It ’s been a long - held belief thatMargaret Weis and Tracy Hickman ’s Dragonlance novel are higher-ranking to all otherDungeons & Dragonsnovels . Although I ’ve frequently admitted being a bad buff of theForgotten Realmsbooks growing up , upon re - reading Dragons of Autumn Twilight for the first meter in 30 + year , I finally understand the ballyhoo .
Not that any of the previous 10 books I ’ve understand for this column were masterpiece — and Autumn Twilight is n’t either — but Weis and Hickman ’s initiative novel in the Dragonlance Chronicles trilogy absolutely kicks their butts . In thelast D&D&N review , I called Shadowdale the account book that finally felt like an actual novel instead of a transcript of a secret plan academic term ( which is interesting because the Dragonlance Word of God was basedon a plot session ) . However , Autumn Twilight is superscript on every level : verbal description , negotiation , persona , plotting , etc . It does n’t make Shadowdale wait like full garbage , but it ’s definitely superior .
If you ’ll recall , I ’ve read one Dragonlance novel antecedently for D&D&N , that being the non - Weis and Hickman - writtenLegend of Huma . The mediocre leger chronicled the titular knight ’s battle against the malevolent goddess Takhisis ( aka the Dragonqueen ) through the use of the mystic Dragonlances — which are like regular lances that are super - beneficial at killing firedrake , especially when carry by people riding on other dragons . The horse managed to banish Takhisis and her malevolent dragons to another proportion but fail in the procedure .
An inset of Matt Stawicki’s cover for the 2000 reprint of Dragons of Autumn Twilight. From l-r, that’s Flint, Tanis, and Goldmoon.Image: Wizards of the Coast
The Legend of Huma is pose so far in Dragons of Autumn Twilight ’s yesteryear that both Huma and the Dragonlances are literal legends . The on-going fear is the Cataclysm — a comet that break apart into the world of Krynn 300 class ago — caused mass to abandon the faith of the older gods entirely , which means no clerical deception has subsist for quite a while . That ’s especially bad news program when Takhisis and her malign dragons suddenly show back up , of line . The citizenry of Krynn are run low to require the power of these gods , especially the goddess of heal Mishakal , to defeat the Dragonqueen again . Does the fortune of the reality rest in the hands of an improbable group of wedge ? You get laid it does . Let ’s go through the adventuring party , shall we ? It ’s a large one !
Tanis — A bastard ( in the technical sense ) half - elf who does n’t truly belong in the world of either race ; he ’s a capable leader of the mathematical group although he ’s often plagued by self - doubtfulness . He leave Qualinesti , a land of elves , because their leader ’s girl Laurana was in dearest with him and her father was get none of it . He ’s currently in love with a swordswoman named Kitiara , who ’s the half - sister of Caramon and Raistlin .
Goldmoon — A tyke and de facto chieftain of the Que - Shu kinship group . She ’s a non-Christian priest of Mishakal , which makes her the first cleric since the Cataclysm . She bears the Blue Crystal Staff , which give her the first healing power in 300 years , too . She ’s arguably the most of import fiber in the series , as her desire to fulfill her goddess ’ behest driveway most of the history .
A print of Larry Elmore’s awesome original 1984 cover for the book featuring Tanis, Goldmoon, and Sturm.Image: Wizards of the Coast/Larry Elmore
Riverwind — A regular barbarian who screw Goldmoon . Goldmoon ’s sire send out him to get a witching artifact in hope that Riverwind would die on the journey . alternatively , he hail back with the Blue Crystal Staff and PTSD . Both he and Goldmoon then left the kinship group together to discover the origin of the staff .
Sturm Brightblade — A Knight of Solamnia , much like Huma , except the Knights are now contemn because they could n’t stop the Cataclysm from happening , which seems rather unjust . This might be why Sturm is oft downcast , sometimes to the point he ’s nearly catatonic . Been there , Sturm !
Raistlin — The breakout grapheme of the first Dragonlance series . He ’s a red - robed wizard , which check him as achromatic ( contraband robe are evil , ashen robe are good , natch ) although everyone except his buddy mistrusts him . Everyone else constantly assumes he ’s on the QT be after something evil , even though he never does anything malefic in Autumn Twilight . He ’s very vitriolic and solitary , which is quite understandable in my opinion .
Stawicki’s full cover.Image: Wizards of the Coast
Caramon — Raistlin ’s twin blood brother . He ’s strong , beefy , and not particularly bright . He does get laid Raistlin unequivocally , which is good because no one else does .
Flint Fireforge — An extremely grumpy midget who ’s effectively the ugly grandfather of the group . As required by fantasy law , his citizenry were run out of their ancestral lot home , but gratefully this does n’t calculate in at all .
Tasslehoff Burrfoot — A kender , a airstream fussy to the Dragonlance set that arehobbit - sizedbut not interested in wight consolation and Elevensies . alternatively , they ’re innately rum , playful to the episodic peak of meanness , and generally so happy - go - golden they genuinely do n’t feel fear . They ’re also uniformly kleptomaniacs .
evidently , this role call take only one female master graphic symbol , but I do n’t believe there ’s been a solid , more competent , and more developed female character I ’ve run across since D&D&N started than Goldmoon . ( Although the summation of two other woman to the political party by and by in the book are , surely . ) aboveboard , all the character in the novel sense extremely fleshed out . They have flaw , they have doubts , they have complicated and sometimes even pregnant relationships with each other . Weis and Hickman have the ability to write them as if they ’ve genuinely been comrade for years . The trouble is , in strain to make those relationship multi - dimensional and to show these reference are n’t just archetypical heroes , sometimes Weis and Hickman go overboard with these flaws , especially the trouble between the party member . Because despite all the moment where they show true comradeship , these Hero of Alexandria seem to oft detest each other ’s guts .
Everyone ’s annoyed with everyone else at multiple points . Tanis gets massively riled with Tasslehoff ’s free spirit , Flint ’s eternal crankiness and complaining , and Sturm ’s frequent imprint . Riverwind is fierce that somehow , while he was on his years - long seeking to encounter the faculty , Goldmoon ’s personality changed even though it was a result of her forcibly becoming the leader of their tribe . Tanis also believe despite their recollective story together Caramon would unquestionably kill them all in defense of his brother Raistlin if it add up down to it .
The biggest — and weirdest — problem is Raistlin himself . Again , everyone except Caramon treats Raistlin like rank diddly-shit , even though he systematically economize their lives . There seems to be no basis for any of this hatred other than he ’s not particularly sociable . I call back thinking this was flaky even as a Thomas Kid because it felt like the heroes were genuinely endeavor to turn Raistlin evil . There ’s one shot where there ’s some grounds for everyone ’s fear and distrustfulness of the mage , but it ’s absolutely flaky . During a heated conversation with Tanis , Raistlin screams , “ Someday all of you will call me master ! ” It ’s out of nowhere , but even if Raistlin is on the QT malevolent this is an unfathomable thing for a villain to say out loud to people , and again , this desire to conquer his teammates is n’t supported by anything else in the book — other than how they all treat Raistlin like he ’s pure evil . ( I really ca n’t stress this enough . )
But there ’s only one affair about Dragons of Autumn Twilight , and by extension the world of Dragonlance , that truly suck , and they ’re gully dwarves . You know how Drow , the sorry elves , are ( almost ) all supposed to be uniformly evil ? Well , gully dwarves also have a monogenic trait , but it is stupidity . It ’s just really weird and gross and I do n’t really want to get into the role they wreak in the story but rest assured I am happy for the umptieth fourth dimension that wiz of the Coast is working onimprovingthis sort of matter .
I hump this sounds like a lot of negativity , but it ’s a will to how expert Dragons of Autumn Twilight is that , despite these flaws , it ’s still far and out the best Dungeons & Dragons novel I ’ve read so far . The characters are complex enough to feel tangible , and the background of the novel make up Krynn feel like a living earth . Stories are go that the primary characters might have never know about had they not chanced upon them , which makes the existence of Dragonlance feel epic in a style the Forgotten Realms novels have n’t managed , at least so far . So it ’s going to roll an 18 on its 1d20 , but at a -2 penalisation because the gully dwarves really are that horrible , with the resolution of 16 . On the other hand , Dragons of Autumn Twilight was so in force I ’m genuinely eager to read the next book in the serial . I ’ve decided to shake thing up and go straight to the continuation , tartar of Winter Night , for the next installment of D&D&N because I really desire to keep reading the Dragonlance Chronicles and notice out what take place next . See you then !
Assorted Musings:
A Gandalf / Merlin - typeelderly wizardnamedFizbanjoins the party for a while . He hides his intelligence under a façade of senility — I think ? At the very least he ’s so committed to the part that he has multiple arguments withtrees . He also dies while trying to cast featherfall on himself while he ’s plump to the land . He manages to say “ featherf — ” and then * splat * . It ’s , uh , pretty violent .
The pupils of Raistlin ’s oculus are shaped like hourglasses , which means he can only see death . Everything he seem at looks like it ’s age , strike apart , rotting , or dying . It ’s quite metal .
Also , Raistlin is carry the staff of Magius , Huma ’s old frenemy , which play an important albeit stupid purpose in The Legend of Huma . It ’s not crucial here in the slightest .
Dragonlances are not mentioned until very late in the book , and then only shortly , and no one come near to seeing one . Not a judgment , just an reflection .
There are pegasi , and they are racist . It ’s weird .
So there ’s was a neat - to - DVD animated adaption of the ledger released in 2007 that look like it was made in 1997 or so . The 2D animation attend like the old X - Men cartoon , and the CG looks like a later PlayStation secret plan . Also , the only things that seem to be CG are the bad guys?Enjoy the prevue , if you presume .
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