Customer Reviews

Tears of the Night Sky (Dragonlance Chaos Wars, Vol. 2)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I wasn't too sure about this book when I first started it. I wasnt going to read it cause it got some bad reviews on here and on other pages. I even thought this book would be sort of a "chick flick", if you will excuse the cliche. But as I read this book, I actually found myself liking it, and not being able to put it down.

The book starts out a little slow. It takes place during the War against Chaos, during the same time as "Dragons of Summer Flame" was set. Crysania decides to embark on a quest to find out why the gods are so distant lately. She must find some powerful artifacts in order to do this. She is accompanied by a group of adventurers that pledge to keep her safe on her journey. Also, Dalamar plays a part in this story. He is the one that shows Crysania what must be done in order for her to reach her goals. He also has his hands in other things in this story, but I won't spoil it. Read and find out.

While some of the chapters in this book might not have been neccessary. This books maintains a smooth and easy read all the way though. The thing that I found most entertaining was the way the authors brought together actual dialogue from "Dragons of Summer Flame" and fit them into this book just so you would know where it takes place in respect to that book. I also like the way the authors brought in Crysania's white tiger, Tandar. We learn about how she came to know the tiger, and how the tiger affects her day to day life.

The story itself is a little cheesy. But the authors do a good job explaining Crysania's fears with the coming of the War of Chaos. They also do a good job explaining what a sightless person feels and the way they interact with day to day life. The characters aren't very well rounded, and the story seems a little rushed, but all in all this book is pretty good. It is definately worth the read if you want to learn a little more about Crysania after her appearence in the "Legends Trilogy". While this book doesn't have as much action as some other Dragonlance books, I still feel that it is worth the read.

Serious and religious, this story tells about the Cleric of Paladin Crysania. Crysania is very devoted to her god, so when she find out that he may be in trouble, at the suggestion of Dalamar the Dark Elf, she goes on a quest to find the five dragon stones - magical stones that allow one to communicate with a god (among other things). Two of these stones appeared to Dalamar, and the last three are in a place so terrible it is not in her liking to go there. But this blind Cleric will do almost anything to save her god and bring him back to her.

If you're an avid Dragonlance fan, this is a good read, but otherwise I recommend pursuing better Dragonlance books (anything by M. Weis and T. Hickman, Douglas Niles, D. Perrin, or Michael Williams)

For those who read the Chronicles & Legends, this book comes not as a total disappointment, but a ridiculous joke! The author seriously needs to do some "homework" before attempting to add onto the Dragonlance timeline; namely, reading the books. Dragonlance's popularity came about due to the fact that the series boasts of interesting & well-thought plotlines, together with an array of complex & memorable characters. Sadly, these were all destroyed by the author in this book. The plot is weak & senseless, the characters flat & the story poses no credibility. For example, how can Crysania's love for Raistlin change just like that? It's as if what they went through together in the Legends never happened at all. Furthermore, she was a strong character in the Legends, & what makes her so attractive to the readers is her inner turmoil and conflict between her faith & love for Raistlin. Emotions this deep cannot be destroyed so simply. I would have given this 0 stars if I could, but since I cannot, just save your time & money & skip this book as if it never existed in the Dragonlance timeline.

The first thing I want to say is this book should never had been written. Sure the writing is great but I hate the content. Well I am somewhat of a Raistlin fan so I'm a bit biased but that's not the point. The great thing about the Raistlin-Crysania love team is the idea that love transcends the very idea of good and evil. By making Crysania fall for this other guy once agian shows us the prejudices of this world. It's like saying elves could only love elves. This book tells us that Raist's and Crysania's relationship was doomed from the start. They should have left their relationship open ended since the authors obviously have no wish to resolve it. I mean Gilthanas and Silvara where abe to resolve their problems even though Gilthanas openly reviled her. How about Raistlin, doesn't he get the chance for his own hapiness?

oh, how i loathed this book! it's physically painful, dumb and feels like a bunch of twelve-year-olds suffering in the summer. and i don't mean it's because it was written for teenagers. i mean, that all the characters, including a fifty plus woman (Crysania), a few adult mages (including Dalamar), and generally all the characters act like they have an emotional age of twelve. Like watching tom and jerry kids, or the flintstone kids, or the looney tunes kids show: being a children's version of a classic.

it is also a mocking of everything that faith is about, like the writers never even got a glimpse on faith or religion of any kind, a pathetic excercise of infantile emotions. a sad, very sorry excuse for the waste of time, money and paper.

and oh, how pointless it is! the plot goes absolutely nowhere. it establishes two things: the weather is very, very, very, comically HOT and Paladine, help us! Besides repeating these prhases just too many times, it repeats every statement at least five more times. like they photocopied the paragraphs and then forgot to separate them from the original. all the "action" in the book leads to nowhere, it absolutely makes no difference whatsoever if our heroes make their journey. they actually and deliberately miss out on all the action of the chaos war (which, given the nature of the war, is quite a feat actually). even the two battle scenes are not enough to chase away the boredom.

and oh, there is a love buried there somewhere. a cheap high-scool type romance, mixed with a ridiculous (and i mean *really* ridiculous) faerie tale element: the lover changing voluntarily into an animal. and even as a fearsome tiger, he still remains the same, pathetic, hopeless lover, so it's a wonder, they don't recognize him in the first minute. of course, the book is politically correct: a twentysomething desert mage can fall in love with a priestess thirty years his senior, no matter the numerous cultural differences, and a dwarf can become a priest of Paladine (Reorx being the god of _all_ dwarfs, _exclusively_).

the story is dragging along so painfully, that i couldn't even care when it got to the end - nominally, there is a climax-like episode with all the wrong and illogic twists and ludicrous scenes and still, you get the feeling, they missed out on something big, again and again. looking back from the end of the book, it was a completely meaningless, fruitless trip, which influenced nothing, solved nothing, only several characters died unnecessarily and the surviving made complete fools out of themselves. the whole promise of the story would have been much more interesting if they all stayed at home and fought for their city (and lost, as mentioned in the previous books) or died defending. also included are two scenes, which appear in the Dragons of Summer flame. these shouldn't have been too hard to write (or simply copy), but no, they rewrote both, so it creates paradoxes: sentences deleted, said by the other characters, or jumping to conclusions too fast, or by still other characters. this is not cunning, it's plain stupid and shows a complete lack of talent for writing. much worse than the Last Thane and one of the worst books ever written. period.

This story was a long time in the telling and is a very wonderful addition to the Dragonlance saga. Tears of the Night Sky is filled with surprises, from the beginning to the end. The love story told is not completely sappy, and the ending far from predictable. If stories about Dalamar Nightson or Lady Crysania interest you, get this book!

Tears of the Night Sky brings out the emphasis on how hard it is for the revered daughter of Paladine to break loose and learn how to love again. Bestowed with a perilous journey and a dark gift from none other than Dalamar the Dark, Crysania embarks on a mission to find certain meanings to unanswered mysteries. Seeing as how Im probably the biggest Raistlin fan, this book really made me mad. All throughout the Legends Trilogy I had high hopes that Raistlin would change and see what he had going for himself. I had hopes that true love would show up the evil in him, but... Valin al Tandar is by far the best character Ive ever read about. The whole story-line was purely original in my mind. The imagery and other literary devices used by Baker and Berberick brought out the suspense, romance, and intrigue in the book. Ever wonder about Crysania's tiger-guide? Well, here's your answer.

It is a great story about how Crysania finds a new love. Although it isnt Raistlin it is very well written.

This is a beautiful book.

It is a story for fans of Crysania of Tarinius. For those who did not want her story to end after the Legends Chronicles. For those who admired the character's strength, faith, loyalty, ambition, passion, and the love for Raistlin that she showed in the Legends Trilogy. For those who understood the incredible growth and transformation that she experienced as she journeyed through time, through a war, and through the abyss in the story of the Twins. For those who appreciated all that she endured to learn compassion, humility, and tolerance which would make her a true Revered Daughter of Paladin.

When we were first introduced to Crysania in Test of the Twins, she was an aloof and narrow minded character who only saw the world in black and white. Her perception of faith was all that mattered to her, and she was closed off to others and any other view points. Having been surrounded by wealth and nobility all of her life, she was a character with strong ideals, but lacked the hardships, experiences, and sacrifices, and personal reflection needed to refine her faith. A woman of strength, she believed she knew herself and had an idea of what she wanted to be, but she had not reached that point yet. After enduring countless trials such as being called a Witch by those she sought to save, nearly dying at the death touch of Lord Soth, having her advances rebuked by the man she admired, being burned at a stake for Raistlin only to cast away when she was no longer any use to him. And of course losing her eyesight, which was the most precious gift of all, she finally developed the traits needed to become a true heroine.

The story is a culmination of all the events which occurred in the Legends Chronicles, and it takes place thirty years after those events. The Chaos War has come and this is her role to play in that significant period. Crysania now sees the world and accepts every aspect of it. She is loving, compassionate, kind, gracious like no other character in the Dragonlance Mythos. She maintains that strength throughout the story. This is a book about the women finding love, finding someone who gives to her just as much as she gives to the people of Ansalon.

"Tears of the Night Sky" is essentially a romantic story within the world of Dragonlance. Thirty years have passed after the events of Test of the Twins. Crysania is now the leader of the church of Paladine. The story takes place during the Chaos War. Amidst the heat wave, Crysania has not been in contact with Paladine, and is beginning to fear for her god and her people. Festival Day comes to Palanthus, the day when the people of Krynn are supposed to receive the holy blessing of Paladine from the Revered Daughter. When Crysania stands in front of the crowd she gives them words of hope and faith, but is unable to grant them the blessing of Paladine. A stranger in the crowd causes trouble by asking if Crysania has been in contact with Paladine...and of course she can't answer that.

At her side is Valin, a white robed mage who is staying at the temple of Paladine as a sociological experiment of Crysanias' to see if she can develop a stronger relationship between Clerics and Mages. Valin is dedicated to Crysania and in fact loves the woman. Crysania's `experiment' is a very important aspect of the novel that many readers tend to overlook. Throughout the Dragonlance mythos and the history of Krynn there has always been distrust towards mages, especially within the circles of the clerics of Paladine. When Crysania travels back in time, during the height of the reign of the Kingpriest, she finds that the Kingpriest plots to destroy all magic users on Krynn, and at that time, Crysania's faith was very much like the Kingpriests in that it is narrow minded and intolerant. So the fact that Valin is a guest within the temple of Paladine is a significant thing. Valin declares his lover for Crysania and attempts to kiss her, but because she is the Revered Daughter of Paladine, Crysania is unable to accepts his advances, and in turn sends him off on a quest to Kalaman to discover what has occurred there.

The dark elf Dalamar has similar experiences about the lack of contact from the gods and assumes Crysania is experiencing the same trial with Paladine. Thus, he presents Crysania with a set of artifacts called the "Dragon Stones." There are five Dragon Stones and they hold the power to communicate with the gods. Sadly Dalamar cannot tap into the power of the stones and thus provides Crysania with the two stones she has. Crysania then goes in search of the other three stones which lie in the heart of Neraka, the home of the temple of Tahkisis. To serve as a guide for Crysania, Dalamar provides her with a white tiger, that Crysania names Tander. Tandar is able to communicate with her telepathically. The tiger is also able to share its sight with the cleric. In addition to the tiger, Crysania is joined by a dwarf cleric, Valin's brother who is a warrior, and Valn's sister in law who is a mage. Together the five of them travel to Neraka to gather the stones, so Crysania is able to communicate with her god.

The strength of the book lies in the fact that the story flows and continues in a linear path. There are no flashbacks, or deviations from the main story. The beginning of the novel builds up the relationship between Crysania's in ability to contact Paladine and the loneliness she experiences as the Revered Daughter of Paladine. The first half of the novel also builds up the feelings Valin has for Crysania. Many of the critiques state that Valin demonstrates the emotions of a teenage adolescent. But I disagree mainly because I see this from a cultural aspect. The passion that he shows towards Crysania and the feelings that he has for her are conducive to the fantasy setting of Dungeons and Dragons. This is not a modern setting where human interaction has evolved to where it is now. I also enjoyed the fact that Valin was indeed dedicated to Crysania, something she deserves after being cast away by Raistlin in the abyss after all that she gave him. During this time of the novel, Crysania's character had evolved into a kind, compassionate leader who sacrifices for the rest of the world without expecting anything in return. So it was refreshing to see Valin's dedication to her. The second half of the book focuses on the actual adventure. Crysania travels with five companions, who have decent interaction with each other. The level of interaction and depth of characters is not on the same level as Weis and Hickman's writing, but enough to get the job done. There are two scenes from "Dragons of Summer Flame" which overlap with Tears of the Night Sky. The first is the meeting Crysania has with Steel Brightblade and Palin Majere right before they enter the tower of high sorcery in Palanthus. We find out the reasons why Crysania is unable to sleep and night and what happens after she gives Palin her medallion in order to get through the haunted grove. The other scene is when Crysania interacts with Tanis, Dalamar and the Knights of Solmania at the High Clerist Tower. Crysania advocates for Dalamar's behalf and there is an exchange between Dalamar and the white tiger. There is one minor change in this scene and that is Crysania does not falter upon hearing Raistlin's name, which is interesting.

It has been thirty years since the events of Test of the Twins. Thirty-Years is a long time to move on from a broken relationship. She will always love Raistlin, but that does not mean she will forever be love struck by him. Thus, I see no problem with her falling in love with another man.

One of the aspects of that made the world of Dragonlance a special place for fans was the ability of Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman to invoke emotion into the reader. There are so many emotional moments in the written history of Krynn ; the sacrifice of Sturm Brightblade, the final meeting between Caramon and Raistlin in the abyss, Tanis Half valiantly destroying Lord Araikahn, Dalamar receiving the wounds from Raistlin's fingers and so forth. In telling those stories, so many amazing characters have come from the universe that there is at least one who we can all consider a favorite. Crysania is one of those characters who can invoke that emotion from the reader. Following the events in Test of the Twins, Crysania becomes one of the most respected, cherished, and loved figures in the Dragonlance mythos and for the right reason. She proves why she by demonstrating a lot of positive traits in this book.

Let me re illiterate. Tears of the Night Sky is a novel for those who are fans of Crysania. Is it the best written book in the Dragonlance saga? No. But I still want to thank the Linda P Baker and Nancy Verberick for writing the novel. It gave closure and happy ending to Crysania, something the character deserved. In the end I was satisfied with the story, the ending, the character interaction, and the amount of action in the novel. The groups does battle with the agents of Chaos and a group of barbarians that serve the Knights of Tahkisis.

This review is coming out twelve years too late. But for those who will consider reading this novel in the future, I recommend picking it up. Especially if you want a feel good story filled with drama, romance, faith, and hope. Hope is the key because it is a trait which describes the message of the novel -- the power of having faith and hope in one's life, and never letting go of that when things are bleak. The novel is an easy read, and one that is not filled with complex words or theologies that are mind numbing. The book will make you feel good at the end, and serves as one of the better romantic dramas in the Dragonlance series.

Five astounding stars for Tears of the Night Sky.

While this book is mainly about Crysania, Dalamar steals the spotlight. Their light sparring is intriguing & fun. There other characters are interesting too. I just feel there was that missing something that could've made it better.