Dragonlance: War of Souls Volume 1: Dragons of a Fallen Sun

By Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

After the debacle of the Fifth Age, and Jean Rabe’s Dragons of a New Age trilogy, it wouldn’t have surprised me to see the Dragonlance saga die a quick death.  So, in order for salvation we turned our eyes to the only ones who could save it, the originators, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman.

In all honesty, the first volume of their first trilogy since the remarkable Legends did not nearly reach the same heights.  It is more on par with the Chronicles in some ways and yet deficient in others.  

While there is no doubt that their writers’ voice has gotten much better at weaving a complete fabric of a tale, there is something missing that was a big part of the Chronicles and Legends.  Perhaps it is the newness and excitement that came with the discovery of a new world. 

I truly believe that overall this entry into the saga is as magical and certainly is a million times better than the Rabe efforts, but I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that people were not a fan.  Much like one of the criticisms of Star Wars Episode I was that it was more politics than action and that demeaned the epic quality. 

The same could be said about Dragons of a Fallen Sun.  This is not an action piece.  This is a very long prologue which shows exactly how the politics of the new post-Second Cataclysm Krynn is set up. 

A lot of that though, I forgive for the simple fact that they had a lot of mess to clean up.

One such way is the absence of almost every character introduced by Rabe.  There is barely any mention.  I can remember one mention of Jasper Fireforge.  The only character with any connection to the plot is the giant dragons Malys and Beryl and that connection is a vague, ethereal one at that.

Using characters we know and love such as Palin, Caramon (albeit briefly) was a good way to segue into new Weis/Hickman creations such as Gerard, the ugly hero and Mina the enigmatic new villain…or is she? 

BY creating Krynn’s Joan of Arc, Weis and Hickman have shown a wonderful sense of mystery and suspsense so that the reader is almost as spellbound to her as everyone else appears to be. 

Of course no review would be complete without mention of the return of Tasselhoff Burfoot.  Thought to be killed by Chaos during Dragons of a Summer Flame, you knew he had to be in there somewhere…the only question was how to make it work.  The authors do succeed…barely.  It still feels a bit like a cheap return, but it is so ingrained in the plot and is such a loved character, that you can overlook the fact that he’s back from the dead. 

You overlook less though the slight forcedness of the character.  It didn’t seem to come as easy for them to return to Tas as it did Krynn itself. 

OVerall it is a set up novel for the rest of the saga, but it is a damn good one and it is simply satisfying seeing a Dragonlance novel I can enjoy again.

B-