Between Chronicles and Legends, what made Raistlin aspire to godhood?
Raistlin Majere has become a Black Robe wizard and travels to Neraka, the lord city of the Dark Queen, ostensibly to work for her, though in reality he means to further his own quest for power. But Takhisis finds out that the dragon orb has entered her city and sends her draconians to find and destroy the wizard who has it in his possession. Before her agents can strike, though, Raistlin finds out that Takhisis means to take control of all wizardly magic. She has ordered Kitiara to set a trap for the Gods of Magic on the Night of the Eye in the city of Neraka, while all the high-ranking wizards will gather at the Tower of High Sorcery to celebrate, unaware of what shall befall them.
As the forces of light, with help from the good dragons, are turning the tide of battle, Raistlin is forced to flee, for his foes are closing in on him. As the Dragon Highlords vie for the Crown of Power in the Temple of the Dark Queen, Raistlin Majere wages his own desperate battle against Takhisis in the dungeons below and meets again the brother he betrayed. The fate of the world hangs in the balance.
In 1984, I was introduced to the world of Dragonlance by reading the now-legendary Dragonlance Chronicles. I was not a student of role-playing at that time, nor did I know anything about fantasy outside of J.R.R. Tolkien’s works. The world of Dragonlance not only opened my eyes to a new world of fiction, it also made me want to pursue a writing career. I spent the next 25 years devouring all things Dragonlance, some of it good and some quite bad.
It took 25 years, but Margaret and Tracy have written the final “missing” chapter of the Dragonlance Chronicles. The question is, has it been worth the wait?
This is the best book I have read in quite some time. I was instantly drawn back to a time and place I had forgotten. Never has a book brought me such joy and feelings of days gone by. I actually felt that almost no time had passed since I had read the original Chronicles, but many birthdays and the calendar date say otherwise.
I was very concerned that the “magic” would be gone and no matter how hard the authors tried, the story would just not work. This book of all Dragonlance novels has to be the most anticipated, as it solely revolves around everyone’s favorite mage, Raistlin Majere. Weis and Hickman weave their literary spell and produce the story that many have waited a long time to read. The reader follows Raistlin through many trials, which answer many questions about his history. We learn how he defeated the Lich who held his soul and how he donned the Black Robes. One factoid I did not know about Raistlin but learned in this book was that he is a renegade wizard, not unlike the wizard Magius, whose staff he owns. (This is a plot twist that I must have missed in the previous books.) There were also two memorable scenes in the book where we see Raistlin and Flint’s (the dwarf) relationship as friends for the first time. The first scene involves Raistlin warning Flint about his failing heart. The next scene is during Flint’s death as Raistlin, invisible, eases his old friend’s death so that he can say goodbye to the rest of his companions. Both of these scenes are sure to evoke a sense of sadness in all Dragonlance fans.
I could spend hours recounting the great things about this book and how it brought so many things to an end when looking at the Dragonlance series. I was both overjoyed and bummed that I would not be able to travel on new adventures with Raistlin and that his story has finally come to a close. There have been a great many books written about wizards, but none have influenced readers like Raitslin Majere and the rest of the Companions of the Lance. This series has lived in the hearts of fans all over the world, among both readers and role-players alike. I very glad that Wizards of the Coast allowed the authors to complete this epic tale and labor of love for their fans. I also would like to thank those over at the Dragonlance Nexus for keeping this story and world catalogued and making it possible for the authors to keep continuity in their world. Dragonlance Chronicles are the stories that belong symbolically to a generation of gamers and readers, and being a member of said generation, I am thankful that I was able to read the stories as they were written and deeply saddened to know this Dragonlance tale is at its end.
