DragonLance Heroes – Kaz the Minotaur is it worth the read?

This is the 19th book I have read in the DragonLance universe this time through the series. I am reading these again (for some titles) and for the first time with others. It is a fun thing to do as I am progressing through with my teenage boys. My 11 year old daughter has no interest and if I push she’ll reject reading all together.

Imagine: the classic hero’s tale, but told from the perspective of the grumpy, misunderstood sidekick. No, not the plucky halfling, but the towering, labyrinth-loving Minotaur! That’s Kaz, the star (well, maybe supporting star) of Richard A. Knaak’s “Kaz the Minotaur.” Get ready for a hilarious adventure filled with snorts, snorts, and… snorts (Minotaurs snort instead of chuckle, just so you know).

Kaz roams the land, not slaying dragons, but grumbling about his vegetarian diet and trying to avoid angry townsfolk with torches. He’s haunted by the tragic death of his human best friend, Huma (yes, the legendary Huma!), leaving him with a hefty load of angst and a tendency to brood in dark corners. But fear not, for humor shines through like a ray of sunshine through a bull’s-eye window.

Picture this: Kaz, with his massive horns and intimidating stature, trying to blend in at a bustling marketplace. He trips over a basket of turnips, sending them flying like shrapnel, only to be berated by a granny with more spunk than a goblin horde. Or his encounters with Delbin, a kender (think mischievous hobbit on overdrive) who collects everything that isn’t nailed down and drives Kaz up the wall (or, more accurately, the labyrinth wall) with his constant chatter.

The plot itself is a wild ride: mistaken identities, ancient prophecies, and a bumbling attempt to clear Kaz’s name for crimes he didn’t commit (except maybe accidentally eating someone’s prize pumpkin). Throw in some sassy sorceresses, grumpy dwarves, and a talking skull named Schädel (German for “skull,” because of course!), and you have a recipe for laugh-out-loud moments that will have you snorting like a… well, like a Minotaur.

Remember, this is a fantasy novel, so expect some epic battles and daring escapes. But don’t be surprised if Kaz wins the day not with brute strength, but with a witty quip or a well-placed snort that sends his enemies scrambling in confusion. So, if you’re looking for a fantasy adventure with a healthy dose of humor and a lovable, grumpy protagonist, “Kaz the Minotaur” is your Mino-ticket to fun! Just don’t blame me if you start snorting in public. You’ve been warned.

You can find the book over on Amazon in print, kindle and audible at the link below:

Kaz the Minotaur

DragonLance Preludes II Volume 3 – Tanis the Shadow Years

This is the 18th of the DragonLance books in the order I have been reading them. Honestly, this one was probably the least favorite so far. It could have or maybe should have been a short story.

The book wraps around and meanders for 160 pages easily in bizarre directions that just don’t feel all that well thought out.

The plot is simple, the book takes place during the 5 years between the Companions making the pledge and returning to the Inn of the Last Home to kick off the Dragonlance Chronicles trilogy.

In this book Tanis meets another dwarf, who claims he can introduce him to someone who knew his human father. It turns out a mage who was 1/4 elf, and 3/4 human had met him, and could give Tanis a chance to do the same if he allows Tanis to magically insert him into his memories. The deal is Tanis has to bring forward the memory love of his (the mage’s) life.

The book started out pretty good but then it was like they ran out of story and through in 150 or more pages of just filler “killer hobo” stuff if I can steal that phrase from the playing style some use while playing Dungeons and Dragons.

I finished the book, but I had to push myself to do so in places, and I will finish just about anything.

I would do a video about this one, but I think I have said it all. Out of the books I have read in the DragonLance series (now with more than 200 books) I have liked this one the least, but it won’t cause me to give up on the series.

Yes, I will read and review more DragonLance books, as I do enjoy many of them, but not this one.

DragonLance Preludes II Volume 2 – Flint The King

In Flint the King by Mary Kirchoff and Douglas Niles we follow the story of Flint as he visits his home before the Chronicles trilogy kicks off.

It was really interesting to me because we get a fairly deep dive into the dwarven culture and learn more about their love of crafting and creating things. It is really deeply rooted in who they are.

We open with Flint just enjoying alone (before he travels to his homeland) and realize that he really is aging and not as adventurous as he might have been when he was younger. He is really more the reluctant hero in many ways.

As he travels he finds that this new Seeker group who claim to be religious and offering people chances at and afterlife, claiming to believe in the “new Gods” are really just kind of bullies that take taxes or donations from people that aren’t really all that voluntary. In Flint’s mind that makes them not to be trusted. These religious zealots have none of the healing powers of the clerics of old, and business owners view them as an absolute annoyance.

As he considers traveling to his homeland we find that Flint hasn’t really been around other Dwarves for years, and as he runs into one he finds that things in the homeland aren’t what they were, that annoys him into going and checking it out.

As Flint travels we see that he really doesn’t mind traveling, what bothers him is other people. We get the impression he is really just a recluse who would rather be left along than thrust into some leadership role.

We do in this book learn why he was invited into the Elven homeland and how he met Tania, which was an interesting side bit of his character backstory. It also serves to show just how respected Flint Fireforge is around Krynn.

Once we reach his homeland we find things are much different, his brother has been murdered and the entire village is not as he left it at all. Now change happens but apparently Dwarves are too stubborn to change quickly. That leads to some great action as Flint has to figure out what the heck is really going on.

There is more discussion in the video on my YouTube channel, but all in all this book I really enjoyed. I kept looking for time to read (I may have snuck the book into a football game which annoyed my fiancé just a little). Highly recommended for any DragonLance fan!

DragonLance – Preludes II Volume One – Riverwind the Plainsman

This book is one of the better ones I have come across so far in this series. During the original trilogy Riverwind wasn’t really a super main character I mean he was there but he played kind of a supporting role. But we were left with a lot of questions.

If you are curious this is the picture of all the books we (my two sons and I) have read so far:

This book clears those up.

We kind of knew that ceremony and tradition were important to the Plainsmen? But how important?

What were the politics that really led to his quest that he was so driven to achieve?

How good of a hunter/survivor is he really.

All of that gets answered.

We also learn more about the Draconians, a race of elves we didn’t (at least I) didn’t know about. Something called the Nightrunners. Kind of these wolves led by a half man/half wolf creature by the name of Kyanor.

There is a strange guy I still have questions about called Catchflea. Still not really sure about his obsession (humorous though it is) with these three acorns.

We also aren’t really sure what of Riverwind’s memories from his quest were part of reality and what were part of an illusion that was cast upon him.

I know it sounds like the book left us with a lot of questions, and it did, but it also cleared up a lot of things.

If I had to rate it on the “should you” read it list. If you like DragonLance and fantasy reading 7 out of 10 must read. If you are deep in DragonLance 10 for 10. Well worth the time and was an actual page turner for me. (Some of the ones in the series really weren’t but this one delivers).

 

DragonLance Preludes Volume 3 – Brothers Majere

This book chronicles some of the time Caramon and Raistlin spent traveling as mercenaries after Raistlin took the tests at the Tower of High Sorcery and before the War of the Lance.

This is now the 15th book I have read in a row, and honestly I was a little let down. I wanted it to dive deeper into the brothers and what drives them. Maybe my expectations were too high, and I will admit to that.

It is set a few months after those famed tests that turned the skin of Raistlin’s skin and changed his eyes to see things only as they die. He is still getting used to his body being shattered and is haunted by dreams of a certain dark elf from those tests.

The brothers are traveling with a Kender which is always good for comic relief (not Tasslehoff).

The trio come upon a town that is having a problem. There are signs up asking for someone to come in and fix it. They quickly discover all the towns cats are missing, Caramon finds it funny and doesn’t care, Raistlin wants to dig into it.

Apparently there is a prophecy involve a gate and the weird missing cats.

The cats are missing because of a gate, a gate that leads to something that could let someone through into this world.

I don’t want to throw any spoilers out because I found this book more predictable than any DragonLance books before.

The Kender of course being a Kender gets into trouble, but also kind of solves the whole problem because of his natural curiosity. The entire book spends a lot of time foreshadowing things we know, which as a reader I guess is ok if you haven’t read the other DragonLance books, but if you have about 1/3 of the book was repetitious.

The one thing I did find interesting, it did start to hint at Raistlin’s thirst for power. Part of me was hoping we would learn more about what drove that, but perhaps in other books later in the series.

This book won’t stop me from reading other DragonLance books on my quest to get through all of them, and yeah I enjoyed it, but I really wanted more from it.

DragonLance Preludes Volume 2: Kendermore

I will say a few things about this book.

First, if you are going to pick apart a book for “not being cannon” or “OMG they rode it off the rails” this isn’t for you. It is a book based on Kender for goodness sake.

That out of the way, it is the most fun DragonLance book I have ever read. If you just enjoy the ride, you will love this thing.

First, as the book opens, Tasslehoff is being escorted back to his home because he violated the Kender code, I didn’t know the Kender really had a legal system so to speak, but they do.

Interestingly, it was because he ran out on a marriage vow, but he can’t really remember her name because they haven’t met?

Weird right?

Now, imagine a few things that you will come across in this book.

Imagine being the mayor of Kendermore and trying to get your citizens to pay attention during a meeting.

Try being a human seeking medical help in a Kender village.

Also, always remember, when following a Kender map, don’t believe everything you see.

Another word of advice, when taking a sailing ship, never ever leave Tasslehoff Burrfoot in charge of that process when he is assisted by Gully Dwarves. Imagine that same group trying to get a cart unstuck from the mud. Hilarity results.

Also, in this book, you will find a doctor that treats people with some “magic potion” that is closer to pure alcohol than anything magical.

I can’t say enough good things about the fun of this book. If you have not read it, and it wasn’t one of the more popular books in the DragonLance series you need to. It wasn’t high adventure, it isn’t “the legend of” it is just fun. Enjoy the hell out of it!!

DragonLance Preludes Volume 1: Darkness & Light

If you have been following along I am on a quest to read (hopefully) all of the books in the DragonLance series. Given how many there are, we shall see if I make it.

So far I have read the following books:

Dragons of Autumn Twilight Nov-84 Chronicles
Dragons of Winter Night Apr-85 Chronicles
Dragons of Spring Dawning Nov-85 Chronicles
Time of the Twins Feb-86 Legends
War of the Twins May-86 Legends
Test of the Twins Aug-86 Legends
The Magic of Krynn Mar-87 Tales I
Kender, Gully Dwarves and Gnomes Aug-87 Tales I
Love and War Nov-87 Tales I
The Legend of Huma Mar-88 Heroes
Stormblade Aug-88 Heroes
Weasel’s Luck Dec-88 Heroes
Darkness and Light Apr-89 Preludes

Darkness & Light is the first in the Preludes trilogy. It takes place five years before the War of the Lance in the Chronicles trilogy and gives us much of the backstory we all wanted after reading those books.

This book focuses mostly on Sturm and Kitiara and their travels somewhat assisted by some Gnomes.

The Gnomes always mean well, and are super good at comic relief but they may not always get you where you want to go by the most direct route possible.

We open up with Sturm and Kitiara practicing their swordsmanship with one another. Kit is obviously the better fighter at this point. As they head out on their travels, after promising to return in 5 years (for the now famous meeting in Chronicles) things don’t go really well from the start.

They are traveling along when Sturm learns a valuable lesson. Never ever fall asleep on guard duty. Had it not been for Kit, the Sturm we all knew in Chronicles would have never made it there.

After a little fight, they get caught in a storm that interrupts their travels. They eventually meet some Gnomes that have a strange method of traveling. They have a ship, powered by lightening that happens to fly.

The only challenge is they end up losing control of the ship (go figure) and end up on Lunitari, the red moon!

I won’t go into what they find there but it does foreshadow the war to come in other books.

No shocker, they do eventually find their way back to Krynn, and at the end, we are treated to how it was that Sturm finally received his father’s armor and sword.

I really enjoyed this book, but anything with the Gnomes is always a joy for me.

DragonLance Heroes Vol 3: Weasel’s Luck

The third installment in the Heroes series of DragonLance books is called Weasel’s Luck. It is set in a time around 100 years before the Chronicles Trilogy and tells the story of Sir Bayard Brightblade.

I found this book interesting because it really dives a bit deeper into the Knights of Solamnia than we have gotten in any of the other books. It also tells a story in a time before Draconians and Raistlin, and the companions.

Like the other books in the Heroes series we got to see how things were before the war of the lance. How did we get there? Before Draconians, before Raistlin, before the giant war.

I love that it filled in some of the details we didn’t have on the Knights. It really was a great story, great fantasy novel and helped me understand more of the lore of the Knights of Solamnia and the Brightblades.

Solid read, not the best of the DragonLance books, but it did keep me and my two teenage sons turning pages.

 

DragonLance Heroes Volume Two: Stormblade

I have been working my way through many of the DragonLance books. The most recent is DragonLance Heroes Volume 2: Stormblade.

I enjoyed the book far more than I thought I would. It is an interesting story that gives some lore about Krynn that I didn’t know, and tells about the forging of a very special sword called Stormblade.

Stormblade is a King’s Sword. It is one of those artifacts that will be the stuff of legend, but this is its origin story.

The sword is forged, then disappears, falling into the hands of a barmaid and then there is a quest to get it back where it belongs. It is a fairly melancholy storyline but I really enjoyed reading it.

There is an irrepressible Kender that makes things funny on occasion and learning more about the Dwarves and their Kingdom makes this not only an entertaining book, but one that really helps you get much of the story of this fantasy world I didn’t know before.

Can the Stormblade be recovered from a land at war? It is a difficult task! One not for the weak of heart!

DragonLance Heroes Volume One: The Legend of Human

While reading the first 9 DragonLance books in the world of Krynn we heard little bits and pieces about Huma. Mostly legend, no one was sure if the stories were true. Now, you can see for yourself.

Huma is human, he goes through the emotional swings everyone does. He is scared, tired, feels defeated, he isn’t sure if he is doing the right thing all the time. He isn’t sure if he can live up to the expectations of a Knight of Solamnia.

There are times he just wants to figure out how to live through the day!

In this book we also meet Magius, and Kaz a Minotaur that Huma befriends and they save one another more than once despite a long standing feud between the Knights and the minotaurs.

I really enjoyed this novel. I think Richard A. Knaak did an amazing job in filling in the blanks I had in the back story of Huma in the time before the Cataclysm.

DragonLance, The Legend of Huma is one to read! You won’t be disappointed.