Steel and Stone

Dragonlance: Meetings Sextet #5

by Ellen Porath

HATE AT FIRST SIGHT

The tempestuous affair of Kitiara Uth Matar and Tanis Half-Elven begins with the sword.

Life isn't simple for the hotheaded pair. They must contend with a carnivorous, two-headed troll; a deposed leader who believes Kitiara is the cause of the ruler's troubles; a vindictive mage who seeks peculiar vengeance; and Kit's hulking former lover. They also meet a beautiful magic-user hiding a painful secret, and a giant owl with a sardonic sense of humor.

Here is the long-awaited story of the meeting of Tanis and Kitiara, a tale of love, lust, betrayal, and revenge that takes the reader through Krynn and south to the glacial Icereach.

Ellen Porath, co-author of "Kindred Spirits," tells this exciting new tale, the fifth in the Dragonlance Saga Meetings Sextet.

Genres: Dragonlance, Fantasy, Fiction, High Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy, Dungeons and Dragons, Adventure

320 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 1, 1992

Reviews

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Come for the fledgling romantic relationship between Tanis and Kit, stay for the touching camaraderie between... a Princess in disguise and a grandfatherly psychic giant owl?

Anyway you dice it, this wasn't the weakest Dragonlance outing I've read, but also far from the best.

We move on...

[BLynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really did not enjoy this Dragon Lance book as much as I have enjoyed many of the others. I have never been a fan of the character Kit and in this books she continues to be a character that I just don't care much for. I still enjoy Tanis and could see him get frustrated with Kit and her attitude. I found myself a little irritated with the female mage character due to the many different names she would go by - found it rather confusing.

[Jim C · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book takes place in the Dragonlance world. It is set before the original trilogy. It tells the story of Tanis meeting Kitiara for the first time and their ensuing adventure.

This was a decent read that had its highlights and its share of problems. I believe the author did a terrific job with the two characters from the original trilogy. I have always liked Kit and I enjoyed the insight to her character as she looks out for herself. On the flip side of the coin, the insight to Tanis and his honor system was well done. As of the other characters they fell a little flat as we have seen these stereotypes countless times in other novels. And that is probably the problem with this novel. There is nothing new here or anything memorable. Maybe I was hoping for a bigger "bang" for the initial meeting between these characters as this relationship plays an integral part of the original trilogy.

I would only recommend this book for fans of Dragonlance as those people would enjoy the genesis of the relationship and the insights to the characters. But beware and take this book with a grain of salt. There are a couple of inconsistencies with the overall arc.

[Emily White · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tanis should have known better than to have gotten involved with Kitiara Uth Matar, but he did, and this book tells the tale of how all this gets worked out. And of course there is another man involved with Kitiara. And there's fighting. And some backstabbing. And a strange trip to Icereach. This book was okay. Not the best in the Meetings Sextet. Read it if you like the characters involved. A little of the plot becomes important later on in the Dragonlance Series. It might be interesting to know the background details from this book.

[Jdetrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are things to like about this book, mostly the character of Kitiara, who's a strong, independent female character, which is all too rare in fantasy novels. Unfortunately, the novel doesn't deserve her, being packed with clichés, many of them centering around her.

[Ronald Wilcox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun adventure commences when Tanis Half-Elven and Kitiara first meet. Of course it is not love at first sight but the pair join forces and become a couple as they join a former lover of hers, a giant owl, and a beautiful young mage from the mysterious Darken Woods in a quest to end the reign of terror of an evil mage and his master in the southern regions of Krynn. A very satisfying escapist read.

[Matt Littrell · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this book isn't horrible, it's definitely a step down from the one's that came before it. The writing wasn't as engaging, and I became super annoyed at the ettin constantly being referred to as a two headed troll, and speaking orcish. How can it speak orcish if Orcs don't exist in this setting? I liked Tanis in this book, and their oversized friend, and that was about it.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't too sure about this book. I'm not a fan of Kitiara and I'm not a big fan of Tanis when he is around her. I went into this story expecting Kitiara to meet and flirt and have a contentious but maybe sex filled adventure.( off page sex. I wasn't expecting explicit material). I at least wanted a story that would explain why Tanis is so stupid about Kitiara. If this was supposed to be that, Tanis is even more dumb than I thought.

Tanis meets Kitiara after she steals some ice gems and they become travel companions that have off page sex but no chemistry. Then along comes Craven, previous lover of Kitiara. Both Kitiara and Tanis have more chemisty with him than with each other.

They all become part of the story of Valdane trying to gain control. Janusz is a mage in love with Valdane's daughter who was "killed" when they attacked her husband's castle.

Lida has a mind link with Xanthar a giant owl and they are going to try to stop Valdane. So when Valdane kidnaps Lida and Kitiara, Then Tanis, Cravin and Xanthar go to save the girls. There is a revealed " secret" that never gets figured out. I have no idea.

Not my favorite Dragonlance adventure but still a book I'm glad I read. I want to read every bit of Dragonlance lore there is.

[Alex · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the weakest of the lot. I sympathise with the author's problem of having to eke out yet more characterisation from Tanis and Kitiara but Ellen Porath puts little heart into it here, having the two meet and then go on an adventure which involves ... wait for it ... randomly bumping into a wizard who wants to kill them and then subsequently defeating him. I can deal with these hoary tropes from time to time if there's something else intriguing about the book, but the further on the adventure goes the lesser the interactions between characters become until the writing sortof hits peak laziness with "yeah they got flown half way around the world by some giant owls and then there was a big battle and they killed some minotaurs" and honestly I've already forgotten the ending. The wizard died?

[Doug · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't stand Kitiara as a character. So I'm jaded against the book to start. Basically is 13 chapters of Kitiara typical selfish hijinx. And honestly I didn't care for the story plot or the writing itself. The final 6 chapters are actually pretty good. The action sequences were well thought out and descriptive. The books takes on a different tone and I enjoyed the ending. Getting to that part was rough though. Took me a long time to finish.

[Furball404 · Rating 2 out of 5]

As Kitiara is among my favorite Dragonlance characters, I was looking forward to reading about her affair with Tanis. The book has a couple of good chapters, it starts well, but then it really wanders off in the middle, and only really picks up at the very end. Over all, not worth a read, mostly filler with a couple of decent chapters in the middle.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un peu déçu par ce récit. Les personnages se laissent balader au gré du vent. Xanthar etait le seul à apporter quelque chose. Je m'y suis un peu ennuyé même si l'épilogue apporte une info importanate dans la saga.

[Joe McLaughlin · Rating 1 out of 5]

So boring and slow.

[Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5...1.5 of the 2.5 is due to nostalgia...

[Mark Nuetzel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun story. At one point it did seem like the author was excited to have read a monster manual with all the foes she lists.

[Mikaël · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally, an accurate depiction of Kitiara who's self-centered to an extreme, but isn't a fullblown evil bitch

[Georg Gänzle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ein Buch über Tanis und Kiriara. Nicht unbedingt meine Lieblingscharaktere. Aber es hat Spaß gemacht dieses Buch zu lesen. Die Geschichte ist von Anfang an spannend, der Plot ist gut durchdacht und abwechslungsreich. Und die problematische Beziehung zwischen Tanis und Kitiara kommt gut rüber.

Nicht einfach zu bewerten, aber eher 4 als 3 Sterne.

[Carlos Campuzano · Rating 4 out of 5]

-¿Qué pasa? - inquirió.
-Estoy intentando determinar algo - respondió el semielfo suavemente mientras se volvía a mirar el callejón.
-¿Qué?
-Si eres inhumana o típicamente humana.

Dentro de esta colección que muestra como se conocieron nuestros protagonistas este narra el encuentro entre Tanis y Kitiara, y el origen de esa relación que se insinuaba en las crónicas. La historia no me pareció tan cautivadora como otras de los anteriores desgraciadamente. Aun así tengo que decir que los personates de Tanis y Kit están muy bien conseguidos al igual que su relación, conociendo las personalidades de ambos se hace todo muy creíble.

[J.C. Cauthon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book covers an adventure involving my two favorite characters from the Dragonlance series, Tanis and Kitiara. These two always had a beautiful character dynamic, and there has rarely been a story involving these two that I did not enjoy.

Granted, this was not one of the best from the Meetings Sextet, but the story is good enough, and it was a quite enjoyable re-read. The writing style is aimed more towards pre-teens and teens, as all Dragonlance stories are, so it may be a bit harder to enjoy as an adult, but it is an enjoyable story.

[Sue-Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked it because of the other books I read as part of the story, and the combination of characters that I am expecting to read about in the last book of the series. Only because I enjoyed the first book of the series, which drew me in, and got me to read the rest, sometimes struggling so. Once you like a character, you can need to know anything more about them.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Prachtig verhaal, veel spanning, magie, romantiek (allez ja, voor zover mogelijk) en makkelijk te lezen. Je vliegt door de hoofdstukken. Hoewel het niet echt een cruciaal verhaal is in de algemene DL-storyline, geeft het je wel een redelijk beeld van de Darken Woods, Icereach, ...

[Rob Frazier · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horrible... Even the audiobook takes forever to make it through. The story is all over the place and though it has great elements they do not match up with the world, the mythos, or even itself in the same book.

[Thain · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is where the meetings tend to go downhill. There is a lack of depth in the latter ones.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

EH, it's okay. Some light fantasy reading.

[Layne · Rating 5 out of 5]

once again i read this a while ago, but still wonderful books