Farewell to Dragonlance

[nontacitare]

Last night I finished the last Dragonlance novel, chronologically speaking. The story was finally brought to an end with three trilogies (Dark Disciple, Elven Exiles, and Rise of Solamnia), and Hasbro, who currently owns the rights, has decided to end the line. Dragonlance is a series of fantasy novels that spans over two hundred books (of which

Comments

[nontacitare]

I sort of gave up after reading some of Rabe's books. I didn't really like them.

Same here.

I read the War of the Souls, but ignored most everything after that. I may go back and read some of them, now, though.

Some of the best writing in Dragonlance happened after War of Souls. Here are my recommendations:

Wizard's Conclave: Ex-lovers Dalamar and Jenna have to work together to save Wayreth. I had some quibbles with the writing (sometimes you can hear the dice roll), but it moves the story forward in preparation for the Dark Disciple and Rise of Solamnia trilogies.

Dark Disciple trilogy, starting with Amber and Ashes: I resisted reading this because I'd heard it was about Mina and Gerard, two of my least favorite Dragonlance characters. As it turns out, the trilogy rivals Legends as the best of Dragonlance. Mina, at loose ends after the War of Souls, becomes the literal mistress of Death (Chemosh.) (One on-line wit referred to it as "The God of Death has a mid-life crisis.") She then proceeds to invent vampires. The plot of the novel is everyone trying to stop Mina's vampires.

This trilogy offers the most sofisticated treatment of religion I've read in modern fantasy. We learn more about the monks of Majere (who did not give up their faith after the Chaos War), Zeboim (the Sea) - who was still worshipped during the Fifth Age, afflicted kender (Nightshade is one of my favorite characters), and how Krynn views faith in general after the War of Souls. Killing off the God of Good and Goddess of Evil was the smartest thing Weis and Hickman ever did. chronarchy, you will enjoy this trilogy.

Elven Exiles trilogy, beginning with Sanctuary. The story of Gilthas trying to save the elves. This could be read as a stand-alone trilogy. It's well-written and original in its own right. The series deals with geo-political conflict and issues of race (Elven) and genocide in a realistic manner. And yet it also does a great job with long-term characters. The skill set that Kerianseray (the Lioness) had as an outlaw rebel leader does not transer well to what she needs to be as Queen. Alhana, as always, rocks. And Porthios is far and away the most kick-ass of the Dragonlance characters.

Rise of Solamnia trilogy, starting with Lord of the Rose: Poses the question, "If a man is driven and ruthless enough to finally overthrow the Dark Knights and keep them out of Solamnia, do you really want him as your ruler?" It's an interesting view of how the invention of gunpowder changed the face of warfare on modern Krynn. A bit militaristic for my tastes, and another series in which you can hear the dice rolling in the background, but still an interesting and thought-provoking read.