Customer Reviews

The Oath and the Measure (Dragonlance: The Meetings Sextet, Vol. 4)

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

 

 

I have mixed feelings about this book. This story makes Sturm look stupid and brash, which perhaps he was in his youth, but his character in this book is a far cry from the man we later meet in the Chronicles series. The storytelling, however, was really enthralling. Michael Williams' forest imagery was fantastic and reminded me of some of the great imagery in the Chronicles and War of the Souls books. He also gave depth to his characters and pulled some surprises that I didn't expect. I find this to be most interesting because I didn't like Weasel's Luck and Galen Beknighted by the same author mostly because I thought that his characters, even the main ones, lacked depth. I recommend reading this book if for no other reason than because there is a giant, friendly spider who's entire existence turns out to be quite ironic. Okay, that's not really a good reason. Read it or not, it doesn't really matter. I don't think you will learn much about the overall Dragonlance storyline from this book, but it is kind of an interesting read all the same.

Although I have become used to ignoring contradictions among the Dragonlance books, this little work shocked me with the sheer amount of inconsistencies and errors. It is almost enough to make me wonder if the author even read the original books at all! Though it would take a true dragonlance fan like myself to spot such inconsistencies, I feel that this is one of the weaker books of the rather expansive series. Putting a rather dull spin on Sturm's character, the plot isn't exactly anything to brag about either. And while the summary of the book promises, (as do all other books about Sturm Brightblade), to once and for all solve the mystery about the fate of his father, I have yet to see a book that has, nor do I expect to see such a book in the near future. My advice: find a different book if this is one of your first Dragonlance books. (Sorry about the spelling)

Telling the story of Sturm Brightblade and his history was a diffcult task. After the Dragonlance Chronicles where written, one was left with many mysterys, one of which was Sturm's relationship with Gunther Uth Winston, and of Derek Crowngards extreme hatred of Sturm. This book anwsers those questions throughly and finitely. Written by Micheal Willams, the poet of the series, this book involves music, and devious ploting. This is where Sturm gets the seeds planted in his head that the Oath and the Measure are not all they are cracked up to be, although he fails to realize it at this point. The only thing lacking is a difinative timeline that only the true hardcore Dragonlance reader will mind.

This book is an attempt to intertwine some Arthurian storylines into the Dragonlance mythos. Though not terrible, I was a bit upset by the lack of originality. The Dragonlance world has some very unique attributes and forces at work that make for interesting reads, this book, however, was quite low on my list.

I have to say that this book did start out a little slow, and didnt really get going until quite a ways into the book, but it did get better as the book went on. I found it to be a good read once it got going, and i do recommend it to any dragonlance fan who wants to learn a little more about Sturm's past. Though i can't say that it is the best book in the series, bit is written pretty well, and the characters are written pretty well. Recommend it if you plan on reading the whole series.

I will admit it's got some great poetry but it just seemed the author wanted to take the challange in King Aurthur's court and put it into Dragonlance. It could of worked but it was so dragging and boring! It never moved and it had no excitment to it. I had to stop reading since it was a struggle just to continue reading it. I believe the author though, could write some outstanding poetry but should never write a book again unless Margret Weis is right over your shoulder writing it for you! This was the first and only book I could not read because it was so terrible.

the word "green" comes to mind when discussing the fourth installment of the widely popular albeit sumtimes disappointing (try the remaining 2 volumes and you'll know what i mean) meetings sextet series. Maybe because aside from using the word green in his novel a lot ; Williams , aside from his greener characters , is still too green to handle such an important task as contributing to the all important Sturm mythos. Williams should stick to his poetry , he's ill prepared to take on Krynn. On a lighter and more positive note it's an interesting read. Doesn't reap much on the revelation quotas though.

Michael Williams is the poet laureate of the Dragonlance saga. But that does not mean he can write a novel. There is a lot of fluff here as Williams brings in a good deal of Arthurian imagery to craft a dull story about Sturm Brightblade that goes nowhere and does nothing to add to the saga. Williams is a well read writer. Anyone who reads his notes in the annotated versions of the Chronicles and Legends can see that he knows Yeats and Rossetti very well. Williams should know that not every poet could transcend poetry (as anyone who ever read the plays John Keats wrote can attest!) and his rhetorical gifts can only go so far. There are some interesting ideas in "The Oath and the Measure" but this remains a weak entry in the Dragonlance books and should be avoided as much as possible.

A good book, although you have to be a Dragonlance reader to fully enjoy and understand it. It should be especially interesting to people who enjoy reading about the Knights of Solamnia and specifically about Sturm Brightblade. I would recommend it, but I found it a little confusing.

This is by far the weakest Dragonlance I've read of the first 5 Meetings Sextet / Chronicles / Legends / Tales I trilogy. Sturm is not one of my favorite characters, and the fairly wandering plot combined with the lack of interesting characters leads to a very tiresome novel. Williams has a neat premise (someone who hates the Brightblades because of their lack of respect for the Oath and Measure) and incorporates his love of music into the novel. However, it never "clicks." I never felt in the hands of a skilled storyteller and whisked away to another realm.