Dragons of the Dwarven Depths (Dragonlance: The Lost Chronicles, #1)

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Dragons of the Dwarven Depths (Dragonlance: The Lost Chronicles #1)

by Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman (Goodreads Author)

3.91 of 5 stars 3.91 · rating details · 2,395 ratings · 91 reviews

Tanis and Flint seek out a haven in the dwarven kingdom of Thorbardin while Raistlin is strangely drawn to the haunted fortress known as Skullcap. Sturm seeks the legendary Hammer of Kharas, and Tika embarks on a perilous journey to rescue those she loves from certain death.

But it is the Dwarf, Flint Fireforge, who faces the most crucial test. The heroes race against time...more

Paperback, 594 pages

Published May 8th 2007 by Wizards of the Coast (first published January 1st 2006)

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Jun 09, 2008 Diamond rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Fantasy Fans

Shelves: dragonlance, fantasy

Once in a while you come across a world that pulls you in and never lets you go. Dragonlance was just such a place for me. A world where I could immerse myself and never get tired of the places and the people that I found there.

I know that many would put this series in the world of guilty pleasure or something similar, but for me this was a series that made me fall in love with reading. Characters that I wanted to know more about and that I fell in love with, places that I wanted to visit and ex...more

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Jan 03, 2012 David rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: novel, dragonlance, dungeons-and-dragons, high-fantasy, i-have

I'm so glad that the passage of the time did not diminish my enjoyment of this book. If anything, it was really really nostalgic and a very satisfying read.

All of the Companions are back again - it's like going back in time and remembering the time I was reading the Chronicles again. You find yourself falling in love with all the wonderful characters again.

The story tells of the events after their escape from Pax Tharkas at the end of book 1 of the Chronicles. It tells the story of how the refug...more

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Feb 02, 2013 Carl Alves rated it 3 of 5 stars

Not being familiar with other installments of the Dragonlance Chronicles, I took this on and am evaluating on a standalone book. I thought the storyline was straight forward. A group of refugees from a draconian prison have escaped and have to flee their caves to the dwarven stronghold in the mountains. Their draconian pursuers chase them to the mountains. When they reach it, there is treachery afoot with some of the dwarves. The main plotline that breaks out of this is the dwarf Flint must fin...more

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Jan 22, 2012 Nathan rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantastic, fun-entertaining

Published a ways after the Chronicles books, but threaded through them -- and, happily, written by Weis and Hickman unlike the bulk of so-called Dragonlance books out there -- this book is read directly after Chronicles Book 1, Dragons of Autumn Twilight. It tells the tale of what happened after Pax Tharkas but before Tarsis, and explains how the refugees and the Companions got to Thorbardin, which had been explained away by a few brief expositional paragraphs in the beginning of Chronicles Book...more

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Nov 04, 2011 Modern Girl rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: ebook, dragonlance, fiction, fantasy

I liked that this book took us back to the War of the Lance. However, it didn't really succeed in taking us "back there." I expected the writing to be a similar style to that of Autumn Twilight and Winter Night. The characters were different, the lens of the authors was different. Instead of getting a story that seemed like it was written back then, and happened back then, it was a story that was bandaged together 20 years after the AT and WN and tried to fill in what happened between these two...more I liked that this book took us back to the War of the Lance. However, it didn't really succeed in taking us "back there." I expected the writing to be a similar style to that of Autumn Twilight and Winter Night. The characters were different, the lens of the authors was different. Instead of getting a story that seemed like it was written back then, and happened back then, it was a story that was bandaged together 20 years after the AT and WN and tried to fill in what happened between these two original chronicles.

I mean, it was good. Factual wise, it stayed true to the story most of the time. But I didn't like how it "gave away" information about other DL books that come chronologically later, but were written before. It made the characters learn things that in later books they don't know, so that was messy.

But my biggest beef was that the characters had slightly different personalities. Almost like refined personalities you'd expect 20 years later, but not given the context in which this story was supposed to take place. Goldmoon was phobic of heights, and Tanis was phobic of closed in spaces - I felt betrayed. I felt like they were trying to ruin Tanis for me.

I just finished reading the Chroniciles, Legends, Soulforge and Brothers in Arms and then I launched into Dragons of Dwarven Depths. I probably should have read them before the Raistlin Chronicles, so that the Chronicles and Legends were more fresh in my mind.

There was some good - I like how Flint finally becomes a main focus. It was as good as any dwarven story was likely to get. I made me understand some of the things that happen in Winter Night a bit better. But some of it was just Weis and Hickman trying to wrap up and pull in loose threads that have developed in Krynn. They gave homage to later developments, like the elaborate subspecies system of Draconians (not to mention Dwarf clans). I know that was needed, and fans of the Draconians would care - but I felt like a lot was wrapped up in tying those loose ends.

The start was terribly slow and domestic and mundane. The girl talk between Tika and Laurana and Goldman nearly drove me mad. Once they ditched the women and got on with the adventure, that was all good.

All in all, it was likely a very hard task to write this and keep all the facts straight. So I do applaud their work. It was a fun story, it was an interesting story. I enjoyed reading it thoroughly. I just would have pushed for one or two more editorial revisions. The middle and end is better than the first - which makes me hopeful that the Dragons of Highlord Skies will be better. (less)

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Jul 06, 2009 Scott rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy-sci-fi

Okay, this wasn't total junk. This was my first Dragonlance book, and although it did keep me awake while I was driving for the first 3 hours, it failed after that and I had to grab a Louis L'Amour book for the remaining 17 hours--it was not gripping. My main complaint was the insulting way it treats race. We are supposed to accept that because one character is a dwarf, certain characteristics are givens, and that if someone else is a kender (sort of like a hobbit with small feet, long ears, and...more

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Mar 28, 2012 Louis Vigo rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It had been awhile since I read a Dragonlance novel and it was quit refreshing to do so again. Its not heavy reading, but being thought out it has just enough to chew on intellectually to satisfy the desire for a fun read.

One of the ideas that popped out at me was how non-pagan the gods of Krynn seem to be (other than their multiplicity). I wonder if that is in part to Hickman being Mormon? The gods of Krynn produce a setting quite different from Forgotten Realms...more

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Feb 12, 2013 Jasmine rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was a fun book for me =) I'll preface this review by saying I'm a huge Dragonlance fan. A book pretty much automatically gets 3 stars from me by having the word "Dragonlance" on the cover. The closest thing I could compare this to (with a movie analogy) would be a special bonus DVD from a Director's Cut of a film. It is a nice little tale that fills in some of the glaring gaps missing from the Chronicles (hence the name of this series, the Lost Chronicles).

I'd been putting off reading these...more This was a fun book for me =) I'll preface this review by saying I'm a huge Dragonlance fan. A book pretty much automatically gets 3 stars from me by having the word "Dragonlance" on the cover. The closest thing I could compare this to (with a movie analogy) would be a special bonus DVD from a Director's Cut of a film. It is a nice little tale that fills in some of the glaring gaps missing from the Chronicles (hence the name of this series, the Lost Chronicles).

I'd been putting off reading these until Audible just came out with ALL of them as Unabridged Audiobooks so I decided to go for it and listen to them while painting (as a fantasy artist, it's quite fitting). I must say though - I almost gave this a lower rating because the narrator of the audiobook does some really DREADFUL voices. Tasslehoff is really cringeworthy - the audiobook narrator for some reason decided to go with a "Scooby-Doo does a Kermit the Frog impression" sort of angle. Argh. Some of the other characters sound super whiny too (even when they're not whining, hehe).

But that's not the book's fault!

The book does have some faults though - mostly I think it spends too much time reiterating and recapping what has happened in the previously written books. It gives us the same repeated background information about these well-known characters that pretty much ANYBODY who chooses to read these would already know. The audience for this book should (in my opinion) only be big Dragonlance fans who have read the original Chronicles. In other words (to use the movie analogy again) - for people who have seen the movie a million times and want to see some bonus outtakes! It should NOT be a book for people who have not read the original Chronicles (again, you shouldn't start off with the DVD outtakes/bonus features from a movie you haven't seen, you should watch the movie first and then enjoy the extras).

There are also a few minor continuity/nitpicky things that popped up here and there, but it's the sort of thing that would make me roll my eyes about if I were to see them as complaints from others (ie, Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons - trying not to be like that!).

All in all, good Dragonlance fun. I'm already starting on the next one (Dragons of the Highlord Skies) ....which unfortunately has the same narrator on the audiobook, ah well.(less)

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Sep 21, 2012 Shawn rated it 3 of 5 stars

I haven't read any Dragonlance novels since high school, so I'm going to assume that my memory of them is probably skewed by my love for D&D and the fact that Dragonlance novels were some of the few fiction books that I actually enjoyed reading (the others mostly being Star Wars novels or the novelization of Spaceballs (High school me did not have the best taste in literature)). I doubt the Chronicles and Legends books are as good as I remember them being, so I wasn't expecting much out of D...more

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Oct 24, 2011 Alex rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

It's a good job that my expctations for this book were not high, because my very low ones weren't really met.

Like most people reading this book (why would you choose this as your first Dragonlance book? Just a small amount of research explains that this really isn't the best place to start!!) I have an unhealthy amount of nostalgia when it comes to Dragonlance, being hooked on the Chronicles - most notably being a Raistlin devotee - in my early teens to such an extent that thinking about Dragon...more It's a good job that my expctations for this book were not high, because my very low ones weren't really met.

Like most people reading this book (why would you choose this as your first Dragonlance book? Just a small amount of research explains that this really isn't the best place to start!!) I have an unhealthy amount of nostalgia when it comes to Dragonlance, being hooked on the Chronicles - most notably being a Raistlin devotee - in my early teens to such an extent that thinking about Dragonlance takes me to a little "safe place". If I went back to the womb I'd probably be drinking hot ribena and clutching a copy of Tests of the Twins for consumption when I got there.

I'd heard about these "Lost Chronicles" some time ago and was quite enthused about the project. There were significant gaps in the story of the Chronicles just waiting to be filled, and whilst I think that they *needed* to be (the original editing decisions were OK, since the saga risked becoming long and convoluted), I figured it could be a fun time regardless, spending a bit more quality time with Tanis, Sturn, Raistlin, Flint and the rest of the gang. I'm older and better read now and well aware of Weis and Hickman's faults as authors (which are many), but having re-read some of their work over the years I'm also aware that they can spin an enjoyable yarn when they want to. I figured that they'd really "want" to make something out of this, their much heralded return to the blockbuster series that made Dragonlance a household fantasy name in the 80s and I was genuinely disappointed at the low quality trash that they've given us, as if they had no ideas and no care to really bother with making this book a love letter to their many fans at all.

It's not a complete disaster of a novel. In train wreck terms it's definitely derailed and is now teetering on the edge of quite a high precipice, but most passengers are still just about alive. The characters are still mostly fun, Tas in particular provides some moments of good gumour and for some reason I enjoyed Tanis' broodiness this time around, and the basic plotline can pass muster for a light read; the heroes have to get a group of refugees to Thorbardin, there's some warring Dwarves, a lost hammer to discover and so on. And yet, everything seems so laboured, so heavy of touch and fundamentally so stupid. Weis and Hickman write this tale with no sense of depth, no pacing, no danger and no suspense. It's more A to B than the alphabet and everything is written to be exactly as you'd expect. Many have complained about the "prequel problem" that we know who survives and who doesn't, but that's not really the issue since it's easy enough to introduce new characters and a sense of mystery. Weis and Hickman just can't be bothered to do that, everything is spelled out before we've even started on the journey.

There's no sense of character development, no insight, no real adventure. There's just no "fun" in it and that's where I was expecting this book to primarily deliver. For all its faults a series, the Dragonlance Chronicles cares about its characters and what they're up to and we come to care about them. I simply didn't care about the characters in this novel (and don't get me started on the villains, the Draconian duo) This just isn't committed storytelling and it smacks of contractual obligations if any novel ever did.

So, am I going to read the second Lost Chronicle, Dragons of the Highlord Skies? Of course I am, I always had a bit of a crush on Kitiara. My expectations, however, will be suitably low.

(less)

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Apr 26, 2013 Michael Tildsley rated it 4 of 5 stars

It has been a long time since I've read anything in the Dragonlance series of Weis and Hickman. In fact, I've owned this book for a long time, but put off reading it because the trilogy wasn't finished at the time of purchase. Suffice it to say, the series is reborn in my mind through this book, though I'm not entirely sure of the chronology of the Lost Chronicles series just yet. I think this first falls somewhere after the first book in the original series, but after that I'll have to check. I...more

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Jan 05, 2013 Rebecca Stayman rated it 4 of 5 stars

Really liked this book. It would be best to read it between the books, 'dragons of autumn twilight' and 'Dragons of winter's night' from the Dragonlance Chronicles. If you really like the Dragonlance Chronicles then this series is fun to pair with it. I wouldn't recommend reading this book without first meeting all the characters in 'Dragons of Autumn Twilight' though.
This is my favorite of the Lost Chronicles. Mostly because it touches on all the companions and tells the story of what happened...more

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Dec 22, 2008 James rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is the start of The Lost Chronicles trilogy. In this one we follow Tanis Half-Elven, Flint Fireforge, Raistlin and Caramon Majere, Tasslehoff Burrfoot, and the other Heroes of the Lance from The Chronicles trilogy. But in this one it is telling us where the former slaves, now refugees, from the Red Dragon Army escaped to after the heroes rescued them from Verminard the Dragon Highlord. And also how the Hammer of Kharas, formerly known as the Hammer of Hope, was found by the mountain dwarves...more

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Sep 17, 2012 Batsap rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, re-read

I was a couple of pages into this before I realised that I'd read it before. I don't tend to reread books, but I made an exception for this one. I like the innocence of the Dragonlance books, there is something honest and open about them that has kept its appeal since I was young. Reading about the characters made me feel like I was visiting old friends, able to pick up where we had left off even though I hadn't seen them in years. It was especially nice to see Raistlin and Tas again. I also lov...more

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Mar 31, 2010 MJ rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: listened-to-as-an-audio-book

I'm a glutton for punishment b/c I was really disappointed when I re-read the original series but I picked up the audio book for $4.95 on sale at Audible so I figured "what the hell?"

Okay, the book is pretty mediocre - it was entertaining and certainly filled in a lot of details that were missing from the original trilogy. The narrator of the audio book was a pretty poor choice - they hired a woman for a book that is predominately filled with male characters & what female characters there ar...more

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Nov 17, 2010 Augusto Barros rated it 5 of 5 stars

Para quem é fã dos livros de Dragonlance, é uma grande e grata surpresa encontrar novas estórias dos nossos personagens prediletos (Raistlin! Raistlin!). A série de livros "The Lost Chronicles" inteligentemente completa alguns "buracos" das sagas escritas por Weis e Hickman. Este primeiro livro descreve a tomada de Thorbadin, o reino dos anões, e a descoberta do Martelo de Kharas. Foi uma leitura muito agradável e rápida, como sempre foi com todos os outros livros de Dragonlance. Já estou no seg...more

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Jun 04, 2008 Henrik rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone enjoying Dragonlance books, especially the original stories

Recommended to Henrik by: Christina Stind Rosendahl

Shelves: fantasy

It's been a while since I was in the world of Krynn... I'm about 60 pages in right now, and so far, so good. Hanging out with good old friends:-)

I'll write a review when I've read all the pages;-)

JUNE 4:

Done:-)

It was wonderful to be back--back with old friends in a cozy old world one remembers with fondness.

This book is the first in a proposed new series filling out the "missing blanks" in the original Chronicles Trilogy. It deals with what happened when the Heroes of the (not yet) Lance arrived...more

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Dec 14, 2012 Jim rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, mmm-2012, audio

I'm not sure why I wasn't quite as into this book as I was into the Dragonlance Chronicles when I first read them. Maybe because it wasn't quite a standalone story but tells the story between two of the books of the original trilogy. Maybe because I read the original books 25 years ago. (Has it been that long?) Maybe because I got it as an audiobook, and the reader was less than proficient. Normally I prefer women readers, but the dialogue was 90% male, which made a woman an odd choice. Plus she...more

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Mar 21, 2012 Richard rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: birthday-2011, young-adult, teen, fantasy-epic-fantasy, fantasy, dragons

Set between the first and second book of the original trilogy, this book details who the companions and the refugees travel to the city of the dwarfs and the adventures they have there.

The story is excellent and very full considering it covers what is a relatively short amount of time in the series. It gives a good amount of reminders so if it has been a while since you have read the original trilogy you won't have a problem diving back into the story.

The characters are excellent with the dynami...more

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Jul 25, 2012 Brian rated it 4 of 5 stars

A very enjoyable read for me. I was a pre-teen when the orginal Dragonlance series came out and have been a huge fan ever since. This book was a good read but I am biased and probably not a good judge of whether its a good book. I do know that if you are a fan of the original series and any of the Dragonlance novels written by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman then you will be a fan of this as well. I re-read the whole series as much as possible.

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Jul 09, 2012 Kurtbg rated it 3 of 5 stars

More tales of the companions. If you're read the dragon chronicles and are familiar with Tanis, Caramon, Tas & Raistlin, then continue in, as you will enjoy the continued (or should I say past) stories of these characters. Strangely enough the authors wrote a 3 book series and left gaping holes in the story lines for some weird reason. This 3 book series is the authors fix to a late 80's series written about 20 years later. Very odd.

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Jan 04, 2011 CB rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy-magic

So, it turns out I've already read this one! This series came recommended by a student, and when I picked the first one up this weekend, I remembered walking this particular path once before. These books are good fun and a real blast from the past for me. The original Dragonlance chronicles were the first 'big kid' books I ever read, the first ones I checked out from the YA section in the old Bel Air library. Every once in a great while, I go back to them. This newer series takes place during th...more

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Jan 12, 2013 Ted Reed rated it 3 of 5 stars

Unlike the later books of the Lost Chronicles trilogy, this book mostly avoids spoilers and does fit pretty neatly between the end of Dragons of Autumn Twilight and the beginning of Dragons of Winter Night.

The beginning felt a little weird to me, but as it went in, things dropped right into the familiar old groove. It explains lots of little things, some of which lead pretty well into parts Dragons of the Highlord Skies.

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Jun 25, 2010 Chris Mo rated it 3 of 5 stars

Good to see our old friends again (Tanis, Raistlin, Tas, etc.); however, I'm not so sure that this book could stand on it's own. I was left feeling underwhelmed and although i still wanted more of the fantasy genre I did not move on to the next book in this series. I'm sure I will start to miss the Dragonlance world again and return to it later though.

To anyone who hasn't read the Dragonlance series before I highly recommend that you read the Chronicles & Legends trilogies before any others.

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Jun 05, 2011 Robert rated it 3 of 5 stars

This was a good story. A dungeon delve told from 3 different angles... until the end when they just hand waved over the Riverwind/Refugee group's progress. The book mostly focuses on Flint, which I very much enjoyed. I love dwarves and Flint is different then the hard charging, drunk, Gimli-esque trope you see in most fantasy novels. I thought Weis did an excellent job scaling back the characters to make them read like the young, novice adventurers that they were at the end of Dragons of Autumn...more

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Jan 14, 2012 Scott Block rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: paperback

When I saw this on the bookshelf I almost started it right then and there! I loved the War of the Lance series and the group of companions and I couldn't wait to get more! This trilogy was very cleverly done for it fills in some of the gaps that were not explained in the original series and tells a story of things that occurred that we're eluded to but not explained.

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Jan 11, 2010 Ben rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book was confusing - even for a low-grade fantasy novel. Dealt with the characters of the original Dragonlance: Chronicles series and their adventures in between the first and second book. Characters dull, not what they were like in original books. And the writing style is stale. Maybe I'm just off of fantasy - who knows.

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Jun 12, 2009 Eternal rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A friend introduced this book to me and said i would like it and he was right. It was a lil confusing at first but that's only because this one of the last 3 books to this series. Once i started to read i couldn't put it down. I couldn't wait for the next 1: Dragons of the Highlord Skies. Vol. II

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Oct 28, 2011 Martin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Good read, must be read after Dragons of Autumn Twilight from the original Chronicles trilogy as it further explains details on the event occuring afterward. Fans of the Dragonlance series will be happy to see all the original characters return in these side adventures. Can't get enough of Tas!

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Jan 24, 2013 Neville Ridley-smith rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: dragonlance

Answers the question - what happened between the first two books. It was covered in the D&D modules but skipped over when the original chronicles were published.

Stays true to the flavour of those original books and remains enjoyable!

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About Margaret Weis

Margaret Edith Weis is a fantasy novelist who, along with Tracy Hickman, is one of the original creators of the Dragonlance game world and has written numerous novels and short stories set in the world of Krynn. She graduated from the University of Missouri–Columbia and now lives in southern Wisconsin in a converted barn. Most recently, she has completed the third novel in the Dragonvarld trilogy...more

More about Margaret Weis...

Books by Margaret Weis

Dragons of Autumn Twilight (Dragonlance Chronicles #1)

Dragons of Spring Dawning (Dragonlance: Chronicles, #3)

Dragons of Winter Night (Dragonlance: Chronicles, #2)

Time of the Twins (Dragonlance: Legends, #1)

War of the Twins (Dragonlance: Legends, #2)

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Dragons of the Dwarven Depths (Dragonlance: The Lost Chronicles #1)

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