Product Description

Second in line for succession to the throne, Prince Dagnarus will have his crown...and his queen -- though his heart's prize is a married elfin beauty. Let his hated half-brother Prince Helmos and the Dominion Lords dare to oppose him. For Dagnarus's most loyal servant has ventured into the terrible darkness, where lies the most potent talisman in the realm. And once it is in the dark prince's hand, no power will deter his Destiny.

Customer Reviews (66)

It's...fine.
Nothing jaw-dropping, no brilliant characters or plots here, but okay structure, an interesting magic system, and cool world-building.Cool world-building is really what I expect from these guys.

Here we've got your standard fantasy world with a nice subtle twist.They've kept something core about each race, and just given a perspective shift on the rest.For example, the elves, as expected, love nature, live mostly in fancy gardens, and are contemplative.They are also inspired by aspects of various Asian cultures and history.Their society is very complex, they are very concerned with saving face and honor and their family position, they seek wisdom from their deceased ancestors, and they are highly warlike, just subtle about it.It stays true enough to a classic elf to be instantly recognizable, but is still a really interesting take.

The plot is okay, though fairly obvious from the start.

Very weak first book, Decent Trilogy
This general critiques of this book negative are pretty accurate.This book is the first of a trilogy, and it is by far one of the weakest offerings in Weis and Hickman's collaborations.

The world that they create is interesting and of course this book must dedicate a lot more time to that world since it is all new and must be described, but that's not what really harms this book.

What harms this book is indeed the complete denial and enabling that surrounds the main villian in this book.Everyone around him is completely inept, or completely enabling, no one, not one person in the sphere of influence really dares to stand up or put up a real effort to stop this person in any meaningful way, even those who see the danger he poses.Its almost as though, the authors decided we'll create a few characters that are 3 dimentional and then surround them with 2 dimentional drawings.In fact the King, and his Eldest son, are probably the hardest characters to swallow that these authors have put down together since the leader of the Sartan in "The Death Gate Cycle" series. Like that character they are just very hard to believe.These supposedly great ruler and King who unified Lorem and worked to build peace throughout the continent and races, astute in politics and battle is unable to handle a brat of a second child?Or even recognize the threat he poses? (Again much like buying the most politically astute and powerful Sartan was so blind and shallow???)

Now, with that said, fortunately for the Trilogy, this book is almost completely set up.The real adventure is in books 2 and 3, and they are far better.I wonder what sales of books 2 and 3 were compared to book 1. I know I very nearly did not continue reading this trilogy myself at the conclusion of book 1, and I'm sure I wasn't the only one, and I'm sure unlike myself who did give book 2 a try, some of those just never picked up book 2.

As a complete work, this trilogy is decent, not the best work of this pair, but not among the dreggs of this genre either.Sadly their ability doesn't shine through so much in this book.I would recommend this trilogy to folks who enjoy the fantasy fiction genre, but I would caveat it by saying, you may have to force your way through the first book, but if you do, you'll enjoy the rest of the story.

Pros and Cons
For a book that was focused mostly on character and world creation, I'm a bit disappointed.However, the book was a fast read and enjoyable to a degree.

As people have already mentioned, character development was pretty horrible.The book began in the childhood of Gareth and Dagnarus, and the rest of the 2/3 was about his goal to become a Dominion Lord, and what happened after.There was little action, mostly focusing on the characters and politics between the 4 races.I felt little connection at all to the characters.Dagnarus was the most developed character in the book, and at the same time is very hard to relate to because of his dark ambition and abuse of people.Silwyth seemed like a rock, only serving to tell Dagnarus about politics.I would have liked to learn more about him, especially since his introduction in the 2nd chapter of the book.After that, he's pretty much boring.I couldn't understand why Gareth was so loyal to Dagnarus.We never really learned why he took up void magic since his training as a magus was skipped over when the book jumped to 10 years later.I felt like this needed more explanation.Dagnarus too had become an accomplished soldier, but we never learned anything about how he got this reputation.A whole 10 years were ignored.Furthermore, the "good" characters, King Tamaros and Prince Helmos were presented without any feeling or depth whatsoever.I was constantly frustrated with them.Captain Argot had potential, but the authors didn't choose to develop his character.Finally, the relationship between Valura and Dagnarus: Again it was mostly Dagnarus' feelings and emotions that were paid attention to.The characters were all presented well the first time they were introduced, but afterwards, the authors left them as blank shells throughout the rest of the book.For a mostly character and world driven book, this is very disappointing.I have read books twice this length with 10x more action that had much more memorable characters.

The book was mostly TELLING instead of SHOWING.I would have liked to experience as a reader the lifestyles of the other 3 races instead of reading an explanation about them.For example, I would have liked to read a description of a walk through the City of the Unhorsed and see the sorts of people who lived there, or read about Dunner having a discussion with his leaders causing him to realize how he lost a part of his culture by being crippled.This was not shown to us, instead, the authors would just spit out some memory or better yet, just write it out and TELL us."These are the kinds of people in the City and this is what they do" and "Dunner didn't live like other dwarves, this is how he's different and why he became that way". Boring! The world was not presented in an interesting and vividly memorable way.As a reader I didn't get to experience ANYTHING.While the writing was very clear, it was not prose and was not magical.

There were other things that were never shown to us.I really wanted to know about magic and magi, and how Gareth's training went.This was never paid any attention to, and the Temple and Magi were a very important part of the book.How can we appreciate void magic when we don't know anything about regular magic?Could the authors have turned the focus away from Dagnarus for a chapter?

It feels like the authors hearts were not in this book.They left too many parts undeveloped, and took the easy way out by focusing on just one character and his quest for power, and his lover.It's like Dagnarus' ignorance of the world and anti-intellectualism were excuses to not SHOW us these parts.

If you like dark or evil characters, and evil's triumph over good, then you should definitely give this book a read.

Amazing series, one of the greatest high-fantasy stories...
While the trilogy ends poorly this in no way reflects the quality and creativity which went into it. Sovereign Stone by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman is one of the best high-fantasy series ever made! Along with Dragonlance, Sovereign Stone stands apart from titles such as Lord of the Rings and loudly proclaims that there can be good fantasy novels long after the giants have departed.

This book is the first of the Sovereign Stone trilogy and features the best imagery and greatest character development (or at least sets us up for it) to be placed in the series (while later books are good, they simply aren't as good). This book describes in lush details the Sovereign Stone campaign material for Dungeons and Dragons in such a light that it no longer becomes property of Larry Elmore or D&D and becomes its own living and breathing entity.

While I have all the respect in the world for Larry Elmore, Hickman and Weis, in this trilogy (especially in this beautifully sad novel) become "Sovereign Stone." I'm deeply disappointed in the lack of fan support with Sovereign Stone and figure in light of recent high-fantasy book releases many fantasy fans have turned elsewhere for entertainment.

Turn to Sovereign Stone and let this first book enchant you - truly a masterpiece while the other two books in the trilogy or merely great or good at times, I guarantee you'll enjoy the ride!

Another Winner
I haven't always liked everything Weis and Hickman have done outside of Dragonlance, but the Sovereign Stone stories are winners.While still a roleplaying world, it is a bit darker than the Dragonlance stuff.The familar races are present, but with a slant.Elves are modeled after ancient Japanese culture, Dwarves are nomadic horse riders similar to the Mongols, Orc/Orks are a seafaring races with many superstitions, and humans cover the gambit of cultures.There are also a few new races to spice things up.Overall it is a good story with a few minor flaws.This tale continues on in the final two books. ... Read more

Product Description
A mage's soul is forged in the crucible of magic. Raistlin Majere is six years old when he is introduced to the archmage who enrolls him in a school for the study of magic. There the gifted and talented but tormented boy comes to see magic as his salvation. Mages in the magical Tower of High Sorcery watch him in secret, for they see shadows darkening over Raistlin even as the same shadows lengthen over all Ansalon.

Finally, Raistlin draws near his goal of becoming a wizard. But first he must take the drea Test in the Tower of High Sorcery. It will change his life forever -- if he survives.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (222)

A great insight into Raistlin Majere's past
A wonderful story that will satisfy anyone looking to know the background of "The Sly One".

Without ruining the story, or spoiling the plot, this book details Raistlin's youth and Test at the Tower of the Magi.This book reveals as much of Raistlin's sensitive side, as it does his abrasive side.

I would recommend reading the Dragonlance Chronicles Trilogy (Dragons of [insert season] [insert adjective]) and the entire "Twins" trilogy before reading this book, because there are some slight contradictions that are cleared up in this novel.

Absolutely amazing
If any fantasy novel deserves 5 stars it is this. I had never heard of Raistlin or Dragonlance before I read this, and it got me completely hooked.
This is up there with LoTR, although obviously much shorter

Soulforge - The Best Book in Dragonlance and one of the most memorable I've ever read. Still number One...
Probably (well, for certain), the best book that I have ever read. I've read it more than 6 times and still I hunger for more. The story it's great and it develops fast. The main character Raistlin Majere, it's probably the best character ever invented in any fiction books. There are more than 16 books with him. I have read other books about him, and I wasn't satisfied. I wanted to know more. Some particularities that the main books didn't explain.
Well let me explain better...
Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman wrote three books which were in Dragonlance Chronicles: Dragons of Autumn Twilight, Dragons of Winter Night, Dragons of Spring Dawning. There were many characters but the one that marked me and a legion of fans was a mage. An evil, selfish, mean, overly-ambitious human. So why would I like him?
Well for this and much more. We as read the books didn't knew why raistlin was that way, why did he hate his brother, why did he had an hourglass eyes and his hair totally white. We need to know more. And so Margaret Weis wrote Soulforge and Brother in arms (the second) that answer many questions...

The story it's about him growing up. The meeting with the wizard which will put him in wizards school. The teaching and learning of Raistlin. The family and the company first quest. The Test and the rewards (Well kind of).

In the end why do I and other people love Raistlin? That is an Hard Question :
Raistlin acts as a mirror. More than the images of his co-stars are reflected in those hourglass eyes. When we read about Raistlin, it's as if we're following the adventures of our own dark sides. In Raistlin, we see a little bit of ourselves. Maybe we didn't have tortured childhoods; certainly all of us don't share his personality traits. But still, in his struggles to be, ultimately, accepted, perhaps we find our own longings for love; in his bittersweet triumph, we find ourselves confronted with our own wishes for the power we may never find. Justarius summed this up best when he said, "We've all been laughed at one time in our lives. We've all been jealous of someone. We have felt pain and suffered, just as he has suffered. And we've all longed - just once - for the power to crush our enemies. We pity him. We hate him. We fear him - all because there is a little of him in each of us, though we admit it to ourselves only in the darkest part of the night."

But the reason I, personally love him is 'cause like him I have ashma as sick as him.. I've spent so many hours in doctors, and received air that I can't remember. When I was 19/20 I was in an hospital more than twelve times, each one one week. So, yes I know how he feels... I know how he is that way.. That's why I love him.
The best phrase that I summarized him and me is "Hope is the denial of Reality"!

[...]

Love it
Story of Majere brothers.I loved it.Margaret Weis is truly a good writer.

Fizban's Book Review
In the book The Soulforge, by Margret Weis, Raistlin Majere has battled through every bit of his life. He barely made it through birth and is a sickly child. His twin brother Caramon, is the better liked, while Raistlin stays a home. Raistlin wants to do and become something great in life. He has been always interested in magic. One day an arch magus stops in the small town of Solace. He talks to Raistlin and sees that the young boy at the age of six has great potential. The book follows the life of Raistlin with his struggles and triumphs.
I think that this book is awesome. It is the best book I have read and I will recommend it to whoever loves fantasy and who is searching for a great read. I would rate this a 10/10.

Mrs. Sage's Class

By Jordan ... Read more

Product Description
A boxed set of three core titles from the Dragonlance saga.This slip-covered gift set contains three key titles from the Dragonlance saga: Time of the Twins, War of the Twins, and Test of the Twins, all of which were authored by New York Times bestselling authors Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. These are three of the strongest-selling Dragonlance backlist titles. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (28)

Awesome books, great price and super fast shipping!
Great product that was delivered in record time. I was totally amazed at how fast it got shipped to me. Dragon Lance books are great reads. If you ready for an adventure that sucks you in to the character than these books are for you. Dragon Lance books have a huge selection of books to choose from and most of them tie together in storyline at one point or another. You get the feeling of an ever-expanding storyline. I recommend these books to readers of all levels.

Simply Amazing! but...
This series was great.I loved it, just like Chronicles series!

You know what, though?People say they liked Legends better.I don't know.I personally liked Chronicles better.

Overall, both the Chronicles and Legends are really enjoying read.

Awesome
Read this when I was in High School.I just purchased the set to read them again.Loved it then, still love it now.Great story.

neat story line
unique story line. go figure, raist the darkie showing whitey .. (dont want to spoil, youll figure it out)

The classic legends trilogy
What can you say about this, the classic fantasy trilogy? In one word: brilliant. It has all the elements one would want: friendship, adventure, love, magic, excitiment, a laugh and a tear. But what strikes me most about this series (especially if you read the chronicles and everything afterwards) is the fact that right and wrong are not so black and white as they so often are portraited. The 'good guys' as whitecloaks are not so good at all, for instance. And off course, there's Raistlin. My favourite character of all time, combining the good and bad of man so perfectly... a must read for every reader on the globe! ... Read more

Product Description
The flames of war devour Ansalon. The army of dead souls marches toward conquest, led by the mystical warrior Mina, who serves the powerful One God.

A small band of heroes, driven to desperate measures, leads the fight against overwhelming odds.

Two unlikely protagonists emerge. One is a dragon overlord who will not easily relinquish her rule. The other is an irrepressible kender who has been on a strange and remarkable journey that will end in startling and unforeseen fashion.

The stirring climax of the War of Souls.
Amazon.com Review
The legendary team of Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman take to the sky on dragonback again with the final dispatch from their latest voyage to the land of Krynn in the War of Souls trilogy. In volume two, Dragons of a Lost Star, the mysterious "One God" behind the irrepressible Mina's miraculous rise to power is revealed. Yes, Dark Queen Takhisis is up to her old tricks. This time, however, she has stolen the entire planet of Krynn and hidden it away from her fellow deities. Now, she is seeking to bring the entire populace (both the living and the dead) under her fickle sway through Mina's zealous proselytizing. Who will stop her dark quest? Who else? The troublemaking and time-traveling kender--Tasslehoff Burrfoot.

Unfortunately, with the mystery of the "One God" revealed, much of the narrative impetus that made the first two books page-turners is lost. However, while there isn't much left to write about in Dragons of a Vanished Moon, the scenery is beautiful. There is an Elven exodus across the "plains of dust," stubborn Solamnic knights, cunning dragons, plotting wizards, and a full helping of Kender antics as Tasselhoff assumes the role of fly in the dark queen's ointment. The conclusion is a textbook deus ex machina but fans should enjoy this book for what it is--another chance to return to the wonderful world of Krynn with its two most competent guides at the helm. --Jeremy Pugh ... Read more

Customer Reviews (111)

a perfect conclusion to a great trilogy
Phenomenal reworkings of archtypal and mythic concepts. The plight of the wnadering elves in particular through the desert will rouse empathy in many a reader. And the One god's actions get... more erratic and Mina becomes a more complex character. This is the creme de la crem of Dragonlance.

A Great Clearing of the Board, So To Speak
i read the dragonlance chronicles and legends series back in elementary school and junior high, and now at the ripe old age of 30 i fell back into the world of krynn. i had a certain amount of hope for the series' continuation in the war of the souls trilogy after i read "dragons of summer flame," which i found interesting, at least. but the war of souls trilogy could have been named the "tasslehoff must die" series and been more accurately named. the miserably few sequences involving tasslehoff were the only bright, interesting splotches breaking up the bleak tramp of ever-marching darkness in the rest of the storyline. the authors (don't get me wrong, they're beautiful people) seem tired of all the old hallowed heroes and have made a grand sweep of the gameboard, replacing all the complex, flawed, or unpredictable characters of various races with boring, Regular Dude Humans like Sir Gerard, the unlikeable jock knight that stars in the series. in addition, most of the few remaining old heroes are killed off rather unceremoniously, continuing the process started in "dragons of summer flame." there's no profound sadness and grand, echoing meaning to their deaths, like with the deaths of sturm, flint, or even raistlin. most of them don't even get funerals.

the reason for tasslehoff constantly being told he needs to "go back and die" doesn't hold up if you think about it too long. why would it matter whether or not his actual body was under the foot of Chaos when it smashes down? won't the blood splatter splash out with the impact anyway? bah. i'm just peeved because it's not a very cool way for my favorite character to die, even though it was supposed to have happened way back in "dragons of summer flame." and now with the conclusion of the war of souls trilogy, does that mean the scenario presented to us at the end of "dragons of summer flame," when tas meets back up with flint in the afterlife, never happened? once again, bah.

it manages to be an entertaining read for the most part, however, even though it does seem to trip along towards the end as a sort of downhill shamble. i won't pretend that i'm not already trying to get ahold of the dark disciple trilogy. maybe we'll finally get to hear more about the 'afflicted' kender thatwas brought up and then never elaborated on so many times in the war of souls trilogy.

Stirring Conclusions and Epic Endings In Ansalon
I picked up the first book of The War of Souls trilogy five years ago; it was my first Dragonlance trilogy.Five years later I've come full circle, reading the War of Souls again, aware of its full history.I speak of The War of Souls trilogy from the aspects of a new reader and seasoned historian of the world of Ansalon, the world of Dragonlance.

At the close of this book I felt the pain one often feels when parting with old friends.This emotion shows the quality of Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's writing.Great trilogies leave readers with a longing for more memories, more adventures, and more tales of the characters they love.

The paths of Mina, Gerard, Palin, Dalamar, Tasselhoff, and many others will keep you on the edge of your seats in Dragons of a Vanished Moon.The writing will describe events that will appear vividly and describe the raging emotions and thoughts of the characters beautifully.The epic conclusion of The War of Souls will keep you at the edge of your seats and will not leave you disappointed.The story builds-up and winds down with the best of their novels.The characters of The Fifth Age are as compelling and moving as the heroes of the Fourth Age.

If you are like me this book will make as good of a first trilogy as it will a last of Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's.The book not only makes an excellent conclusion to The War of Souls, but a conclusion to the core books of Dragonlance.Its writing and development is as compelling as any other trilogy; Weis and Hickman worked just as hard drawing unique and interesting characters and storylines.I stand amazed at the quality of their writing, hoping that they will continue telling these tales for years to come.

Read Dragons of a Vanished Moon and sit with me at the Inn of the Last Home, basking in the world of fantasy that will become a home for your imagination.

War of Souls conclusion
The DragonLance world began back in 1984 when Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman wrote Dragons of Autumn Twilight, the first volume of the Chronicles trilogy. The book was an immediate hit with me and with millions of other readers. It has been followed by numerous other books with most of them being great fun to read and a few being somewhat hit or miss. We were introduced then to Tanis, Sturm, Raistlin, Caramon, Flint, Tas, Riverwind, Goldmoon, and numerous other memorable characters.

I just recently obtained the books from Margaret Weis' latest trilogy, The Dark Disciples. These three books are a continuation of the story of the mysterious Mina that was first told in The War of Souls trilogy by Weis and Hickman. It had been a few years since I read The War of Souls books so I decided to go back through them again.

Dragons of a Vanished Moon is the third volume in The War of Souls trilogy. In this tale Mina, not satisfied with conquering Silvanost, moves on to capture Sanction. Meanwhile the Qualinesti elves kill a dragon but lose their homeland and head towards what they hope will be a warm reception from their cousins in Silvanesti. Gerard spends much of his time as a spy in the army of the Dark Knights, and Mina and Galdar fight a memorable battle against the huge Dragon Overlord Malys. In the end, the key to the entire adventure may turn out to be our kender friend Tasslehoff. The book also contains an excellent appendix - Progression of Souls.

Well worth reading.

Funny ending
I think this is a quality series in the Dragonlance canon, but not matching chronocles, legends, or The Soulforge. I found the ending to resolve a lot of issues, but quite "jarring" in its sudden presentation and use, once again of magical "deux au machina" to resolve all the plot strands. Would have rated it 4 star if not for the jarring ending, but probably you had better read this if you have already got this far. ... Read more

Product Description
Banished to the Nether Realm for their occult powers, the Disciples of the Dragon pledge their fealty to their fantastic dragon king in exchange for eternal youth and wealth--all except one Judas in their midst." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Read this BEFORE"Dark Heart"
This one was published before Dark Heart was. This book is a begining saga. It is meant to keep you wondering and of course waiting. I read Dark Heart first and was very confused when reading this book, it did not seem to flow to well with Dark Heart (time line). There is no date on the opening chapter of Dark Heart as there is on this one. To try and figure it out I went to the copyright page on both books and realized what this one was meant to do, introduce the Dragon's Disicple series. Now she just needs to finish it, I cannot find another book for the series. If you already read this but not DARK HEART then go read it and you will feel for Sir Justin as you do for her other characters.
Side note: Why does everyone compare a new series to an old? They are meant to be different hence new series. This alwaysbothers me when a reader does this. It seems they close their minds to the new series before they even finish the first book.

Robbed
I gave this 5 stars for the quality of the writing,the characters seemed to just start to be developed and then it was over. It was a miss mash of stories that started in the future and then went back in time to, two other events that did not have a decent conclusion. It keeps one hanging. The story was full of death and violence, then with one swoop of a females influence Justin changes his years of loyalty. From other reviews I guess there is a book called Dark Hart that would have helped better understand this novella, but no where on this book is there a reference to another book. I felt robbed and frustrated by this book.

Worth reading
This book seems to be a summary of the book Dark Hart by Margaret Weis and David Baldwin which was a very good book. The illustrations in this book really help to put a mental picture together about what the setting and charters in Dark Hart were like and the stories about Justin Sterlings(the main charters in Dark Hart) past are really enjoyable. If you are interested in reading this book you will enjoy it much more if you read Dark Hart first.

Well written, makes you want to believe!
The book is very good, though at times gruesome and violent. The detail was outstanding and the characters were well rounded. The book is very good, but it leaves you hanging a bit.

A departure for Weis but well done!
It's obvious that Weis is expanding her literary horizons with this new book. People who compare it to Dragonlance are missing the point. It is not supposed to be Dragonlance. The dark mythological sequences drip ambienceand mystery. A beautiful book, that's beautifully mastered by the DarkQueen herself. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

This book was a disappointment.
Dragonlance is my favorite campaign setting. I have read the Dragonlance Campaign Setting d20 manual, and despite its poor reviews, I thought it was still useful, and was not sadden by the loss of money. This book is completely different.
The biggest problem with the Age of Mortals, is the constant repetition. The book relates the history of the Dragonlance setting from the end of the Chaos War to the death of Takhisis, and the sacrifice of Paladine. The story itself is rather interesting, but it was already written in the main Dragonlance Campaign Setting book. As if repeating it once was not enough, the authors decided to place the story in several places of the book. The story is written in the introduction. The story is repeated in the beginning of the chapter on religion. The book also has a time table of events, which tells the same tale with the slight difference of separating events by the years on which the event took place. Further, on almost every character profile presented in the book, parts of the story were repeated again.
The art also is in need of repair. It isn't so much that the quality of the drawings is poor, as the quantity is. There are very few pictures compared to that of a typical roleplaying manual. This wouldn't have been a big deal, but there is obvious room for the pictures in the book. There are huge gaps at the end of each chapter, where there is nothing but blank page. This space could have easily been occupied by a picture or two. Had the book cut down on the repetitive story, even more room could have been made for art work. To top the space issues, the problem of the first d20 Dragonlance book was not corrected. This book still has inch thick margins.
The meat of the book lies in the few prestige classes presented. There is also a page of feats, and a couple pages of spells. The balance of the spells and feats is in question, but since I have not yet gotten a chance to use any of them, it would be unfair of me to grade them on their usability. Still even if all the spells and feats were the best feats and prestige classes ever written, this one chapter would not be enough to make up for the poor planning of the rest of the book.
There is a chapter on towns, cities, and strongholds. This is by far the best chapter in the book, but a few of the descriptions of the cities repeat larger parts of the main story. This wouldn't be so much of problem if it weren't for the boredom of having read the story several times already. This chapter had a major flaw. It doesn't have enough maps. Only three cities, or so, actually had a map of the city. Further, this chapter would have been helped greatly had it contained a map of the world, which showed the location of each city in the chapter. The only world map in this book contained directions of seasonal winds, followed by a small description of weather and climate.
There is a chapter of descriptions, which seems to say that the Dragonlance setting has the same main qualities of any other Dungeons and Dragons setting. This Chapter talked about the weather and the people. The only thing new was a small description of a few plants, and their nativity in Dragonlance. It isn't really important to the average gamer, but to someone who likes the poetry of Dragonlance, they might have some uses.
The religion Chapter describes each deity and their new role in the world. The Dragonlance Campaign Setting book already listed the deities. Thus, it was another disappointment that the deities were described again. Luckily a few of the descriptions had insight into what the deities planned for the future, instead of just telling who the deity was.
The structure of the book was also poor. It was rather annoying reading about a race description or a city description and then moving strait into a character profile. Why put Goldmoon's profile in the introduction of the religion Chapter? There really should have been a "Hero" chapter of the book, which contained all the character profiles instead of plugging them into random sections of the book.
By eliminating the unused space, and the repetition of this book, the publishers could have made a decent soft cover book, and lowered the price by a good 10 to 15 dollars. Even with Amazons low prices, this book isn't worth the money.

dragonlance is a most read. all of it
I haven't read this book but, i've read the war of the souls and that was great.(I can't wait to get this one)

Buy it! Must buy!
I am planning on running a DL campaign using 3e rules but after reading the campaign setting book, I had a lot of questions. One example - do all wizards of high sorcery have to specialise?

This book answered all the questions. It is quite literally an extension of the campaign setting book (think of it as book 2).

More classes, races, prestige classes, etc More magic items, more history, more info in general, FANTASTIC art (MUCH better than the art served in the campaign setting). Infact the art is the best I've seen in any Dungeons and Dragons (3rd edition) book to date.

I loved this book more than the campaign setting itself and it was this book which really sold me on the idea of a Dragonlance under the 3rd edition rules.

Highly recommended. Especially so if you buy the DL Campaign setting. ... Read more

Product Description
The first volume in the Sovereign Stone trilogy, a gripping fantasy series filled with unique characters, from the authors of the bestselling DRAGONLANCE books.Gareth is just a frightened young lad when he is drafted in to be the whipping-boy for the unruly Prince Dagnarus. Yet as they grow to be men, an unshakable bond is formed. And it is their destiny for them to become the two most powerful -- and feared -- men in the kingdom.But when Dagnarus decides to become a knight himself, he begins a chain of evil events that threaten to destroy the entire kingdom. Only by uniting the Sovereign Stone can peace be restored, and it is up to Dagnarus' brother Helmos to try to achieve this impossible task, using his father's soldiers against his brother's army. All the while, Gareth is gaining mastery over the sinister Void magic, and he is devoted to helping his childhood companion.This gripping story of magical power and corruption takes the unique viewpoint of focusing on the evil characters, as we follow them from boys to men.Filled with action, suspense and wonderfully imaginative characters, The Well of Darkness is set to elevate the careers of bestselling authors Weis & Hickman to spectacular new heights. ... Read more

Product Description
The New York Times best-selling battle for the world of Dragonlance®.

Since the Chaos War shook the world of Krynn to its foundations, faith in the old gods has become a relic of the past. But as the Dragon Overlords threaten to overwhelm Ansalon, a new age is dawning.  The people look to a young girl with a mysterious past who promises to unite the world behind one nameless, miracle-performing god. But will her promise free the people of Krynn or enslave them to a new, terrible master?

This Dragonlance omnibus contains the complete text for Dragons of a Fallen Sun, Dragons of a Lost Star, and Dragons of a Vanished Moon. ... Read more

Product Description
Created by the bestselling team of Weis & Hickman, Starshield introduces their newest fantastic universe with an unforgettable, magical, grand adventure!

Rebellion threatens to rock the very foundation of civilization.If the wrong side wins, the people will be at the mercy of minds with no conscience or humanity.The only hope for freedom lies with the Mantle of Kendis-dai, a relic reputed to hold the power of absolute Truth.But the Mantle of Kendis-dai is long lost in the mists of myth and time...if it ever really existed at all.

Merinda Neskat, dedicated to the pursuit of Truth above all, is determined to find the legendary Mantle.The key to her quest is a group of lost Earthpeople, led by the feckless Jeremy Griffiths, who holds knowledge he shouldn't have--and doesn't understand.Together, Merinda, Jeremy, and his companions set off on a dangerous race against time and deadly enemy forces, seeking a mysterious world that holds the secret that can save them--or destroy the path of civilization forever. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Magic and localized physics in Quantum wheather
The Omnet organization's purpose it to deliver correct and truthful information through the galaxy. Every planetary civilization depends on accuracy of its news channel, the Intra Galactic News Matrix (IGNM c.f. CNN) Weather Report: "The quantum weather for today in the wild realms bordering the diskward reaches of the Thailis Dynasties includes the motion of a class IV quantum frontal shift through the Choralis systems altering the industrial-technological standard radically toward mystic tendencies in the Q-dex". Somebody has been forging the information sources. Merinda Neskat, high in rank, is sent to investigate the source. But The Darkness is too powerful and she barely escapes only to find out her love didn't make it. The Omnet and Nine Oracles conclude that the only way to stop the Darkness, which is infiltrating all Synth Minds that are the core of all galactic civilization, is to find out a mantle of 3000-year-old myth of Kendis-Dai. The solemn device for truth that would regain the confidence towards the Omnet and expose lies of the Darkness. Will the Order of the Future Faith, The Sentinels behind the Darkness, change the order or the galaxy forever?

The story enters into fantasy and science fiction realms. The physics are a localized phenomenon pocketed in quantum fronts, like an ocean that moves according to tidal forces. The adjacent spiritual and natural laws shift. Science may rule in one region, whereas magic or telepathy may be the rule in another. There are spells, dragon's pulling the ships in shape shifting quantums and in other areas standard plasma drives and wormholes. The story revolves around question of whether synthetic minds have souls, Earth's first contact with greater galactic civilizations, and a religious conspiracy of interstellar proportions. The next in series is Nightsword. The planned 3rd book in the trilogy was never published.

Four (4) stars. Written in 1996 the book is a good showcase of how magic and science fiction can be combined. After 50 pages of wizardly-sounding names and titles the reader is on track of events and the pace of execution to solve this galaxy wide mystery keeps flowing. There is love, hate, twists at every 20th page turn, sense on grandeur and epicness. Best of all the strong female lead Merinda Neskat (Vestis Inquisitor of the Omnet) and the supporting character Jeremy Griffiths (Earth), are very well fleshed out. Merinda is haunted in all her actions by her past: she believes herself responsible for the death of her lover years ago. Her journey toward redemption and forgiveness comes to a shattering twist. If there is a wrinkle that would be the too obvious story arc of using Earth crew as the key to dissolve the mythic lock. Nevertheless, enjoy the galactic ride.

A grand tale of power, betrayal, and ancient legends
This book opens up a new universe in the fantasy/sci-fi genre. It begins a series that seeks to combine the best tenets of science and technology with the absolute power of sorcery and magic. It paints a picture of a dynamic universe, a universe that is not filled with the same "stuff" as we would like to believe. The story begins with one of the main protagonists of the story, a strong woman character of the Omnet.

This book tells of her life as she sought to correct mistakes told in the first chapters of the book. In enters the second of the two protagonists, Jeremy Griffiths. A replacement astronaut for the first FTL space voyage that humanity has sent to the stars. They were hopeful to just collect "bacterial samples". Obviously they took a bigger bite than they intended since plutonium isn't radioactive in one of the areas they passed through. You will have a grand time as Griffiths is faced with the command of the mission and his ascendance to something more than he bargained for. Because at the end, their voyage will lead to the Mantel of Kendis-dai, a long ago legendary artifact of the greatest Empire in the galaxy, an empire headed by a human Emperor with 3 absolutely powerful artifacts. The Mantle to give wisdom and knowledge, the Nightsword to shape the universe to the user's will, and the Starshield to create peace throughout the galaxy. These sound like mere artifacts, but this is the new galaxy we are talking about. And in the new galaxy, where magic and technology exist side by side and layer on layer, legends are real.

a near miss
this book had good characters, but I dont like the whole "lets restore our once great universe to what it once was, and use magic flagrantly when we just can't supply the hard science" motif

Slow start. Great ending.
It took me a quarter of the book before I got into it.The body of the book was average, but the ending more than made up for it.A Margaret Weis book with a happy ending?Out of the 18 books of hers I've read, this book probably has the happiest ending.Actually it may have been too happy.It doesn't leave you hanging for the next book of the series like most of her books do.

A Must
For anyone who has ever been completely enchanted by their first fantasynovel, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman can bring that feeling back over andover again.I've read all of their works out so far and this ranks amongthe most original I've ever read.The characters are well rounded, theplot is involved and the writing is fast paced.A fantastic read. ... Read more

Product Description
Set in the authors' popular Star of the Guardians universe, the dramatic sequel to The Knights of the Black Earth follows the interstellar mercenaries, Mag Force 7, on the trail of a dangerous robot. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Enjoyable sci fi
The second book in the Mag Force 7 trilogy (hopefully more will be made!) Great space adventure with likeable characters.

Robot Blues continues a good saga.
Robot Blues is the sequel to The Knights of Black Earth and continues with the mercenary group called Mag Force 7.Mag Force 7 is led by the cyborg Xris, who once helped to get Dion Starfire to maintain his throne.In thisnovel, the group is hired to steal an ancient robot.All seems in order,until the group finds out it was a plot to get one of the most importantrobots in the history of the galaxy.While Xris is trying to complete hisobjective, Darlene has attempts at her life......and Xris can't helpher.........

If you like Future Stuff, this is your book!
Trully Remarkable! The author knows how to write and does it good. If you are a reader that enjoys future tech and future timelines this is unmissable!

excellent
What can I say about this book?We all already know that almost any book Weis undertakes is going to be excellent.We all know and love these characters (especially Raul and the Little One) from the previous Mag 7 book and Star of the Guardians.Since we all know this, why haven't you read this book yet?

Once again, I totally enjoyed the book.
I like the way the authors continue to keep the characters so likeable and "human". The story keeps you wanting to read more and more.I can't wait until the next issue of Mag Force 7.Hopefully, a movie can be made from one of the books.Thank you Margaret and Don ... Read more

Product Description
Heroes and Fools

A submarine trip to an island of ghosts. A band of fugitive actors. A deadly draconian who has had too much holiday punch. And veritable onslaught of dryads, shadow wights, and that rarest of all monsters, the dread forest boojum.

Also, from the team of Margaret Weis and Don Perrin, the latest adventure of Kang and his wayward troop of draconians.

In the proud tradition of the best-selling Dragonlance anthologies, Heroes and Fools promises a sometimes heroic -- sometimes foolish -- visit to the world of Krynn.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Most of the Stories are Excellent.
If you pick this up, do not just judge the breadth of the novel by the first story or two. "Boojum, Boojum," the first short story, is pretty horribly written. But most of the rest of the stories are excellent, especially "Much Ado About Magic" and "To Convince the Righteous of the Right." If you are interested in the wheelings and dealings of the DragonLance fifth age, without becoming too bogged down by the main storylines, than this would be a perfect book for you.

Nicely Varied
This book unlike some other of the books of tales varies widely in it's selections.Some stories (Gone) are written differently and also don't have the basic ending.Others (To convince the righteous of the right) have a classic appeal to them.A third aspect of the dragonlance series that is in this book, humor, abounds and the gnomes and other races in Heroes and fools make themselves known.I believe this book to be one of the best tales books and I highly recommend it

Not bad at all
I really enjoyed this book.Most of the stories were good, but some werehorribly average.My favorite was "Gone".The suspence wasterrific and I loved every moment exept for the sudden end.Overall it wasa very good book envolving mainly kender and knights.It was well worththe price.

good stories
I thought Heroes and Fools was a good collection of stories about theFifth Age, I enjoyed Boojum,Boojum,Tree ofLife,Songsayer,Nobless,Oblige,The Thief in the Mirror and since I have onestory left I'm looking forwared to reading To Convince the Righteous of theRight the story of Kang and his band of Draconians. I've allways enjoyedthe short stories about Kang. The only story I have not enjoyed is Gone byRoger E. Moore, Manly because the story is witten in Diary form and I hatethat. If you enjoy reading the Dragonlance books and like short storiesthan this book is for you.

"Much ado about magic" is pointless...but funny!
So far (i've only read a few stories) "To convince the righteous of the right" and "much ado about magic" were the best. I have yet to finish it...but it's nott as good as war of the lance was so far orany of the other anthologies ive read. ... Read more

Product Description
Two centuries have passed since a piece of the Sovereign Stone -- the portion belonging to the humans of Loerem -- was lost. Now few on this world shared by many antagonistic races remember it ever existed. But there is one who can never forget: Gustav, a human Dominion Lord, who has made it his life's work to find the missing sacred artifact.Success, however, costs Gustav dearly. Having at long last recovered the magical relic, he is set upon by a black knight -- a dark servant of the immortal Vrykyl lord Dagnarus -- and is struck a mortal blow. But before he dies, the brave Dominion Lord passes the Stone on to Bashae, a pecwae youth, who agrees to carry it to safety, unaware of the power of the object in his possession...or the hideous strength and bloodthirsty determination of the evil forces who would wrest it from him.And, with the quest of an unsuspecting boy, the battle for the future of Loerem begins -- a conflict that will ensnare dwarf, human, elf, and orken beings, as Dagnarus launches terrible war from the blackest depths of the Void. Monsters are his army and treachery his most powerful weapon, as the insidious lord ably stokes the long-smoldering fires of animosity that divide the races, creating traitors and villains at every turning, who abet the havoc his demonic minions intend to wreak.But his foes know all too well the grim price of submission, as heroes emerge from unlikely corners to deny Dagnarus the awesome powers of the Stone. A gruff dwarf seeking riches; the mad daughter of a Trevenici chief; a cunning and beautiful elven Dominion Lord; an imprisoned warrior; an old woman powerful in pecwae magic; Bashae's friend Jessan, who unwittingly carries doom in his pocket; as well as young Bashae himself, who will be tested to the limits of endurance and discover a strength beyond his years, are all players in the epic clash of malevolence versus right.Yet ultimately the destiny of an embattled world rests on unlikely shoulders. For there is one who passed the trials of the gods, yet rejected the mantle of Dominion Lord -- an enigma whose motives are unknown even to those closest to him, and who now must bear the great onus of salvation...or dire defeat. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

Better than the first book which only improves the story.
The Guardians of the Lost is the second book in the Sovereign Stone Trilogy by Margret Weis and Tracy Hickman. In the second installment the plot is moved considerably forward at the same face pace as was found int he first book. the characters are also more defined in this book and their roles are more clear than in the first book.

This world is unlike their Dragonlance books in that they have complete control over what happens and it's noticably a little darker than their other works.

The story during the Sovereign Stone Trilogy moves along at a break neck pace. There are multiple twists along the way. I thinkt he thing I like best about this trilogy is that the 'villian' starts off as a good guy for the most part, but with misguided ideals. He doesn't really know he's being evil he thinks he's doing what's best.

Overall, if you are a fan of Weis and Hickman's Dragonlance Chronicles of Death Gate cycle you should give these books a chance. The world if fresh and different from most that is out there today.

If you're ready for a new journey, jump aboard and get ready for a fun enjoyable ride.

Lord Of The Stones
Guardians Of The Lost, the second tome in the Sovereign Stone trilogy, follows its predecessor Well Of Darkness with more characters, more races, more action and even more oddity. The setting is 200 years following the fall of Old Vinnengael in the world called Loerem. The races distrust each other and one another while a noble few seek to reunify the sovereign stones and rid the world of evil and woe. The servant of void Dagnarus, still alive and bent on domination, has increased his army of nefarious Vrykyl and moreover used magical portals to gain indefatigable foot soldiers.
For most of the book Guardians Of The Lost bears a close resemblance to Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings. Two sets of companions traverse the land carrying precious (in this case) stones. They flee and approach dark forces bent on capturing them and possession of the prized magical stones. The choice of the companions again defies logic at first, although the gods trust in them is ultimately justified. As battles, betrayals and bewilderment ensues Dagnarus is thwarted in his ultimate dream, but so are the noble companions and their custodians. The book ends mid-saga as danger looms and confusion reigns on all sides.
The fantasy is rich and the characters motley, but one can only wonder at the semblance of the story to the well-known classic of the genre.

Series gets even better in the second installment
The first book in this series was very well done and in this second book, the series gets even better. The danger to the realm is much more dire than in the first book as Dagnarus now has an army plus numerous Vykrls at his command. But in typical fantasy tradition there are always heroes to rise to the challenge and defend their land. The characters in this book are very well written and a few even infuse the book with a little humour, something lacking in the first book.

All in all this is a really good book and I can't wait to read the third and final book in this series.

Too Obvious, Backward Characters, and Nothing Accomplished
First off, Dagnarus was and still is my favorite character (even though I know, like all my favorite characters, he's going to have to die.)I ploughed through this book like I plough through winter when the snow's up to my waist. Not because the book was bad, mind you, but because I hated to see Dagnarus constantly being thwarted time and time again -- and I knew he would be. But, I didn't take off any stars since that's a personal thing, and not all people love Dagnarus.

That mentioned, and my love for Dagnarus aside, this book lost one star because of the ending. Normally I like a book when something is ACCOMPLISHED at the end, but nothing was accomplished here. New Vinningael hadn't even CRUMBLED at the end of the book. Oh, it was obvious that it would, I have no doubt it will be, but it DIDN'T; The book ends with what could be a guarantee that the stones will be captured, but throughout the book there's been so many times when the same thing was promised, the odds were infinite, and they STILL escaped with both stones. The promise at the end doesn't make you WONDER anymore -- you KNOW that it won't happen; The Grandmother and Bashae, alone and with the human portion of the stone, are ordered to be captured. But again, they weren't CAPTURED, which makes me believe there's a 100% chance that the capturing of these two pecwae, despite that they are weak and cowardly and small, will again be a FAILURE by of an all-powerful Vrykyl.

I didn't like any of the main protagonists, and the ones I did like had the worst ending imaginable - Wolfram and Ranessa. The only two decent characters in the book. Their role was a huge letdown, for several reasons: They were the only flawed characters, and deserved to have a much larger part; Dagnarus knew that they were decoys, so why the hell was he ordering them captured?; and instead of being creative and having a Trevinici who's unlike any other Trevinici, she has to be a dragon, which just shows you how robotic and similar that race is. I was hoping that she would teach the snotty, proud, and ANNOYING Trevinicis a few things.

Success for the good became too obvious (it would have been better if the success of DAGNARUS was obvious, because then you would think, "How the hell are the protagonists going to beat him NOW?") -- furthermore, I was hoping that at the end, Dagnarus would have at least been HOLDING at least ONE of the stones - not promised it AGAIN. I thought the main characters deserved smaller roles whereas the background characters should have deserved larger roles, and the fact that nothing was accomplished made the plot and storyline nowhere near as strong as the Well of Darkness.

Furthermore, I didn't like how a Vrykyl turned its back on Dagnarus when they were linked, and yet a Dominion Lord who has their own free will can't turn a little evil now and then.

I had been about to give it 2 stars, but since there was Dagnarus, Wolfram, Ranessa, Valura, and Shakur (as small parts as these characters had) I bumped it up to 3.

A homage to Tolkin, yet a great book.
Let me tell you the plot of this book, and you'll see how Tolkin gets in: Two people, in this case only one of them is a halfling, are getting a quest which involves carrying a magical item which is the key to rule the races of the world. They ae joined by a wise old person, which happens to be a wizard, and by warriors along the way. A dark Lord, which once owned the artifact, is also searching for it, sending his lethal, undead servants after the party. Reminds you something?

Yet, even though Tolkin's effect is clear, this book makes a great reading. The plot is of course much more complicated than what I wrote above, and Weis and Hickman's amazing character building, world describing and storytelling talent, makes you read this book flowingly, and be eager for more. ... Read more

Product Description
Thousands of years ago, the mad emperor Lokan controlled the Nightsword--and imposed his twisted desires on all that lived. Then Lokan mysteriously vanished behind the Maelstrom Wall, into the quantum chaos of the galactic core. But legend says that somewhere behind the Wall, the Nightsword is hidden, its awesome energies waiting to be used again . . . for good or evil.

When Earther astronaut Jeremy Griffiths donned the Mantle of Kendis-Dai and became blessed--and perhaps cursed--with infinite knowledge, he learned the exact direction of Lokan's ill-fated route. And now the secrets stored in his head have made him the target of everyone who has ever coveted the Nightsword for their own ends. Griffiths wants only to get his crew safely home to Earth--and to impress the bewitching, bewildering Merinda Neskat. Yet he is caught firmly in the middle of galactic agendas beyond his control, and this new quest will prove to be the challenge of a lifetime . . .


From the Paperback edition. ... Read more

Product Description
This is the first anthology to tie in to the bestselling War of Souls trilogy by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. It contains 11 stories, written by well-known Dragonlance authors, that elaborate on the characters and locations from the War of Souls trilogy. The stories link to the ongoing saga through the time frames of the main characters.

Contents:
Introduction
"All for a Pint" by Brian Murphy
"The End" by Nancy Varian Berberick
"The Lost Sea" by Linda P. Baker
"Some Assembly Required" by Nick O' Donohoe
"Go with the Floe" by Paul B. Thompson
"The Great Gully Dwarf Climacteric of 40 S.C." by Jeff Crook
"Bond" by Kevin T. Stein
"A Twist of the Knife" by Jean Rabe
"Hunger" by Richard A. Knaak
"Product Given for Services Rendered" by Don Perrin
"Dragon's Throat" by Donald J. Bingle
... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Umm....Yeah
After reading some of the other tales and short stories, I found this boring.Like others have said, there are only a few stories about the search for magic and the use of the magical items, well, ones that had power left in them anyway.i found it dissappointing.I've read better

Not bad
I was hoping for more,but it was pretty good though.Leaves you with questions,but alright.Try it, you will enjoy it.

Decent but a tad disappointing
I picked up this book expecting a bunch of stories about well, the search for magic, but instead they're only a handful and the other stories are about kender and gnomes (which isnt necassarily a bad thing).
But the stories themselves are decent enough and the gnome stories, as always, are hilarious.
I would recommend this only to dragonlance fans. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

The book is really wonderful!
I've already read the original chronicles and I noticed some differences, but this book is still great! The illustrationsare wonderfully drawn and it really gets the point across. I highly recommend this book to all!

AWESOME BOOK!GREAT INTERPRETATION!
This was one of the first dragonlance books I read and it was one of the real motivators for me to read the entire saga.The illustration and interpretations of the Chronicles novels is astounding and something that should be seen by all! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Got me hooked
I started reading DL in the mid-90's, but I started by being given one of these as a gift.They're hard to find, but well worth it if you can find them.They're based on the books, but even if you've already read the chronicles trilogy, it's well worth it.Recommend these with the highest regards. ... Read more