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Dragons of Autumn Twilight (Dragonlance: Chronicles, #1)

Margaret Weis,

Tracy Hickman

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Dec 11, 2019 Thomas rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, 2019

I'm not a reader of high fantasy, so all the tropes of the genre aren't familiar to me. I do play D&D, though, so I figured going in to the Dragonlance Chronicles would be more familiar, since it's a trilogy based on a setting in D&D. Instead, I read a book that reads like it's a transcript of someone's D&D session.

According to the afterword, though, that's EXACTLY what this is. Unfortunately, what makes a good D&D session doesn't make a good novel. It's clear where the random encounters are, an I'm not a reader of high fantasy, so all the tropes of the genre aren't familiar to me. I do play D&D, though, so I figured going in to the Dragonlance Chronicles would be more familiar, since it's a trilogy based on a setting in D&D. Instead, I read a book that reads like it's a transcript of someone's D&D session.

According to the afterword, though, that's EXACTLY what this is. Unfortunately, what makes a good D&D session doesn't make a good novel. It's clear where the random encounters are, and the cadence of the story -- characters gather, go on a quest, get something, get more instructions, go on another quest, get something else, get MORE instructions, lather, rinse, repeat -- makes the plot feel clunky. It doesn't help that the authors don't subscribe to the "Show, don't tell" philosophy of storytelling (whoa nelly, they don't), nor does the characters' lack of depth. There are some moments where the characterization comes through -- Fizbig and Tas come to mind -- but for the most part it's hard to keep up with who's whom.

The gender roles also feel dated, with the female characters being more interested in landing a man than they are in much else. Even the members of the party, capable as they are, keep falling back on that point, and it was disappointing. When the authors do attempt to bring something thematic into the story, they handle it with the grace of a truck driving over a watermelon. In one instance, the barbarian is interested in a barmaid, and another female member of the party explains to him why he has to go easy, because she's young and inexperienced. The entire exchange boils down to: "Don't do that."; "Why?"; "Because."; "Oh, okay." It's handled in about four paragraphs, and doesn't feel convincing at all.

Maybe I'm not the target audience of this series, but man, I can't bring myself to read the rest of this series. I see a lot of the five-star ratings are coming from readers who read this when they were in their teens, and I think if I'd read it then, I would be in the same boat. Now, though, it's just not well written enough or engaging enough to keep my interest. The only reason I didn't abandon it is because it came so highly recommended by friends that I kept going, thinking it would get better. I don't have the patience to get through two more long novels if they're all going to be like this. ...more

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Aug 30, 2007 Bill Doughty rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, fantasy, re-reading, monsters, magic, read-digitally

UPDATED AUGUST 2018 - Not sure what changed between 1991 and now (besides almost everything), but I found this kind of a slog in high school but loved it now at age 42. Not usually a fantasy series guy but I'm going on to book 2 soon. ...more

3 likes · Like · see review