Rating: Summary: Badly edited, slow paced, uneventful Review: The whole book is riddled with editorial errors. The errors are so obvious however, you would expect an author to know the simple facts Berberick stuffed up on. For example, Kitiara's surname is Uth Matar, not Majere. Several references in the war of the lance are incorrect also. That aside, Dalamar wasn't developed throughout the book at all. He was the same character from start to finish. All the battle scenes were boring to say the least. I felt none of the tension I usually do when reading a decent dragonlance book. Overall, it was a huge letdown. WotC should have got one of their more competant authors to write the story about one of Krynns favorites. Berberick was involved with desecrating Cryssania's name in "Tears of the Night Sky". She has done it again with "Dalamar the Dark".
Rating: Summary: A terrific read! Review: This book signals a return to the vitality and freshness that have characterized the best of the Dragonlance stories. The concreteness and thoroughness with which the novel is envisioned lend it a striking sense of reality, while the depth and subtlety of the characterization not only bring Dalamar to life, but even make him a sympathetic character, an achievement I hadn't thought possible. The ending is particularly satisfying and appropriate, deftly weaving the action of the novel back into the larger Dragonlance storyline. All in all, this is a terrific, compelling story masterfully told. I highly recommend it!
Rating: Summary: Dalamar: the Early Years Review: This Dragonlance Classics book tells the story of Dalamar's youth in Silvanesti and his eventual calling to the dark arts. He is cast out of his Elven home and left on his own to pursue his fate. He goes to the Tower to be tested, and is willingly used by the leadership of the Tower to complete a task that would allow more than one person the revenge they seek. Berberick's telling is good although her characterization of Dalamar falls slightly short of his personality from what we know of him from other stories. Her perspective of the fall of Silvanost and Lorac's Nightmare is insightful and well written, and ties well into the Chronicles storyline. This is a good book for someone who has already read the core books of the Dragonlance series.
Rating: Summary: A great addition to the Dragonlance line! Review: This is definitely one of Nancy Berberick's best -- which, as a longtime fan of her writing, is saying a lot. The evolutionary years of one of Dragonlance's most intriguing, disturbing characters are finally revealed, taking the reader through the tortuous process of shaping the man he will become. This book is pure delight, from start to finish, and sure to please the many fans of the Dragonlance line!
Rating: Summary: Not very accurate Review: This is just another tale pumped out by TSR to make as much money from the dragonlance stories, the story does no justice to dalmar who is an iteresting character in the DL saga,the author wrote about him it seems after reading a review of of the DL books. To me its just seems like this book was written just to squeeze out my 6 bucks.
Rating: Summary: Misrepresents Review: This story is intriquing and an interesting read if you enjoyt he character Dalamar however there are several flaws that I found to be distracting and disappointing. First of all, the portrayal of te Silvanesti elves was harsh to the point where you could hardly call them "good" at all. The author seems to make the assumption that if you fight the "bad" guys, in this case a number of evil wizards and a dragon Highlord that makes you "good," which is not true at all. The Chronicles series sets you up to realize that the Silvanesti are incredibly snooty and uptight, but not cold and unconcerned about themselves. Yes, they have avoided the outside world and show disinterest there but former authors of the series never through out the belief they walk over each other on a daily basis. It is an assumption i believe this author got wrong. Also, it describes Dalamar's path into darkness in a fairly unbelievable way. Dalamar is potrayed as in intelligent individual who suddenly turns to darkness for reasons that just come with living. Also, at times when Dalamar is portrayed at his darkest, you get the feeling you are reading about Raistlin and not him. In Legends and the Summer Flame, Dalamar has feelings, good ones. He is a dark elf mage not some power hungry warlord. In short, this portrayal of Dalamar is only believable if you change the character we know as Dalamar from the other books and since you probably pick up this book because you liked the character in the other books, then it is probably not all that worthwhile. However it is not a bad read, just don't expect too much insight into the character in the title. As mentioned in other reviews, this has a lot more to do with events than the character Dalamar and when it does talk about Dalamar, it does so poorly.
Rating: Summary: A Return to Classic Dragonlance Review: This was an excellent addition to the Dragonlance canon. Nancy has been writing Dragonlance material for a long time - her short stories are some of the best in the anthologies. This novel traces the development of Dalamar's magical career. Silvanesti, its elves and caste system, are described well. My favorite thing about the novel is the fact that for me it captured the feeling of the early Dragonlance novels. Nancy did a great job in handling the world of Krynn as it was during the War of the Lance, as well as the character of Dalamar himself.
Rating: Summary: Good if you have read all the others Review: To anyone looking at buying this book, it is well-written by a good author in a great series, but if you are "erked" by errors relating to the other books in this series, you're gonna hate this one. There are many errors, but the one that gets me the most is the near complete push-over of Kitiara and the creation of a never-before heard of Highlord in her spot, who goes on to rampage over Solamnia until being stopped at the High Clerist's Tower. Also, if you thrive on battle sequences, you're looking at the wrong book. For any elf-lovers like me, this is the best elf-book since the Puppet King. But, like I said, the errors in the chronology and characters of the world of Krynn can get to you after awhile.
Rating: Summary: Above Average Review: While it had a few flaws this was in the long run a pretty good book. The fact that the point of view was almost compleatly from the point of view of a evil character is a good twist from common novels. Also the story while a touch slow at time is well written as to the history of Dalamar.
Rating: Summary: Very informative and entertaining Review: While this wasnt a book that I couldnt put down. It was still a very good story. It revealed a lot about where exactly Dalamar came from and what I liked most was we saw the war of the lance through his eyes. Considering he wasn't in the storylines until the legends trilogy. Anyway, good tie-ins to the main dragonlance story and the book also gives us another good view of how the conclave works, and what the test is like (i've only seen what it was like for Raistlin).
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