The Gates of Thorbardin tells the story of Chane Feldstone, an orphaned dwarf, who has had strange dreams his entire life - dreams of Chane taking up a strange jeweled helm and in the process saving the Dwarven kingdom of Thorbardin. We pick up the story shorty after Chane has left Thorbardin in search of destiny and is waylaid and roughed up by henchmen hired by the father of his love interest, Jilian Firestoke. He's befriended by a loyal kender, Chestal Thicketway, a human ranger named Wingover, a gnomish inventor who has a penchant for producing simple, elegant, functional inventions named Bobbin, and the Red wizard, Glenshadow. This motley crue traverses the mountains around Thorbardin searching for clues that will lead them to the fabled helm of Grallen, a dwarven prince who died during the Dwarfgate Wars.

I found the book entertaining but not at all enthralling, though with enough to keep me interested in finishing it. I found the formulaic naming of dwarves annoying; as annoying as the formulaic naming of kender in Kendermore. I thought that Bobbin was a nice addition to the book even if he ended up being a one-trick pony. What is it with gnomes and raisins? I thought the construction of the party with the "one from every race" was a little annoying, but I guess in the DragonLance realm, nothing important happens without representatives from all the good races getting in on the act.

Read 11/2007 ( )

My First Dragonlance novel and the one that pulled me into buying the whole series ( )