Dragons of Summer Flame (Dragonlance Chronicles, Volume 4) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Margaret Weis (Author), Tracy Hickman (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
The war of the Lance is long over. The seasons come and go. The pendulum of the world swings. Now is is a hot parched summer such as no one on Krynn had ever known before. The uneasy balance starts to shift. Distraught by a grievous loss, the young mage Palin Majere seeks to enter the Abyss in search of his lost uncle, the infamous archmage Raistlin. The Dark Queen has found new champions. Devoted followers, loyal to the death, the Knights of Takhisis follow the Vision to victory. A dark paladin, Steel Brightblade, rides to attack the High Clerist's Tower, the fortress his father died defending. On a small island, the mysterious Irda captures as ancient artifact and use it to ensure their own safety. Usha, child of the Irda, arrives in Pananthas claiming that she is Raistlin's daughter. The summer will be deadly. Perhaps it will be the last summer Ansalon will ever know. Dragons Of Summer Flame is action-packed heroic fantasy at its best! -- Midwest Book Review --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description
Primed for a battle between good and evil, Raistlin, the corrupt mage, returns to the Dragonlance series, along with a new generation of characters, the inheritors of the fabled Heroes of the Lance. Reprint.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 608 pages
• Publisher: Wizards of the Coast (September 24, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786905239
• ISBN-13: 978-0786905232
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.1 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (248 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,095,330 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, September 17, 2003

By	... "vilbs" (Montreal) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dragons of Summer Flame (Mass Market Paperback)

As a longtime fan and follower of the Dragonlance Saga, I can only call this 4th and heavily belated installment of Chronicles to be a major disappointment. Gone is the sense of purpose and adventure that made the original Chronicles and Legends trilogies so gripping. In its place is this, which almost reads like a comic book, with characters coming back to life and being taken away just as quickly. Most of the "offspring" characters developed in the Tales stories are killed off rather quickly, and other characters like Palin and Steele are not dealt with well either. Add to that the almost total destruction of the Krynn we all know from prior novels, and this is one fantasy disaster.

For my part, I've tried to forget this was ever written, and until better comes along am sticking with the Legends trilogy as the final major chapter involving the heroes of the lance.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A Bad End to a Great Series, February 25, 2001

By	Tuor (Bellevue, WA USA) - See all my reviews

Once upon a time, there was a great trilogy of books called the Dragonlance Chronicles. They were a bit simplistic, it is true, but they were a great deal of fun to read and the characters were all particularly captivating. In spite of its flaws, I came to love both DL Chronicles and Legends.

Dragons of Summer Flame (DoSF) is *not* a book that compares well to the rest of the Chronicles. Weis and Hickman start killing main characters from previous books in the Dragonlance universe right off the bat and they continue throughout the book, progressing from relatively minor characters to major ones. Nor are they content to stop there, but in the end alter the fundamental fabric of Krynn, turning it into an early edition of Earth.

The Plot is also weak, with a rather flat and predictable villian, with Paladine and Takhsis acting like scared children instead of major gods, with Raistlin brought back for a cameo role when his death was so well done -- it undid all the closure of the end of DL Legends.

I have often wondered at the reasons behind the way DoSF was written, and my conclusion is that Weis and Hickman were impelled by contract obligations to 'usher in the 5th Age' so that TSR could sell a bunch of new products. I believe they resented it and the story they wrote reflected that fact. I simply cannot believe they wrote such a horrid story by accident.

Unless you have a desire to read books about the Fifth Age of Krynn, I do not recommend this book. Stop after Chronicles and Legends. Do yourself a favor and avoid the pain of this book.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Out On My Ear, January 2, 2003

By	"petegreen" (Green Bay, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dragons Of Summer Flame (Dragonlance Chronicles, Volume 4) (Hardcover)

I enjoyed reading most of this book. I burned through it in three or four days, and I'm not a very fast reader. The deaths of major characters were actually a plus for me. I thought they died heroically well, and each instance added to the drama. The central character tensions involving Steel and Palin hold up as well, or better, as that which we've read before involving all the old favorites.
It took a very demoralizing ending to pull my rating down as low as it is. "The Age of Mortals" does the trick. My experience of reading this book was like being at a nice party with old and new friends; and then, at the end of the night, getting punched in the gut, kicked out of the house, and told to "never come back!!". The authors might just as well have added a postscript saying "Dear fantasy junkies, The fun is over. Go get a life."
I am a believer that all good things come to an end. But, in my opinion, reducing Krynn to Mundania was a poor way to go about it.