Dragons of the Dwarven Depths (Dragonlance: The Lost Chronicles, Vol. 1) (v. 1)
Dragons of the Dwarven Depths (Dragonlance: The Lost Chronicles, Vol. 1) (v. 1)
The Companions are back!
In an untold story from the War of the Lance, the companions have saved the refugees of Pax Tharkas and led them to a hidden valley. For a time, they are safe, but the forces of the Dragon Army are in pursuit.
As Tanis and Flint seek out a haven in the dwarven kingdom of Thorbardin, the rest of the companions face their own challenges. Raistlin is strangely drawn to the haunted fortress known as Skullcap. Sturm seeks the legendary Hammer of Kharas, the forging tool of the fabled dragonlances, while Tika Waylan must make a perilous journey to rescue those she loves from certain death.
User Ratings and Reviews
3 Stars Enjoyable, but not of the standard of the chronocles series
For those of you who read the chronocles series in the eighties or nineties and reread this beside those books, the author’s writing style has matured considerably, but at the same time it appears that they have decided to pad out events to a large extent. In short, this book is not very exciting, although will be a trip down memory lane for those in need of one. There are no cliffhangers in the entire book of note.
Do not read this book unless you are a fan of Flint, or at least Tasslehoff (who isn’t?). The book seems designed to give Flint more “screen time” as he doesnt make it to the end of the chronocles series.
I would say this book is worse than anything in the chronocles trilogy, the legends trilogy, or the soulforge. If you have already read those, you will probably better enjoy Dragons of the Highlord Skies, the follow-up to this effort. In short, this book is like an old friend who is familiar, comforting, but possibly not as interesting as you remembered.
5 Stars Another Great Novel!!!!
What can one say? This is written by the creators of the Dragonlance Chronicles. The very people that beta tested the original 1st Edition AD&D Dragonlance modules. The very people that wrote the novels AFTER they roleplayed it out.
Most likely this new trilogy was roleplayed out during the adventuring phase and just took this long to be put to paper for the fans enjoyment. I’ll make sure I ask Margaret next time I see her at either Origins and/or GenCon and/or Dragon Con.
Oh! And just for bragging rights: Margaret is a great dancer! That dance at Dragon Con a couple years ago is still a highlight of my life!!
Now, many of you may be thinking that I’m biased in this interview. But, I read the original Dragonlance trilogy when it FIRST came out. Yeah, I’m old. Older than dirt. HA!!!! I even played the AD&D 1st Edition Dragonlance modules BEFORE the novels even came out.
What’s interesting is that when I roleplayed Raistlin he gradually became “evil” under my watch. I even commented on this to Margaret Weis one of the times I met her.
Anyway, I may be biased, but the Weis/Hickman written Dragonlance novels can’t be beat. Pick this new trilogy up if you’ve already read the others. And, if you haven’t read the other novels– GET GOING!!!!
2 Stars terrible
I gave this two stars just because it’s Dragonlance. I loved the original Chronicles and Legends, and even found the latest War of Souls not bad. Soulforge and Brothers in Arms were great too.
There are a couple good moments in the 2nd half of the book. However, the vast majority of the book is painful to read and incredibly ponderous. I thought at first it might be because I’m older now and had outgrown Weis and Hickman’s writing style, but then I went back to the above mentioned books and leafed through them.
The curious thing is it’s almost as if someone different wrote this novel. It simply doesn’t flow at all, and worse, the characters themselves are poorly developed. Raistlin sounds whiny, Caramon is dumb beyond belief, etc.
I have no idea what happened, except two theories: first is that there was some sort of time pressure. Second, Weis has said on message boards that her partnership with Hickman is such that she writes and he fills in the “nuts and bolts,” with ideas on the economy, clothing, etc. So perhaps this time Hickman wanted to try his hand for the majority of a book?
Anyway, whatever the reason, after reading Star of Guardians, Legends, Chronicles, War of Souls, DeathGate Cycle, that trilogy with Matthew, Darksword… Dragons of Dwarven Depths is by far the WORST out of them all. Just absolutely painful to try to get through. (even Dragons of Highlord Skies is better, much better written with better flow, although I hate how Kitiara is some lovesick, jealous puppy. I mean, I know she has a thing for Tanis, but please, Highlord Skies was so overdone on that note)
(I’m still glad I bought Dwarven Depths though. Happy to support the authors…even bought that HORRENDOUS DVD knowing I would hate it after the previews… A forever thank you for Chronicles and Legends and hours of pure enjoyment!)
5 Stars Dragonlance standard!
This book lives up to the Dragonlance standard in my opinion. It portrays the events that took place between the first two book of the chronicles trilogy (after the escape for Pax Tharkas).
Definetly worth reading if you crave to know what convinced the dwarfs of Thorbadin to shelter 800 human refugees, or if you crave to know how a hammer that has been lost for over 300 years finally resurfaced.
5 Stars Awesome addition
Halfway through the book and am really curious to how this plays out. So far an awesome addition to your current Dragon Lance collections. I would reccomend this book to anyone who is interested in the main chatacters from the Dragon Lance trillogy
Filed under: Dragonlance Reviews
