From the Bookshelf of Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy…

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

Margaret Weis,

Tracy Hickman

Start date: February 1, 2013

Finish date: February 28, 2013

Discussion: Book Discussions

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What Members Thought

Jan 21, 2021 Carrie rated it really liked it

Shelves: mgr, dragonlance, fantasy, dwarves, dungeons-dragons, dragons, magic, magicians, own, goblins

Welcome to the world of Krynn....

It has been 5 years since our characters have last seen one an other, vowing to meet again at the Inn of the Last Home in Solace. All having their own stories and secrets to keep, some seem different, changed. Little did they know that after all this time they would be adventuring together, finding new friendships and enemy's along they way.

Stars are missing, and dragons, children's tales are coming to life. Things that haven't been seen since before the catacly ...more

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Jan 23, 2014 Jim rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy, 3series, 2fiction, 1paper

I read this trilogy shortly after it came out. This was my first by these authors & it was an excellent introduction. I don't recall that it was great writing, but found it entertaining, although I was never inclined to read it again. There are so many other books in this world that I was quickly overwhelmed & our library never had them all, so I read a few others out of order & pretty much gave up on them. ...more

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Apr 08, 2012 Timothy rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi-fantasy, books-i-read-growing-up

I read this when I was younger (pre-teen and teen) and loved it. I read it again as a teenager and liked it. I re-readit just now and found that it didn't stand up to the test of time the way I suspected it might not. A famous novel in a long line of D&D genre fiction, this is where I cut my teeth in the worlds of fantasy. At the time, this defined what fantasy meant and anything that didn't fall within its boundaries, I viewed with skepticism.

Of course, I've broadened my horizons since then, a I read this when I was younger (pre-teen and teen) and loved it. I read it again as a teenager and liked it. I re-readit just now and found that it didn't stand up to the test of time the way I suspected it might not. A famous novel in a long line of D&D genre fiction, this is where I cut my teeth in the worlds of fantasy. At the time, this defined what fantasy meant and anything that didn't fall within its boundaries, I viewed with skepticism.

Of course, I've broadened my horizons since then, and I am glad I did.

But I'm not here to just hate on this book, either, I'm just trying to rate it honestly, and with a more critical eye. Despite its issues (some mediocre prose, over use of adverbs and exclamations, thin characterizations (except Raistlin IMO), the fact that no one simply "says" anything, a narrative that reads too much like the D&D scenario it is based upon, with the rules of the game almost palpably present, and a series of events rather than a master minded, or even organic, plot), I think Weiss and Hickman did something original.

They took their craft (D&D and RPGs) and fleshed it into a world. Now, while most (all) publishers will tell you not to use your RPG adventures when writing a story, TSR, as a game maker, clearly wanted this. They wanted to show the link (and I believe there is a strong one) between the narrative structure of RPGs and literature. I think this is commendable.

Besides, how many of us haven't, on occasion at least, thought about doing the same thing? While I can't go back to my childhood, I can still appreciate what they tried. They put their imaginative works (e.g. Vallenwood trees so large that people build their cities in them; an ancient knighthood, almost extinct, that once championed the cause of good in a titanic elder war; a society of magic-users that must prove their worth by risking death and disfigurement; etc...) out in a broader context that was more accessible to a broader reading public.

I think the biggest thing (other than prosaic issues) is that the authors, one of which wrote the original scenarios, let that limit their imagination too much. Imagine, if instead of staying true to the rules of D&D, they had simply utilized it as a departure point for even greater leaps of imagination. I think we see that, just a bit, in the character of Raistlin, who's body is so shattered he needs constant rest and suffers with a perpetual cough (no game rule for that) and has eyes that curse him with vision of the on-going passage of time (again, not in the rulebooks anywhere).

I will probably continue on to the second book before I make a final decision on whether to finish this re-read. ...more

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Jul 01, 2023 Georgann rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy, 2023-sff-bingo-challenge

Meh. I didn't like our group of characters. I didn't like the way they treated each other. They did not seem like friends or companions to me. They did have a lot of adventures, and kept on going from one deadly encounter to another, but I didn't like any of them well enough to read anymore. ...more

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