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.

DragonLance Tales Volume 2: Kender, Gully Dwarves and Gnomes

DragonLance Tales Volume 2: Kender, Gully Dwarves and Gnomes, is a collection of short stories and a Novella by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. I want to just give a brief overview of each.

Some of these short stories are absolutely hilarious. There are one or two that greatly expand the Universe of Krynn, one that could easily become its own Trilogy, and one or two that I didn’t really care for completely.

I will give a brief overview of each story/novella, and I will keep my opinion to myself on which ones I didn’t care for that much (hopefully).

Snowsong by Nancy Varian Berberick

A younger, pre War of the Lance Tanis, Sturm, Flint and Tasslehoff are trapped on a snowy mountain. What could possibly go wrong when you have a bored Kender who might at any moment wonder off into a snowstorm and freeze to death! Ok, there is a lot more to this story than that, but it is filled with both comedy and adventure.

The Wizard’s Spectacles by Morris Simon

Glasses of true seeing, allowing anyone to read a magic scroll fall into the hands of someone who probably shouldn’t have them. It isn’t necessarily evil that he does, but he is a bit self serving and not every spell goes exactly the way he wants them to go!

The Storyteller by Barbara Siegel and Scott Siegel

A local storyteller tells a tale that a Dragon Highlord isn’t all that happy about. How do the local people who love the story teller keep him from being put to death! Especially when you have Gnomes and Kender involved.

A Shaggy Dog’s Tail

This one did not end how I thought it would. I was surprised just the twist this story of jealousy, revenge, and magic twists and turns.

Lord Toede’s Disastrous Hunt by Harold Bakst

Lord Toede goes on a hunt, and decides it will be fun to hunt a pair of Kender. You have to be careful, they are pretty sneaky, and fearless. It might or might not be all that simple despite how harmless Kender appear!

Definitions of Honor by Richard A Knaak

A young Knight of Solamnia is hired to help a town with a Minotaur problem. It turns out the problem is much different than he expected and he must question just how one defines honor, and what is and isn’t an honorable solution to the problem.

Hearth Cat and Winter Wren by Nancy  Varian Berberick

The pre-war on the Lance companions come upon a wizard who likes turning people into animals and keeping them in that state. We all know Kender have a short attention span, but what happens when you turn one into a Kender. Can you keep track of it long enough to turn it back?

Wanna Bet? by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

Caramon Majere’s three sons go on adventure of their own and end up in a drinking contest with a dwarf. They don’t necessarily win that contest and end up on an adventure of their own. But let’s face it, who ever really wins a drinking contest?

Into the Heart of the Story

Written as a Gnome records the story of the contributions of the Gnomes to the War of the Lance. They have to have their chance to correct the official record as only a Gnome can.

Dagger Flight by Nick O’Donohoe

This is the story of a dagger, from the perspective of the dagger. The dagger goes through some parts of the story you know if you read the Chronicles Trilogy.

DragonLance – Dragons of Autumn Twilight Chapters 8 & 9

Chapter 8 

Search for truth

Unexpected answers

Goldmoon was last seen rushing to the back of the cart pulled by the Clerics to try to help the injured member of their group. In the process she tells the clerics that she did not steal the staff as she was being accused of but that it was gifted to her.

This really sets up a major conflict in the story. People have been looking for the staff, and now two official groups that are under orders to find it and report back have spotted it. People, ok goblins, have been killed over it.

Could this next fight be the one that kicks off the War? Is the staff just a symbol and devoid of any real power?

We quickly find out that the clerics don’t have an injured member they intend to take the staff by force, but they also are not human!

They are humanoid in form, but are some kind of lizard/human hybrid!

Could this be the work of the gods? Is it the doing of the Queen of Darkness? How is it that they are resistant to some forms of magic as Raistlin found out trying to fight them.

We see that Goldmoon wanted to do the right thing and heal someone, and that resulted in a fight the companions might have been able to talk their way out of had she not been ready to jump to the aid of a stranger! So much about her character is revealed in that moment. She is truly a good person or as an alignment probably lawful good (I should go look at that up but by her actions, we can probably say that).

Chapter 9

Flight! The white stag.

The party kills a few of the lizard men, Sturm suffers a head injury but they have to flee the area and get out of sight.

Sturm had a vicious head-wound during the fight with the lizard men, and is partially healed by the staff, but it apparently has some limits. Or Goldmoon has her limits while using it, we aren’t sure.

They flee the area. And we learn more of the legend of Huma who was a great Knight of Solamnia long ago before the Cataclysm.

As they are fleeing the area the delusional head injured Knight believes he sees a giant white stag. This was something that was supposed to happen to Huma to lead him out of danger. Strum is the only one in the group that can see it, yet the group follows him anyway.

There is some discussion about should the follow him or not, including some grumbling from Flint about first goblins, then boats, lizard men, now invisible stags, what could possibly go wrong.

But imagine living in a world with these kinds of wonders. It would be interesting, dangerous but interesting. I love the escape these books offer as a result of these sorts of things.

The stag did lead them away from the lizard men, but it has led them to Darken Wood, where the living are said to walk the surface of Krynn. It has said that of all the living beings that have entered Darken Wood, none have come out, at least alive!