The Citadel (Dragonlance Classics, Vol. 3) [Mass Market Paperback]

richard a. Knaak (Author)

Book Description

Series: Classics Series | Publication Date: July 1, 2000

Weapon of the Dark Queen

Against a darkened cloud it comes, framed by thunder and lightning, soaring over the ravaged land: the flying citadel, mightiest power in the arsenal of the dragon highlords.

In an age of war, an evil wizard learned the secret of creating these castles in the air and sought to use them to gain power over all Krynn. Against him were ranged a red-robed magic-user, a cleric, an ancient warrior, and -- naturally -- a kender.

Their battle shook the skies of Krynn.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Wizards of the Coast (July 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786916834
• ISBN-13: 978-0786916832
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,250,195 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A decent novel, but not Knaak's best work, November 22, 2000

By 

Chad W. Armstrong - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Citadel (Dragonlance Classics, Vol. 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

Richard A. Knaak is my favorite author, so I wasted no time in getting a copy of this book (also signed by Mr. Knaak himself). Knaak once again makes use of gargoyles (which he previously used in the books Ruby Flames and Frostwing), a creature that normally isn't seen or mentioned much in the Dragonlance world, so kudos to Mr. Knaak for adding some creativity and change to the DL world. The story in itself is quite decent, and even when it seems like the book is coming to a close, Knaak manages to stretch the story out another 50 or 100 pages. The low points of the book are the characters. The main bad guy, Valkyn is a typical 'Bwa-ha-ha-ha I'm going to conquer the world' villian, and the two high ranking officers Bakal and Cadrio don't differ too much in personalities even though one is supposed to be good and the other evil. However, Knaak does experiment some with the main character Tyros by working with an arrogant character, whereas many of Knaak's other characters in past books were either somewhat out of their heads/minds (i.e. the Dutchman, Shade), or fairly level headed (Cabe Bedlam). One thing I missed was much of the inner contemplation that many of his other characters had, but this book didn't contain nearly as much of this critique.

All and all, this book was worth my time and money, and is probably better than most of the other Dragonlance books out there. For fans of Dragonlance and Knaak's writing, this would be a good choice. However for someone just getting into fantasy or Knaak's writing, picking up a copy of The Legend of Huma would be a better bet for now (then one can pick up The Citadel later).

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Recapturing Dragonlance, August 28, 2000

By 

Gene Albright (Denver, CO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Citadel (Dragonlance Classics, Vol. 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

I thought this book was GREAT!! It recaptured the essence of dragonlance and brought to mind the original magic of the firt 6 books. Images of battles, dragons, flying citadels and wonderous magic filled my head throughout the whole book which I finished in 3 days. The characters that were introduced were both interesting and realistic. They actually made the reader care whether or not they lived or died, which in fantasy novels sometimes is hard to do since many of the characters are the same from book to book. I recommend this to anyone new to the Dragonlance genre. It was fantastic!

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Simple, very Simple, September 3, 2000

By 

Richard Raley "The King Henry Tapes" (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Citadel (Dragonlance Classics, Vol. 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

This was a painful book to read. I'm not saying that it was bad, it was just painful for me to read. Why? Well it was such a `normal' and unoriginal story that it hurt me. Here are the main characters: An old Guy that's good with a sword, a arrogant Red Robed Mage, a Kender with something special and strange that the others will need, and a cleric that is searching for a lost love that has more or less turned three sixty on her. And the bad guys are none other than an evil magic user with some nice toys and a dragon army general that wants to rule Krynn. Throw in some gold and black dragons and a magical item that is way more powerful than its former and what do you have? A very common and simple fantasy story.

But I'm not saying it was a bad book, I'm just saying it was simple. Within the story the characters, while cliché, are realistic and believable. I wouldn't say you develop a deep care for them as the story goes along, but I will say that you feel for them sometimes. There are also some good fight scenes with everything from dragons, to gargoyles, to normal old soldiers. And last, this book was also good solid writing by Richard A. Knaak, as I've come to expect from him.

The Final Thought: If you are a major DL fanatic then you will want to read this book. If you aren't then it's a good read when you don't have anything else laying around.