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Review Archive
BOOKS
Dragons of a Fallen Sunby Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
Wizards of the Coast; Renton, WA; 548 pgs; Hardcover; $27.95
What happens when your gods leave you? What do you do when evil grows in your own backyard and your neighbors are eager to jump the fence to slit throat? What do you do when the storms of chaos are bearing down and you find all defenses ill prepared? If you have the flavor for Fantasy on your tongue then you will certainly find out answers to these questions when you purchase Dragons of a Fallen Sun by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman.
After collaborating on more than 20 titles over 16 years, Weis and Hickman have returned to their old (and probably favorite) stomping ground. Once again, the two stir the waters of sword and sorcery to create another magically gripping story on the world of Krynn.
Dragons of a Fallen Sun is the first volume of the latest Dragonlance trilogy, "The War of Souls." This newest edition is set 30 years after the Chaos War, a war in which the gods sacrificed themselves for their creations, their children, their world. Weis and Hickman chronicle the adventures of heroes and heroines, some of who we know from previous stories, and some who we meet for the first time. Dragons of a Fallen Sun intertwines a multitude of threads into one solid cord that is impossible to put down. In it, you will follow Gilthas, the manipulated elven king; Palin, an aging mage who is slowly losing his magic; Silvanoeshi, the displaced heir to the Silvanesti crown; Gerard, an over-protected Solamnic Knight; and Mina, a mysterious slip of girl who leads armies and heals soldiers with indefatigable strength. There are also one or two Heroes of the Lance that jump into the mix, but to name them would be to give away some of the treats of the book.
For those who say that there is nothing new under the Sun in the Fantasy genre, Dragons of a Fallen Sun will make you eager for more Dragonlance. Weis and Hickman have a wonderfully subtle way of proving that while heroes and courage are often needed, one must remember the basics before you can fight a war. Things such as friendship, trust, and promise. They show us complex relationships based around love and loyalty, which sometimes must be sacrificed for the greater good.
And the best part is that Dragons of a Fallen Sun is only Book I. The end of this story is just the beginning. From here on out, it will be tooth and nail fighting because losing these battles against the tides of darkness could mean genocide for all races of Krynn.
(Originally published in Realms of Fantasy magazine, August 2000.)
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