DragonLance Re-Read: Dragons of Autumn Twilight - Part 5

This is post #5 of 5 in the series “Dragonlance Re-Read”

Well how about that? We've reached the halfway point in the re-read covering chapters 17 through 19 and taking me just past the 50% marker in my Kindle copy of the book.

The Story So Far

So having survived, with more than a bit of luck, an encounter with a Black Dragon, the Heroes of the Lance now have a quest to undertake. They need to get deep into Xak Tsaroth and retrieve the Disk of Mishakal. A task that is complicated by the presence of the previously mentioned Black Dragon Khisanth, large numbers of Draconians and Gully Dwarves.

The chapters mainly consist of Tanis and co blundering around rather ineffectively in the tunnels, managing to kill a few Draconians, run away from more of them and be helped by comedy dwarves.

What, More Comedy Dwarves?

Yes, you may have thought that Flint Fireforge was the designated comedy dwarf for this particular book, and he definitely gets his moments here, but Gully Dwarves take this to a whole new level.

I've seen it suggested before that Kender don't actually make a lot of sense as a race. I mean they lie and steal compulsively. It wouldn't make for a stable society would it? Gully Dwarves have a similar problem. They're just a bit too stupid to actually function without social collapse.

You might think that with all these dumb dwarves around that Flint would get a break but he doesn't. He's actually reduced at one point to being stood on by Caramon and it's revealed he spent three years captured by Gully Dwarves. So while he should be a grizzled veteran, instead he's being portrayed as a grumpy, stubborn, incompetent, blowhard.

"Tanis spun around to fight the draconian that had landed in the pot and fell over Flint, knocking the dwarf off his feet again."

I do rather wonder if Peter Jackson might have read DragonLance before doing the Lord of the Rings and if that explains how Gimli is portrayed.

I'm also, quite frankly, not a big fan of what I term "stupid comedy" and this section of the book was full of it unfortunately so it was a bit of a chore.

Uncomfortable Allegiances

The interactions within the party itself are more interesting. Sturm's ongoing mistrust of Raistlin who, let's be honest, doesn't exactly try to endear himself to anyone, is really bubbling to the surface now. There are several pretty blatant accusations here and you definitely get the feeling that if the party weren't in such a precarious position Sturm would be on his own way.

Sturm glowered at Raistlin, and for a moment Tanis thought he might attack the mage, but then the knight thrust his sword away. "I wish I knew what your game was, magician," Sturm said coldly.

Similarly shaky is the relationship between Riverwind and Goldmoon. The previously loving couple have at this point been reduced to sniping at each other then refusing to acknowledge their existence. It's a relationship on the brink of total collapse.

Those two issues have been building pretty steadily since the story began, but other issues are beginning to surface as well now. The relationship between Caramon and Raistlin is also strained. While Caramon undoubtedly and somewhat irrationally loves Raistlin there's almost a fear at work in their interactions.

And there's the continuing issue of Tanis' half-elven heritage. The authors aren't exactly subtle about this, basically announcing that Tanis has to push the Elven part of himself to the side. But it is a clear foreshadowing of bigger issues to come.

Another relationship tension that is much more unexpected is that between the Dragon Khisanth and the Dragon HighLord Verminaard. It has been assumed up to this point that the HighLord commands and both Draconians and Dragons follow.

"Inform Lord Verminaard?" The draconian asked, shocked.

"Very well," Khisanth responded sarcastically.  "If you insist on the charade, ask my Lord's permission."

But the interactions in these chapters show that certainly the Draconians do what their told, but the Dragons… Well at the very least they don't like being told what to do. That simple change to the previously assumed relationship makes the bad guys so much more interesting.

Busy Going Nowhere

These chapters really don't achieve very much in the story as a whole. The pace of the DragonLance books is such that there is plenty of action, but none of it actually matters very much. In the end we leave the party where we found them… searching for the Disks of Mishakal.

If it wasn't for the fact that this section is in the D&D adventures on which the book is based, I do wonder if it would have made it into the book.

Actually the thing I'm surprised at most is that here I am half way through the book and really very few of the things I think of when I think of this book have actually happened yet. As I said there's been plenty of action, but a big chunk of it is really filler. Even this latest quest is really just a small marker on the way to finding out what is really going on.

Indeed two of the companies crucial members haven't even joined yet.

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