What’s this? After only doing one novel review in the 10+ year history of this blog we have two in the span of a week? That’s what happens when yours truly stumbles upon new stories in a beloved franchise. I outlined my experience with Dragonlance in last week’s review of Dragons of Deceit so there’s no need to do so here. To summarize, I loved the series as a kid and was surprised to find out that the writing duo of Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman had returned to the world of Krynn with a new trilogy. I read through Dragons of Deceit in a somewhat leisurely manner, but it picked up near the end which catapulted me into the second book in the trilogy, Dragons of Fate.
Dragons of Deceit introduced the character Destina Rosethorn, a literal child of destiny and daughter of a Solamnic Knight who perished battling the forces of the Queen of Darkness in the famed battle at the High Clerist Tower which also claimed the life of Sturm Brightblade. Destina was a difficult character to latch onto. She is somewhat cold and detached due to her devotion to The Measure, a strict set of rules laid out by the Knights of Solamnia. She’s also a privileged woman raised in a castle. When much of that life of luxury is taken from her she is willing to abandon her morals and put the world in extreme peril to basically regain her castle and her status. Her plan is to travel back in time using the famed Device of Time Journeying and essentially trick her father with a cowardice potion so that he abandons his post and survives the battle.
That didn’t happen. Instead, Destina found herself mixed up with a kender named Tasslehoff Burrfoot. We know Tas well as he’s a featured character in most of the Weis/Hickman novels and through some polymorph magic he even comes to think he’s married to Destina, but not Destina. She tricks him by disguising herself as a kender which basically secures Tas’ devotion to her. She also impresses a monk named Kairn and it’s he who is in possession of the Device of Time Journeying. And because of Tas and his unwillingness to return to the site where his friend Sturm died, he, Destina, and Kairn end up getting sent back through time to the Inn of the Last Home on the night the Companions gathered and the events that would lead into the War of the Lance are put in motion.
It’s here that all goes wrong. Raistlin, being a magic user of some proficiency, sees through Destina and notices the gem dangling around her neck: the fabled Graygem which contains the essence of the god, Chaos. He also notices her trying to slip a potion into Sturm’s beverage for it would seem Destina changed her plan on the fly and hoped to make a coward out of him in a bid to save her father. Bad move, because it sets a string of wild events into motion where Raistlin goes to strike at her with his staff, Tas tries to stop him with the blue crystal staff of Goldmoon, and Kairn hastily tries to reactive the Device of Time Journeying to send them all back to where they came from. Only it’s just Kairn that gets transported back. He winds up back in Palanthas in the present with the Device of Time Journeying blown to bits. And the others? Destina and Tas wake up in a forest outside the High Clerist Tower, only it’s still under construction. Raistlin and Sturm are with them as well and they soon see a Solamnic knight pass by with a wizard at his side: the famed duo of Huma Dragonbane and Magius, fated to die in the coming dies driving off the Queen of Darkness.
That is where the story begins. It presents quite the predicament as our time-displaced friends need to figure out how to survive in the past without also upsetting the past. Meanwhile, in the present, the wizards Justarius and Dalamar the Dark are tasked by Astinus (who is the god of neutrality, Gilean, in his human aspect) with repairing the Device and coordinating a rescue effort. And it’s only via Astinus that they even know where to look. Astinus is an immortal being who records all of history as it’s happening, and when they go to research the past they find his pages have been wiped blank and the names Raistlin Majere and Sturm Brightblade have been added to the roster of those who stood in defense of the High Clerist Tower during the Third Dragon War.
If you read my review of the previous book, then you know I was only lukewarm on the material. The new characters weren’t particularly engaging and it felt like it was all just a long ruse to provide Weis and Hickman a chance to play with their old toys – the Heroes of the Lance. Dragons of Fate doesn’t really do much to dispell that suspicion, but it is a far more entertaining read. Destina is basically sidelined and the story leaves her with little to do. This is more the story of Raistlin and Magius. Magius is basically a hero to all wizards of the future because of his prowess as a war wizard and his friendship with Huma. The legendary Huma is celebrated, while only the wizards choose to acknowledge the contributions of his greatest friend. Raistlin will be gifted his staff after passing the dreaded test at the Tower of High Sorcery. It was more like a consolation prize since he emerged from said test in such dreadful condition, but it’s a treasured artifact of his and now he has a chance to meat the man who crafted it.
The story also introduces new wrinkles to how time travel works in Dragonlance. Previously, time was always referred to as a river. One person cannot hope to have much influence over how a wide river flows. It takes something much more which is why Destina had no fear about harming the future by saving one man. We also have it confirmed that actions in the past do not immediately impact the present. Time is a river, and when the past is altered it’s like letting water through a dam. Those downstream can see the oncoming rush of water and can either act in response or wait for its arrival. This is illustrated by the blank pages in Astinus’ book and I suspect it will play an even bigger role in the third part of the trilogy which I plan to start after I finish writing this.
The other new wrinkle thrown in is that time does not affect the dead, so to speak. When Raistlin and Sturm are thrust back in time we find out the keeper of souls essentially lost them. They have returned to their mortal body to inhabit it at a specific point in time (the gathering at the inn), but they retain all memories of the lives they lead including the stuff yet to come. This impacts Sturm very little who died a hero’s death, something he aspired to. As for Raistlin, he redeemed himself at the end of Test of the Twins, but his fate is rather miserable. His former apprentice, Dalamar, fears what he may do in the past with access to the Graygem. The Graygem is Chaos and Chaos is the one being that can influence the past with relative ease. Its presence at a moment in time when Takhisis, Queen of Darkness, was roaming the world is incredibly dangerous for if she were to obtain its power it would likely allow her to triumph over the other gods and claim the world as her own.
And that’s the main conflict. The people in the past need to find a way back to the present, the people in the present need to find a way to reach the people of the past, and everyone needs to keep the Graygem away from Takhisis. The book is basically the same length as the prior one, sub 400 pages, and it moves rather quickly. Momentary conflicts are resolved quickly almost like the authors are handwaving it away. Broken Device of Time Journeying? No problem! The battle between Huma and Takhisis is the thing hanging over everyone’s heads, including the reader’s, and it’s a conflict that the book will save for the end to decide if it happens or not. There’s a detour with Tas that’s kind of ho-hum, and a romance angle for Destina that doesn’t land. What does work is basically everything with Raistlin. Weis and Hickman seem to love writing Raistlin as much as they love writing Tas and they’re quite proficient at it. While I do worry this may be a bit too much of a redemption arc for a character they clearly love, I can’t deny I did not enjoy seeing him adventure with Magius. And if anything, it’s a shame Weis and Hickman waited so long to actually write for the character of Magius because he’s another fun one.
The story is obviously not over as we have a third book just released to wade into. I enjoyed the ride Weis and Hickman took me on with this one, though I have some reservations about where it leaves us. Perhaps those worries will be unfounded, but it almost feels like we’re doing a relay race with the Heroes of the Lance and we may get handed off to the less interesting characters for the finale. Hopefully, I am wrong. I do still wonder what the ultimate resolution will be here and what kind of lasting impact, if any, it will have on the world of Dragonlance. Could this be some really exciting reset or will time right itself and ultimately this was just a fun diversion for three books? Who can say? Well, those who have already finished the new book can and I plan to join them in the coming weeks.
Dragonlance – Dragons of Deceit (2022)
My favorite series of books as a youth belonged to Dragonlance. The Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting that spawned numerous novels was a world I enjoyed inhabiting. I didn’t fall into Dragonlance until I was in middle school and my very first book in the long-running series was Dragons of Summer Flame by Margaret Weis…
Keep reading
NECA Dungeons & Dragons Strongheart Ultimate Action Figure
It was roughly a year ago that I added Warduke to my collection from NECA Toys’ Dungeons & Dragons line of action figures. Warduke is basically a modern rendition of the character as featured in the vintage D&D toyline from LJN in the 80s. While I wasn’t a fan of that old toyline, I could…
Keep reading
NECA Dungeons & Dragons Warduke Ultimate Action Figure
When it comes to the subject of New Year’s Resolutions, I consider the topic to be a fairly silly one. If there’s something in your life that you could improve upon, or a habit that should be broken, don’t wait for a new year to try to make that change – just do it! Making…
Keep reading
The Nostalgia Spot 