Rating: 
Summary: Surprisingly good
Review: Usualy when i hear of a book that is about the history of something i shudder but this book was quite good indeed. The infamous Raistlin is described and well written. I am once again impressed by Weis' ability to write a fascinating novel that has great characters. The plot was average but my feelings are that plot is secondary when you have great, well thought characters that have an unrivalved depth. I would reccomend this book primarily to anyone who had read the dragonlace chronicles, you'll enjoy this I promise.
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Summary: Next on Biography: Raistlin Majere
Review: I dare say that this book is to Raistlin what "Homeland" was to Drizzit. "The Soulfoge" gives wonderful insight into what Raistlin endured growing up, the hardships and the triumphs. The book begins with Raislin at 6 years old when his half-sister Kitiara introduces him to an archmage that hapens to be at the inn in the hopes of getting him accepted to a school for mages (knowing that he would be unable to take care of himself throuh physical strength). Thinking that the child is just in a "phase", the archmage agrees to an interview with young Raistlin in the hopes of getting rid of his supposed childish fancies. As soon as the interview begins the archmage realizes that this child posseses wisdom and insight far beyond that of a normal 6 year old. Seeing the incredible potential in Raistlin, the archmage makes arrangements for him to be admitted into the nearest school (despite the local schoolmaster being a fairly incompetent mage). Soon after the interview we are introduced to the rest of Raistlin's family, Caramon, his twin brother, who is the exact opposite of Rastlin, being far more healthy than the ever-sickly Raistlin, but severly lacking in intelligence, and his mother Rosamund, who posseses the ability of a seer. Rosamund's abilities are a burden instead of a blessing, however, as she was never trained to live with her abilities and so it causes her to live in a dream state where she barely notices her surroundings. This, along with Caramon's less-than-stellar intelligence, their father being gone for days or weeks at a time, and Kitiara being, well.... Kitiara, all make for a very difficult homelife for the very cynical Raistlin. Raistlin, having little patience for those he deems of lower intellgence and because he resents the fact that Caramon is healthier than he is and therefore must be helped by Caramon fairly often, constantly berates his poor brother at every opportunity, but there are a few times Raistlin lets his true feelings for his brother show though, though you'll never find him admitting it. The rest of the heroes are here too Tanis Half-Elven, Flint Fireforge, Tasslehoff Burrfoot, and Sturm Brightblade, showing each of them at their finest. Tasslehoff fans are in for a good deal of some of his best trademark sillyness. The strongest point of this book is the fact that all of the characters are very well fleshed out and multi-layered, especially Raistlin himself.
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Summary: the SOULFORGE and BROTHERS IN ARM's review
Review: Great place to find out what happened before the Chronicals. Tells you about Rastlin and Caramon's early life.
Rating:
Summary: Brings back memories
Review: The Soulforge, a novel which tells of the early days of Raistlin and his twin Caramon, is an excellent story which answers a number of questions regarding Raistlin's past. Margaret Weis, one of the authors of the original DragonLance Chronicles and Legends trilogies is at her best when she writes about her favorite character -- the mage Raistlin. All the elements that made the original trilogies is recaptured here and definitely brings back memories of those two excellent trilogies published fifteen years ago. The Soulforge begins with Raistlin at age six and progresses until his taking of The Test at age twenty-one. A number of the Heroes of the Lance also make appearances and meet each other for the first time. This is the only problem with the novel. The purpose of the Meetings Sextet written about ten years ago was to introduce readers to the Heroes of the Lance before their adventures in Chronicles. However, the utilization of the characters and their meetings with/introduction to one another in this novel differs at times from the stories originally presented in the Meetings Sextet. Other than that, this is an outstanding work which warrants a five star rating. We get to see Raistlin progress from a child who was always picked on by others to his being the youngest mage to take The Test. We also learn the origin of Raistlin's magic at an early age, his golden skin tone, the reasoning behind his harsh/untrusting attitude toward others, the cause of his frailty, etc. Overall, if you're a Raistlin and/or DragonLance fan, The Soulforge is a must-read.
Rating:
Summary: I, Magus
Review: Finally Margaret Weis tells the story of the tortured soul, Raistlin Majere. This book is absolutely amazing, and tells you everything you could ever want to know about the archmagus. It starts out when Raistlin and Caramon are very young and follows them throughout their childhood and into their teenage years. We see Raistlin's love for magic, a love that he is willing to sacrafice everything for. This book has some inconsistencies with the other preludes books with Raistlin's early years, and the life of his friends. But the book tells you that this is the TRUE story of Raistlin. As the boys grow up in Solace, we see the rest of the companions interacting with them, sharing in their day to day lives. We learn of the "boat incident" again with Caramon and Flint. Tasslehoff is in the book being his normal kender self. We see more into the struggle between Kitiara and Tanis. But most of all we see what the twins must go through, and how strong of a bond they really have. All in all this book is amazing, relating the details of not only Raistlin's early life, but the early life of all of the companions. This book is very well written and a great read. It mostly centers around Solace, though there is a trip to the city of Haven where Raistlin and friends must take care of a little problem. Near the end of the book though, all of the companions leave Solace, making their promise to return in 5 years time (the beginning of Autumn Twilight). This is when Caramon and Raistlin leave, for the young magic user has been summoned to take his test at the Tower of High Sorcery. Though this book does speed through Raistlin's test a little too fast, it does answer a lot of questions about what exactly happened to Raistlin during it. We finally learn the truth behind his golden appearence and his hour-glass eyes, and we are finally shown a little bit behind the story of Fistandantilus, and what the evil wizard has to do with Raistlin's test. This book is very entertaining. Highly recommend it to any Dragonlance fan. If you want to learn all about Raistlin and his twin, this is the book!
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Summary: A masterpiece for a master character
Review: The Soulforge can stand by itself as an independent book - or be the unique guide to Raistlin's mind. It provides incredible details on why Raistlin became what he became - and how. All of this in a great style, fluent reading!
Definitely a book to purchase right after the Chronicles.
Rating:
Summary: What you should expect, and more
Review: Ok,Raistlin is Weiss' character,we all know that.He is my obsession too,which you dont know and dont care anyway. :-)
The book is a classic.Weiss is a master of the language and creates powerful images,and sculpts characters with amazing clarity .Moreover,this book answers questions we all had about the golden skinned magician.A must to read,but in the proper order..do yourselves a favor and read this book..
Rating:
Summary: The Master
Review: After reading Chronicles and Legends it is impossible not to love Raistlin. This book reveals what he was like when he was younger, and what the Test was like. The whole book is perfect. Of course, the main character is wonderful. Even when Raistlin was six years old he was an incredible character. The glimpses of Raistlin being teased by his peers makes it more understandable why he choose to live in darkness. It answers a lot of questions about the Companians, and a lot about Raistlin. Plus there are some excellent quotes ("Someday fat innkeepers will bow to me") and any chance to read about Raistlin is good. Hopefully the third book in the Raistlin Chronicles will be as good as the first.
Rating: 
Summary: strong start, weak ending
Review: I've been a long time fan of the dragonlance series, primarily because the Raistlin and Caramon dichotomy. After the Dragonlance Legends series, I was in awe of the Weis and Hickman tandem. It has been very rare for me to sympathize with, much less admire an evil wizard. But I was disappointed by this book. The book starts very strongly. We get to see not just Raistlin, but almost the entire Heroes of the Lance at a very young age. Ever wonder what Tika was like growing up? She's here. Wonder how Kitiara and Tanis got along? Its here too! But the BIG question I had was "What happened during the test at the tower of high sorcery?". This question was partly answered or hinted at in several short stories and a gamebook. But they only enhanced my appettite for more. So I bought the book that was supposed to speak with a DEFINITVE voice. Unfortunately Weis spends more then 85% of this book talking about something else. To say that the part that dealt with the test seemed RUSHED is an understatement. The Test of Wizardry was supposed to have three parts. In Weis' narration all three happened so quickly I couldn't tell which part was what. How these tests were supposed to give raistlin an understanding of himself or his abilities was poorly explained. More unsatisfying was the explanation of Raistlin's golden skin, blasted health and hour-glass eyes. I wont give any spoilers but Par-Salian's justification seemed inordinately capricious and cruel. Thinking back about it, there were strokes of genius throughout the work. I liked the idea of a young Raistlin writing the words "I, Magus" without knowing what he was asking for. So different from the end, when he has finally realized what he was willing to do or sacrifice for power. I actually shuddered when the books comes full circle with Raistlin the Archmage writing "I, Magus". Too bad the thinly veiled promotion of the various Dragonlance novels by Astinus really jarred my immersion in Weis' writing.
Rating:
Summary: Weis delievers the amazing story of young Raistlin Majere
Review: I opened this book with very high expectations, being that it was about my favorite literary character and written by one of his creators, and somehome... it managed to surpass them. Soulforge not only gives us the details of Raistlin's early life but also gives us a day to day account of what it was like to be a young mage on Krynn. In the end we also get a full account of what truly happened in Raistlin's infamous test. I highly recommend this book, not only to DL fans but to people who want to be DL fans.
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