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Dragonlance: Taladas #1
Blades of the Tiger
The first book in a series that will explore uncharted land in the Dragonlance setting.
Blades of the Tiger kicks off a series that will explore beyond the realms of Ansalon, the traditional setting for Dragonlance novels, and into the land of Taladas. No title has ever been set in this unexplored region on the other side of the world, allowing for an infinite variety of new characters and experiences within the context of the Dragonlance setting.
Blades of the Tiger kicks off a series that will explore beyond the realms of Ansalon, the traditional setting for Dragonlance novels, and into the land of Taladas. No title has ever been set in this unexplored region on the other side of the world, allowing for an infinite variety of new characters and experiences within the context of the Dragonlance setting.
410 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
4 people are currently reading
560 people want to read
About the author
Chris Pierson
39 books24 followersAuthor of GREENSWORD, a dark comedy about global warming. Author of Forced Conversion, a military science fiction novel set in the near future. Also author of a variety of short fiction in the fantasy, science fiction, horror, and comedy genres, and gaming material, including stories in the Dragonlance and Transformers universes and in a variety of DAW themed anthologies. World's top-ranked player of RPGA Classic roleplaying game tournaments from 1985-2000. See more at www.donaldjbingle.com."
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 21, 2016
Actual rating is 4.5 stars.
This is part of Dragonlance as we visit the world of Krynn. In this one, the action takes place on the continent of Taladas instead of the continent of Ansalon where the majority of the novels take place. This book has three stories. We have a new leader of the barbarians who is leading his people to war against his enemies. An elf that is hired to steal a statue that contains the spirit of the most ruthless emperor of this land. The last story is the commander of the minotaurs who is facing retirement.
This book totally surprised me. I wasn't excited to be in a different land when I have read so many books that take place in Ansalon. The author's idea for a different place quickly pays off though. He uses enough similarities that the reader knows that he is still in the Dragonlance world but he does differentiate these two lands. The three stories all were interesting and the characters in each of these stories were terrific. It did take a little while to get into these stories but when these stories intersected I was amazed by this book. The slow start is why I lowered my rating the half star.
This book is a fantastic start to a trilogy. The characters, the setting, and the action was top notch and I enjoyed this book so much. Even though this is the first book of a trilogy it has a satisfying conclusion and has open threads for the upcoming books. I am looking forward to the next book in this trilogy.
This is part of Dragonlance as we visit the world of Krynn. In this one, the action takes place on the continent of Taladas instead of the continent of Ansalon where the majority of the novels take place. This book has three stories. We have a new leader of the barbarians who is leading his people to war against his enemies. An elf that is hired to steal a statue that contains the spirit of the most ruthless emperor of this land. The last story is the commander of the minotaurs who is facing retirement.
This book totally surprised me. I wasn't excited to be in a different land when I have read so many books that take place in Ansalon. The author's idea for a different place quickly pays off though. He uses enough similarities that the reader knows that he is still in the Dragonlance world but he does differentiate these two lands. The three stories all were interesting and the characters in each of these stories were terrific. It did take a little while to get into these stories but when these stories intersected I was amazed by this book. The slow start is why I lowered my rating the half star.
This book is a fantastic start to a trilogy. The characters, the setting, and the action was top notch and I enjoyed this book so much. Even though this is the first book of a trilogy it has a satisfying conclusion and has open threads for the upcoming books. I am looking forward to the next book in this trilogy.
November 4, 2018
And here we have another fantastic Dragonlance entry by Chris Pierson that was given an only mediocre audio performance.
At this point, I have to think the decided to spend the minimum possible on audiobook narration for the Dragonlance books as only a handful are more than mediocre (and many are much less).
I've said this many times, Chris is absolutely one of the great Dragonlance authors, right up there with Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman, Jean Rabe, Richard Knaak, and Dan Parkinson.
Few of the others have been able to develop new characters who feel real and give me cause to care what happens to them.
More than the characters, though, herein Chris has finally brought to life the "other" continent that I've been fascinated with since it was first mentioned all those years ago. While it was detailed in the Time of the Dragon gaming materials, this is the first time it's been truly brought to life.
Thank you for that, Chris. And thank you for being one of the very few DL authors who actually does their research and creates stories that are accurate to the world and have the same feel as traditional Dragonlance.
I definitely recommend this book, not only to Dragonlance fans but to all fans of fantasy. This story is very clearly only the beginning of a connected story that has the setup to become something truly epic.
At this point, I have to think the decided to spend the minimum possible on audiobook narration for the Dragonlance books as only a handful are more than mediocre (and many are much less).
I've said this many times, Chris is absolutely one of the great Dragonlance authors, right up there with Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman, Jean Rabe, Richard Knaak, and Dan Parkinson.
Few of the others have been able to develop new characters who feel real and give me cause to care what happens to them.
More than the characters, though, herein Chris has finally brought to life the "other" continent that I've been fascinated with since it was first mentioned all those years ago. While it was detailed in the Time of the Dragon gaming materials, this is the first time it's been truly brought to life.
Thank you for that, Chris. And thank you for being one of the very few DL authors who actually does their research and creates stories that are accurate to the world and have the same feel as traditional Dragonlance.
I definitely recommend this book, not only to Dragonlance fans but to all fans of fantasy. This story is very clearly only the beginning of a connected story that has the setup to become something truly epic.
December 19, 2014
Not your typical Dragonlance novel. We have a new section of Krynn called Taladas, instead of a focus on Ansalon The gods are named differently (though similar enough names to not confuse the readers) and brand new cultures for familiar races. I enjoyed this new perspective on a world I have come to love.
I especially enjoyed how well Pierson brought the story lines together. My favorite would have to be Shedara's because of her balance with magic use and rogue skills. It reminded me of prestige classes from D&D. I do wish I could have seen more about the Silvanes elves, but this book wasn't designed to focus on them. I also enjoyed the variety of spells she used and the fact that she didn't overuse them.
My only gripe would be the confusion I had when reading Forlo's dreams. There was no distinction to let the reader know that the chapters began as a dream. About half way through the novel I began to grasp the changes in time lines, but even subtitling the chapter as a dream would have helped.
I especially enjoyed how well Pierson brought the story lines together. My favorite would have to be Shedara's because of her balance with magic use and rogue skills. It reminded me of prestige classes from D&D. I do wish I could have seen more about the Silvanes elves, but this book wasn't designed to focus on them. I also enjoyed the variety of spells she used and the fact that she didn't overuse them.
My only gripe would be the confusion I had when reading Forlo's dreams. There was no distinction to let the reader know that the chapters began as a dream. About half way through the novel I began to grasp the changes in time lines, but even subtitling the chapter as a dream would have helped.
October 5, 2019
No, spíše 3,5.
Dle mého je tahle knížka spíše pro chlapy.
Jde o první díl trilogie.
Úplně nadšená z ní nejsem. A to z několika důvodů.
Je tu spousta linek, které matou a člověk si musí dávat pozor. Musela jsem si kontrolovat začátky kapitol, abych se neztratila. Mátla mě jména. Ty mi tedy nešly. Pozvolně se to nakonec sloučilo do dvou hlavních dějových linek.
Příběh byl takový inspirovaný Attilou, Čingischánem? Konec poměrně otevřený.
Takže třeba si to sedne v souvislosti s dalšími díly.
Ale..
Strašně mě iritovala písmenka. Proboha, mělo to 284 stran, proč nedat místo mravenců normální písmo. No a že díky tomu bude těch stránek 350. Furt by to bylo průměrné u těchto knížek.
Takhle jsem to nemohla číst v noci, blbě se mi to četlo, člověk se musel více soustředit, oči mě z toho bolely. No a to mě celkem od téhle knihy odrazovalo.
Nevím jestli půjdu do dalšího dílu.
Dle mého je tahle knížka spíše pro chlapy.
Jde o první díl trilogie.
Úplně nadšená z ní nejsem. A to z několika důvodů.
Je tu spousta linek, které matou a člověk si musí dávat pozor. Musela jsem si kontrolovat začátky kapitol, abych se neztratila. Mátla mě jména. Ty mi tedy nešly. Pozvolně se to nakonec sloučilo do dvou hlavních dějových linek.
Příběh byl takový inspirovaný Attilou, Čingischánem? Konec poměrně otevřený.
Takže třeba si to sedne v souvislosti s dalšími díly.
Ale..
Strašně mě iritovala písmenka. Proboha, mělo to 284 stran, proč nedat místo mravenců normální písmo. No a že díky tomu bude těch stránek 350. Furt by to bylo průměrné u těchto knížek.
Takhle jsem to nemohla číst v noci, blbě se mi to četlo, člověk se musel více soustředit, oči mě z toho bolely. No a to mě celkem od téhle knihy odrazovalo.
Nevím jestli půjdu do dalšího dílu.
July 2, 2017
An interesting concept and great visuals, especially in the last part. But...
Where were all the women? There were 3 female characters of any importance in this story: one died a handful of scenes in, one was a pregnant ninny who would rather commit suicide than fight for what was hers and only the third one, Shedara, actually contributed anything to the story. The author had a whole new world open to him and he fell back on overly traditional gender roles of men = fighters, women = brood mares. Why?
Where were all the women? There were 3 female characters of any importance in this story: one died a handful of scenes in, one was a pregnant ninny who would rather commit suicide than fight for what was hers and only the third one, Shedara, actually contributed anything to the story. The author had a whole new world open to him and he fell back on overly traditional gender roles of men = fighters, women = brood mares. Why?
December 28, 2022
It's like Harold Lamb wrote a fantasy book. Well done.
July 8, 2009
This book started out pretty well, with some good action and at least one well-realized character. The other characters were a bit flat, but still pretty good. Unfortunately, I broke down laughing when he revealed that the undead creatures were kender. Sorry, but shriveled little kender will never be horrifying, no matter how great a writer you are. Thus the two star rating.
The book ended reasonably well, even with the kender blunder, and I was interested enough to try and read the sequel.
The book ended reasonably well, even with the kender blunder, and I was interested enough to try and read the sequel.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 2, 2014
Arguably the best Dragonlance book.
Unlike most Dragonlance, this one does not go as a typical heroic fantasy D&D adventure, but tries somehtign genuinely different. The story is told through 3 distinct PoVs, which only overlap towards the end. Story isn't amazing, but keeps the reader's interest.
Unlike most Dragonlance, this one does not go as a typical heroic fantasy D&D adventure, but tries somehtign genuinely different. The story is told through 3 distinct PoVs, which only overlap towards the end. Story isn't amazing, but keeps the reader's interest.
April 12, 2008
This book has everything I look for in a book, action, suspense, and great plot twists!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews