Dragonlance - Chronicles Volume 1: Dragons Of Autumn Twilight (Dragonlance Chronicles) (v. 1)
Dragonlance - Chronicles Volume 1: Dragons Of Autumn Twilight (Dragonlance Chronicles) (v. 1)
Welcome to the world of Krynn - a world on the brink of a dark age. While humanity slides toward fanaticism and war, a long-dormant evil begins to rise. Amid the chaos, lifelong friends who went their separate ways in years past are drawn together once again. When they accept a mysterious woman into their midst, it begins a quest that will either save Krynn - or doom it for all time.
User Ratings and Reviews
2 Stars Try The Prose First
I’m beginning to think graphic novels just aren’t for me. I’ve read a few now outside of the Tintin and Asterix reading of my youth and haven’t really enjoyed them that much. I’ve read some part of the Sandman series and some of the Fables series.
On a recommendation from Penny Arcade, I decided to get hold the a Dragonlance book. I’d expected a novel, but the library gave me the graphic novel instead. The book tells the story of a rag tag group including various different fantasy characters - an elf, a dwarf, a kender, a sinister looking magic user, a cleric, a warrior - who end up traveling together to protect the wielder of a special staff sought by the evil ruler of their land.
The artwork evokes the different environments they travel through: woods, ruined cities, caves, and fortresses. The story line is the normal sort of fantasy action adventure fare - a group of companions who are not all happy to be together, comedy sidekicks, sprawling fights, daring escapes and treachery - all good stuff.
I found it hard to work out who was who in much of the action, and probably would have found it easier to follow what was going on if I was reading it in prose form, rather than following pictures. I’m going to look to see if I can find the prose form somewhere and give that a go instead.
4 Stars Dragonlance without the sudden need for insulin
Dragonlance has always suffered from excessive cuteness and funny. The authors never really seemed able to render their story with the kind of dark and brooding ambiance that the story seemed to beg for.
This graphic novel gives people a chance to fall in love with the story as it was meant to be experienced. It’s good, dark stuff, awesomely drawn and lovingly colored in the rich dark colors of well stained wood. It’s lovely.
Being one who has never really much cared for Dragonlance, it means a lot for me to find a take on the story I can really get behind and enjoy. Congratulation to the creators, you’ve got a convert!
5 Stars Recommended
This comic is based on a fantasy novel which was originally published in 1984. It is about dragons, magic, love and war.
Since I knew the book, I was first surprised by the style of the drawings. Everybody has his or her own way to imagine characters and you have to get used to the way Kurth (drawings) does.
As I flipped the pages, I started to really appreciate his drawing-style. It’s quite realistic, furthermore he has a talent incorporating light-effects in his pictures.
A further compliment goes to Dabb (adaption of the story). Though the story had to be shortened, everything is there. This makes this comic as well suitable for people who do not know the novel.
The pages do not have any frames, the pictures take up the whole page. Very nice to the eye.
Furthermore the comic is quite thick, so there is entertainment for quite some time.
5 Stars Crazy Awesome!!!
In the comic book world it is mostly superpowered characters in tights fighting the forces of evil, but now DDP gives us a breath of fresh air with Dragonlance Chronicles being adapted to comic book form. I really felt attached to the characters, and found it hard to put down. If you like fantasy, you’ll like this book.
5 Stars Dragonlance Graphic Novels
The Dragonlance novels by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman are loved by huge numbers of fans, and the stories have basically formed a world of their own. The books are well written. The characters are memorable, and the action is nonstop. The books are great fun to read.
I’m sure the graphic novels of Dragonlance are less well known, but they are also extremely well done and great fun to read. As listed below, the saga starts with the three volumes of Chronicles and then moves on to Legends.
Chronicles, Book I: Dragons of Autumn Twilight
Chronicles, Book II: Dragons of Winter Night
Chronicles, Book III: Dragons of Spring Dawning (2 books)
Legends: Time of the Twins
The illustrations in the graphic novels are outstanding and seemed to fit fine with the pictures I had formed in my mind of the various characters. The action sequences stand up to scrutiny by the reader, and dragons are all over the place. However, reading these books cannot possibly be the same as reading the originals. The graphic format has its limitations, so the depth of the original stories is not here but the spirit certainly is. I recommend the books highly to all Dragonlance fans. Please keep in mind that you should read the novels first. Otherwise, keeping track of the action in the stories could be difficult.
One unfortunate note is that Time of the Twins may be the only volume published in graphic format from Legends. My understanding is that the publisher has no plans to put out succeeding books from Legends. That is too bad.
Filed under: Dragonlance Reviews
