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Summary: An Excellent Addition to anyones Library
Review: This was an excellent book. It's really great to see what the authors think of certain events, and it's better to have it in this more "compact" volume. I also learned things like where certain scenes were inspired from, and the fact that Tracy Hickman is a man! You understand, right, Tracy can be a girls name too!?! I highly recommend this for weeks of enjoyment. Happy reading!
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Summary: A wonderful re-release of an old favorite (with extras)
Review: I first read the Dragonlance Chronicles and Legends in the early 1990s, and was instantly in love with them. Some will say I blaspheme, but I think they are on a level with the works of Tolkein. Well, a while later, I made the horrible mistake of selling my books. Like I said, a HORRIBLE mistake. When this book was released, I snapped it up in a flash. It has all the text and refined touches (small illustrations at the start of each chapter) that I remembered from my old books, as well as some truly nifty extras, such as large color illustrations scattered throughout the book and numerous annotations (hence the title) that give a behind the scenes look at the conceptualization of world of Krynn as it is set forth in the core books of the series, and some bonus passages that were edited out to save space in the standard releases. Be warned, this book sparked in me a spending spree resulting in the purchase of all of the core books, up to the last of the War of Souls, and it may do the same to you. Oh, by the way, as others have said, if this is your first time reading the Chronicles, you might want to skip the annotations, as they contain a few spoilers that might take the surprise out of some of the events to come.
Rating:
Summary: A welcome revival of the classic fantasy series
Review: I hadn't read the Chronicles in several years before picking this up, and I was pleased to find that my fond memories of the books that began the Dragonlance saga weren't simply nostalgia. This is a strong story, set in a believable world with unforgettable characters who seem to me like long-lost friends.This new edition of the Chronicles adds a great deal of commentary from the authors and from other members of the Dragonlance design team. Their annotations add a new depth to the novels, expanding on bits of backstory that were only hinted at in the original text, explaining where they got their inspiration for certain characters and events, providing insight into all aspects of the writing experience. Many of these notes are very interesting, and some are hilarious. My favorite was Weis and Hickman's little argument about Elistan at the beginning of the second book, which I won't spoil for you! A bit of advice, though, to anyone new to Dragonlance. Be a little wary of the annotations if you've never read the books before, as they will sometimes reveal things that happen later in the story, and nothing's worse than having a book spoiled for you. It's probably better to read through without reading the annotations first. Now, if only they'd come out with an Annotated Legends... (EDIT: 21 Feb 2003) For those interested, the Annotated Legends is, in fact, in progress, and is scheduled to be released sometime around September - October [...]. I certainly can't wait!
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Summary: Extensive annotations make this a must-read
Review: The Annotated Chronicles reprints the first Dragonlance fantasy trilogy collaboratively written by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, and includes: Dragons of Autumn Twilight; Dragons of Winter Night; and Dragons of Spring Dawning. The Annotated Chronicles is enhanced with meticulous annotations and black-and-white illustrations. Enriching inside notes by numerous writers and game designers who contributed to the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing universe of Dragonlance add a special touch of "insider's insight" to an exceptionally popular saga that launched one of the most popular shared worlds of fantasy literature and role gaming. Very highly recommended for Dragonlance fans; the extensive annotations make this a must-read for Dragonlance enthusiasts even if he or she already owns an earlier individual copies of this truly classic trilogy.
Rating:
Summary: Warning...
Review: Only read this if you've already read the Chronicle Trilogy. This book has notes about the writing of the three books. That is all. If you've read the trilogy, then you'll love this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Not a review of the trilogy, but of this edition
Review: Having first read these books as a pre-teen, I was thrilled that the authors were going to release a collected hardback edition complete with annotated side-bar. What I purchased however, was a collected hardback edition, with very little annotation. There are a few gems, that enlighten the reader to the authors' thought process, but they are so few and far between that one begins to wonder why they included any annotations at all. For a fan of the series, it is a solid purchase. For anyone else its a waste of money.
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Summary: The first and best book(s)of my fantasy collection.
Review: Excellent storyline, plot, characters, and an all around superb book! Margret Weis and Tracy Hickman mad millions on this and I can see why. Basically the first book on the evercontinuing series. In contains three excellent books. A great gift!These women beautifuly describe a world where magic was expected, knights were like policemen, and dragons existed. A miracle on paper!!!
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Summary: Better than Lord of the Rings?
Review: These were the first fantasy books I read. And I still believe them as a trilogy to be just as good as The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Yes I said it, JUST AS GOOD. If you want to read about a suspenseful adventure of a group of friends who each are distinct by their race, class, emotion, and characteristics, then this is the book for you. If you want to read about wars with Dragons terrorizing the skies and the land, each distinct by good (metallic colors - gold, silver, bronze, copper, brass) and evil (chromatic colors - green, red, black, blue, white), then this is the book for you. If you want to read about a war between the gods, distinct by good or evil and by those who worship them, then this is the book for you. Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman did a fantastic job writing these books. They draw you in with the emotion of each character, keep you in suspense by having 3 and 4 stories going on at once (every couple chapters changes), and end it with events you will never expect to happen. This book is three books in one. You get "Dragons of Autumn Twilight", "Dragons of Winter Night", and "Dragons of Spring Dawning". Not only do you get three books, but you will get an annotation by the authors on the book. This is good for those of us who are re-reading the books again. But for those of you who haven't read it yet, buy this anyway. The authors give great inside information on the book, characters, and events.
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Summary: The Annotated Chronicles
Review: This book rules the world of Dragon Lance. It is as if you are truly there. You are actually with them on their journey to stop the armys of the dark goddess. You must get this book as well as the fourth the Dragons of Summer's Flame
Rating:
Summary: Just Like the Originals, A Charmingly Flawed Masterpiece
Review: I'm actually writing this because I finally broke down and bought this collection--and I loved it. I had hesitated because of some of the negative reviews here on this site, but being an old-school Dragonlance fan (I won my first copy of the original novel at a local gaming convention when it first came out), I wanted a hardbound copy, even if the annotations were, as some have claimed, trite. But I have to disagree. Yes, some of the annotations are fairly obvious--Tracy Hickman does, indeed overexplain some of the writing strategies that he and Weis used. But then again, I teach Creative Writing at the college level, and I only wish that some of my students would find this stuff obvious! What I'm saying is this: if you're familiar with writing tools and rules, some of this will be familiar. But take it with the spirit with which it's intended. C'mon, this is Dragonlance. We're all in this for the fun, right? This is a book that has some of the best lines I've read in a fantasy book--as well as a few stinkeroos. But that's always been part of the charm of these novels. These books weren't written by a professorial linguist like Tolkien--these were D&D junkies, for the most part, putting this together. And you can feel their own excitement, their passion, on every page, and in every character. If that means that some of the annotations become overdone in some ways, so be it. Besides, some of the notes are very interesting, and as at least one other reviewer mentioned here, I wish there were more of them. There was a lot more information that I've unconsciously stored in my head about the novels that for some reason didn't merit an annotation here--like the fact that the dagger that Tas uses early in the first book...was actually a very powerful magic item (+4 or +5, as I recall--I think I'm getting this either from a short story, or something from Dragon magazine, from waaaay back...) The idea here is that Dragonlance, simply from being not only a series of books, but also a series of D&D game modules, a comic book series, and later a game world in which to explore, was not a static environment. Lots was added later, and some of it was pretty neat. A lot of it, sadly, wasn't. But giving the nod to some of those small, cool details that came later, like that magic dagger, would have been interesting. And yes, there are too many references to far lesser works of fiction that took Dragonlance's good name and dragged it through the Solace mud. I hated like heck that such a thing happened to what was my favorite series as a teen. But hey, the books are classic, and the fun's still there, waiting to be experienced again and again. And if there's anyone out there counting, let me add my voice to the throngs anxiously awaiting the annotated edition of the Twins trilogy! All in all, this is a book that is completely and utterly worth your time. Is it equal to Tolkein in literary significance? Admittedly no. Is it more fun? I think so. Even people who don't normally like fantasy novels have read this one and become as enthralled as the rest of us. Sure, its flawed, but heck, its a good time. And that's what's important, right? Long live Dragonlance!
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