Dragons of a Lost Star (The War of Souls, Volume II)
Dragons of a Lost Star (The War of Souls, Volume II)
A mysterious force holds Krynn in thrall. A young woman, protected by her regiment of dark-armored knights, calls upon the might of an unknown god to bring victory to her army as it sweeps across the land. The souls of the dead rob the living of their magic. A dragon overlord threatens the very land the elves hold most dear.
Amidst the chaos, a band of brave and selfless heroes struggles against an immortal power that appears to thwart them at every turn. The encroaching darkness threatens to engulf all hope, all faith, all light.
The War of Souls rages on.
The New York Times bestselling hardcover now in paperback.
This latest title from Dragonlance cocreators Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman is the sequel to the New York Times bestselling Dragons of a Fallen Sun. This paperback version contains a preview chapter from the upcoming conclusion to the trilogy, Dragons of a Vanished Moon.
Dragonlance’s dynamic duo–the inimitable Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman–continues to do no wrong, reviving the once-ailing world of Krynn with yet another solid book, the second in their War of Souls series. Which is not to say, of course, that Krynn itself is doing well. Far from it: as you might remember from the trilogy’s debut, Dragons of a Fallen Sun, creepy Joan-of-Arc-type Mina is spreading the influence of her One God even further over the previously godless land. To top that off, the cursed magical shield protecting the Silvanesti crumbled with the death of the great green Cyan Bloodbane (who had been masquerading as an elf), and the hated Beryl has made a move on the Citadel of Light and the lands of the Qualinesti. And just in case you didn’t read Fallen Sun, Weis and Hickman take great pains to bring you up to speed in the first chapter.
What follows in Dragons of a Lost Star is the satisfying resolution to most of these threads, although–like it or not–that means a lot of interplay among the elves. But a literally earth-shattering finale with Beryl in Qualinost amply makes up for it, and that’s just the appetizer for the main dish: the true identity of Mina’s mysterious One God is revealed at last. Throw in some typical Tas antics for good measure (you’ve got to love that Device of Time Journeying), and you can count on being left antsy for this trilogy’s concluding installment. –Paul Hughes
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars Mina’s triumphs continue
The DragonLance world began back in 1984 when Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman wrote Dragons of Autumn Twilight, the first volume of the Chronicles trilogy. The book was an immediate hit with me and with millions of other readers. It has been followed by numerous other books with most of them being great fun to read and a few being somewhat hit or miss. We were introduced then to Tanis, Sturm, Raistlin, Caramon, Flint, Tas, Riverwind, Goldmoon, and numerous other memorable characters.
I just recently obtained the books from Margaret Weis’ latest trilogy, The Dark Disciples. These three books are a continuation of the story of the mysterious Mina that was first told in The War of Souls trilogy by Weis and Hickman. It had been a few years since I read The War of Souls books so I decided to go back through them again.
Dragons of a Lost Star is the second volume in The War of Souls trilogy. In this tale we continue with the mystical Mina as she leads her army of knights to take over the land while constantly singing the praises of the One God. The Citadel of Light is attacked by the dragonarmy and the feared dragon overlord Beryl. Palin and Tasslehoff are rescued by a mysterious entity as they desperately try to escape. At the same time, Goldmoon leaves her people at the Citadel to follow a river of souls northward. Qualinesti is threatened by a dragon, and the elves may have to choose between exile and death. The action continues throughout, and you will want to see what happens next.
On now to Dragons of a Vanished Moon.
4 Stars Better than Harry Potter
Dragons of a Lost Star was, as the title says, better than Harry Potter. It’s many twists and turns make you instantly want to read more.
I was a big fan of the “One God” and Mina during the beginning but the twist makes you want to scream at the book.
Gerard and Tas are both a little different. Tas was put in the story to make it funny but I didn’t like him at all, he was so stupid in his decisions. Gerard was Gerard. Nothing much more I can say, he was a Knight for both sides.
The ending is so sudden it’s hard to cope…
5 Stars Believe In The Power of The One God
I picked up the first book of The War of Souls trilogy five years ago; it was my first Dragonlance trilogy. Five years later I’ve come full circle, reading the War of Souls again, aware of its full history. I speak of The War of Souls trilogy from the aspects of a new reader and seasoned historian of the world of Ansalon, the world of Dragonlance.
If you are like me this book will make as good of a first trilogy as it will a last of Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman’s. The book continues an excellent second book The War of Souls. Its writing and development is as compelling as any other trilogy; Weis and Hickman worked just as hard drawing unique and interesting characters and storylines. I stand amazed at the quality of their writing, hoping that they will continue telling these tales for years to come.
Read Dragons of a Lost Star and sit with me at the Inn of the Last Home, basking in the world of fantasy that will become a home for your imagination.
3 Stars …HE will return…
…HE will return…, May 10, 2001
OH MY RAISTLIN!!!… I mean, OH MY GOD!!! (…sorry, I get those two confused sometimes…) I just came back from Borders and I am in shock! Why Laurana? Why have practically all of the original companions had to meet such tragic demises? Oh, and I don’t want to get off on a rant here but now that “The One God” has been revealed, Raistlin will HAVE to come back and destroy this pathetic immortal; and NOT to “save the world” (I say that dripping with sarcasm) but to show that HE should be the one to rule Krynn. Keep those pompous dragons in line and show Mr. Dark Elf (Dalamar)how to REALLY bring magic back to Krynn. Well, I’m done ranting; I guess that I now have to wait A WHOLE YEAR to find out when the best character in all of Dragonlance’s history will return in all his glory!!!… thank you.
3 Stars This is no Chronicles…
I hate to post anything critical here on the Weis & Hickman team, as the duo has created some of my favorite all time books. To give some background, I’ve read a ton of Dragonlance - Chronicle, Legends, Preludes, Meetings Sextent, and on and on. After getting away from Dragonlance for a number of years, I revisited the series recently, working my way through Dragons of the Summer Flame and Second Generation (both were solid), and then the Fifth Age books (Dhamon Saga… not so good). I was determined to get to War of Souls chronologically, as no author has matched what Weis/Hickman did with Chronicles/Legends, in my opinion.
And now that I’m here, while I’d admittedly built up some high expectations, I’m a bit disappointed. I’m nearly done with book 2 and there are so many unanswered questions, but not in the good way that is making me turn pages, but in an irritating way making me wonder how I’m almost 2/3 through the series with this little understanding.
On a side note, I can appreciate the return of Tas, but honestly, it feels so forced… like an attempt to relive the good old days of the companions that I’m finally ready to move away from. I adjusted to Steel and Palin in recent series, and a variety of other new characters, and that was tough for a true fan of the core companions. So why pull up a historical character (one of my favorites might I add) and throw him in making the same old style jokes? I wanted to like it, but it cheapened it for me.
I sound overly critical here, and at the end of the day, I am enjoying the story. The sub-plots with the elves are enjoyable. Character development of some of the newer players from the first book in the series is also solid. I do find myself turning pages to get some closure on the situation with the elves, and some of the battles surrounding Mina, but this deep in the series, I’m close to not caring what is happening with the “One God” and Goldmoon… I don’t know, maybe I’m being impatient, but I’d have appreciated a bit more insight to where we’re heading rather than miracle after cliffhanger after miracle after cliffhanger as I wait for some clarity. Don’t give us all the answers, but give us something to keep our attention rather than repeating the same basic idea over and over.
At the end of the day - good book relative to the Dragonlance series. Disappointing relative to what I expected from Weis/Hickman.
Filed under: Dragonlance Reviews
