Amph Dragonlance: Questions from, and Advice for a Newbie

Just had a look at the total list of the Dragonlance novels:

List of Dragonlace Novels

...and there seems to me at least double the size of novels in the Star Wars Expanded Universe; so my main questions are:

* How intertwined are these novels? Is there an interconnecting universe with a strong canon, continuity and consistency such as the SW EU?

* Are main and secondary characters featured across the novels, ala the above question? (Ie: is there a Anakin / Obi-Wan / Padme and Luke / Han / Leia sets of characters featured in multiple novels and storylines?

* If not of the above, are there many bad inconsistencies and plot errors?

* If not a multi-arc, multi-novel storyline, what would be the main storyline, if any?

Just curious, and want to ask some high level questions about the series, to determine if it is worthwhile investing in it. I prefer interconnecting multi-story arcs like the SW EU, Babylon 5, Battlestar Galactica, etc... and I hope that this is a series in that vein albeit fantasy, rather than a mega-collection of stand alone loosely connected novels.

 

Whoops!

Sorry about the mispelt thread title; I mean Dragonlance, not some sort of form of fantasy lingere!

 

I edited it for you

That list looked pretty big; I don't think that all of those are full length books. I got a list a few months ago from someone of the novels; I'll get it.

EDIT: Okay, here you go.

I've only read Dragons of Autumn Twilight, so I can't answer all your questions, but I know that the characters from the Twins books are in Chronicles Trilogy.

 

The Sovereign Stone Trilogy, if I got the name right, had a lightsaberesque cover. That's about the breadth and depth of my Dragonlance knowledge. Personally, the very title(s) repulse me like norton to a scruffy Han. How people can read and accept such generic (dragons, elfs, dwarfs) and cliche stereotypes I don't know. But there are fond memories of this series, as a very long time ago there was a lot fewer fantasy and stuff like this was one of your few choices. I guess it was okay then, when creative ideas were rarer than Luke posters on girl dorm doors nowadays.

I'm interested in knowing what the series is like nonetheless, for, uh, beneficial input. Quality, prose, maturity, creativity, irritants like that.

 

Usually I'd say that you say that about everything but in this case, you're right to be wary. It's written in a form that is more toward young adult, and the grammar errors made me want to go grab my red red and start in on it. Nevertheless, it got interesting enough by the end to give the second book a shot.

 

I'm of the opinion that the writing improved as the series developed. Chronicles was a fun read but suffered from being directly adapted from an rpg campaign, Legends was much more character driven, War of Souls had much more depth and managed to seem less contrived that it's predecessors. They do rely on stereotypes but they're still enjoyable.

Dragons of Summer Flame was my favourite.

 

The Soverign Stone Trilogy books aren't Dragonlance novels. They're set in a separate RPG world. I forget which.

Much less so than SW EU. However, pretty much everything 'important' in Dragonlance revolves around what Weis and Hickman write together. Their novels are the major novels to pay attention to and you could probably get a good feel for the Dragonlance world just by reading those. There are a lot of branch off trilogies and miniseries that are worth paying attention too, as well. Those don't exactly have lasting impacts on the DL world, BUT it does give you a much larger view of the Dragonlance world than we get in SW.

The original companions and their children are the major players in the Weis and Hickman books. They also crop up in a few miniseries and trilogies here and there. Other than that, it's rare for characters to show up again out of whatever novels they first appeared in.

Not that I've noticed. Nothing major anyway. A lot of the series and trilogies are very isolated, having not too much to do with the larger continuity.

The Weis and Hickman books, like I said, are generally the major story to follow. The rest are isolated and are really there to supplement the major stories and to expand the Dragonlance world.

 

Good to know, then, Nat. I don't recall any Dragonlancean review saying they can be young adult.

 

Not necessarily young adult in some of the themes and things that happen, but written in a style that seems more geard toward a younger audience. They actually are adult books (I think).

 

Yes, Dragonlance are aimed at the adult market but are written in an innocent style (nipple-free/off-page sex) with simple enough themes to be accessible to Young Adult readers. I first read them as a teenager (I tend to stick to the Weis & Hickman corelist, only occaisionally dipping into the peripheries when some secondary storyline/character interests me; Darkness & Light the prequel for instance was a perfect set up for Dragons of Summer Flame, but most of them are either very obvious hits or blatant misses) but re-read them recently and still found them to be very enjoyable fantasy escapism though they're faults are a lot more obvious to me now.

(Incidently, Trudi Canavan's Black Magician Trilogy was originally an adult series that was then re-marketed towards Young Adult readers.)

 

Oh, I got that impression, all right. My first modern fantasy read, it gave me a great impression. The same pursuit-escape scene for hundreds of pages.

So, kinda like Kevin Anderson's writing. The usual adult themes, but peppered with the simple prose that sugars it for teens, eh? Okay.

 

It's actually very obviously Tracy Hickman's RPG campaign transcribed, which explains some of the awkward bits in there.

E_S

 

I've read a few, generally the ones I've found (in their trilogies) at used bookstore. They were fairly well written, although they weren't really connected much at all besides being set in the same world (different parts of the same world) and the ones I have didn't have a complete map of the world so I had trouble relating them.

On a side note, some of the stuff on the back of the books was horrible, and thus I don't really recommend reading the back before the book. As a joke, I thought of a synopsis for ANH that was roughly the equivalent of these, which went something like this: "Luke Skywalker is a great starfighter pilot for the Rebel Alliance. When he destroys the Death Star, he is given a medal by his sister."