Customer Reviews

Chosen of the Gods (Dragonlance: The Kingpriest Trilogy, Book 1)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Finally, a Dragonlance book has been published that tells the tale of the mighty nation of Istar and it's Kingpriests. An excellently written book that depicts Istar brilliantly and never slows down from page one. Many of Istar's surrounding towns and cities are explored as well. It was great to once again read about gods and magic after the many godless fifth age books that have been released.
Long time Dragonlance fans will recognize many familiar faces including a surprise appearance. :)

The best book to come out since Dragons of a Lost Star.
Great stuff. Go get it.

I have read a great many Dragonlance novels, and I've never felt the need to write a review for any of them. The reason for this depends on the books: the Weis/Hickman books need no review because the books speak for themselves; as for the others, most are neither amazing nor terrible, and even the mediocre ones are still enjoyable enough because they are afterall still Dragonlance. This trilogy is different.

To begin with, I've come to expect a certain amount of superfluity and a general disappointment in those novels whose endings are already known; this was the case, of course, with Lord Soth and virtually all of the Preludes sextet. The fact that Peirson manages to hold the reader's interest and give us an ending worthy of the Dragonlance name despite the subject matter was, to me, an amazing feat. These novels were probably the only DL books not writtten by Weis and/or Hickman that really moved me (there were parts that brought me to tears).

Secondly, I tend to be a stickler for detail when it comes to series fantasy. Don't get me wrong- I don't care so much about the minor details, like the location of Raistlin's school (different whether you read the Meetings sextet or the Raistlin chronicles, and for that matter, are we to believe Margaret Weis or the author of the earlier book?)- and at any rate, I view these contradictions as a normal occurence I would encounter if I were traveling across Krynn: the details of the same tale would be different hearing it from a citizen of Palanthas than from a peasant from Lemish, of for that matter from a Silvanesti elf or a kender. But the major details should agree: there should be no vallenwoods in Solamnia, 'Missing City' should not be on the mainland if there is in fact a city there at all, etc. Pierson took a great deal of care in researching the facts for his novels. I even cross-referenced with the Legends trilogy and could not find the slightest problem. Superbly done.

Finally a book about one of the most hated men on the face of Krynn, The Kingpriest. He is mentioned thru out many DL books about how HE was the one who brought on the fall of the greatest city on Krynn, Istar. How HE demanded too much of Paladine and brought on the Cataclysm. Being this is book 1, you are reading about the rise of a new Kingpriest and a great evil coming to power. There are others who make an appearance in the book who are also well known in future DL books. The reading is good and allows you to see a person greed get the better of him. If your a DL fan you will like this book.

I imagine that trilogies are hard to write, since you have to simultaneously offer the reader something at each step and hold enough back to excite them about the next one.

I think that "Chosen" pulls it off -- the characters are engaging and interesting. I cared about what happened to them, and was suprisingly moved when they died or were coerced over a line.

The next book, I imagine, will have even more meat to it! Only a couple more months to wait.

With Dragons of Summer Flame and the War of Souls, Krynn has seen some tumultous times, and one might argue that its fans have suffered the convulsions with it. Enter Chris Pierson, and now Krynn is revisiting its most tumultous time- the Cataclysm! Only this time, the fans are rejoicing.

Chris Pierson has managed to recapture Dragonlance from the brink of nonsense. His characters have something to say to the reader, and his writing never stagnates. He gives us tremendous detail, without making the details themselves the story. And his subject material couldn't be better. Simply put, he is the perfect writer for Dragonlance.

I have read the entire Kingpriest Trilogy twice over. It is certainly one of the best Dragonlance trilogies published in a long while. Dragonlance fans can only hope that Chris Pierson spins his future tales as endearingly as he delivered this Krynnish tragedy.

I used to consider myself pretty knowlegable in the dragonlance realm and in each series some mention of the "cataclysm" and the "king-priest of istar" is made but usually as a side note and now with this book i finally received some great insights. the first book of the new kingpriest trilogy is finely written and very plentiful in the descriptions of the "Lordcity of Istar". Chris Pierson will give you your fill of the opulence of ancient Istar with a couple of suprise guest thrown in that will make you go...hmmm! After reading the Chosen of the Gods i guarantee that you will go back to earlier books in the dragonlance saga and see things a little more clearly. (i know i did and i enjoyed those books even more if that's at all possible!)

It was almost 4 star worthy but..

It wasn't what you envisioned when you heard this trilogy was coming out. It took me awhile to get into it & it was a little predictable. It did gain steam as it went on & the sly deceptions of Fistdantilus made up for its shortcomings.

Even if you are like me and have read every single DL book in print, this one will keep you very interested and wanting more! I'm so excited that the 3rd book just came out! I cant wait to read it too. So that all the peices from all the other DL books fall into place with this final Book of the trilogy.

Dragonlance has some huge hits and misses with their peripheral books that branch off and build on the myth of the original 1st Story Level of Dragonlance. But I'd have to say this is a huge miss, which is surprising, because Chris Pierson's other books Spirit of the Wind and Dezra's Quest, were pretty good.

This book, however, is moribund in pretty much every way. It's not that it's *spectacularly* bad, it's just that it's so rote, so paint-by-numbers, that 80% of the people reading this review could have written a better account. For some reason, a lot of Istar-era Dragonlance books seem to flop (like The Dark Queen, one of the worst Dragonlance books, for example).

This book took place during a fascinating time, and chronicled the rise of the last Kingpriest during a tumultous era. But the book isn't exciting at all. It has no spark, no energy. I like to get a sense of wonder and excitement when reading fantasy. Not to be cruel, but this is like reading a bicycle assembly manual. It's not horrible, it's just bland and dull, and evokes nothing from the reader. With all the other great books out there to read, I would avoid this one.

This book tells the story of the last Kingpriest of Istar which means it had to contradict every other book in the entire series. It drove me crazy so I couldn't finish it.