48 of 51 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Just Like the Originals, A Charmingly Flawed Masterpiece, June 11, 2001
I'm actually writing this because I finally broke down and bought this collection--and I loved it. I had hesitated because of some of the negative reviews here on this site, but being an old-school Dragonlance fan (I won my first copy of the original novel at a local gaming convention when it first came out), I wanted a hardbound copy, even if the annotations were, as some have claimed, trite.
But I have to disagree. Yes, some of the annotations are fairly obvious--Tracy Hickman does, indeed overexplain some of the writing strategies that he and Weis used. But then again, I teach Creative Writing at the college level, and I only wish that some of my students would find this stuff obvious! What I'm saying is this: if you're familiar with writing tools and rules, some of this will be familiar. But take it with the spirit with which it's intended. C'mon, this is Dragonlance. We're all in this for the fun, right? This is a book that has some of the best lines I've read in a fantasy book--as well as a few stinkeroos. But that's always been part of the charm of these novels. These books weren't written by a professorial linguist like Tolkien--these were D&D junkies, for the most part, putting this together. And you can feel their own excitement, their passion, on every page, and in every character. If that means that some of the annotations become overdone in some ways, so be it.
Besides, some of the notes are very interesting, and as at least one other reviewer mentioned here, I wish there were more of them. There was a lot more information that I've unconsciously stored in my head about the novels that for some reason didn't merit an annotation here--like the fact that the dagger that Tas uses early in the first book...was actually a very powerful magic item (+4 or +5, as I recall--I think I'm getting this either from a short story, or something from Dragon magazine, from waaaay back...) The idea here is that Dragonlance, simply from being not only a series of books, but also a series of D&D game modules, a comic book series, and later a game world in which to explore, was not a static environment. Lots was added later, and some of it was pretty neat. A lot of it, sadly, wasn't. But giving the nod to some of those small, cool details that came later, like that magic dagger, would have been interesting.
And yes, there are too many references to far lesser works of fiction that took Dragonlance's good name and dragged it through the Solace mud. I hated like heck that such a thing happened to what was my favorite series as a teen. But hey, the books are classic, and the fun's still there, waiting to be experienced again and again. And if there's anyone out there counting, let me add my voice to the throngs anxiously awaiting the annotated edition of the Twins trilogy!
All in all, this is a book that is completely and utterly worth your time. Is it equal to Tolkein in literary significance? Admittedly no. Is it more fun? I think so. Even people who don't normally like fantasy novels have read this one and become as enthralled as the rest of us. Sure, its flawed, but heck, its a good time. And that's what's important, right? Long live Dragonlance!
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69 of 82 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Vaguely insulting..., March 7, 2000
Oh, don't get me wrong: Obviously, I love the DL Chronicles with a passion. It's this annotated addition that I'm not so keen on. It's a cool idea in theory, and maybe it *could* provide fascinating insights into the narrative, but quite frankly, it doesn't. To be fair, there is an occasional pithy observation (Michael Williams has some interesting things to say about his ever-groovy poetry), but these are few and far between; most of the 'annotations' range from painfully obvious to trite and stupid--often both. "The backstory here gives life and direction to the characters," Hickman helpfully informs us near the beginning. Aha! So THAT'S what 'backstory' does! And all this time I thought it was only included because the authors were paid by the word! Thank you, Tracy, for this startling revelation! Geez, is this a first-year writing class, or what? And believe me...it doesn't get much deeper than that. Particular irksome to me is the way the annotators don't hesitate to include plugs for various hideously bad spin-off novels that bear any sort of connection to the story. I mean, come ON, guys! The back cover proudly proclaims the trilogy "THE GREAT MODERN FANTASY EPIC!" and this may well be, but how can we be expected to take such grandiose claims at all seriously if you're willing to make the implicit point that any non-W&H Dragonlance is anywhere near the same level as this? That's just not happening. Bleh.
A companion volume detailing the writing of the Chronicles/Legends (oh god, are we going to have to suffer through the annotated *Legends* if this sells well enough?) could be interesting, but this is emphatically not; instead, it feels like nothing more than the latest in a long line of crass TSR cash-ins. I'd stick with the original, non-annotated Chronicles, if I were you...
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25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A series that set a world in motion is explained, November 29, 1999
The Dragon Lance Chronicles series of books is by far and away the best fantasy series ever written and committed to a printing press. For several years I have been reading fantasy novels and never before was I so inspired by writing as I was by the writings of this amazing duo. Their writing draws you into the characters and makes you feel the pain, and suffering, as well as the joy and triumph of each character as they as they face their trials. This series of books has had a profound affect on my life and in how I define honor and so many other things. I learned so much more about the characters by reading the foot notes in this book it really made me understand the internal struggles that the authors had during the creation of this fantastic series. (They poured heart and soul in and it shows) it was a hard to describe the feelings I felt when I read in the footnotes that the authors included in the annotated edition. I felt a certain kind of kinship knowing that I cried and laughed at the same times as the authors did when they created this epic series. I would recommend this book to anybody period... It was a pleasure to read and I was honored to know that the authors felt close enough with their readers to share their inner thoughts, on this series. Thank you so much Tracy and Margaret
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