The Annotated Chronicles (Dragonlance Novels) [ペーパーバック]

But I have to disagree. Yes, some of the annotations are fairly obvious--Tracy Hickman does, indeed overexplain some of the writing strategies that he and Weis used. But then again, I teach Creative Writing at the college level, and I only wish that some of my students would find this stuff obvious! What I'm saying is this: if you're familiar with writing tools and rules, some of this will be familiar. But take it with the spirit with which it's intended. C'mon, this is Dragonlance. We're all in this for the fun, right? This is a book that has some of the best lines I've read in a fantasy book--as well as a few stinkeroos. But that's always been part of the charm of these novels. These books weren't written by a professorial linguist like Tolkien--these were D&D junkies, for the most part, putting this together. And you can feel their own excitement, their passion, on every page, and in every character. If that means that some of the annotations become overdone in some ways, so be it.

Besides, some of the notes are very interesting, and as at least one other reviewer mentioned here, I wish there were more of them. There was a lot more information that I've unconsciously stored in my head about the novels that for some reason didn't merit an annotation here--like the fact that the dagger that Tas uses early in the first book...was actually a very powerful magic item (+4 or +5, as I recall--I think I'm getting this either from a short story, or something from Dragon magazine, from waaaay back...) The idea here is that Dragonlance, simply from being not only a series of books, but also a series of D&D game modules, a comic book series, and later a game world in which to explore, was not a static environment. Lots was added later, and some of it was pretty neat. A lot of it, sadly, wasn't. But giving the nod to some of those small, cool details that came later, like that magic dagger, would have been interesting.

And yes, there are too many references to far lesser works of fiction that took Dragonlance's good name and dragged it through the Solace mud. I hated like heck that such a thing happened to what was my favorite series as a teen. But hey, the books are classic, and the fun's still there, waiting to be experienced again and again. And if there's anyone out there counting, let me add my voice to the throngs anxiously awaiting the annotated edition of the Twins trilogy!

All in all, this is a book that is completely and utterly worth your time. Is it equal to Tolkein in literary significance? Admittedly no. Is it more fun? I think so. Even people who don't normally like fantasy novels have read this one and become as enthralled as the rest of us. Sure, its flawed, but heck, its a good time. And that's what's important, right? Long live Dragonlance!

A companion volume detailing the writing of the Chronicles/Legends (oh god, are we going to have to suffer through the annotated *Legends* if this sells well enough?) could be interesting, but this is emphatically not; instead, it feels like nothing more than the latest in a long line of crass TSR cash-ins. I'd stick with the original, non-annotated Chronicles, if I were you...