Customer Reviews

Dark Thane (Dragonlance: The Age of Mortals)

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

 

 

Not many in-print Dragonlance books are on the race of subterranean dwelling dwarves, and Dark Thane is the latest. The half-blooded king Tarn Bellowgranite gains a new political and personal enemy, surprisingly the Hylar thane. Contrary to all preconceptions of the Hylar, this disfigured, exceedingly ambitious, and more than a little neurotic usurper, plans on slaying Tarn and taking the throne for himself.

The flow of the book is generally pretty smooth, but there were a few unfinished storylines that may leave a reader unsatisfied. The ending was also a bit unconclusive, either a way of enticing a reader to buy a sequel, if there is one, or just plain, poor writing.

If you are into mystery and intrigue, Dark Thane is definitely for you, as it is chock full of political unrest, backstabbing and assassinations, and manipulation. There are few hack and slash battles, especially considering that we are dealing with a bunch of disgruntled dwarven leaders bent on wiping out entire clans.

There were a few inconsistencies in the book that a reader might find strange. First of all was for the Hylar thane, supposedly leader of the dwarves of light, to so readily turn to darkness for power. Another thing was the final decision that Tarn made, a choice between his people and something precious to him, and rather choose his people in the classic self-sacrificing Dragonlance spirit, he selfishly thought only of himself and chose the object important to him.

Readers new to the world of Dragonlance might want to try the Chronicles and Chaos War series first, as this book may leave him or her confused with its numerous historic references. If you liked Leaves from the Inn of the Last Home, you will like this book with its insightful look to dwarven festivities, culture, and traditions. To the connoisseur, especially if he or she enjoyed The Last Thane or Conundrum, this is also must have. Jeff Crook once again uses a powerful dark tone to narrate the turmoil that takes place underground in Krynn, making perhaps his most masterful piece yet.

-Steve

:D I really enjoyed this book. As always, I wanted to hear more about the gullydwarves, but otherwise it was a fun read. I hadn't read much about the Dragonlance dwarves before. The only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is because I liked Crook's _Conundrum_ much much better.

The first part deals with the events immediately following DOALS with Tarn having to report the disaster at Qualinesti to the council, some of whom are looking to use his defeat for reason to dethrone him, ending in Thorbardin once again being sealed off from the world.

The second part picks up almost a year after the WOS has ended, although they don't know it, with Tarn's enemies getting ready to overthrow him & the discovery of a leftover Chaos dragon. It ends with Tarn & a group of followers being exiled...

And you get the feeling this is the last you'll read of Thorbardin because no one believes Tarn's warning of the dragon, especially when the dragon isn't where he told them it was.

Maybe i'm expecting something else but I expect some clear guidelines between humans,dwarves and elves. there is some grey in the differences between humans and elves but to me dwarves were always different.In this book Jeff crook has made the dwarves out to be conniving and subject to mass hysteria and in almost every other dragonlance book I have read the dwarves are mostly level headed and have are always willing to band together in times of crisis..
From an interview of Jeff Crook's i read that he wanted to create a feeling similar to 9/11 however if 9/11 had happened to the dwarves by their very nature they would have built back from the rubble united as never before
The dwarves in this book are well.........short humans..No thanks!!!

Jeff Crook is my favorite Dragonlance author--after Richard Knaak, anyway--but I have yet to understand why he wrote this the way he did. One event in Thorbardin's history, an event which never proves significant to the plot of the novel, is described in excruciating detail no fewer than seven times! Other than that, this novel mostly seems dull, unlike Crook's other, funnier works.

This book i think was great!But Warning:if you do not like violent books dont read this it is very violent.Also if you like DND (Dungeons and Dragons) you will like this.
If you are the person who sits and watchs Lord of the Rings for hours after hours you will for like this this.

GOOD NIGHT
HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA