Customer Reviews

Saving Solace (Dragonlance: Champions, Vol. 1)

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

 

 

I got this book and left it on my desk for a few days (was finishing a different book series). Once I started reading this I couldnt put it down, read through it in less than a day.

The story centers itself around Gerard uth Mondar who was one of the main characters in the Weis/Hickman War of the Souls trilogy. Here we find Gerard has just quit the Knighthood and has a falling out with his father over it. At the same Palin Majere summons him to Solace to be the new sheriff, the old one had recently been murdered. So Gerard has to deal with the normal day to day job of Sherrifing Solace while trying to figure out who murdered the previous sheriff as well as a mysterious accident that happens at the new temple to Mishakel.

All in all a very enjoyable dragonlance novel with Kender, Gnomish inventions (and explosions!). But of course no novel based in Solace would be complete without Otik's Spiced Potato's (they make quite a few appearences).

Get this book today! 5*****

I very rarely read fantasy novels, mostly because I find a lot of fantasy novels (and, in fact, all genre fiction) to be horribly written. Every now and then, though, I will page through a Dragonlance book at the bookstore and wonder if I really want to get myself all tied up in this world. I'd managed to resist, but I was compelled to pick this book up when I saw the author's name. Since I had taken a creative writing class from Douglas Clark at UNM, I knew I had to give it a spin, and I found the first few pages well-written and interesting enough to fork over $7 (and change).

I was pleasantly surprised by this book, but I fear that part of that might have to do with the fact that this wasn't really the type of fantasy novel I've dreaded in the past. In fact, reading this novel, it's almost like a Western thrown into a land where humans happen to co-exist with dragons and other strange beasts. The story of the new sheriff arriving in town to investigate the murder of the former sheriff has to have been done a few times in Western and mystery stories, but Clark writes with what appears to the reader to be outright enjoyment, and it carries over to the reading of the book.

My only minor complaint is that at some points I felt lost. This, however, can't be blamed on the author so much as it's just impossible to define everything just for the handful of new Dragonlance readers without boring the crap out of the legions of faithful readers. I did wonder just what the hell a kender was for a while, but alas, I think I understood everything just fine.

Congrats on the first book. I'll look forward to reading more.

Saving Solace by Douglas Clark is the first book in a series of stand alone novels in the Champions series. I believe this is Mr. Clark's first novel in the Dragonlance universe and he proves to be a quick study of all things Dragonlance.

The plot of this book is pretty straight forward and has few twists and turns. The book starts off with the town of Solace discovering a murder, who happens to be their sheriff. Palin Majere the town mayor sends for the only man he thinks can take over the sheriff's job, Gerard uth Mondar. The book centers of Gerard quest to find out who murdered the sheriff. Of course along the way there are some hurdles he has to get across, but in typical fashion, in the end everything is resolved in a nice tight package. If you are a fan of Dragonlance books, which I am, this book has everything you have come to expect from one. Some Dragonlance books written in the past few years have started deviating from the style that makes Dragonlance so popular; well have no fear here, Mr. Clark writes a traditional Dragonlance book here, and writes it well I may add.

Some of the characters in this book are carry-overs from the War of Souls trilogy. Gerard, Palin, Laura, and a few others. This gives Clark a chance to jump right into the story as the characters have already been developed. However, the one complaint about this book is that there is very little true character development. In fact, I would even venture to say that the Gerard that is written about in Saving Solace doesn't resemble the Gerard written about the War of Souls. In WoS Gerard is a gruff, quiet, introspective soldier. Ye in this book he dances, cracks jokes and does things that he never did before. A minor continuity problem from book to book is all.

In you are looking for a traditional Dragonlance book that is a light easy read, have no fear and jump into this one. If, however, you are looking for a deep plot with lots of character development, you may be disappointed by this one. Yet, in the end scheme of things I would recommend this book to most fantasy genre fans. I enjoyed this book and it is good to see that the Dragonlance setting is getting back to what I know and loved about it before. Well done Mr. Clark!

Having never read a Dragonlance novel prior to this one, I was surprised at how quickly I fell in love with the characters and began wondering about their backgrounds. I was more familiar with the Forgotton Realms charcters, Drizzt and Elminster. I quickly overlooked these at the marvel of reading about a white dragonThe Great White Wyrm (Dragonlance: Champions, Vol. 3), but I wanted to get the scoop from the beginning of the series. So I started here in Solace, and I must say, it proves to be a satifying adventure. While the book wastes too much time speaking of Gerard's dislike of spiced potatoes, this can be overlooked as I'm sure Clark was simply trying to tie two series together with a familiar food item. I found Gerard's love interest a little underdeveloped (actually wondering why that part of the plot was included at all...), and some of his thought processes unexplained (e.g. How he came up with who murders who; some important dialogues are simply left out in place of more conversation about potatoes).

All in all, this book was slow in the first half, but by the time I got to the last 100 pages or so, I simply could not put it down. This is a suggested read that will draw you into the world of the Dragonlance novels if you are not already immersed in them ;)

This book is terrific, absolutely hilarious, the best book I've ever . . . hey, wait a minute, I'm not supposed to say that. I wrote the book!

Definitely not the best DL book, but definitely not the worst. If you're looking for an amazing, complex plot, skip over this book. The thing that made me enjoy this was Gerard and the supporting characters. He was one of my fave characters from the War of Souls trilogy, and it's cool to see what he did after those books. Pretty well written characters, but no earth shattering plot...but sometimes that's okay.

I came to this novel not as a fan of Dragonlance, but as a fan of Douglas W. Clark. I knew nothing of Solace or Gerrard uth Mondar before opening this book. By the end, I was fond of both.

Clark's seminal series, Alchemy Unlimited, introduced him to readers as a sharp satirist with an imagination suitable for epic fantasy. In Saving Solace, Clark bites his satirist's tongue while still giving us a generous dose of his skills at human observation. Every character in Saving Solace is grounded in the motivations of real people dealing with real problems, making this a fresh novel in a crowded genre.

I love that Clark's characters prove their mettle not by lopping off heads or defeating fierce monsters, but by doing the right things according to the dictates of their own consciences. I also love that Clark's Solace captures the feel of every small town, where folks say hi as they pass one another, then gossip after they pass. It's a town full of characters with turbulent pasts, complicated family lives, and other details that might be left out of a lesser novel.

Some might not like the elegance and maturity of this book, and to them I recommend grabbing most anything else off the fantasy shelf. Nine out of ten random picks from this section of the bookstore yield epic battles, dragons and ogres, sexy elven princesses blah blah blah.

But for readers who find the best escape is the one most believable, Saving Solace is a great pick.

Great book and well done storyline. Humor in fantasy seems a rare commodity these days. Some books have it but only in small amounts. Thank you for the laughs.

If you like books like this one, might I suggest another I've recently come across. The Unsuspecting Mage by Brian S. Pratt. It's another fantasy adventure sure to please. I highly recommend it.

This really is a terrific book.

So much of Dragonlance has become all dark and death and doom and some knight's godalmighty Honor ... it's really nice to be able to read a book like Saving Soalce and smile, chuckle, laugh -- and still know you're in Krynn.

When you finish this, hit the local used book stores and dig up copies of Clark's ALCHEMY trilogy. You won't be sorry.

I haven't read much of Douglas Clark, so I didnt know what to expect. However this was a good book aside from a few minor problems.

1. Where the hell is Mirror??? In Dragons Of A Vanished Moon, we get the point that Odila and Mirror are working together to help free Silvanesti. The "Odila is a cleric of Mishakal" was ok, but why isnt Mirror with her? Also, we dont get much of her as I would like.

2. We all know series are to be continued. In the first book of the Elven Exiles, THe Lioness is spirited away by magic, giving us questions such as: Who took her? Why did he take her? Where did he take her? Why her? In this book there is nothing. We get a sheriff murdered and solve the crime. Nothing else. The girl that Gerard is apparently taken with joins Odila to be a priestess and Odila is leaving since the temple is finished. We've got nothing to look forward to.

3. This is a very minor point but to me, it is important. The Map. At the beginning of the book, we get a map, as always. It lists places such as: The Temple Of Majere, The Temple Of Hiddukel, A Shrine to Zeboim, The Ruined Academy Of Sorcery, A Hylar House Inn, The Fiddlers Inn. These places are of no importance whatsoever in the book.

5.Too much of the book was centered on Gerard not liking this food which he was forced to eat, and not liking this, and not liking that. Does that really help us? I don't think so.

Still, it was overall a rather good book, and I'm happy I bought and read it.