Rating: 
Summary: A rather good sequel!
Review: Picking on briefly after the first book dropped off, Winter Night leaves with mixed feeling by the time you complete. Filled with action at every point, the companions are split up to work on different missions. By the end of the story, you find new hereos emmerging as other fade away. Winter's Night leaves the reader with a feeling that the final book will be a spectacular one at least
Rating:
Summary: Return to the land of Krynn!
Review: The friends, now armed with the help of a goddess, once again try to help the world of Krynn. Now parted, the two groups search for the DragonLance, and the Dragon Orb. One group travels to the haunted forest of the ancient elven homeland, Silvanesti, and battle the evil nightmares of the tortured King, Lorac. While the other group travels to the Ice Wall and rescue a Dragon Orb and a shattered lance. As you read, you will travel with the groups through the world of Krynn, and will feel the loss of the great Knight of Solamnia, Sturm Brightblade as he sacrifices his life, that others may live. And feel the joy of the plains-people, Riverwind and Goldmoon's marriage
Rating:
Summary: War's about to start, and now ...
Review: ... don't worry, I'm not telling you anything that'll happen next (somobody probably already did), the point is, if you have read "Dragons of Autum Twilight" then you will agree with me that you must not waste any second to get this book and read it as well. If you haven't, what are you waiting for, read that book first, get in love with the story, the adventures, the characters, and then get quickly to this one.Our main heroes are in the middle of a very complicated situation that is about to lead the continent of Ansalon into war, will they be able to stop it?, if so, at what cost?, in this book you'll see how each one of them develops himself and gets more involved in the story so at the end each and every one of them will have very important actions that will lead to the final result. I'll never get tired of saying this saga, the whole Chronicles are among the best fantasy novels there could ever be, if you don't believe me go ahead and get the first of the books, I'll guarantee you'll be reading this one as being the second one in the saga in no more than three or four days.
Rating:
Summary: AMAZING TRILOGY!!!
Review: Definitely a great fantasy epic and one of my personal favorites, The Chronicles Trilogy- Dragons of Autumn Twilight, Dragons of Winter Night, and Dragons of Spring Dawning, brings to life the ultimate battle between Good and Evil in the World of Krynn. The books are so incredibly well written that the reader feels that they have been transported to another plane of existence and are actually present among the characters, seeing what they see, feeling what they feel, sensing what they sense. The authors Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman have truly outdone themselves and have presented us with a masterpiece of literature the likes of which we have seen only in JRR Tolkien's work and RA Salvatore's The Dark Elf and Icewind Dale trilogies. A GREAT trilogy indeed and a "must read" along with Margaret Weis' Legends trilogy! Duty, honor, bravery, magic, dragons and heroes are all about. One should seriously start thinking about maybe turning them into movies...
Rating: 
Summary: Cardboard Mansions and Genuine Quartz
Review: With Dragons of Winter Night, Weis and Hickman continue telling the tale of their heroic adventurers. I won't detail the story here, since that's been done in other reviews. I'll just tell you what most of the other reviewers don't.
The stylistic flaws that the reader found in Dragons of Autumn Twilight will be noticed also in this book, which is its sequel. The story has a "not filled in" feel. The characters seem force-marched through their roles, as the authors sacrifice introspection to gain speed of pace.
When a story is told well, a reader can anticipate the feelings of characters a few seconds before reading the narrative that confirms them. But that's usually not true in this story, just as it wasn't true in its prequel. Every glance is a jolt. Every reaction, a surprise. Well, okay, it isn't quite that bad: but it is almost that bad.
The viewpoint jumps around erratically, as the narration informs us of the feelings of this character, and then of the feelings of that character, rather than revealing those feelings more subtly. The reader thus gets an impression of the narrator's presence as an intruder in the story, which places a burden upon his suspension of disbelief. You aren't able to "live" in the story because it remains too obvious that you are being "told" the story.
In general, readers continually estimate the probable thoughts and choices of a storybook character with remembered reference to that character's past experiences. In superbly written fantasies, present actions are rooted in, and are naturally developed from, those experiences. Dragons of Winter Night, however, is not superbly written, though it's probably worth reading if you're in solitary confinement. The authors have made it a habit to give their characters such knee-jerk reactions that the story seems a bit hokey.
Despite all the narrative blather about codes of honor, dignity, or some such thing, which is evidently intended to mitigate the effect of those knee-jerk reactions, the characters have the maturity of easily provoked children.
And there are discrepancies in the tale that the writers should have avoided. For example, while Gilthanas and Silvara are smooching on a rock above a river, Silvara releases her hold on a blanket, which falls into the rapidly flowing water, presumably never to be seen again. In the next chapter, the party sleeps in their blankets, with no mention that Silvara no longer has one. Is Silvara carrying a suitcase full of blankets that the authors forgot to mention, or does Silvara have one of those magical, boomerang blankets that keep returning to their owners?
Reading Dragons of Winter Night brings to mind the phrases "cardboard mansion" and "genuine quartz." Still, this second novel in the Dragonlance Chronicles is slightly improved over the first. The scenes remain rough-hewn, and the feel of the action and dialogue remains shallow, but not quite as much so as in the earlier book. It's as if Weis and Hickman were (very slowly) adding levels to their Storytelling Skill.
We all have to learn our skills at some point, and every author goes through a learning curve. The Dragonlance Chronicles (or as much of them as I've so far read) aren't too bad, but they certainly do not deserve most of their billing. They've been much over-touted. The comparisons with Tolkien's fantasy are ridiculous and insulting to Tolkien's vastly superior craftsmanship.
It's difficult to account for this mediocre series' quick rise to eminence in fantasy, and many of the five-star reviews appear to have come from reviewers who, if they aren't shills, may be more responsive to the "bandwagon" effect than to their own judgment, such as that might be. The Dragonlance Chronicles appear to be aimed at the teenage or preteen audience. The shallowness, the inconsistencies and the viewpoint shifts probably won't bother the bubblegum crowd as much as they do older readers. If you read and enjoyed this book as a youngster, you might find nostalgia carrying you through a second reading, much later.
The most accurate customer reviews of Dragons of Winter Night, other than this one, are these:
* great when I was 15 and immature. But now...
Reviewer: Erik Vanasch "Spartan Soul" (Folsom, CA)
* A seventh-graders dream; an adult's nightmare, March 8, 2000
Reviewer: A reader
* How old are you?, April 14, 1999
Reviewer: A reader
* Best of the series, April 24, 2003
Reviewer: Joshua Drake (Agoura Hills, CA)
* The Second Book, the First Chance to Commit, September 7, 2000
Reviewer: David Rudel (Charlottesville, VA)
Believe me, the 1-3 star reviews are far more reliable than the 4 and 5 star reviews, at least from a mature reader's perspective.
If you'd like to read an author who does well what Weis & Hickman do poorly, read "The Wheel of Time" series by Robert Jordan. Although Jordon is infamous for the way his WOT plot has gradually thickened in much the same manner that concrete hardens as it sets, he does an incomparably better job at characterization and character interaction than Weis & Hickman do.
If you want to read a series that keeps the plot moving along, without the shallowness of the Dragonlance Chronicles, read "The Saga of Recluce" by L.E. Modesitt, Jr. Modesitt occasionally commits diction blunders, usually a confusion of place-names, noticing which won't delight you as much as finding the eggs on an Easter Sunday, but his characters are deeply introspective, and their actions are well-grounded in their past. Plus, it's clear in Modesitt's stories which character is the main character, which are the villains, and which secondary characters are of importance to each. Weis & Hickman tried to execute a "committee of main characters," and this does not seem to work as well.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Scene Ever
Review: This book is the best middle story of the triology. The ending of this book is probably the best written scene in all of the Dragonlance novels. The book starts off with the group of adventures splitting up, followed by a dream shared by all that foreshadows the rest of the story. Most of the book is spend following Laurana's and Sturm's group and the challenges they have to make in a world that is corupt and divided. Sturm's inner's struggle with his knighthood and his struggle with the Oath and Measure reach its pinnicle with his death in the final chapters. Though his death was forshadowed since the first book, it still hurts to read about this noble character's death. Weis & Hickman touch all the topics with this novel from love & lust, honor and glory and doing what's right in the face of overwhelming odds. Sturm's funeral, the final chapter, haunts one's dreams after reading it. Of course I would recommand this book to any fanasty fan but you have to read all three books. I would also recommand this book to anyone who likes to read (as long as you read the entire triology) because it is well written and such a deep read.
Rating:
Summary: The best book of one of the best fantasy trilogies out there
Review: Dragons of Winter Night is my favorite book of the awesome Chronicles trilogy. The story undergoes major changes with a general trend from the smaller world of the first book, in which the companions are pretty much isolated in their own little adventure, to the larger world of this book, in which the rest of the land gets more involved with the story. The cast of characters is expanded with the addition of Silvara, Kitiara, and Derek Crownguard and the other Knights of Solamnia. Also, the other races and groups of Krynn get more involved in this one.. The dwarves, the Silvanesti elves, and the humans of Tarsis and Palanthas. Even the dragons and the draconians become a bit more personal and human-like.
The plot of this one also expands the story exponentially. With the discovery of the Dragon Orbs, the Dragonlance, and the existence of the good dragons, some hope is given to the people of Krynn even during their darkest hour. The book ends with the unavoidable and foreshadowed death of the hero Sturm Brightblade in what is one of the most gripping scenes in fantasy I've ever read. With Tas learning how to use the Dragon Ord and Laurana somehow controlling one, Raistlin learning to control another one, Tanis in bed with the enemey, Gilthanas on some secret mission with a silver dragon, the Solomnic Knights united after Sturm's sacrifice, and the return of Fizban, this book leaves the reader with a serious burning desire to read the last installment of the trilogy.
This book is my favorite of the trilogy because I feel that this is the book that the story really begins to fully mature and live up to what it was meant to be. It seems that Weis and Hickman really started taking this story more seriously with this one, maybe getting away from the classic D&D type story telling of the first book. While it does provide a pretty dark and gloomy overshadowing on the lives of the heros, there is also that enticing little bit of hope that influences them to continue their fight.
Rating:
Summary: Magical...
Review: I am not going to get into the plot in this review...basically I wanted to just give this book 5 stars...Anyone who knows fantasy knows all about Tanis, Tasslehoff, Caramon, Raistlin and Flint...I am not going to bore anyone with a recital of the plot... (even thought its fantastic) The Chronicles and The Legends trilogies are the pinnacle of what any writer should strive for...Characters that we all care about... I can honestly say that i wept when 2 main characters fall... (they shall remain nameless in case someone has been hiding under a rock for 20 years and hasn't read these books)
The Great thing about this series is that there is so many prequels and tangential tales published that one could delve into the magical world of Krynn for years... but we have to remember that Krynn would not be as magical (both figuratively and literally) if it were not for the companions...
Buy this series if you haven't read it... No one can love dragons without knowing this story...
Thank You Tanis, Tas, Raist, Strum, Riverwind, Caramon, Flint, Goldmoon and the people of Solace...
Oh yes, and Thanks to Mrs. Weis and Mr. Hickman
Rating:
Summary: It just gets better from here on out...
Review: If you liked the first book in the Dragonlance Chronicles, the addiction starts with the second book. You find yourself being drawn into the book as all of the old characters emerge.
I agree with another customer's review that this is the best fantasy series of all time. The authors make you enjoy something about every single character. The characters of Taz and Fizban will have you laughing out loud and crying. The drama of the other characters are equally addictive. There is a reason why so many people like this series. The readers keep coming back and wanting more books because the characters are so real that in a way they feel like your friends. Now that's powerful fiction writing...
Rating:
Summary: The Best Book I Ever Read
Review: Dragons of a Winter night was probably the best one out of the series. It seems to me, this book was a little more thought out than Dragons of Autumn Twilight. The Character's personalities where brought out more and instead of a hack and slash, runaway action-adventure novel, it was a hack and slash, runaway, emotional, Melodramatic action-adventure novel, which are my favorite type of stories to read. The book highlights were that of the character's Sturm, Laurana, Kitara, Tanis (not until the end half) and of course, Raistlin. I didn't like and sometimes was annnoyed by Sturm's character in the first book, but Sturm's character shined in this book. The Love affair with Alhana and the trial in Solamia where some of the best parts of the book. Not a tough read, but a lot O' sub-plots going on here and it can get a little confusing if you haven't read the first book. But if you have and didn't like it, read this book because it's a fun story and what else are you going to do? If your reading this your not doing anything, so go read this book and enjoy........For me?
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