Rating: 
Summary: Don't read it first!
Review: First of all, if you're like me and kind of stupid, make sure you DON'T READ THIS BOOK FIRST!!! It will confuse you out of your wits. I was reading it and came across a name I didn't recognize, then I put the book down for a week just pondering who that person was. After finally deciding that it didn't really mater and I would find out later, I continued reading only to find the same thing happen again!Other than this, it is a very nice read. I read it again after reading the Chronicles and Legends, and appreciated it much more. Other reviewers have said that this book drags on and never seemes to end. Well, I think that this really isn't true, since everything needs to happen. Anyone whose read farther ahead in the DragonLance series will know this. Please, remember that nothing in the book is a personal offence to anyone. A friend of mine was so enraged with the ending that she burned the book. Later, she felt bad since it was a bad reaction, and she's now begging me for my copy so she can read it again.
Rating:
Summary: Moving DL forward
Review: For these authors, moving DL forward can't be easy. True there are years to skip and years for other authors to fill in, but hey if every book moved the line forward there'd be too many problems! I won't give anything away here, so I'll just state that if you haven't read 'Second Generation' do so first, it'll get you familiar with the characters here, then after this get started on the novels with 'the Chaos Wars' in them (ie. Tears of the Night Sky, etc.)then go to the 'Bridges of Time' series, and then the 'Dragons of a New Age' series will lead you right up to the 'War of Souls' trilogy. Enjoy the pages within this novel, a fan of DL won't be dissapointed!
Rating: 
Summary: "Summer Flame" is a burnout
Review: After being captivated (well, at least throughly enjoying) the first three books of Chronicles, I was sorely dissapointed at this conclusion. First, people should realize before buying this that "Summer Flame" is not a direct sequel to Chronicles 3, but takes place many years after and focuses on the children of and the remaining Heros of the Lance.
I don't think that this book deserved the "Chronicles" title at all, because it really doesn't fit the flow well at all. As other reviewers revealed, the deaths of beloved Heros of the Lance was sad and silly. "The New Cast" definitely leaves something to be desired. The book is thick and long and drags, and in many cases is rather silly.
The major point of merit was the explanation of the "gods system" that appeared in this tome. It was informative and had me wishing it had been in chronicles one. Some readers may find it boring, but I thought it helped me to understand some aspects of the earlier chronicles books.
IMHO, read the first three "Chronicles" and skip this and "Second Gen". Read Legends and perhaps a few others. But this so called 4th book of the trilogy isn't really worth your time.
Rating: 
Summary: Out On My Ear
Review: I enjoyed reading most of this book. I burned through it in three or four days, and I'm not a very fast reader. The deaths of major characters were actually a plus for me. I thought they died heroically well, and each instance added to the drama. The central character tensions involving Steel and Palin hold up as well, or better, as that which we've read before involving all the old favorites.
It took a very demoralizing ending to pull my rating down as low as it is. "The Age of Mortals" does the trick. My experience of reading this book was like being at a nice party with old and new friends; and then, at the end of the night, getting punched in the gut, kicked out of the house, and told to "never come back!!". The authors might just as well have added a postscript saying "Dear fantasy junkies, The fun is over. Go get a life."
I am a believer that all good things come to an end. But, in my opinion, reducing Krynn to Mundania was a poor way to go about it.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing. A boring waste of time
Review: This must be what happens when authors grow to hate thier creations. This book generally has nothing to recommend it. The plot is weak and full of holes. The new characters have no depth and little motivation. Old characters are brought out of retirement just to satisfy the lovers of the first trilogy, and the ploy fails miserably. Other characters were unceremoniously killed off screen with little or no effect to the plot except to get them out of the way and raise the body count. I can only imagine that Weis and Hickman were bored while writing this, because I was sure bored while reading it. I don't recommend this book for purchase, but if you must read it get it from a library. That's where my copy ended up.
Rating:
Summary: A travesty
Review: Yes, this book truly is a travesty of all that once made Dragonlance great. Weis and Hickman seem to have caught the latest disease to hit fantasy author circles: I'll destroy the world I've created because it's mine, and because it's mine I have to control it all and once I'm done with it no-one will ever be able to play with it again,ahaha!!
Whatever happened to leaving things at a certain point, and then allowing readers to imagine for themselves what comes next? Don't such authors feel any duty towards, or sympthay for, their readers these days, let alone their own literary works (yes, I do think Dragonlance Legends were that good)? Can't publishing companies allow a series to stand as a good piece of writing, complete within itself, rather than wrecking it for the sake of trying to sell yet another spin-off novel or game module/handbook/accessory?
I frankly don't care whether Weis and Hickman were driven to produce "Dragons of Summer Flame" by contractual obligations. It is an abysmal book, and the authors' own lack of interest shines out clearly on every page. All the characters are treated perfunctorily, there is no emotional depth to them, and there is one dire cameo after another, simply for the sake of bringing back some familiar faces. The plot is hopelessly bad and jumps around all over the place; it's like the book suddenly began in the middle, and there are still huge chunks missing. People who were in one place are suddenly in another, with no indication of how they got there; there is no real indication of how much time is passing. Even worse, the book reads like a game module, with slabs of pointless history (Who cares what happened to the other Towers of High Sorcery within the context of this story?), features of cities (Who knew that Palanthas has a Thieves Guild? Who cares?), gods I've never heard of suddenly appearing, and events from past books (Many of which I've never read) all jammed in, to what end I cannot imagine.
But worst of all is the tone of "Dragons of Summer Flame". The earlier books had real emotional power, and a feeling of being very human, despite the epic events they narrated. This book is totally, horribly flat. In contrast to the way characters' wishes and feelings drove the earlier books, this time we have the pathetically weak, lowest-grade fantasy spectacle of a god seeking revenge for his imprisonment in a magical gem which has been shattered by some weaklings hoping to feel safe. All sorts of cosmological concepts and new races seem to have been created simply so the plot could follow this path. From that point on, everyone just reacts to the coming end of the world in a variety of stereotypical ways.
Dragonlance Legends brought everything to a fitting end. Weis and Hickman should have left their world alone from that point onwards. The rot set in with the story of Palin receiving the Staff of Magius (Can't we put a stop to "son of" stories in the fantasy genre?), and has only continued. "Dragons of Summer Flame" should never have been written. If you loved the original books, as I do, do yourself a favour and never read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Book
Review: I really enjoyed reading this book. You should read the Dragonlance Chronicles, and Ledgends, and I would recommend The Second Generation, first so that you know the history of all the characters. This was a great addition to the continuing story of Krynn.
Rating:
Summary: [Weak]?What it rocks!
Review: I loved the Legends and the Chronicles books. Once I opened up Dragons of Summer Flame I couldn't put it down until I was finished. What other people say are weak probably because it comes from the fact they never actually *read* the book only reviewed it. From the evil Knights which I thought were the perfect opposite of the Knights of Order in every way to the Palin who was a powerful mage in the making. Weis and Hickman's best ever book.
Rating:
Summary: Such a shame...
Review: Don't read this book... it kills all you ever stood for!!
Just read the Chronicles and the Legends (and eventually other good DL books like the Tales or Defenders Of Magic) but just pretend this one never came out...
Rating: 
Summary: FAILED!
Review: I really wanted to like this book. I grew up on the Dragonlance novel series Chronicles, and Legends. After many years and much hype, this book enters the world of Dragonlance. What a joke! This book is typical of this partnership of authors; Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. They basically start killing people off, and destroy the world. It feels like the authors just had one big brain fart and wrote to fill some word quota versus to entertain the reader. I sat there forcing my eyes across the page hoping that the book would reveal some kind of saving grace. No luck. Read this book to satisfy your curiosity, but do not waste your money.
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