Tanis, the Shadow Years (Dragonlance: Preludes) (v. 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Barbara Siegel (Author), Scott Siegel (Author) "ANOTHER MUG OF ALE FOR MY FRIEND," CRIED THE homely dwarf..." (more)
Key Phrases: enchanted quill, elven defenders, gully dwarf, Inn of the Last Home, Flint Fireforge, Straits of Algoni (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
A Hero's Secret Journey

The tale is told that Tanis Half-Elven once disappeared in the mountains near Solace. He returned changed, ennobled and with a secret. No one knew what happened to him in those mist-schrouded peaks...until now.

The adventure began with a dying wizard who needed Tanis's help. It would not end until Tanis became a traveler in the old mage's memory, journeying into the past to fight an impossible battle against time itself.

Tanis the Shadow Years is one of the long-awaited stories set before the best-selling Dragonlance Chronicles Trilogy.


About the Author
Barbara and Scott Siegel are authors of 46 books, five of which have been national best-sellers. Among their works are The Encyclopedia of Hollywood and American Film Comedy.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Wizards of the Coast; First Paperback Edition edition (November 21, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0880389133
• ISBN-13: 978-0880389136
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,438,691 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The Worst Dragonlance Book I've Read!, August 8, 2001

By	"pj59" (Edge of the Earth, Arkansas) - See all my reviews

As an avid Dragonlance fan, I was severely disappointed with this novel. It had absolutely no bearing on any of Tanis' further adventures and didn't even begin to answer Tanis' questions about his father. ( BTW, for an EXCELLENT view of that tale, read "The Inheritance.) Tanis had stated in the Chronicles that he'd been in lands not friendly to elves, but this was set in an Elven village; the Red Robed mage was part human, part elf, and the only acceptable mages to elves are White Robes; and to add insult to injury we get bogged down in a sappy love story and end up in the place of Death, where apparently silver dragons get to breathe fire instead of the breath weapon of cold that they're born with! Makes you wonder if the authors read the original works at all. I'd love to see a well-written book about what happened to Tanis in the five years prior to the Chronicles, but this wasn't it.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Could have been better, January 19, 2002

By	"vedvedsica" (Auckland, NZ) - See all my reviews

As with quite a few of the Preludes and Meetings books, this seemed out of tune with the Chronicles view of Tanis. There is a certain way the Tanis talks and acts, but these authors couldn't quite seem to grasp it.
The plot was slightly ridiculous. I find it difficult to believe Tanis would even consider starting on this adventure just to find news about his father.
I don't usually object to a bit of love mixed into a story, but when it becomes the story to the exclusion of all else, I start to worry.
The whole thing about Death was stupid. This, along with the rest of the happenings in the book, is never mentioned by Tanis in the Chronicles series. A lot of the Preludes are a bad conclusion to a good idea.
In saying all this, I still enjoyed the first half of the book. The rest really set my teeth on edge.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Very Dissapointing, November 27, 2008

By	Hector Flores "Shalafi" (Yakima, WA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Tanis The Shadow Years (Dragonlance: Preludes Volume Six) (Mass Market Paperback)

This book was utterly disappointing. I would have given it no stars if I could have in this rating. The way Tanis was portrayed, the way he acted and thought, have already been addressed in previous reviews and I must concur with them that his character was awfully represented. Still that wasn't the worst part of it for me. It was the little things, like having a wizard with powers to defeat an entire human army by himself, and Brandella accepting to travel with Tanis so easily when his idea made no sense at all, as well as the village of elves acting like humans. Don't get me wrong, I don't expect all elves to act with the arrogance the elven nobles are portrayed in some of the other DL books, but at least they should have some dignity in their actions and dialogs with one another. Then there is Huma and Fistandantilus in "Death". This place is clearly not the Abyss described in every other book, and what is Huma and Fistandantilus doing in the same place in the afterlife when the wizard is actually neither dead not fully alive in Krynn. All these things should drive you crazy if you are a true DL fan. Then there is the plot which is dull and totally irrelevant to Tanis' life. Overall this was a very bad book and I couldn't wait to finish it and get it over with. I didn't expect it to be the best book ever but was still highly disappointed in it. I believe Tanis deserves a better story with a decent plot and accurate details as one of the most influential characters in the continent of Ansalon.