Dragonlance: The Annotated Legends:

Volume 1: Time of the Twins

Written by: Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

After the rousing success of Weis/Hickman’s first trilogy, The Chronicles – which was also their first novels it was intriguing to see in which direction Weis/Hickman could take the story.  It was obvious that Tanis Half-Elven’s story was pretty much complete as far as being a central character goes.  It was also obvious who readers would want to see what happened next to – Raistlin.  And of course with Raistlin comes Caramon.

And they could never leave Tas behind, could they?

And of course Weis/Hickman also take with them their considerable experience after writing the first trilogy.

All of that mixed together makes for an exciting storyline that to me far supersedes The Chronicles.  With a slightly pared down cast and a more connected narrative, the first novel of the new trilogy works well despite falling prey to what I sometimes call “the beginning” syndrome.

Much like Tolkein and the first portion of Fellowship of the Ring, Time of the Twins does take it’s time getting going.  But, to me revisiting these characters is enough to not be too antsy.  Seeing the tremendous although logical fall that Caramon has taken without his brother to take care of is almost a little uncomfortable as it should be, reminding us that even the greatest of heroes can fall victim to their flaws.

So immediately we have a story of redemption set up.  Caramon is a fat drunken mess who embarrasses Tika, and falls dead drunk at Tanis and Riverwind’s feet.

On the other side we have Raistlin and his ambitions.  Finally free of his limitations, and truly the most powreful wizard on the planet, we get to see just how far his ambition goes.  Furthermore with as far down the dark path as he has gone…can HE be redeemed?

And of course Tas is Tas and that’s a good thing.  His humor is sorely needed on an adventure where the usual jovial Caramon is anything but.

The introduction of Crysania, a holy cleric of Paladine is a double edged sword to me.  I find myself wanting to smack her for her sheer arrogance, but in all essence, I believe you are supposed to.  I never really warmed up to her character despite her having good intentions.  In this novel she is slightly underdeveloped I believe and it is a slight detriment.

The introduction of Dalamar, a dark elf mage who serves as both Raistlin’s apprentice and the Conclave of Wizard’s spy on him.  Unlike Crysania, his underdevelopment works to the benefit of the character, as the small doses we get of him make us long for more.  Conflicted, and in a twisted way loyal to both sides, he is a wonderful creation.

The overall premise is simple – Raistlin has become bored with simply being the most powerful mage on the planet who could have the world in a heartbeat.  So what does an uberpowerful mage do?

Become a god.  Or at least try to.

It’s the machinations that complicate the premise quite a bit and actually leads to our story.   It is also where the story weakens a bit for me.  You have to put a lot of faith into the fact that Raistlin can indeed almost predict anything or at least manipulate everything into working for him.  Having built that up in Chronicles though, it is at least in the same ballpark.

The first “problem” and I use it in quotes because it’s something you will either accept or not, is the fact that the tale involves time travel.  Time travel is difficult and easy to force something off track.  A long time staple of science fiction and fantasy, you have to be able to commit to it without worrying about some possible inconsitencies.

If you do though, it’s great, as we get to visit the fabled city of Istar with it’s ruler, the Kingpriest, just before the Cataclysm, something that was a focus of the Chronicles but always as a backdrop. As part of his overall plot, he must go back and learn from the great and terrible Fistandantilus as some of his books have been lost through time and it is necessary to know what he knew.  Made more intriguing after having read The Soulforge and knowing what we do of Raistlin, it is a meeting that has many different levels.  Fistandantilus is the great mage who “died” but remained in the plane of existence awaiting the time when Raistlin’s body would be open to receiving his soul.  Raistlin accepted Fistandantilus and the two have been together since.

Now Raistlin destroys Fistandantilus and takes his place. What?  I have to admit that Weis/Hickman do a fantastic job trying to explain how their time travel and its effects happen, but it may go beyond some readers.

Now in his plot, Raistlin needs a holy cleric of Paladine to come with him, and therefore Crysania.   Watching Raistlin seduce someone in mind if not completely in body is interesting to watch as Raistlin almost treats it like just another mission, but he betrays himself a few times in being just a man as well.  It’s an interesting dichotomy and does make everyone keep guessing how completely evil Raistlin truly is.  Crysanai would say no, he wasn’t and that allows her to go with him

In slightly more of a stretch, Raistlin needed a bodyguard he could trust while he worked his magic.  Enter Caramon.  But Raistlin needs him worked back into shape.  After manipulating the Conclave into sending Caramon and Crysania back, Raistlin also makes it so Caramon is forced to get back into fighting shape.  However, Raistlin’s need for a bodyguard is questionable, and the needd to make it Caramon specifically is nebulous at best, but it does make for  a better story.

With cameos from Tika, Kitiara, Lord Soth, Tanis, and Riverwind we get a sense of where Krynn is presently, which will come into play later in the saga, but in reality the story picks up once the foursome get back in time and unsurprisingly it is Tasslehoff who is the glue that holds the story together.  He is Weis/Hickman’s best friend as almost any story element can be introduced via his character and he almost acts as a familiar of sorts to the reader…without the stealing…er borrowing tendencies hopefully.

The epic quality of the tale is perhaps even moreso in effect than in the Chronicles even if it is seemingly more in the background.

The themes are central Dragonlance themes – Balance of good, evil and neutrality.  We see firsthand how the Kingpriest’s arrogant attempt to rid the world of evil brings down the fiery mountain.  We also see more subtly how Raistlin’s plan would also mess with the balance, and see how Crysania, despite first hand viewing of the Kingpriest’s screw up, will follow along in his path gladly.

We also see the character growth of Caramon especially, and we get to see Raistlin at his most confusing.  A character to love and hate, he certainly is the most intriguing character in all of Krynn.

The tale ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, in the most central moment of Krynn’s history…the Cataclysm.  Overall it is a quick read that touches on all sorts of philosophical questions while not skimping on the action, intrigue, or characterizations.  The only real drawback is beginningitis and the fact that we want to get on with Raistlin’s mission.

A-

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