Sunday, March 30, 2008

Dragons of Spring Dawning by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

Book Three in the Dragonlance Chronicles.

I have completed three books for the Once Upon a Time Challenge! Go me! Last year, that would not have been a big deal, but for this year it is a great thing. It means I am sort of reading again, so hopefully I can start to really tackle my TBR pile. It would be a great thing.

Anyways, the reason I read this book was because Deslily is reading this trilogy and another Weis and Hickman trilogy for the Once Upon a Time Challenge. It got me thinking it had been a while since I read any of the Dragonlance books, so I decided to make at least one of them a part of this challenge. I was looking at some of the others I own, and I would like to read another one soon, but I don't like setting rules for reading. It tends to just make me want to read the book less.


The war against the dragon minions of Queen Takhisis rages on. Armed with the mysterious, magical dragon orbs and the shining, silver dragonlance, the
companions bring hope to the world. But now, in the dawn of a new day, the dark
secrets that have long shadowed the hearts of the friends come to the light.
Betrayal, treachery, frailty, and weakness will nearly destroy all that they
have accomplished.The greatest battle they have left to fight is within each of
them. Yet, in the end, they will be heroes.

This is not a book that you should read at work, let me tell you. I am sure that people think I am crazy because there were some scenes where I was sitting here laughing my head off. Tas and Flint are such a wonderful literary pairing. They compliment each other so well that you cannot help loving both of them. Tas is the fun-loving kender and Flint is the gruff, old dwarf. When you put the two of them together, laughter is not usually far behind. One of the main reasons that I love this trilogy so much is for these two, so you know I had to mention them first. They are more than enough reason to crack open a volume and enjoy a good story.

One of the things I like about this trilogy is that Weis and Hickman recap what happened in the previous books, but they do not shove it in your face. Sometimes trilogies spend too much time refreshing your memory and little time actually developing the story. Weis and Hickman insert information in such a way that it is not obvious that they are filling you, and the story is progressing at the same time. They do not waste their words, and I like that. I hate long, drawn out descriptions. They just tend to bore me. Lyrical writing is fine and everything, but sometimes writers waste too much time explaining the littlest thing and really should just work on getting the story on to the next chapter. I am not always a patient person.

This book in essence cleans up all the loose ends left over from the first two books. The characters reconnect in some ways, but other ways drift apart. There are many instances in this book where you honestly fear that a main character is going to die. Some authors refuse to kill central characters, but Weis and Hickman do not worry about things like that. That's another reason why these books are not great to read at work. They also will bring you to a cliff-hanger and then start talking about other characters, so then you have to wait several chapters to find out their fate. That is probably a good thing, but since I am also supposed to be working too, it is annoying to have to put down the book to work and then have to wait forever to find out what happened! After three books you sort of get attached to the characters, so it is not the best feeling in the world when you have to be parted from them.

Anyways, this book has a lot going on. I think it was a great third book, a third book that for many years was the end. There is a sort of fourth book, but it is not a necessary read. Most people don't really consider it when they talk about the books. I plan to read it one of these days, but I think this original trilogy will always be my favourite. I can see rereads in my future because I will need to visit with Tas and all the other characters that make this series so great. I want to read more in the series before I start rereads, though.

I strongly recommend this trilogy. It is a fun series, and I am sorry that I waited so long to read it! People have been recommending it to me for years, I was just too slow to get around to it. I am glad to have remedied that and I strongly recommend others do the same!

11 comments:

  1. Good review !! I am beginning book 3 today! I will follow this trilogy with the "Twins" trilogy though.. I've always felt they belong together. (Time of the Twins/ War of the Twins/ Test of the Twins) I almost think that Fizban is as funny as Tas !!

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  2. Oh, thanks for the pointer Deslily. I have that book in my bag (Time of the Twins) to read either next or very soon. Depends on my mood. I guess I only have book one and three which annoys me because I know I used to have all three. I read the first book a long time ago and just never moved on. Now I plan to. :)

    Fizban is great, yes.

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  3. I haven't read any of their works before so it is so great to hear all these positive things. I remember by college days working at the bookstore, regularly shelving their books but never taking the time to read any. I'll have to remedy that. I am glad to see that your are slowly coming out of your reading slump! :)

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  4. This is one of my top ten trilogies. I love a fantasy series that can pull me in and make me laugh at the same time.

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  5. After that great review, I'm adding it to my list. Thanks, Kailana.

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  6. "Sometimes trilogies spend too much time refreshing your memory and little time actually developing the story."

    Agreed! I liked this about the series as well. It can be difficult to find an author who strikes the perfect balance in books three or four of explaining just enough for new readers, but not boring old ones.

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  7. Anonymous10:32 AM

    These books promise to be great reads, especially due to the fact that there is magic and fantasy involved. Such books that talk of fantasy worlds totally impress and intrigue me. Recently, I have been reading the famous fantasy novels of CS Lewis- The Chronicles of Narnia, and am highly impressed by the author's imagination as well as the few well-described war sequences in the stories and of course the magical land of Narnia itsellf! Since reading these and Lord of the Rings and of course Harry Potter, I've become an ardent fan of books that deal with new utopic worlds and MAGIC!!
    In fact, Disney and Walden are coming up with the latest Narnia movie-Prince Caspian, this May 16th. It promises to be awesome by the looks of the trailer.(you can watch it here-http://www.disney.in/narnia ) The very hot Ben Barnes is playing the character of Prince Caspian!! I am soo awaiting this release. You can even join the battle to save Narnia. If that gives me a chance to fight alongside Ben Barnes, why not!! :-)

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  8. It's always so good to hear about an excellent fantasy series lurking out there to be discovered. Great review.

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  9. I really admire your reading list... I read your blog often, albeit the fact I don't leave comments... I am going to China for ten days and will have no Internet access... so I'll definitely "miss" your blog until I get back... good luck in your studies, eh. Cheerio.

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  10. Someday I should get around to reading this trilogy. :)

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  11. Hey Kailana :D It's great to hear that you've finished the trilogy and I'm happy you enjoyed it!! and you're right, the authors are not afraid to kill off their characters T_T

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