Customer Reviews

TEST OF THE TWINS VOL.3 (Dragonlance Legends, Vol 3)

5 star:		(69)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was introduced the the Dragonlance books by accident about a year ago, when I was given the Chronicles Trilogy as a present by someone who, knowing I love dragons, saw the titles and took a chance. I practically got down on my knees and thanked her. I loved the Chronicles and wanted to read more. I have to confess that even then Raistlin was my favorite character(or, at least, as Tas might say, the most interesting), though I was firmly attached to the others as well, especially Sturm and Tanis and Tas.

I made the mistake, after seeing the list printed inside the book, of reading Dragons of Summer Flame next (DO NOT do this if you are thinking of taking up the series, it spoils a lot of surprises and is very confusing!), so steered in the right direction by a horrified friend, I proceeded to read the Legends series.

It takes place a few years after the end of the War of the Lance and the most prominent characters are Raistlin, Caramon (the Twins!), Tas the kender, and Lady Crysania, the cleric of Paladine, lost in her own goodness.

The Test of the Twins has some very wonderful scenes, the best in the series, with the possible exceptions of the Raistlin/Fistandantilus flashback, Raistlin and Crysania alone by that stream, and Raistlin and Caramon with the rabbit scenes in the War of the Twins. But the last, say 50-100 pages of The Test of the Twins have me jumping up and down every single time I read them! And I have read them, perhaps four or five times now. I have that habit though, rereading books I really love until I can recite them. In The Test of the Twins, we get the culmination of the trilogy (and no threat of those terrible cliffhanger endings that plagued the other two). We get Raistlin and Crysania in the Abyss. We get a fabulous Raistlin versus the Dark Queen scene. A great Lord Soth monologue. Dalamar and Kitiara get warm and cuddly... Caramon and Tas travelling through time. A wonderful resurgence of Tanis Half-Elven(how happy!!) And, what we've all been waiting for, a final showdown between the Twins! I get chillbumps, it's so good!

Anyone who is fan of fantasy and is interested in Dragonlance should get to reading them. It's really worth it. At the risk of sounding a little annoying, though, I have to say that, as far as my taste for writing style and quality goes, The Test of the Twins, The War of the Twins and The Time of the Twins are, by far, the best of the lot. And wouldn't they make the most incredible movies?(wistful sigh...)

The book (Test of the Twins) is the last of the Legends Trilogy, and definately one of the best Dragonlance books. It is the last book of the twin's History (not counting The Dragons of Summer Flame). The Begining of the epic story started in the book: Soulforge, written by Margaret Weiss. This book was a pleasure to read. I really suggest it *the entire legends trilogy) to all Dragonlance fans. Of course, for the full enjoyment I suggest you read the Dragonlance books in the following order: 1) Soulforge, 2)Brothers in arms, 3) Chronicles trilogy, 4) Legends Trilogy, 5) Dragons of Summer Flame. One book is sequil to another in the order they are written above. I suggest you buy all of them. Great books indeed.

All of the books were written by Margaret Weis. Most of the books were written by Margaret Weis and co written by Tracy Hickman. The Soulforge was written by margaret Weis alone, and Brothers in Arms was written by Margaret Weis and Don Perrin.

This final novel in the Dragonlance Legends trilogy not only serves as an outstanding conclusion to Legends but to the Chronicles as well. I say this bringing into consideration that while, there is a line of separation between the two trilogies, Legends brings actual closure to what began in Dragons of Autumn Twilight. It is with this last novel that even the authors admit in the Afterword that this would be their final foray into the world they created, at least for a while as history has proven.

Test of the Twins, as with Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's five previous Dragonlance novels, is written with such clarity and fluidic style that one finds it difficult to extricate themselves from it for the other trivialities of life until you've completed it.

The premise:

At the conclusion of War of the Twins Raistlin, the master of past and present along with Lady Crysania, the Cleric of Paladine were at the portal to the Abyss and in the middle of opening it, to further their cause to destroy the Queen of Darkness. Unfortunately for Raistlin and Crysania, despite his efforts to change history, is bound to repeat it in another form. Unlike Fistdantilus though, Raistlin succeeds in his bid to enter the Abyss to challenge the Dark Queen and her minions.

Caramon and Tasslehoff are ever present in this third novel as well and have an exceptional first section of the book, again dealing with time travel and Astinus the Chronicler of Krynn. Making a final reappearance is Tanis Half-Elven picking up where he was left off in the first book! Also making reappearances are Kitiara, Lord Soth and the good and bad dragons of Krynn. Overall, Legends is an outstanding story of one brother's ambition to save the soul of his brother and in truth finding that it is not his brother's soul he must save.

The cover art for this and the other recently re-released novels are exceptionally well done, credit to the artist. I would highly recommend this series and before that, the Dragonlance Chronicles, to anyone interested in outstanding writing, characters of true depth and an overall compelling story that will certainly give pause for contemplation! {ssintrepid}

In Legends Trilogy I learned much more about the characters than in the Chronicles Trilogy and I began to think of them more as real people with many thoughts, feelings, and shortcomings instead of just the Superheros out to save the world that they seemed before. I saw a little bit more of Caramon's vunerable side, Raistlin's evil side, and Tas's caring side than I ever had in Chronicles. Legends didn't have quite as much action, however, and went on more in the minds of the characters than Chronicles did. In Test of the Twins Caramon is finally able to let go of Raistlin and Raistlin sacrifices himself in a way that makes me wonder if he is good, evil, neutural, average, or misunderstood. It's not the best book I've ever read or even the best Dragonlance book I've ever read, but It was so exciting that I couldn't put it down and I think that it deserves five stars.

This books was amazing. It was filled with humor, excitement, adventure, and some tragedy. It is the final book in the twins series, and what an end it was. The whole book kept me at the edge of my seat the entire time, i couldnt put this book down until i had finished it. I am sure most dragonlance fans have read this book, but if you havent, you are really missing out. This book brings to life the final struggle between the two twins, as well as their half-sister Kitiara, and even dalamar the dark elf. There is plenty of humor with Tas, full of excitement with all the characters. It is definately a good book, and a must read for all fantasy fans.

Test of the Twins, was another terrific book written by two of the greatest authors I have ever read. I was first introduce to these authors by the first book in The Chronicles series, Dragons of Autumn Twilight, and I thought there could never be another series to match that one. I was wrong, the Legends trilogy, dare I say, surppassed the Chronicles. Here you are in another adventage with the twins, Carmon and Raistlin, and the irrepressable kender, Tasslehoff. Now, in this book it's the last and finale showdown between the twins. This book has everything a good book should have drama, comedy, terror, and ... love? This is a wonderful book in a long line of great books. In closeing all I have to say is Weis and Hichman, keep it going.

Weis and Hickman do it again. The end of this series will not disappoint Dragon Lance fans. The time traveling in this book explains much of what happens in the other 2 legends books and the chronicles books. I am already past the second part of Dragons of Summer Flame and must say that this book is not a disappointment at all.

The Legends Trilogy- the Time of The Twins, the War of the Twins, and Test of the Twins, is the sequel to The Chronicles Trilogy- Dragons of Autumn Twilight, Dragons of Winter Night, and Dragons of Spring Dawning, which brings to life the ultimate battle between Good and Evil in the magical World of Krynn. The books are so incredibly well written that the reader feels that they have been transported to another plane of existence and are actually present among the characters, seeing what they see, feeling what they feel, sensing what they sense. The authors Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman have truly outdone themselves and have presented us with a masterpiece of literature the likes of which we have seen only in JRR Tolkien's work and RA Salvatore's The Dark Elf and Icewind Dale trilogies. Duty, honor, bravery, magic, dragons and heroes are all about. One should seriously start thinking about maybe turning them into movies...

Yep,this is a keeper. A very strong ending to the Weis & Hickman books of Chronicles and Legends (Chronicles leads very smoothly into Legends, and is foreshadowed at the end of the last Chronicles book by Fizban)

The previous (War of the Twins) can be hard to take, because Raistlin does some horrid things, and he KNOWS they are horrid things

This is a lot of fun. Its a very strong showing, and a terrific ending as well (Tas first hears of Merilon here, but thats another world!)

Tas turns up (and acquits himself very well, not to give anything away, proving himself the best of friends for Caramon). Tanis turns up, as do other old friends ("Whats that spell again? Fireball?")

Absolutely delightful. A very strong conclusion to a very rich trilogy. War of the Twins had the great cliffhanger ending (and thankfully really picked up near the end, otherwise it would induce sleep cos of the SLOW pace!)

Lot of Tas, lot of Raistlin (he doesn't quite repent, but he redeems himself I think). Always nice to see Tanis again, and Lord Soth.. And Kitiara.. And Dalamar

Absolutely wonderful. HIGHLY recommended

Test of the twins, the concluding novel in the Dragonlance Legends trilogy, is the story of "saving a soul". The story is, in my opinion actually the concluding novel in the six volume series compiled of both the Dragonlance Chronicles and the Legends. The novel effectively and entertainingly ties off nearly all of the loose ends and left me with a distict feeling of completeness.

In the author's own words, the book is about "saving a soul". The reader is, and was in previous editions, led to believe that it is Raistlin's soul that needs saving, however it is notl; it is his twins'.
Caramon, the twin, is the one who needs saving. He is Raistlin's opposite and keeping with the theme of the series, his soul must be saved by the light in order to balance the evil of Raistlin.

The authors also do a reasonable job of dealing with time travel. The pebble, Tasselhoff, is superb in his role and is easily the "best" character in the series, with Fizban coming a close second. Fizban in his limited role, almost seems as a kender himself.

About the only part of the novel that I did not like was the limited definition of magic. The term casting of a spell means nothing more than it says, more details are needed.

I would recommend this novel and series to anyone looking for an easy, fun, engaging read!