Amber and Ashes

Rating:
Summary: Definitely my new favorite in the series
Review: First and foremost, if you did not find the War of Souls trilogy enjoyable, then don't waste your time reading this book. I can understand how some might be upset at the fact that continuity was broken to a degree in that series, but I know I personally can ignore a few errors in the favor of a good story.

But if you enjoyed the War of Souls, then you will very much enjoy Amber and Ashes. I personally recommend making sure you have some free hours, a comfortable place to sit or lie down, and something warm to eat or drink, as you will find this book very hard to put down.

Chances are you will be enthralled in the very interesting plot of the struggle between the gods now that a vacuum of power exists on top. At least on the darker side of the panthenon, it seems everyone wants that spot and will do whatever it takes to get it. Along with their attempts to grab power, it is evident that some of them fall to mortal weaknesses as they attempt to gain followers. It is the price the gods do pay when they wear the guise of a mortal, and try to act as such to gain themselves followers. This is especially evident with Chemosh, but he's not the only one.

Amber and Ashes definitely continues with the pattern of wonderful characterization, good plot, and enough action to make it very enjoyable. However I think it does better than most by really playing on the weaknesses of the characters rather than their strengths.

I know I very much look forward to reading the next volume of this series. I cannot wait to see what happens next.

Rating:
Summary: Very close but not on the level of others
Review: I did enjoy this book, but; there always is a but; it was missing something. The Dragonlance novels have always been about human relationships and how the gods either screw them up or help them along. This is a rather turn from that, in which the gods have become more interactive with humans and actually falling in love with them. I did like the new kender in this story. Rather different then in the past but the humor that kenders usually bring, was sorely lacking in this book. The book does not just have bad parts; I did give in 4 stars. I love the ending with the new tower, or is it the old tower with a new twist. I did like a look at the other gods who have in the past have played second fiddle to Pal and Tak. The Majere Monk provides a great emphasis of the new theme of the Dragonlance world in which the gods vie for the humans affections instead of the other way around. It is an easy read and a fun read and I think any Dragonlance fan should read it and and fanasty fan should read it as well.

Rating:
Summary: Dragonlance Gives Death a Fresh New Face
Review: I finished this book yesterday and I found it one of the most enjoyable Dragonlance books since Soulforge. I must say I did not exactly enjoy War of the Souls, I found it lacking in pretty much everything. This however introduced the Age of Mortals as just that, an age where the gods of Krynn competed for mortal's support. Chemosh, Lord of Death, is one of my new favorite Dragonlance characters, rivaling even Raistlin. Mina was developed much more in this book, finally allowing us to understand the workings of her mind. I think more could have been done with Rhys and Nightshade which is my only complaint. Introducing the rest of the characters half way through the book, besides Mina and Chemosh, sort of didn't give alot of others time to be developed. Zebiom is deliciously evil, sarcastic, and highly amusing. Nightshade is quite the unusual kender, in a good way thankfully, and Rhys is an honorable character contrasting pretty much everyone else in this story. This book contained a shocking amount of romance, (Dare I say Ms. Weis has written some tasteful smut? hehe) It was still thoroughly enjoyable, and I think even the guys could appreciate it. Much darker, bolder, and sexier than the rest of Dragonlance, I am very interested to see where the rest of the trilogy will go and would highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Most likely my last Dragonlance book.
Review: Like many of you I began to read fantasy novels around the same time the Dragonlance Chronicles trilogy was first being published. They were then and remain today my measuring stick for all other fantasy stories. It is for this reason that I choose to ignore the stories told by the founders of this world, post Legends. The only way I can describe the War of Souls is as a betrayal, a betrayal of the characters to the corporate machine of cookie cutter fantasy. They paid Weis and Hickman to write another trilogy, for the sole purpose of legitimizing the new games rule system. This was in a sense, a return full circle for the Dragonlance game world. The Chronicles books were created soley to sell the game material, and now the War of Souls were created to legitimize the 5th age rule and world changes.

Its sad because the Characters of the Chronicles books seemed to grow out of the archtypes they were meant to represent, while the War of Souls characters seem to shrink into those very stereotypes.

I must note that Margret Weis does a good job making this book fun to read, well not fun, let's say easy to read. She proves yet again that given nothing to work with she can weave a pretty decent tale. Infact it's this very story telling that keeps the book in the average range. The wooden characters, the overall poor plot, and the sense that this is no longer the same Krynn, remain from the War of Souls. I couldn't help but think it was some kind of emergency patch job, as if she was trying to make up for all the mess created by the past few books. However, this book, much like the War of Souls, just does not "feel" like a Dragonlance book, and will in all probability be my last.

Rating:
Summary: Really, Really Good
Review: Ok, to be honest, I thought the whole Dragonlance series started to go downhill with The Second Generation, and especially Dragons of Summer Flame. But the War of Souls trillogy was quite good and now this first novel in the Dark Desciple series is beginning to make me remember why I loved the whole Dragonlance world to begin with.

The charactors are typical Weis, that is to say, memorable and believable. The plot is somewhat darker than you might be used to, but it is well written and generally moves the story along at a nice pace.

If you are a fan of the Dragonlance setting, you will no doubt enjoy this book. New charactors are great and it's nice to see some of the other 'minor' gods becoming more and more a part of the world. I am looking foreward to the next book and I absolutely recommend this book. It is well worth your time.

Rating:
Summary: Superior Dragonlance adventure
Review: The death-god is frustrated. His legions of zombies and walking skeletons are stupid, stinky, and have a nasty tendency to fall apart when he needs them most. Now that the gods have returned, he decides it's time for a new approach--an approach that will involve beautiful, young disciples with good skin and lively habits. But first, he needs a prophet and beautiful Mina is a great choice--she's already worked for a god but is currently unemployed due to her god's death. Between the two of them, death and Mina can create some powerful magic.

When his brother is taken by the death-god, given eternal life--sort of--the monk Rhys abandons his worship of Majere to seek the cause of his brother's problems--and an explanation for why he poisoned the entire monastary. He is quickly adopted by the sea goddess--who has plans of her own, but who just might have a use for a monk and who is concerned about the new role that death seems to be playing. Still, the sea goddess is only willing to do so much, and death has a hold even over her. Rhys has his work cut out for him, and he's not even sure what he wants to do about it.

Author Margaret Weis digs deep into the DragonLance universe to write a fascinating story of gods, mortals, and the strange relationships between them. The human characters, Mina and Rhys, along with the death-god who has discovered a taste for life, drive the story forward. Rhys, in particular, is fully realized--human, given enough doubts about himself to be interesting, uncertainties about his mission to allow Weis to put him in fascinating dilemmas, and well enough trained that he actually has a chance even when he faces gods and the walking dead. His relationship with the sea goddess--one of both respect and profound distrust--makes for enjoyable reading.

Weis is a talented writer whose prose draws the reader in. I had a ton of work to get done and really didn't have time to read this story, but I couldn't stop and finally decided to give myself half a day of pure enjoyment. AMBER AND ASHES is a good one.


Rating:
Summary: Very good book, not as good as Classic Weis
Review: This is one of the best fantasy books i've read, and should be an excellent trilogy. BUT, its not as good as classic Weis books. I consider the Legends trilogy and Soulforge to be some of the best BOOKS ever written, so its hard for this to match up. But, if you arn't looking for something to change your worldview the way Legends did, I think you'll thoroughly enjoy this book.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining but far from Engrossing
Review: To be perfectly honest, I have mixed feelings about this book and if I were able would have given it 2 ½ stars. It is by no means a bad book. Then again, it isn't exactly a good book either. I'll try to explain.

I've read all of Weis and Hickman's Dragonlance books, as well as Weis' independent Soulforge and Brothers in Arms and thoroughly enjoyed them all. I made the decision early on not to read the Dragonlance novels published by other authors and frankly my hip pocket thanks me (I believe bookstores ought to instigate a breeding program to put a stop to the uncontrolled proliferation of these books). Yet I've always been excited when Weis and Hickman collaborated on a Dragonlance novel and Krynn is a wonderful place that I've always loved to return to.

Apart from cameos by Gerard and Mina's minotaur friend, this book does not make use of any of the characters from the War of Souls trilogy except for Mina and this was initially disappointing. While I never grew attached to them as I did the Heroes of the Lance, I did become fond of the characters from the War of Souls and had hoped to see more of them (those that survived anyway) in this book. And I suppose we may yet, this being the first in a trilogy and all. But this series is a continuation of Mina's story only and it appears a number of the heroes from the War of Souls have simply retired (is Solace a registered retirement village now?).

The second thing I found jarring about this book was the nature of the monks of Majere who I'm guessing were modelled on the Shaolin monks. I'm not sure I ever grew comfortable with the introduction of this new culture into the fantasy/medieval world of Krynn. It just never seemed to fit in this well-established setting.

Thirdly I found the characters spoke very colloquially at times which dragged me out of the story, and a good deal of the humour was inappropriate in its fantasy/medieval context. I haven't noticed it before in Weis' work, but I noticed it here. It's a minor thing, but it did get to me after a while.

And finally, I'm not sure I ever really understood where the story was going. Don't get me wrong, it is fairly clear by the end of the book what the protagonists are seeking to accomplish... it's just that there isn't any real structure to the novel. Some might find this refreshing. I just found it a little distracting.

I don't mean to sound entirely negative. This is not a bad book. Certainly Weis tells a good story and it's not that I didn't enjoy the book. It's good. It's just unfortunately not great. It lacks the high drama and perilous stakes of past Dragonlance novels. While the threat to the peoples of Krynn is great and seems insurmountable by the conclusion, I never really experienced it through the principle characters. I don't believe Weis succeeds in engaging us to the depth she has in her past works. Ultimately it is clear that Weis and Hickman are greater than the sum of their parts.

Amber and Ashes is entertaining but not engrossing. Read it and enjoy returning to Krynn.

Just don't expect it to be as satisfying a visit as last time.


Rating:
Summary: Dragonlance continues in typical fashion
Review: Watching the progression of the Dragonlance series since the beginning of the Fifth Age (Dragons of Summer Flame) has certainly been an interesting ride. A quick summation, for those not in tune with the roleplaying world: Dragons of Summer Flame coincided with the AD&D Dragonlance world being converted to an entirely new system called the Saga rules system, a card-based game which no longer had any relation to AD&D. When the TSR went defunct and was bought out by Wizards of the Coast, a move which led to the release of 3rd Edition D&D, Margaret Weis and Don Perrin acquired the rights to the Dragonlance campaign setting, and after the War of Souls trilogy, released it as a hardcover campaign setting supplement. Consequently, Dragons of Summer Flame can in fact be viewed as a "marketing decision", and the War of Souls can be seen as a "retconning" of the Chaos War, as well as a massive conversion of the setting to 3ED rules.

However, that ignores the other, and quite possibly far more important issue -- that the War of Souls trilogy was Maragaret Weis reclaiming the setting for her own. Amber and Ashes, then, represents the first book of the "new" Dragonlance world, and Weis's first real adventure into it.

Neither she nor the work disappoint.

This isn't Chronicles or Legends, it isn't up to those standards -- but that doesn't speak ill of the book at all. Those used to Weis's writing style will find this lives up to her usual high standards; for those of you new to her work, suffice to say that she is very good.

In terms of story, the new beginning is quite obvious -- most of the characters from the War of Souls trilogy make no appearance, save for Mina (who is possibly the most foolish and needy woman I've ever seen in literature, but *believably* so, to Weis's immense credit). Further credit goes to the new characters-- Rhys, the monk, and Nightshade the kender.

My only complaint regarding the story was that it seemed to go by with startling speed. For some reason, after I finished the book, I found myself thinking that there should have been more. Possibly this is because we have to spend significant time getting acquainted with Chemosh (God of Death, who up to this point has played a minimal role in the fiction), Mina (who, while main mover and player in the War of Souls, finally comes into her own as a person in this series), and Rhys and Nightshade. Chemosh's plot is truly quite malicious, and while the ending seems a bit *too* much of a plot twist to entirely adopt, it certainly leaves the reader waiting to see what will happen in the next book.

Overall, Amber and Ashes is a very good foundation novel for the start of a trilogy, as well as a venture into the "new" Krynn.

Rating:
Summary: The Darker Side of Dragonlance
Review: Weis can do better, but she can also do worse. "Soulforge" was probably her best alone outing, but "Amber and Ashes" is not as dreadful as the first 70 or so pages would suggest. This picks up where the War of Souls left off (a series that many feel would have been better off never been written) and centers around the cold stand-in for a character, Mina, who often feels like a cardboard cutout that just blows wherever the winds take her. But I've known people like that, and its acceptable but not something I really want to read about. Things come into play better as the books rolls on and we are introduced to the monk of Majere and his border collie Atta and later on a kender who speaks to the dead (but is not at all evil as some have suggested) and the heroes finally get rolling to put a stop to the rising of what seems to be a cult of the undead.

The ending is a cliffhanger (literally) and completely unnecessary, she could have atleast tied the ends a little stronger instead of just leaving everyone hanging seemingly in mid sentence and the first 70-100 pages are mindnumbing and tedious. I also object to the way some of the gods/goddesses are portrayed, one in particular comes off as a spoiled teenybopper brat.

Wait for paperback unless you are a diehard Weis/Dragonlance fan, but once it hits the softcovers, it is worth a read. Nothing complicated of course, but a breezy quick work that is interesting in the latter half.