fantasy – BookBunnies

Midnight reviews Dragonlance Legends by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

Last week Midnight talked to Sprinkles about Dragonlance Chronicles by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. Today he is excited to be talking about the sequel trilogy, Dragonlance Legends. The trilogy, consisting of three books (Time of the Twins, War of the Twins, and Test of the Twins) was originally published in 1986. The edition Midnight is posing with in the photos below is the fortieth anniversary edition, published in 2026.

Sprinkles: So here we are, Midnight, talking about the next trilogy in the Dragonlance universe.

Midnight: Yes. Marshmallow has had some very busy weeks and so I am filling in for the time being.

Sprinkles: And we are grateful for that. And this is another book you really like, right?

Midnight: Yes. I have many fond memories of this trilogy. I think I like it even better than the first one.

Sprinkles: Really? That is interesting. Can you explain why?

Midnight: It explores the relationship between the brothers Majere, the enigmatic wizard Raistlin and his good-natured and protective twin brother Caramon. Tagging along with them is Tasslehoff Burrfoot, a halfling of sorts who has a habit of borrowing things from others without asking.

Sprinkles: Some might call that stealing.

Midnight: Some might. Tasslehoff is a fun character, and he was often a source of comic relief in the first series. But here he often keeps the story moving, and inserts some occasional light-hearted moments in between periods of dark drama.

Sprinkles: What dark drama? Can you say something about that? You told us about evil dragons in your earlier review. Are they still causing trouble in this book?

Midnight: The dark queen has been prevented from conquering the world in the first trilogy. So this trilogy does not focus so much on the large-scale good-versus-evil, saving the world kind of plot. Instead, it focuses more on whether Raistlin can be rescued from the darkness himself.

Sprinkles: You almost make it sound like a psychological drama. Where one of the main characters is losing his soul and maybe his brother is trying to help him fight to keep it.

Midnight: I guess it is kind of like that, but with a lot more action and high fantasy. It is a lot more interesting than just a psychological drama”. Raistlin was always physically weak but smart and powerful with magic. Despite his frailty he had incredible ambition and confidence in his abilities. Let’s just say that throughout the first series, it’s not clear whether he will embrace the darker side of his ambitions.

Midnight is reading The Dragonlance Legends by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. — Midnight is reading *The Dragonlance Legends* by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman.

Sprinkles: That sounds intriguing. And also in the meantime, they are traveling all over the world, right?

Midnight: Well, it starts out in a familiar place, where we find that Caramon has not taken well to settling down after the war from the first series. He is in a bad place emotionally, after the conflicts with his brother in the first series. His old friend Tasslehoff visits him and finds him in a sorry state, a pitiful shell of his former self. They go on a quest that will not only restore Caramon to his former self but hopefully will also redeem his wayward brother.

Sprinkles: So that quest is what the traveling is all about?

Midnight: It is not so much traveling geographically but they travel through time. They go back three hundred years, to the time before the Cataclysm, a world-altering event that set the stage for everything to come.

Sprinkles: Wait, so there is time travel here. And this is not science fiction.

Midnight: Not science fiction. Definitely fantasy. What is fascinating is that they return to legendary times, spoken of only in terms of myths and legends in the first series. I should also mention that one of the new characters that travels with them is Crysania, a good priestess who is determined to save Raistlin’s soul.

Sprinkles: I am guessing there is a love triangle or something?

Midnight: Of sorts, but it is not mushy like that. I think it is clear from the start that Crysania is determined to prevent Raistlin from becoming the ultimate force of evil that he could become. But she is blinded by her naivete and optimism.

Sprinkles: Hmm, that is a pretty detailed plot setup Midnight. I hope it has intrigued some of our readers.

Midnight: Yes, if you make it to the end, you’ll know all about how important bunnies are to the plot.

Sprinkles: Oh now, they have to read the book! And they really should. I really enjoyed reading them myself. One after another. It was hard to stop in between the books; it was so engaging.

Midnight: Yep. It is a very addicting mix of high fantasy and drama, written in plain and accessible language.

Sprinkles: No Tolkien, we are saying.

Midnight: No. it is not Tolkien, but like all works of the high fantasy genre, it owes much to the professor.

Sprinkles: And of course you love Tolkien too. I know. Anyways, I think this might be a good place to wrap up this review. What do you think?

Midnight: I agree. I must go feed.

Sprinkles: Are we doing the creepy vampire thing again?

Midnight: Infer what you will, my dear Sprinkles.

Sprinkles: Okay. I will do that. Is there something you would like to tell our readers as we end this?

Midnight: A bunny such as myself does not do simple catch-phrases and sound bytes. But I will say this: Farewell, dear reader. Until such a time as the Black Bunny deems it fit to grace the world with his august presence.

Midnight loves reading and rereading The Dragonlance Legends by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, and bids readers farewell, until such a time as he deems it fit to grace the world with his august presence. — Midnight loves reading and rereading *The Dragonlance Legends* by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, and bids readers farewell, until such a time as he deems it fit to grace the world with his august presence.

Midnight reviews Dragonlance Chronicles by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

Today Midnight talks to Sprinkles about Dragonlance Chronicles, a classic fantasy trilogy from 1984-1985, written by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. The copy he is posing with in the photos below is the fortieth anniversary edition, collecting all three books in one beautiful volume, published in 2025.

Midnight reviews The Dragonlance Chronicles by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. — Midnight reviews *The Dragonlance Chronicles* 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.

Midnight is reading The Dragonlance Chronicles by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. — Midnight is reading *The Dragonlance Chronicles* by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman.

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.

Midnight loves reading and rereading The Dragonlance Chronicles by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, and bids readers farewell, until such a time as he sees fit to reappear. — Midnight loves reading and rereading *The Dragonlance Chronicles* by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, and bids readers farewell, until such a time as he sees fit to reappear.

Midnight reviews The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien

Three members of the book bunnies household have been reviewing books since 2019 (how time flies!) but it was only late last year when the fourth member of our family, the mysterious and reclusive black bunny Midnight, decided to join in the book fun. So far he has reviewed Foundation and Foundation and Empire, the first two books of the Foundation trilogy by Isaac Asimov. But it was clear to all who read those reviews that he was actually itching to talk about other books. So today he is doing just that! To be more specific, today Midnight is talking to Sprinkles about The Silmarillion, a collection of tales by J.R.R. Tolkien, published after his death in 1977.

Sprinkles: So Midnight, welcome back! I am hoping that you are excited to be talking about a book by Tolkien today.

Midnight:I am a bunny of few emotions; it is difficult for me to admit to feeling excited. But I must admit this is one of my favorite books.

Sprinkles: Cool! So tell us a bit about it then.

Midnight: The Silmarillion is not a novel or a single story, like Tolkien’s other well-known works like The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. It is a collection of tales mostly from the ancient days of Middle-Earth long before rings and hobbits. Although Tolkien was working on this at the time of his death, these tales have their origin in his very early work when he was a young man in World War I. His son Christopher Tolkien assembled and edited these various works from his unpublished works, into something resembling a coherent whole.

Sprinkles: Oh, that sounds cool! So if one has read one of those Tolkien books, or even just seen some of the movies, then they would recognize Middle-Earth as the world where all those stories took place. And you are saying this book basically gives us a lot of the backstory of that world.

Midnight: Not quite. The world changed drastically over the ages. For example, in the First Age, the world was flat. When Numenor was destroyed in the Second Age, the world was made round, and the Undying Lands were removed forever from the world, at least as far as mortals were concerned. The Elves could still find their way there.

Sprinkles: So Middle-Earth that we might be familiar with is only the world of the Third Age?

Midnight: Yes. Although I believe that the very end of the Lord of the Ring movies takes place in the beginning of the Fourth Age, after the final defeat of Sauron.

Sprinkles: Oh, this is a very long history!

Midnight: Yes. Stretching back many thousands of years. In fact The Silmarillion begins with the creation of the world, and a run-down of the various gods of the world, the Valar (who are mentioned even in the Peter Jackson films by Arwen but only in passing, so people could easily miss this if they were not aware of their existence).

Midnight is reading The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien. — Midnight is reading *The Silmarillion* by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Sprinkles: That sounds cool! So how many tales are we talking about here?

Midnight: Quite a few. I don’t know the exact number off the top of my head. Or rather there are two chapters devoted to the cosmology of Tolkien’s universe. Then the bulk of the book is “Quenta Silmarillion”, which is itself a collection of more than twenty tales from the First Age of the world (and a little bit slightly before that). Then there are two more standalone chapters, one is about the fall of Númenor (where we see Sauron as the master manipulator) and the other is an essay providing some background information about the rings and the Lord of the Rings as a historical account.

Sprinkles: That sounds pretty eclectic! Does it read as a coherent book on its own?

Midnight: The different parts have different flavors. It is almost biblical in scope. So the coherence is basically in the story, not quite in the style. And as a whole, it provides a lot of information that makes Tolkien’s universe much richer.

Sprinkles: I see. So it almost reads like a collection of eclectic historical documents written throughout history by different scribes and then put together by an editor. Which makes sense for a book that was indeed put together by someone other than the author himself, and the segments put together were written at different times. that’s pretty cool.

Midnight: It is.

Sprinkles: So what is a Silmarillion? Why is the book titled that way?

Midnight: The title refers to the three Silmarils, magical gems of great beauty crafted by the greatest of the Elven smiths. They were stolen by Morgoth, the original bad guy. For example in the movies we hear Sauron called the servant of Morgoth, and the Balrog as the Balrog of Morgoth, so Morgoth is the original evil deity.

Sprinkles: Okay. I do remember that. So Morgoth takes the Silmarils and then what happens?

Midnight: He flees Valinor (the Elven paradise) with the Silmarils and many of the elves vow to pursue him, a god, to the ends of the world to retrieve the gems. There is lots of tragedy, hubris, betrayal, and general elf-on-elf violence. We see elves not as the ethereal and noble creatures of the films but rather as flawed, arrogant, and sometimes hotheaded.

Sprinkles: Sounds pretty epic!

Midnight: Indeed, the stories are epic in scope and mythical in character. It reads more as mythology than a traditional novel.

Sprinkles: Okay, so is that why The Silmarillion is one of your favorite books?

Midnight: Maybe.

Sprinkles: Which tale is your favorite?

Midnight: My favorite is “Akallabêth: The Downfall of Númenor”. This is, as you can tell, the history of Númenor and the tale of its downfall. It is Tolkien’s take on the Atlantis myth. Amazon’s Rings of Power series draws heavily from the history of Númenor outlined in the appendix in the Lord of the Rings, but this chapter in The Silmarillion gives us so much more!

Sprinkles: Neat! Okay, Midnight, I think this is enough for a post. And you told me enough to get me all excited about reading the book myself.

Midnight: It’s not for everyone but it is for me.

Sprinkles: That’s fair. I have enjoyed the movies and find the world Tolkien created fascinating. So I will give The Silmarillion a try. So what will you say as your last words?

Midnight: Namárië, dear readers. That is, farewell, in Elvish.

Midnight ends by pointing out how much he enjoys reading and rereading The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien and bids readers farewell, until such a time as he sees fit to reappear. — Midnight ends by pointing out how much he enjoys reading and rereading *The Silmarillion* by J.R.R. Tolkien and bids readers farewell, until such a time as he sees fit to reappear.

Marshmallow reviews Gleanings by Neal Shusterman

Marshmallow has already read and reviewed Scythe, Thunderhead, and The Toll, the three books in Neal Shusterman’s Arc of a Scythe series. Today she is writing about Gleanings: Stories from the Arc of a Scythe, a collection of stories Shusterman published in 2022 that explores some of the lesser known features of the same story universe.

Marshmallow reviews Gleanings: Stories from the Arc of a Scythe by Neal Shusterman. — Marshmallow reviews *Gleanings: Stories from the Arc of a Scythe* by Neal Shusterman.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you liked reading any of the books in the Arc of a Scythe trilogy, then this is the book for you!

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): In the three original books about the world of scythes and the Thunderhead, Shusterman did an amazing job of creating an immersive story. But such tales have a tendency to leave the reader wanting more, which is exactly what happened to me at the end of the series. While the main plot lines were all resolved well, I still really wanted to read more about that world; the premise is simply intriguing (a post-mortality world full of fascinating technology and sheltered by a benevolent AI on the cusp of a new era of space expansion). Luckily, Shusterman was very nice and wrote this collection of stories, some in collaboration with other authors.

The first story–titled “Formidable”–goes to a period before the events in the Arc of a Scythe series took place. It elaborates on the rise of Scythe Marie Curie who is a major character with a past that is often mentioned with only sparing detail. In Gleanings, we finally learn more about her rise to fame as the scythe who set humanity free from its bureaucratic history. The next story is titled “Never Work with Animals” and introduces a new scythe, a new setting, and a new story but with one familiar face. “A Death of Many Colors” similarly shows another scythe and makes Shusterman’s fiction feel even more real by adding yet another thread to the tapestry he has been weaving.

By adding so many new stories about scythes, the Thunderhead, and their world, Shusterman creates an even more expansive setting. “Unsavory Row.” “The Mortal Canvas,” “The Persistence of Memory,” and “Perchance to Gleam” especially were stories that colored in so many new aspects of the sci-fi world and were so very detailed in that goal. “Unsavory Row” peeled back the word ‘unsavory’ and presented another perspective of what that label means to those labeled. My favorite story “The Mortal Canvas” teaches readers about the period right after immortality was achieved. “Perchance to Gleam” also explores another part of that world and its different culture (and thus the scythes’ different gleaning methods). In “A Martian Minute,” we learn what truly happened in Goddard’s mysterious past and “Cirri” and “A Dark Curtain Rises” reveal what happens after he is later defeated.

Questions you forgot you had are answered and the world of the Arc of a Scythe is broadened. Reading this book is a great way to continue the journey you started when you picked up the first book!

Marshmallow is reading Gleanings: Stories from the Arc of a Scythe by Neal Shusterman. — Marshmallow is reading *Gleanings: Stories from the Arc of a Scythe* by Neal Shusterman.

Marshmallow’s Review: I’d like to start by praising Shusterman’s fluid prose. I think part of what makes this book and the Arc of a Scythe books so good is his writing. I really only started appreciating it when I noticed some parts of some stories (the ones that were co-written with others) sounded a little different and sometimes a little less smooth. In general though, this book flows so clearly that you have no choice but to allow yourself to be swept forward with the story. All of the stories are fascinating and are deeply satisfying to read.

I find the world Shusterman describes to be extremely interesting and reading this book expanded my knowledge and understanding of it significantly. I particularly liked reading “The Mortal Canvas.” All of the stories are mostly related to the main series and are gratifying to read as an extension. They all make you think and compare between the texts. But “The Mortal Canvas” could also just be a stand alone story as well. I think you could read it without having read the previous books (though that might also go for all the others, just as long as you don’t mind having everything revealed to you). In this story, young students at an art school grapple with the disconnect between the only reality they’ve known (a world without death) and the past their teacher came from (a world where death took her husband and was a constant). This plot not only reveals more about that period of time, it also asks truly deep questions about mortality and what it means to us as creators, humans, and beings that exist at all. Reading “The Mortal Canvas” made me really think about life and what our purpose is. That sounds cliche, but it did. This ending line reveals just a fraction of the fascinating ideas inspired by this story:

‘She said her life was completed,’ […] ‘That’s something that none of us will ever experience. Even if we’re gleaned someday, it won’t be the same, because we weren’t born mortal. From this movement on, no one will ever know what it feels like to be complete’ […] she smiled through her tears–because they both knew that together they might just get one step closer to completion” (Shusterman 246-7).

I think this story has made me recognize how meaningful life is. While length is lovely, it is the depth of what you do with it that matters the most. Shusterman’s imaginary world offers opportunities to wrestle with what it means to be human when that length is luckily granted to all but that meaning is unluckily lost to most. In this aspect, I think this book and the series that came before it are truly masterpieces. These books are books that we should read alongside 1984 and Brave New World. While I would recommend waiting until you’re older than twelve, I would still suggest reading this book to all bunnies ready to recognize a literary jewel!

Marshmallow’s Rating: 100%.

Marshmallow rates Gleanings: Stories from the Arc of a Scythe by Neal Shusterman 100%. — Marshmallow rates *Gleanings: Stories from the Arc of a Scythe* by Neal Shusterman 100%.