Customer Reviews

War of the Twins: Dragonlance Legends, Volume II

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a personal favorite, I always find stories containing time travel to be an interesting plot line; War of the Twins is no exception to that. Some would ask themselves how two authors could continue to produce such outstanding stories without tripping up a little, but as of when Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman wrote this second book in the Legends series, they proved that they could consistently write exceptional stories! As you read through these brilliant stories, you cannot help but notice many of the events or characters created by these two fine authors that in later novels became the main story arc, showing further evidence to their world creating talents.

The premise:

At the end of Time of the Twins Raistlin propelled himself, Crysania and Caramon into the future and intentionally tricked Tasslehoff, forcing him to ride out the Cataclysm. War of the Twins picks up with Raistlin, Crysania and Caramon in the Tower of High Sorcery in Palanthas, yet this is not the tower that Raistlin left at the beginning of Time of the Twins. In order to further his cause, entering the Abyss with Crysania to fight the Queen of Darkness herself and thus become a god himself, Raistlin has taken his group a mere one hundred years or so into the future beyond the Cataclysm. Here is where we find out how he truly becomes the master of past and present as we are presented with the story of his confrontation with Fistdantilus, the greatest mage who ever lived.

As the three stories of this book unfolds, we are treated to how these characters taking up roles in the history of Krynn written in Astinus's Chronicles, lead to disaster. How the authors dealt with this is fantastic, especially how their knowledge of the events of the Dwarfgate wars ended and their collective attempts to change the history books. Ever present is the continued severing of the relationship between Raistlin and Caramon. No longer is Caramon the overbearing and over protective brother of Raistlin, as he's finally seen and understood the true nature of his brother.

Further nods to the authors of this excellent novel, as it brilliantly continues this second epic in the world of Krynn. I highly recommend this trilogy to all who have read the Dragonlance Chronicles and wish to find out what happened with these great characters after the War of the Lance. {ssintrepid}

This book is a must for Raistlin fans. It shows his human side. I loved the love plot with Crysania. I loved the way Caramon finally began to accept and understand his brother. Although it is not as "exciting" as the first trilogy, it is so much more deep and dramatic. It more explores emotions than battling dragons. A very excellent book, especially if you love Raistlin like I do.

Continuing where "Time of the Twins" left off, this entry in the Dragonlance Legends trilogy furthers Raistlin's plot to overthrow the Queen of Darkness.

As it begins, after quickly dispensing with the formality of lying through his teeth about what really happened to Tas in Istar and completely winning over Caramon and Crysania, Raistlin coldly proceeds with his manipulative scheming even as he starts to show traces of the man he once was. Events finally force him to take what seems to be the road of no return as Caramon finally comes to terms with what his twin really is.

This entry includes some of the most touching dialogue in the series between the twins and explains more deeply why Raistlin is what he is. Caramon, facing an almost surgical separation from his twin as more things come to light, finally comes into his own.

Due to plot reasons, we don't see much of Tas for awhile outside of an interlude revealing what has happened to him after "Time"'s cliffhanger. One of the series' major forces of kindness and compassion, his own nature hasn't allowed him to associate Raistlin with the face of evil. Combined with his unintentionally dangerous trump card ability to alter time, this makes him frighteningly vulnerable - and when he rejoins the correct time frame, unfortunately running into Raistlin first, the meeting between the two results in what might be the most psychologically disturbing and horrific two chapters in the whole Dragonlance saga. When faced with the depths to which Raistlin is willing to go, even his most admiring fans will be forced to wonder if he is indeed worth saving at all - a question that will dominate "Test of the Twins".

Despite what some people think about this book, I think this was a great novel. Sure, it lacked excitement in some places, I will agree with that. The plot is a bit sluggish at times, and the book is better if you have time on your hands because once you start, I guarantee you'll not stop reading until the end. There are some wonderfully written parts in this book. For example, the scene with Caramon and the rabbit proves that, despite what most people think, Raistlin is only human after all. Come to think of it, that is one of the best parts in the book, IMO. This is a must have for any fan of the Dragonlance Saga.

The saga of Raistlin and Caramon continue in this outstanding novel. The relationship of the twins is studied more and more as Raislin's evil slowly becomes more apparent to the good-hearted warrior. Lady Crysania's struggles to answer the questions of her faith as Raislin attempts to reel her into his darkness. Tas appears less in this book that in the first but he still makes major contributions and of course adds some fantastic humor. Caramon superbly commands an army during the Dwarfgate wars, and we find out maybe Caramon isn't as dumb as we all thought. This story is told with a stirring narative that, at times, makes you feel like death is walking on Krynn. One warning make sure you have the third book in the trilogy on hand, because you will by dying for it when you finish this one. Also, all hail to Rabbit-Slayer.

This book is the best book I've ever read (okay, other than the Chronicles, but, stil)! It's a must for all the Dragonlance fan out there, and I mean all the Dragonlance fans! My favorite part of the book is when Caramon got stuck in a goblin trap and Raistlin was LAUGHING WITH Caramon... it kinda shows that deep down inside that dark soul of Raistlin's, he IS a human after all, even though all he craves for is power. I guess this book was one of my favorites because Raistlin is my favorite character...he iz da bomb!!! Lots of people go crazy over Raist (the girls, mostly *hehe*) and I think I'm one of them! Read dis book now!!! It may be fun for any science-fiction/fantasy reader and soon, even they will become Dragonlance fanz! ;)

War of the Twins is one of my absolute favorite books to come out of the Weis-Hickman machine. Mind-bending concepts of time travel and of the future locked in place combined with world-altering events makes for a dramatic and intense read that will keep you up late at night. It is also perhaps the most emotionally tense book in all of Dragonlance. The interactions between Raistlin and Caramon and Crysiana and Tas are fantastic. The strange love triangle between the brothers and Crysiana makes for interesting reading and also helps the reader really appreciate the emotions of the characters. Of all the characters, Raistlin in particularly really starts to reveal his true self: merciless and determined. While at times you feel like Raist must be starting to actually feel for the people that love him, it is quickly revealed that he only cares about his ultimate goal. Caramon comes into his own in this book, leading an army and realizing that he doesn't need his brother in order to live his own life. Crysiana doesn't evolve too much in this one but does grow in her sense of purpose and in her faith. Tas kind of gets left by the wayside for much of this novel, but comes back for dramatic impact on the overall story.

The only complaint I can think of is that the Dwarfgate wars were sort of skimmed over, not revealing too much detail as far as the actual battles are concerned. The leaders of the various armies and factions could have been better fleshed out, especially Kharas and the leaders of the plainsmen and hill dwarves. These are minor regrets thought and Weis and Hickman leave much to the reader's imagination which probably enhances the overall effect of the story. They focus on the main characters and the emotional battles they are going through, and that would have been taken away from some if they had included too much detail about the side stories and characters.

Overall I'd say this is one of the more mature and grim of the Dragonlance novels, without very much humor at all and a lot of tense and dark moments. The vivid characterizations of the book sold me. I'd recommend this entire trilogy to anyone in for a good emotional story.

This book is great. The set books, taken as a whole (as they must be), is very good. Not quite as exciting as the first 3 Chronicles books, but interesting none the less.

i thought this book was one of the best of this trilogy. It wasn't all that exciting, but the wonderful plot with the love between raistlin and crysania, and caramon learning to go his own way, made up for it. it was a break from all the excitment in the chronicles. I would definitely recommend this book, and this trilogy and the DL chronicles. They all were wonderful books. I really liked how hickmen and weis brought out the human side of raistlin. i never really understood how every one loved raistlin until i read this book. and now i'm one of them, but i also think that raistlin could have been kinder to his twin. but no, he even would have allowed the dark dwarves to take caramon's head. but now caramon learned the truth about raistlin and can go home and be a loving husband to tika.(hopefully)

An excellent book and a great series quickly sent by seller very happy