Upon finishingDragons of Winter Night , the second Bible inMargaret Weis and Tracy Hickman ’s dear firstDragonlanceseries , I realized I had a problem : I did n’t know what it was about . Or rather , I do n’t know what it is n’t about . So many character are added , so many new plots are begun , and giant detours are taken from the account I thought the trilogy was telling , that it ’s a mess . So why is dragon of Winter Night still skillful ?
If you have n’t say the first Dragonlance trilogy in a while , you might commemorate the 2d loudness as continuing the adventures of the Dragons of Autumn Twilight party of Tanis Half - Elven , the moody knight Sturm , the elven princess Laurana , the barbarian cleric Goldmoon , her guardian and husband Riverwind , the always - presumed - evil mage Raistlin and his buirdly twin brother Caramon , Flint the Dwarf , Tika the ex-wife - barmaid , and Tasslehoff Burrfoot . You would be technically correct ! But the book is also about Laurana ’s brother Gilthanas , the cleric Elistan , and an asshole knight named Derek who hate the Hades out of Sturm for some reason . Oh , and then there ’s a state of nature extremely low frequency named Sylvana and then Raistlin and Caramon ’s elderly sis Kitiara . And many of these new characters have more “ screentime ” than some of the first book ’s heroes .
It was befuddle at first and then confounding for a while longer as new storylines hold on piling up around them . But eventually , I realized it was amplifying the quality that I ’d found so compelling in Autumn Twilight . Weis and Hickman make Krynn experience like a dwell world . While Tanis and Raistlin are battlingnightmare dragonsin the twisted land of Silvanesti , Laurana and her gang happen a fabled Dragon Orb , the two races of elves are trying to decide if the payoff of the dragons is somehow humanity ’s fault and should be abandoned to their destiny , while the Knights of Solamnia are reduced to political bickering , render impotent to press the greatest threat to Krynn since … well , the last time the goddess Queen Takhisis and her minions arrived . It ’s sure enough mussy , but the mise en scene and the story are both far richer for it .
Inset of the original Dragons of Winter Night cover by Larry Elmore. L-R: Tasslehoff, Laurana, and a certain Dragon Highlord.Image: Wizards of the Coast
All these people and events affect the type ’ journeying in way both interesting and surprising . to boot , the author break up the company very early , downsizing the groups to countenance for more character interactions and enriching their relationship comfortably than the first novel did . Weis and Hickman ’s power to keep juggling their multitudinous plot line remind me ofGeorge R.R. Martin ’s A Song of Ice and Fire serial . It ’s not done as skillfully as Martin , but we can edit Weis and Hickman some slump given Winter Night was their second novel ever , published in 1985 .
The character best attend to by Winter Night is unambiguously Laurana , who arrived in the first Bible as a completely naïve , lovestruck elf princess chasing after Tanis . Over the course of the second volume , she becomes the leader of her half of the company , kick ass , taking name , giving genuinely bestir engagement speech , and not fainting dead forth when Tanis ’ ex - lady friend Kitiara register up as a Dragon Highlord and taunts her that Tanis has joined the bad guy cable . It ’s all very satisfying . It ’s also satisfying for Sturm to have affair to do in gain to brooding , such as when he ’s unwillingly bewitch in the political machinations of the Knights and forced to watch Derek lead most of them away in a failed suicide electric charge against the U. S. Army of Takhisis . Then he has to direct his few remaining soldier to hold a tower against three spicy dragons and a High Lord . Those who think back the novel probably also recall how shocking this battle is and how it terminate , and damned if that did n’t hold up , despite the fact that almost none of it was set up in the first book .
But that ’s true of a lot of thing ! The Dragon Orbs , which are literally introduced in this novel as powerful charming artifact no one ’s bothered to tell us about previously , are the focusing of most of the story . Yet after a wild , shared nightmare of horrors — dreamed by the integral “ main ” political party — that involve almost all of their horrific death , Raistlin defeats a green dragon in some totally unintelligible fit where he bargains with a matter to gain … something , which nets him an Orb . Then Laurana literally gets another one , as well as shoot down a Dragon Highlord , in - between chapter ! Then Tasslehoff breaks one during a globe council to make a point and unite the elves , humans , dwarves , and gnomes against the forces of Takhisis . The Orbs are bare MacGuffins to on the face of it be confound away after Winter Night , but they still all serve such a clear purpose in the story I ca n’t discover myself unsatisfied .
Matt Stawicki’s cover for the 2000 reprint of Dragons of Winter Night, featuring Sturm, Laurana, and Tasslehoff.Image: Wizards of the Coast
The Dragonlances , which also make their first appearing in this volume , are a dissimilar fib . Somehow , they are bring on the Hero of Alexandria even more randomly and haphazardly than inThe Legend of Huma , where they already felt like an afterthought . But at least in the prequel about the fabled sub , he and his army used them for aery tartar jousting , the assay-mark of Dragonlance — here they ’re just used to poke at trapped dragons once they ’re muster up by one of the orbs . Only the bad guy have dragon to hinge upon on . ( At the moment , at least . )
There are so many plot threads that not all of them draw off neatly , and even if they are bear on in the continuation Dragons of Spring Dawning , it ’s hard to reckon they ’ll all be well - woven . And the Dragonlances require to become even marginally cool if the trilogy ’s going to bring as a whole . But damned if Winter Night does n’t still exceed so many of its flaws , I ca n’t help but outrank it only more or less below Dragons of Autumn Twilight . It ’s messier but far more challenging , and even if character growth suffers ( minus Laurana ) the character evolution feel richer , even if it ’s just because they are n’t sit around hat each other all time . That means Dragons of Winter Night roll a 17 on its 1d20 — but since it does n’t have the -2 penalty for focusing so much on gully dwarves , this means it ’s a full point higher than its harbinger . I frankly ca n’t imagine how or even if Dragons of Spring Dawning manages to connect this all together but I ’m eager to ascertain out . When D&D&N returns , we ’ll conclude the trilogy !
Assorted Musings:
I finished this book last Nox and I can not remember anything Goldmoon , Riverwind , or Tika did . The only affair I remember Caramon doing is taking care of Raistlin and refusing to have sexual practice with Tika .
Lest you think the self - hatred was all gone , here ’s a bit of Tanis ’ upcountry monologue : “ The sight of their trust in him infuriated the one-half - elf . ” For the record , Laurana has self - doubts , but no ego - abomination , and it ’s much more lovely .
Just as when I was a child , I truly do not know what happened when Raistlin made his pact during the dark-green dragon ’s dream attack , nor do I understand what occur when he fetch his script on the Dragon Orb . I have to simulate this will be paid off in Spring Dawning .
Larry Elmore art of Tas and Kitiara from the Masters of Dragonlance art book.Image: Wizards of the Coast
Laurana ’s dad virtually calls her a “ human bawd ” for chasing after Tanis in Autumn Twilight and that ’s the degree she says fuck ‘ em and takes full charge of the mission to write the world .
TheDragon Ballmanga ( and later on its hit anime ) was created in 1984 , the same twelvemonth as Dragons of Autumn Twilight , but a class before Winter Night . give the total lack of Dragon Ball presence in the U.S. at the time , I finger safe saying the Dragon Orbs are the result of concurrent thinking .
I wo n’t go into details , butThe Legend of Humafeels much , much , much less original if you read this trilogy before the prequel .
Fizban , the all bonkers but highly powerful champion who died in Autumn Twilight , is back and express his hopes that he had a “ 21 - gun salute ” at his funeral . Everyone around him : “ Uh , what are guns ? ”
utter of confusion , I ’d utterly forget the valet with the green precious stone in his pectus existed because he shows up so late in Autumn Twilight and does almost nothing . Then he pop up up for like half a varlet in Winter Night and later Kitiara says he ’s the cay to allowing Takhisis to take over the world . I have no idea what they ’re talking about or why he ’s important or why we still know absolutely nothing about him after 66 % of the story had been told . We ’ll see , I guess … ?
Wondering where our RSS provender go ? You canpick the newfangled up one here .
Dungeons & DragonsFantasyGeorge R.R. Martin
Daily Newsletter
Get the best technical school , science , and culture news in your inbox daily .
News from the hereafter , rescue to your present .
Please select your hope newssheet and submit your electronic mail to upgrade your inbox .
You May Also Like
