Customer Reviews

The Second Generation (Dragonlance Second Generation)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

For those of you who don't already know this (like me before I actually sat down and read it), this book is actually five short stories. They are loosely tied together and told in chronological order. They are basically designed to introduce the reader to the offspring of the Heroes of the Lance. These new characters play prominent roles in Weis and Hickman's DRAGONS OF SUMMER FLAME.

The first story is KITIARA'S SON. It tells the story of...umm...well...Kitiara's son. I won't tell you who the father is since that's one of the surprises of the story (I guarantee you will never guess this one!). In it, Weis and Hickman explore some of their favorite themes: love, honor, and duty. It is a very intriguing story and very well written.

LEGACY tells the story of Caramon and Tika's son Palin. We are also introduced to two of his other sons, Tanin and Sturm. Another classic tale from these two founders of the Dragonlance world. We again see the brilliant characterization and character interaction that made the CHRONICLES and LEGENDS trilogies so great to read.

We get a better look at the interaction between Caramon's three sons in WANNA BET? We get to see Weis and Hickman's classic humor once again in this story (albeit, without a glimpse of a kender's topknot). The situations these three men get themselves into despite their best efforts made me laugh out loud.

RAISTLIN'S DAUGHTER regales us with a legend circulating in the land of Krynn, the unbelievable story that Raistlin fathered a child. This story introduces new characters that play very important roles in DRAGONS OF SUMMER FLAME. I was kind of disappointed in this story. The characters just didn't seem as vivid as in the others. The story was interesting, but it just didn't seem to come alive for me.

The last story involves Tanis and his son Gilthas. It is an emotionally charged story of elven political intrigue. Weis and Hickman again nail their characterization with this story. The elven politician that played a pivotal role was excellently drawn, although I would have liked a bit more insight as to his motivations.

All in all, I enjoyed this book. It's not required reading if you're going to pick up DRAGONS OF SUMMER FLAME, but it will give you a better understanding of the characters. Weis and Hickman definitely still have what it takes to spin a good Dragonlance tale.

When i first heard of this book, i thought it was a novel. But when i bought it i was suprised to find that it was actually a bunch of short stories, dealing with the children of the heros of the lance. That fact didnt discourage me at all as i read the book. Most of the stories were very good, and very entertaining. They were filled with a lot of action, though some of them were emotional. This is a must read before reading Dragons of Summer Flame. It brings to life many of the characters that are big players in that book. I finished this book in a day, it was very well written, and pulls you into all of the stories. I highly recommend it to all dragonlance fans.

I really enjoyed this book as an introduction to the offspring of the Heroes. I haven't had a chance to keep up with all of the new characters and was quite befuddled when I picked up Dragons of Summer Flame. In that book I got the sneaking suspicion that I should already *know* these characters & kept waiting for an introduction. The Second Generation anthology fills that gap nicely. Now I can dive back into Summer Flame with all the background I need!

Granted, some of the stories might not be the best that Weis & Hickman have ever come up with. But this anthology serves its purpose nicely (and stop knocking "Wanna Bet," do they have to be serious *all* of the time?). I can't wait to find out more about these characters (especially Steel & Palin!). If you're coming back to Dragonlance after a long hiatus, be sure to pick this book up first!

If you liked the Core books set before this one - then there is no doubt you will enjoy it. It is set as 'short stories' to just get a few new points across. I enjoyed every part of it - and was breathed a sigh of relief after being away from Krynn for as long as I have. Although Tas does not appear in this book - he does in the next, but the book is certainly not hurting without my fav. character doing everything he can do to 'mess' things up.

I definetly recommend it to anyone who has started this series and found it as wonderful as I have.

Weiss and Hickman have created a prodigious body of work based on the mythical world of Krynn. Regrettably, this particular anthology of short stories is inconsistent, in both tone and quality, with their usually fine craftsmanship. As a whole, the collection suffers from a lack of focus, though there are bright spots.

'Legacy' is generally well written and focused, yet leaves a great deal unanswered insofar as what was illusion and what was "real" in Palin's test.

The young dark Paladin is a plausible product of Kitiara's lifestyle, and a possible, though improbable, outcome of her previously described journey North with Sturm. In a glaring story telling omission, tension is absent and obstacles trivially overcome when a party tries to infiltrate both the Dark Paladin's fortress and the High Clerist's Tower. And the weight of a blue dragon's passengers is utterly ignored.

'Raistlin's Daughter' is well put together.

The Search for the Greygem, which includes the sons of Caramon, is silly and blatantly devoid of the detail most Weiss/Hickman tales receive. A ludicrous "PC" theme is added which not only detracts from the lame plot, but utterly ignores the adaptability of people. This story reads like a shoddily produced "Monty Hall" D & D module: hope it was never run at a tournament.

A comment on a structural weakness Weiss and Hickman have built into the world of Krynn, steel currency notwithstanding. They can never portray Kender, Gnomes, or Gully Dwarves with any sobriety, and often portray "normal" Dwarves as silly. This is inconsistent with the gravity with which humans and elves are generally portrayed, and leads to an enormously unbalanced world view. It is the fundamental weakness of the Krynn fantasy world, one which they will probably never change. Considering the well designed world presented in the Rose of the Prophet Trilogy, and the absence of sillines in the Dark Sword Chronicles, they know how to do it, they just choose to keep the Kender and Gnomes on the Jar Jar Binks level of character depth: which is a pity.

In the Graygem quest, combining this flaw with three characters who are elsewhere treated with some realism, and who represent the continuation of a line of heroes, seems like self-sacrelige on the authors' part.

For the non-Krynn veteran, avoid this book, it is far below Weiss and Hickman's normal standard. For Krynn fans, it is worth a look, but best checked out of a library.

This book is ok except for one thing. Three of the five stories are already published in the first through third tales trilogy. Something i didnt realize until after i had bought the novel. Go buy the tales trilogys before you buy this. They're better and have more to offer

I gave this 4 stars because of the fact that most of the stories had already been written and introduced to us in earlier novels... however the few new stories were great, but not excellent.
If you're coming off a haitus, then please pick this up so you can get familiar with the new heroes...
I bought it just for the new stories and I'll say that it is easier to have all the stories in one binding... rather than search through three or four others...
Do I still recommend this? Yes... just keep in mind if you've followed every DL publication, you've already read most of these stories... but it is still nice to reread and get a "new" feel for the characters.

The stories told here are all worthwhile IF you haven't already read them. Unfortunately, 3 of the 5 stories were already published in the origional Tales anthologies, so make sure that you aren't wasting your money here.

Ths is a good book overall, but it is definitely short in one area...action. There are very few fight scenes in this book which kind of kills the fantasy part of it. But it is still good, more so because it introduces the new characters to the story so people will understand what is going on in Dragons of Summer Flame. It helps develop the characters for the NOVEL that comes after it so consider it a necessary prelude. While I don't recommend it to the casual reader if you are a fantasy buff you should pick it up if only to learn of the new players in the Chaos War.

This collection of stories was a good bridge between times in the world of Krynn. I cetrainly enjoyed reading about new characters as well as old. However, I do want to comment about another review on this book. One reviewer writes that he rated this book 7 stars because of a "false" tale in the book, and that he has "proof" about it. Certainly I hope that he/she doesn't believe EVERYTHING that he/she reads, and that it was made clear in the novel, and I quote, "...that the reader should be forewarned, however, that my friends and I regard it as veritable gossip" and that it is stressed several times that it is a LEGEND. He/She goes off that if we doubt him, that we can go check in Dragons of Summer Flame. I ask you, who ever said Raistlin was telling the truth? I surely hope that you don't rate books by things like this, and that Amazon.com, though I thoroughly have appreciated their quality service in the past, accepts "reviews," if that is what it can be called, of this nature. (One can obviously tell that I am also bored, or else I wouldn't be critiquing others)