Today Midnight talks to Sprinkles about Dragonlance Chronicles, a classic fantasy trilogy from 1984-1985, written by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman.
Sprinkles: So Midnight and I are here, talking about a giant classic of the fantasy genre.
Midnight: Actually, this giant book I am posing with is not as large as it looks. I am just very small. And it is a recent anniversary edition that brings together the three books of the Dragonlance Chronicles trilogy.
Sprinkles: Okay, tell us about the three books then.
Midnight: These books actually began as novelizations of pre-designed Dungeons and Dragons adventures (called modules). I believe that the series of modules and the whole promotional campaign was designed to recenter the Dungeons and Dragons experience around dragons.
Sprinkles: Ooh, we all love dragons in this family!
Midnight: Indeed, are not rabbits really dragons, just smaller and furrier?
Sprinkles: I am sure Caramel would love that!
Midnight: However the Dragonlance novels became very very popular, in large part due to the memorable characters and the dramatic story line. It does not have the literary aspirations of Tolkien, and as such, is a much easier read.
Sprinkles: I must agree. I read these books and loved them! With Tolkien I have not been as successful. Yet. I am going to read The Silmarillion, after your review last week.
Midnight: I will ensure that you do. It would be most unwise to disappoint the black rabbit.
Sprinkles: Okay, I think I am supposed to feel intimidated here. Let us say I am appropriately intimidated. And move on to the review.
Midnight: Sure. The Dragonlance Chronicles is what might be described as a straightforward good-versus-evil, save-the-world story line. To a large extent this is true. This is no Game of Thrones, filled with morally gray characters.
Sprinkles: I do not think I’d say Game of Thrones characters are morally gray, I’d say most of them are straight-out bad people. But anyway I think I get what you mean. In this series, there are bad people and there are good people trying to fight them.
Midnight. Yeah. The main plot revolves around a party of adventurers who are trying to prevent the ultimate triumph of the big bad goddess of evil dragons who wants to rule the world.
Sprinkles: So tell me about your favorite character in the series.
Midnight: Perhaps my favorite character is the only one of the main heroes who is morally gray. I am talking about the wizard Raistlin, a sickly and frail young man of great talent and aspirations. His twin brother Caramon is a powerful and good-natured warrior and they make an interesting pair.
Sprinkles: The Wikipedia article about him says that he is both a protagonist and an antagonist. I had not heard that said before about any other fictional character.
Midnight: As I said, he is morally gray. In fact Raistlin and Caramon proved so compelling that the authors wrote a second trilogy, Dragonlance Legends, centered around them and their complicated relationship.
Sprinkles: Oh, maybe you will review those books, too, some time.
Midnight: Most definitely.
Sprinkles: So tell me a bit more about this goddess of evil dragons.
Midnight: Her evil dragons have reawakened and are causing trouble in the world once more. The good dragons are nowhere to be seen, leaving the people of Krynn, the world of the books, at the mercy of the evil dragons and the Draconians, a race of dragon-like humanoids, who appeared with the rise of the evil dragons.
Sprinkles: No bunnies anywhere?
Midnight: In fact fans of the series will recognize the significance of the bunnies, or rather, of a particular “bunny”, to the relationship between the twins. But that will have to wait for the second trilogy. For this trilogy, bunnies might be lurking in the background. But they are never not there, of course. We often lurk in the darkness, with humans oblivious to our plans.
Sprinkles: Okay, Midnight. Thank you for that ominous reminder. But you know a lot of young humans read this blog, so we do not want to scare them.
Midnight: If they knew how big I was, they’d probably not be scared. But okay.
Sprinkles: What else would you like to tell us about Dragonlance Chronicles?
Midnight: I’ve read and reread this series many times since I was a young bunny. It is a good read, high adventure in a world of high fantasy. The characters are very colorful and concrete; you get to know them really well, at least as well as the authors want you to get to know them, of course.
Sprinkles: So all in all, we both agree that these are great books to read. I read them really fast even though they are quite long as a whole. The adventure is fascinating and captivating.
Midnight: Yes.
Sprinkles: Okay, midnight. Than you for coming out of your hiding place for this review. I think this will be a good place to wrap things up. Anything else you would like our readers to know?
Midnight: There is also an anniversary edition of Dragonlance Legends, and I look forward to reviewing that at some point in the future.
Sprinkles: That will be great, Midnight, thank you. I will look forward to it!
Midnight: Till then, I bid you all adieu.
BookBunnies 