Dragons Of The Dwarven Depths: The Lost Chronicles, Volume One [マスマーケット]

Dragons of the Dwarven Depths by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman is the first novel in the Lost Chronicles trilogy. For fans of the Dragonlance universe, the Lost Chronicles represent time between the original Chronicles books. In this case, this book takes place between the events of Dragons of Autumn Twilight and Dragons of Winter Dawning. So, those readers who have read those two books will understand the story very well. Before I go further, if this book interests you at all, I think you should read the Dragonlance Chronicles before you read this book. Why? Well, for one those are he first stories involving these characters, but more importantly you will have a deeper understanding of some of the things that happen in this book.

The plot itself is typical Weis & Hickman. It's well laid out and concise with not a lot of extra stuff thrown in. I liken this book to putting on your favorite pair of old shoes. No matter when you last wore them, they still feel great when you put them on again. The story of the hammer of Kharas has long been talked about in Dragonlance circles and finally it has come to fruition. As I was reading this I could tell that Weis and Hickman had long thought about this plot line as it was just so well done and fleshed out.

The characters in this novel and exactly what Dragonlance fans would expect. All the familiar faces are present. In terms of character development there is not really a whole lot, except for Flint's character. This is for a couple reasons. It's had to develop characters that have been through several series and then come back to them at a point in the middle of the first trilogy and develop them a little without throwing something off down the road. So, I really wasn't expecting too much in this area, but what I got I was pleased with.

Now, I do have a bit of contention with the characters and this happened more than once. First, I need to say I am a huge fan of the Chronicles and the characters. I have read the Chronicles several times. Yet, when I was reading this book something felt `of' to me. It took me about fifty pages to realize what it was. There are several instances during this book where the dialog of the characters in no way matches how they spoke in previous books. I am not talking about little `oops' in dialog. I am talking whole sections that in no way fit what the characters have always sounded like and said. At times it was so glaring that it made me stop reading and I had to re-read the section to make sure I read it right. Now, some people may not think this is a big deal, but to the traditional Dragonlance fan will understand exactly what I mean when they read this book.

Don't get me wrong, I still really enjoyed this book, the dialog just really through me off at times. If you are a new fan to the Dragonlance universe and want the most `complete' experience. I may suggest reading the Dragonlance Chronicles book 1 first and then reading this book, followed by the Chronicles book 2. That would give you the complete story without having to `go back' so to speak.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and am eagerly looking forward to the next one to be released in July, 2007. Fans of fantasy should all read the Chronicles books. They are truly a great story and one that has endured the test of time over and over again. I, for one, am happy to revisit the characters that I grew up with.

Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's Dragons of Autumn Twilight was the first "true" fantasy novel I ever read. This was the book that made me fall in love with the genre, and I never looked back! Much like the first girl you kiss, these two authors have always held a special place in my heart. Even though they haven't written anything that really capture the imagination since the conclusion of The Deathgate Cycle in 1994, I always give them the benefit of the doubt and purchase their new books/series. Sadly, since then Weis and Hickman (together, solo, or with other collaborators) have produced works of average quality at best.:-(

Their last Dragonlance offering, The War of Souls trilogy, was a far cry from their popular Dragonlance Chronicles and Legends. This new series, The Lost Chronicles, will explore some of the storylines that were not part of the narrative of the original main sequence. Hence, it boded well for fans eager to see Weis and Hickman recapture their erstwhile excellence. After all, they were going back to their old stomping grounds, the world of Krynn, during the War of the Lance.

Honestly, I was pretty excited myself! For fans of the original series, this opportunity to go back in time and once again follow the adventures of the Companions is quite a kick. Characters such as Tanis, Raistlin Majere, Sturm Brightblade, Laurana, and Tasslehoff Burrfoot have all left an indelible mark in the fantasy genre.

The predominant problem with Dragons of the Dwarven Depths lies in the fact that there's nowhere near enough material to make a full-length novel. At best, this should have been a novella. Personally, I believe it would have worked best as a short story such as the ones Weis and Hickman came up with for the Tales trilogy.

There is so much "filler" in this book. . . I couldn't quite believe it. There are unnecessary portions filling us in on the back story. Given the fact that one needs to have read the original Dragonlance Chronicles, these parts of the narrative are totally obsolete. Add to that the inordinate amount of time spent journeying and I estimate that a good 50% of the novel could be excised without readers losing much of the story.

The second shortcoming of this book lies in the selection of the plotline that would serve as its backdrop. The search for the Hammer of Kharas was not part of the original saga, and there's a good reason why it was only alluded to in Dragons of Winter Night. It was only part of the Dragonlance roleplaying modules because the storyline wasn't that interesting to begin with. As I mentioned, not enough material. . .

Nevertheless, the narrative flows well enough, though the writing is a bit clunky at times. Although it's fun to be reunited with the characters we have grown to love, the fact that nothing really happens throughout the novel makes it hard to maintain our level of interest. I'm afraid that even Tass can't save this one.

My hopes for the forthcoming Dragons of the Highlord Skies are somewhat higher, what with the search of the dragon orb storyline and the presence of Lord Soth. I mean, come on! This one has to be good!

Hence, as fun as it is to go back in time and return to the events that marked the beginning of the War of the Lance, Dragons of the Dwarven Depths is a disappointing effort.

It felt good to read another tale of the Companions, years after I thought their saga had wound down. I was extremely excited to see that Weis and Hickman were going back in time and finally filling in the gaps that were left when the Chronicles were first written.

This book picks up right where Dragons of Autumn Twilight left off, and bridges the gap right up until the first page of Dragons of Winter Night. We follow Raistlin, Sturm, and Caramon (as well as tag-alongs Tas and Tika) to the ruins of Skullcap as they search for the keys to the gates of Thorbardin. The latter half of the book sees Flint accepting his destiny and venturing to recover the legendary Hammer of Kharas.

As one might expect, this book does a good job of foreshadowing events from the second 2 books of the Chronicles. We're given some interesting sights into Flint's aging mind, as well as some of Raistin's confused inner-dialogue. The first half of the book also does a good job of portraying Tika's feelings for Caramon.

At points, I felt as if the book lagged somewhat. Although some chapters do a great job of furthering character development, some of the sidebar storylines seem like a bit of wasted time, and some of the narrative feels more like an AD&D dungeon crawl than a novelization by experienced writers. Above all else, I would have liked to see more substance come out of the trip to Skullcap.

My biggest complaint with this novel is the fact that it was plagued with terrible editing. Hopefully this will be corrected in later editions. At times names are spelled incorrectly, and grammer errors can be found in nearly every chapter.

Although this book had it's flaws, I would still recommend it to anyone who wishes to complete their collection of the core Dragonlance novels, and I look forward to the next two books in this series.