Heroes and Fools

Dragonlance: Tales of the Fifth Age #2

by Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman

Presents a collection of stories centering on the Fifth Age, including "Boojum, Boojum," "The Road Home," "Much ado about Magic," and "Gone."

Genres: Dragonlance, Fantasy, Fiction, Anthologies, Dungeons and Dragons, Collections, Dragons

374 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 1, 1999

About the author

Margaret Edith Weis is an American fantasy and science fiction author of dozens of novels and short stories. At TSR, Inc., she teamed with Tracy Hickman to create the Dragonlance role-playing game (RPG) world. She is founding CEO and owner of Sovereign Press, Inc and Margaret Weis Productions, licensing several popular television and movie franchises to make RPG series in addition to their own.
In 1999, Pyramid magazine named Weis one of The Millennium's Most Influential Persons, saying she and Hickman are "basically responsible for the entire gaming fiction genre". In 2002, she was inducted into the Origins Hall of Fame in part for Dragonlance.

Reviews

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would!

I read it because I wanted something trashy and fun, and it is that but a lot of the stories are dark too. A lot of these have quite grim endings.

Better written and a lot more engaging then I expected.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second anthology in the 'Tales of the Fifth Age' series, which started with Relics and Omens. This volume is a little thicker, but the text is also smaller, alas. And WOTC didn't really proofread, did they? A few typos here and here, but foremost... the last part of the first tale pasted directly at the end of the last tale. Last tale also bringing back draconian commander Kang (see also The Doom Brigade and Draconian Measures).

Anyway, like before, (most of) these tales are nice to read in-between other books, telling of what happened after the Chaos War and as a preparation for the next events on the Dragonlance timeline. Like before, I indicated with (*) which tales stood out for me. Overall, a nice collection, but don't read this if you're not familiar with Dragonlance, even if some tales could have been part of any fantasy universe, somehow.

Linda P. Baker's story was the longest, I think. Or was that Roger E. Moore's? Two long stories, then. The stories by Miranda Horner and Jean Rabe were the least good. Jean Rabe hasn't managed to convince me much, but maybe her full novels are better? (see Dragons of a New Age trilogy, for example, still on my TBR-pile).

Table of Contents
Introduction
Janet Pack - Boojum, Boojum
Miranda Horner - Tree of Life
Giles Custer and Todd Fahnestock - Songsayer
Jeff Grubb - Gnomebody (*)
Nancy Varian Berberick - The Road Home (*)
Paul B. Thompson - Nobless Oblige (*)
Kevin James Kage - Much Ado About Magic (*)
Nick O’Donohoe - A Pinch of This, A Dash of That
Linda P. Baker - The Perfect Plan
Richard A. Knaak - The Thief in the Mirror
Jean Rabe - Reorx Steps Out
Douglas Niles - The Bridge (*)
Roger E. Moore - Gone (*)
Margaret Weis and Don Perrin - To Convince the Righteous of the Right

[Vomikron · Rating 4 out of 5]

“To Convince the Righteous of the Right” takes us back to Kang and his company, now with the precious cargo of female draconians. On the run from goblins they are forced to seek shelter in the Temple of Paladine. A sad tale that shows the effect of hatred, all encompassing hatred, on people.

Rating Based on “To Convince the Righteous of the Right” Short Story

[Luther · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed this collection of short stories.

[Chet · Rating 3 out of 5]

This setting will always have a soft place in my heart but this collection was a bit uneven. The opening story in particular was bad but there were several bright spots.

[Jim C · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an anthology set in the world of Dragonlance. This takes place after the Chaos War. The gods have left and magic is disappearing.

I usually give a short story collection a three star rating because you will have some stories that entertain you and some that don't. That was the case with this collection. This collection was pretty much split down the middle with its good and bad stories. There is a short story about Kang and his army who is the main character in two books.

There are two stories that stood out over the rest. "Tree of Life" is a beautiful touching story about sacrifice and if one can do it at the cost of his/her life. "The Road Home" is the other story about revenge. I loved how the author ended it and it fit in perfectly with the development of the main character.

With the title of Heroes and Fools there are several silly stories. "Much Ado About Magic" was a little too slapstick for me and was probably the lowpoint of this collection.

If you are a fan of fantasy there are some stories that you will enjoy. This collection isn't just for Dragonlance fans but all fantasy fans as some of these stories could have been part of any fantasy realm.

[Angela · Rating 2 out of 5]

what can I say. I like fantasy and am willing to punish myself by keeping reading these books. Why do they insist on keeping Horner as a writer. Ack. Please read carefully and try to keep open mind you are wasting precious brain power by reading this.

[Ricky Diaz · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read the first 3 stories...Ugh just not feeling them. I prefer a whole tale, not just a few pages. Moving on to another DragonLance book.