Relics and Omens

Dragonlance: Tales of the Fifth Age #1

by Margaret Weis (Editor), Tracy Hickman (Editor)

Relics and Omens

Old companions and fresh heroes.
New and ever more fantastical creatures and monsters.
Banished gods and lost magic.
Dragon overlords are taking over the world of Krynn.
The Chaos War is ending.
The Fifth Age is beginning.

A collection of fantastical short stories exploring the new Fifth Age setting from the best known Dragonlance writers.

Genres: Dragonlance, Fantasy, Anthologies, Fiction, Short Stories, Dungeons and Dragons, Reference

352 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

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

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read very few Dragonlance stories in this last decade. The last ones were Dalamar the Dark (2018) and Lord Soth (2019). They were a trip back in time on the Dragonlance timeline. As I finished the series 'Chaos War' prior to that, I thought it good to continue and "finish" that period - or rather, start the new one - with at least the tales following that war, starting with 'Relics and Omens'. I don't know yet if I'll read the other 2 anthologies (Heroes and Fools, Rebels and Tyrants) first or start with the trilogy 'Dragons of a New Age' next.

Like all anthologies in the Dragonlance universe, each other is presented shortly, and anthologists Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman provided a short overview of the pitch of each story. Such stories aren't canon, just offer entertainment, sometimes have returning characters or cross-linked elements, like the sword in Richard A. Knaak's 'Sword of Tears', which apparently also appeared in 'The Legend of Huma' (still on my TBR-list).

But anyway, the gods and magic have left Krynn, people are now to govern themselves, rely on their own skills and believe in themselves. Or has all magic really disappeared?

As the original 'Tales' series contained good stories, but were overall not that outstanding, it's a bit the same for this anthology, though, as others wrote, it does contains some pretty good stories, here indicated by (*). The ones by Mr Stein and Mrs Rabe were the ones I liked the least.

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Table of contents
Introduction
Icefall - Douglas Niles (*)
Legacy - Nancy Varian Berberick (*)
Sword of Tears - Richard A. Knaak (*)
The Cost - Robyn McGrew
A Most Peculiar Artifact - Janet Pack (*)
Voices - Kevin T. Stein
The Notorious Booke of Starres - Nick O'Donohoe
Scavengers - Jean Rabe
Homecoming - William W. Connors and Sue Weinlein Cook
The Restoration - Jeff Crook (*)
Relics - Jeff Grubb (*)
The Summoners - Paul B. Thompson (*)
Island of Night - Roger E. Moore
Demons of the Mind - Margaret Weis and Don Perrin

[Jim C · Rating 3 out of 5]

My rating is 3.5 stars. This is one of the better collection of short stories I have read.

This book is a collection of short stories that take place in the world of Dragonlance. The gods have left the world again and people are dealing with this loss as well as the loss of magic. This book deals with how people are dealing with this loss.

I believe in a collection of short stories that there will be ones you enjoy and ones you will not. The hope is that the enjoyable ones outnumber the lousy ones. This book accomplishes that. There was only one story I didn't enjoy and there were several I enjoyed immensely. The stories The Cost and Island of Night are excellent stories.

If you are interested in how people are reacting to the loss of gods and a way of life, I recommend this collection.

[Anastasia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to preface this with: I don't know Dragonlance, the world, the magic system, or the characters, so I am writing this with zero context of the series. My husband thought that I would enjoy the short stories. What do ya know, I did! Each story occurs after a major event in which the Gods have abandoned the world of Krynn. Some stories dark and hopeless, and others were lighthearted and gave me chuckle. I would suggest this to anyone who wants a break from epic, sweeping series.

[Konrad Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

As always, I liked Weis, Knaak, Rabe and Moore the most of the stories. Particularly "Island of Night" by Roger Moore.

[Mikaël · Rating 3 out of 5]

My favorite story was when Caramon suddenly transformed into Dr. House, out of nowhere

[Leevi · Rating 3 out of 5]

My top 3 stories in this book
The Restoration (Jeff Crook)
Relics (Jeff Grubb)
Homecoming (William W. Connors and Sue Weinlein Cook)