Customer Reviews

Firstborn (Dragonlance Elven Nations, Vol 1)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The review by Ms. Weir is wrong is several respects. When the Elven Nations books were written (circa 1990-91) Dragonlance lore was different than it is now. Some elves did live a millenium, in certain favored circumstances, and the dates of Huma were changed by TSR *after* these books were written. (See the timeline in the 1987 edition of "Leaves from the Inn of the Last Home.") When Carter, Niles, and I wrote these books, Huma was a historical character. A major restructuring of Dragonlance chronology was made in the mid-90s, but it's hardly fair to call these "errors" when they weren't wrong when written.

Paul B. Thompson

Firstborn takes place before the popular events of the Dragonlance saga, respectively about 1,000 years fictional time before the series' focal points, the Majere Twins, Tanis Half-Elven, The second Cataclysm, etc. The book's literary genius is found in its ability to render classical romance and youthful intrigue so quickly, the romantics never complicated but desirably easy to relate to. This is the book that I would recommend any new fantasy reader to first touch down upon, but better yet a way for experienced fantasy readers to find for themselves a remnant of classical fantasy, by no means nostalgia however. A+

Great book! Thompson and Carter have outdone themselves. This first installment gives great insight into Krynnish Elven History. Wonderfully done.

"Firstborn" is definately one of the better Dragonlance books out there. It is very slow during the beginning. Most of the book drags on, but the good thing is that it goes by quickly. The book isn't long, only around 300 pages. But the ending gets a lot better and sets up for much more action to come.

The book starts out with the birth of Kith-Kanan and Sithas. Sithas being the firstborn is destined to be the next Speaker of the Stars. The brothers have a bond that is almost unbreakable, and a love that is true. But when Kith does something that angers his family, he flees and meets friends in the outer woods. Here, he learns that life isn't the same as it is in the city of Silvanost. But, in desperate situations, Sithas calls his brother back to Silvanost and events begin to unfold that are beyond either of the twin's control.

While the book does start out slow, it is good enough to keep you reading. It is full of intrigue that most Dragonlance books are lacking in. I have read almost all of the DL books out there, and I can rate this one near the top of the list. If you can find it, it is a definate must!

Being the owner of 41 Dragonlance books and having read them all, Firstborn is my favorite. It was written verry well, and is verry discriptive. I dont want to give any of the story away, so you must read it. But at any rate it is the best Dragonlance book yet!

This book is about the twin sons of Silvanesti. The elves are my favorite race and this is an excellent beginning to the trilogy. All of the books in this trilogy are wonderful, I highly recommend them.

This was one of the first and best books I have ever read. The rest of the trilogy is just as brilliant.

I would certainly not call this "the most envisioning fantasy book of the decade", but it is a good book. The things I pin-pointed were:

1. The editing is very poor, to the point of being distracting at times. Although this does not affect my rating of the story, it does affect the reading experience. So buyers, beware! And Wizards of Coast (or TSR or whoever) do a better job next time. Hell, I'll edit it for free if you want!

2. There is something about Thompson and Cook's writing style that just does not grab me....at times I felt like they gave me too much information on things I didn't care about, then glossed over some very important things. I'm not sure how well-planned this book was.

3. At times I felt like the characters were contrived and not very well thought out. I like good visual description: not just telling me what someone looks like, but giving me the feel of their presence. That's my personal sounding alarm for a good author(or authors). Kith-Kanan's speech and reactions were a little out-of-character sometimes for a ranger who is running away from his imperial heritage. Sithas was pretty well done and well-rounded, though most of the time the narration seemed to favor Kith-Kanan's point of view over Sithas'. I think it would have been more interesting to make the scenarios between the two more ambigious, rather than Sithas just being represented as a stone-cold rascist against all non-Silvanesti.

4. The story's pace quickened in the latter half of the book, the political intrigue very fun to read. I think the last thirty pages crammed too much though, trying to wrap up the few loose plot-points. However, the last thirty pages did excite me enough to read the rest of the series.

I liked the book overall and the concept is good. Plus, I loved Chronicles and Legends and have been curious about the rest of Krynn. Like I said, I plan on reading the next book and am looking forward to it.

The first book in the trilogy begins to lay out the story of two elven twins, and the clashing of interests that occur once the slightly older of the brothers becomes Speaker of the Stars (basically, the king of the elves). While a lot of the story is basically a generic fantasy plot--with one brother marrying the love of the other, then the other finding another, truer love (with the former still having feelings for him, of course)--it's good to get a little of the backstory for the elven nations if you're already a Dragonlance fan. As long as you don't mind fantasy cliches, it's a good read.

If you love DL you really need to read this trilogy. It's a wonderful tale of love, prejudice, war, and brotherhood. This first novel is really a fish out of water story where the elvish prince long use to court life, Kith-Kanan, is spurned in love and runs away. Out in the forest Kith-Kanan realizes what it really is to be an elf, he learns his roots you could say, remembering how his ancestors lived their lives. If you are looking for knowledge on elves in DL, you've got to read this. If you like humor, action, and a good plot, you've got to read this.

Its required DL for the DL addict and I'm very glad and I'm thankful Wizards of the Coast reprinted it, which is what makes this next comment really ungrateful, but oh well. DID ANYONE EDIT THIS BOOK? Sorry for the caps. I know I'm picky...but it really looks like this had zero attention. You see horrible mistakes: misspelled names, paragraphs ending in a comma or no period at all, and two other things that amazed me. I saw an "Oh" spelled with a zero...example: 0h. Even worst I saw an "I" that was a one! Example: 1 went to school. That's just mind boggling bad.

Final Thought: Other than the editing mistakes, which do throw you out of the story, this is classic DL. If you like dragonlance at all you are going to like this. Go get it.

After Thought: Hopefully Wizards of the Coast get their acts together, the editing mistakes by a major publishing company must be embarrassing.