary were got a bit silly…if they had done it in a way where it wasn’t so obvious, it may have played better, but it just makes Tas look like an idiot. Having all of the characters back is kinda cool…If they’re going to play with established historical events this is the way to go, and with so many major motion picture properties doing similar ‘multiverse’ stories, this doesn’t seem too off the trend. I also really like Destina. A flawed character who’s so wrapped up in her goal is always interesting, and I like it that some people go so far, they don’t buy into the sunk cost fallacy and just double down on making bad choices just to get to the end goal.
I first read the Dragonlance novels (those that were out at the time - the first 2 trilogies) in the summer of '86. Years later, I did a full reread including the third & fourth trilogies.
The main thing I remember from both of these experiences, was how the writing grew from the slow 1st book into the later ones (& even more in the amazing third trilogy).
Well...
This book, sadly, is even slower than the very first Dragonlance novel, Dragons of Autumn Twilight. It's all just an incredibly long intro - 'hey, there's going to be some books about _______, & here's how we get into _______... with hundreds of pages that don't really do anything at all except get you to the starting point!'
One new major character to actually care about. One new minor character to hope will grow into more. And... yeah, that's really it. All set up.
Very disappointed. Can't believe it's currently rated higher than DoAT.
The main thing I remember from both of these experiences, was how the writing grew from the slow 1st book into the later ones (& even more in the amazing third trilogy).
Well...
This book, sadly, is even slower than the very first Dragonlance novel, Dragons of Autumn Twilight. It's all just an incredibly long intro - 'hey, there's going to be some books about _______, & here's how we get into _______... with hundreds of pages that don't really do anything at all except get you to the starting point!'
One new major character to actually care about. One new minor character to hope will grow into more. And... yeah, that's really it. All set up.
Very disappointed. Can't believe it's currently rated higher than DoAT.
You guys! It's a new Dragonlance book! They didn't have to throw old heroes in there to make me want to read it, but boy did they ever throw them in there. Then they did stuff with them and oh they stuff they did with them! It makes you demand more immediately.
However it also contains and extremely annoying main character. I guess I should e used to annoying main characters, Dragonlance is full of them. That's part of what makes it great, there's someone for everyone, and if you like certain someones you will probably dislike other someones. Too bad this annoying entitled princess isn't purely evil, she would have been more interesting without her "good" intentions. Instead she's just blind and willfully ignorant. To make things worse she's partnered with Tas, annoying character number two. That's ok, I'm in, give me as much of them as you want because you gave me the other thing. The thing I love. My favorite character.
However it also contains and extremely annoying main character. I guess I should e used to annoying main characters, Dragonlance is full of them. That's part of what makes it great, there's someone for everyone, and if you like certain someones you will probably dislike other someones. Too bad this annoying entitled princess isn't purely evil, she would have been more interesting without her "good" intentions. Instead she's just blind and willfully ignorant. To make things worse she's partnered with Tas, annoying character number two. That's ok, I'm in, give me as much of them as you want because you gave me the other thing. The thing I love. My favorite character.
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I’m pretty certain that in the summer/fall of 1986, I read the first DragonLance novel Dragons of Autumn Twilight. Luckily for me, the first trilogy, Chronicles, and the second, Legends, were out and I was able to burn through them pretty quickly. I fell in love with the characters, the setting, the high adventure. It was probably the first book that brought me to tears. The authors, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman left the series to publish new books in new worlds, but TSR kept pumping out DragonLance books written by different authors. Some were great, but many were … lacking. I still bought every book. Weis and Hickman returned with Dragons of Summer Flame in 1994, the grand finale of their saga. I was not happy with some of the character choices they made, but having Weis and Hickman was better than not. Then TSR took DragonLance in a direction I despised and I mostly stopped reading the novels unless they were set in the fictional past of Krynn. 5 years went by and Weis and Hickman returned. I hoped they would set things right again. The series was good, but they left Krynn in much the same state as it had been. They wrote another trilogy that filled in some empty chapters, then DragonLance disappeared completely. No more books. Nothing.
Weis and Hickman. Creatures of legend. Stories told to children…
But Weis and Hickman have returned to Krynn. DragonLance Destinies Book 1: Dragons of Deceit is out now (after a delay caused by a lawsuit). It’s an “inbetweenquel” taking place a few years after the first two trilogies. It introduces us to Destina Rosethorn. We follow her story from just before the War of the Lance up past the Legends series. Destina is after two of the series biggest MacGuffins: the Device of Time Journeying and the Graygem. Destina wants to change the past so her father won’t die at the High Clerists Tower. This brings her into contact with some of the series big names: Dalamar, Astinus, Caramon, and, of course, the irrepressible kender Tasslehoff Burrfoot.
But is it any good? I’m not going to lie. I loved coming back to Krynn. For long time readers, it does what it needs to do. It sets up what should be a very intriguing trilogy!
Weis and Hickman. Creatures of legend. Stories told to children…
But Weis and Hickman have returned to Krynn. DragonLance Destinies Book 1: Dragons of Deceit is out now (after a delay caused by a lawsuit). It’s an “inbetweenquel” taking place a few years after the first two trilogies. It introduces us to Destina Rosethorn. We follow her story from just before the War of the Lance up past the Legends series. Destina is after two of the series biggest MacGuffins: the Device of Time Journeying and the Graygem. Destina wants to change the past so her father won’t die at the High Clerists Tower. This brings her into contact with some of the series big names: Dalamar, Astinus, Caramon, and, of course, the irrepressible kender Tasslehoff Burrfoot.
But is it any good? I’m not going to lie. I loved coming back to Krynn. For long time readers, it does what it needs to do. It sets up what should be a very intriguing trilogy!
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Cash grab? Nostalgia tie-in? We have an idea so let's give it a go? Probably an unnecessary series but once it gets going it's a decent beach read kind of fantasy.
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Dragonlance is back! Yes, after about a dozen years with no adventures in Krynn, the OG authors, Ms. Weis and Mr. Hickman are back at it with the original cast of characters that made so many fantasy fans fall in love with this massive series.
The book opens with young Destina Rosethorn living a spoiled existence lamenting the fact that she cannot become a knight, yet safe in the knowledge that, adored by her father, will inherit Rosethorn Castle and continue to live a life that she has become accustomed to .
Sadly, Destina’s father dies in the War of the Lance, and Destina’s world is turned upside down. She loses the castle due to a lack of a will, her wealthy fiance leaves her, and she is left basically destitute.
Undaunted, Destina decides that she will simply find the Device of Time Journeying, travel back to the War of the Lance, and make sure that her father does not die. That will fix everything that has gone horribly wrong.
So Destina sets out to find the last known holder of the Device of Time Journeying: a Hero of the Lance named Tasselhoff Burrfoot. Yep, the very same Tasselhoff Burrfoot who has been getting into fantastical scrapes for just about forty years.
As luck will have it, Destina finds Tas, as well as quite a few other Heroes of the Lance. Let’s just say the hijinks really take off from there.
I was overjoyed to be able to immerse myself back into the rich history of the Dragonlance universe. It has been far too long, but these beloved characters just slide right back into the normal swing of jabs, barbs, and general mirth like they have for most of my fantasy-reading life.
I’d address worldbuilding, but there’s really no need. To say that the Dragonlance universe is well fleshed out is an understatement. My real excitement in new novel material is the potential for new gaming materials. Having Dragonlance in proper Dungeons & Dragons 5e (or maybe One D&D) is a pretty nifty prospect.
My one complaint about Dragons of Deceit is Destina. I know, ultimately, that she is the driving plot device, but, boy howdy is she impetuous and annoying a lot of the time. Rather than be open about what she is trying to do, she skulks around, misleads, and even downright lies her way into situations that just didn’t need to happen that way. I am very much hoping, in book two or book three, that she has an epiphany allowing her to see that she can rely on others to help her. I have pretty strong feelings about her approach, so I guess the authors did something right in that regard.
At the end of the day, I’m still very very excited that there is new Dragonlance, and I really hope this new content is just the start of a whole slew of new novels. The subtle and very well-played re-working of the original timeline (especially since it is being done by the original authors) might just be the little tweak needed to introduce these amazing characters and worlds to a new generation of fantasy readers. We shall see.
The book opens with young Destina Rosethorn living a spoiled existence lamenting the fact that she cannot become a knight, yet safe in the knowledge that, adored by her father, will inherit Rosethorn Castle and continue to live a life that she has become accustomed to .
Sadly, Destina’s father dies in the War of the Lance, and Destina’s world is turned upside down. She loses the castle due to a lack of a will, her wealthy fiance leaves her, and she is left basically destitute.
Undaunted, Destina decides that she will simply find the Device of Time Journeying, travel back to the War of the Lance, and make sure that her father does not die. That will fix everything that has gone horribly wrong.
So Destina sets out to find the last known holder of the Device of Time Journeying: a Hero of the Lance named Tasselhoff Burrfoot. Yep, the very same Tasselhoff Burrfoot who has been getting into fantastical scrapes for just about forty years.
As luck will have it, Destina finds Tas, as well as quite a few other Heroes of the Lance. Let’s just say the hijinks really take off from there.
I was overjoyed to be able to immerse myself back into the rich history of the Dragonlance universe. It has been far too long, but these beloved characters just slide right back into the normal swing of jabs, barbs, and general mirth like they have for most of my fantasy-reading life.
I’d address worldbuilding, but there’s really no need. To say that the Dragonlance universe is well fleshed out is an understatement. My real excitement in new novel material is the potential for new gaming materials. Having Dragonlance in proper Dungeons & Dragons 5e (or maybe One D&D) is a pretty nifty prospect.
My one complaint about Dragons of Deceit is Destina. I know, ultimately, that she is the driving plot device, but, boy howdy is she impetuous and annoying a lot of the time. Rather than be open about what she is trying to do, she skulks around, misleads, and even downright lies her way into situations that just didn’t need to happen that way. I am very much hoping, in book two or book three, that she has an epiphany allowing her to see that she can rely on others to help her. I have pretty strong feelings about her approach, so I guess the authors did something right in that regard.
At the end of the day, I’m still very very excited that there is new Dragonlance, and I really hope this new content is just the start of a whole slew of new novels. The subtle and very well-played re-working of the original timeline (especially since it is being done by the original authors) might just be the little tweak needed to introduce these amazing characters and worlds to a new generation of fantasy readers. We shall see.