A couple of days ago, I finished the original Dragonlance Chronicles trilogy, and I figured I'd talk about it. This wasn't the first time I read the trilogy, but the first and only time I did, was about twenty years ago, so it was time.
Dragons of Autumn Twilight, Dragons of Winter Night and Dragons of Spring Dawning are by now iconic fantasy novels. Published in 1984-1985, they began as adventure modules for the new Dragonlance setting for Dungeons & Dragons. The modules were written by Tracy Hickman, and he wanted to expand on the game he was running in these modules by turning the game sessions into a series of novels, which TSR (the then publisher of D&D) reluctantly agreed to. Another writer was slated to write the novels but he fell through so Hickman and his assigned editor Margaret Weis decided to write the trilogy on their own.
Enough back story, let's crack on. Mild spoilers ahead.
The story follows a band of heroes which includes Tanis Half-Elven, Flint Fireforge, Tasslehoff Burrfoot, the brothers Raistlin and Caramon Majere and Sturm Brightblade as they return home after a long five years apart. But times have changed and evil now stalks the land as the minions of the cruel Dragon Highlords cause trouble for everyone. The meet, rescue and team up with two plains barbarians Goldmoon and Riverwind and set off on adventure. Later on, they are joined by Tika Waylan, Laurana and Gilthanas Kanan (brother and sister) and a couple of others. Together they seek to stop the Dragon Highlords from conquering the world for the evil Goddess Takhisis.
The cast is pretty big but it isn't that hard to follow. The names aren't that similar and since the entire group is rarely in one place at the same time, there is little risk of getting them mixed up.
The story is solid if not groundbreaking. The Chronicles follow an old arc also used in the original Star Wars trilogy, with the threatening setup followed by a dark middle and ultimately a costly but happy ending. Simple and functional.
The writing is clean and easy to digest, but it is in the world and the locations that the Chronicles really shine in my opinion. The world of Krynn is presented in a believable way and feels both natural and functional which contrasts nicely with the more outlandish places that the heroes visit. Making everything incredibly fantastic is an easy trap for fantasy designers fall into, and Hickman and Weis elegantly sidesteps this, making the world feel alive and if not real then at least believable.
There are a couple of nitpicks though. A description of the elven homelands explains that it took the elves several hundreds of years to sculpt but “what is that to people who measure their lives in centuries”... I'd say that is quite a thing then.
The second book starts with a brief recap of an entire adventure that took place between the books. This felt very odd as not only did it sound like a very cool adventure, but why structure your story in such a way? Why not include it? If it would have made the Chronicles too long, then change the story. Imagine if the Lord of the Rings had started as it does, but then had jumped to Rivendell and merely mentioned that the journey had been perilous and that the encounters with the Ringwraiths were scary and so on. It jarred me quite badly, but it is what it is.
The Dragonlance Chronicles is not great literature, and that is in many ways its strength. It's a simple and clean fantasy adventure story. One might call it naive, and maybe it is, at least compared to the above mentioned Lord of the Rings, but it is also easier to read and nowhere near as cumbersome. It knows what it is and it doesn't try to be anything beyond that, which I respect. In the world of role-playing game novels, it is a venerable old war horse and if that is your thing, you do yourself a disservice by not reading it. If you come looking for high art you are in the wrong place.
I liked it and I recommend it.
That will do for this time. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week and stay safe.
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