Tracy Hickman

This review is also featured on Behind the Pages: Test of the Twins

Using Crysania as his shield, Raistlin enters the abyss in search of the Dark Queen. Heedless of the wounds Crysania takes in his stead, Raistlin’s only goal is to kill Takhisis and ascend to Godhood. Meanwhile, Tas and Caramon have traveled forward in time and lay witness to the devastation left behind. But as they journey back to save the world, they will find it isn’t only Raistlin at fault. Kitara has once again show more taken up the mantle of Highlord, eager to earn her piece of power.

Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman have shown readers the damage codependency can create when one side no longer needs the other. Readers have witnessed Caramon at his darkest moments, battling to reclaim his life. And while he has come a long way since Time of the Twins, the struggle is far from over. Pitted against one another, Raistlin and Caramon will engulf the readers in a tension filled storyline, rife with action and heartbreak.

Raistlin’s character has always fascinated me. He can be so cruel, yet he will perform small acts of kindness for those who are looked down on. Throughout Test of the Twins, as he makes darker and darker decisions, you keep hoping there is something left behind of the character you once knew. He wraps the reader around his finger, bringing to life a conflict of emotions. I found myself questioning why I was drawn to Raistlin. And yet still as I read, a part of me hoped he would find what he was looking for, even if it meant the end of the world.

And amongst all the tension and conflict, lighter moments are thrown in to draw the reader back from the edge. Tasslehoff has a more prominent presence in Test of the Twins. And you can always count on good old Tas to bring humor. He has a heart of gold and does everything he can to help his friends. His antics will win you over from the moment he steps on the page.

Revisiting this trilogy was such a delight. The characters are wonderfully crafted. And the storyline is filled to the brim with complex relationships, swords and sorcery, as well as timeless world-building. If you haven't given Dragonlance a try yet, what are you waiting for? show less

I'm (re)reading across the big fantasy works of the 1980s, so Dragonlance is on the list. All the standard jokes about fantasy are here: you can hear the dice rolling, etc... I'd almost want marginalia tracking their strength and energy. But isn't that really the point of it too? If it's not replicating the D&D experience, it's not Dragonlance.

The writing is exactly what you'd expect, and the book is very slow to start, but even this tells us something. They all really love their local bar. show more They're all old friends coming together for one more adventure. They have a couple of newbies who have to learn as they go. It is, in this, everything fun about D&D as a social phenomenon. I think this is actually its greatest appeal. Perhaps unintentionally, you find there's a character behind each character. They all start off pretty cardboard-like: a warrior, a Mage, a thief, and elf, &c. Slowly they start making jokes with each other, and after a while they're friends having fun together. The book slowly evolves to mirror that experience of playing. I suspect that's why it still has a loyal fan base, despite their recognizing the obvious problems. The problems with Dragonlance as a novel are part of its appeal. show less

It's interesting how strange the whimsical and overtly silly elements of Dragonlance read today. Gully Dwarves, who speak in a pidgin English, Kender, who are a race of basically thieves but who are actually just really curious, and a lot of fat jokes at Caramon's expense are all in this novel. And much of those elements are the weakest; they're not really funny or charming, and they wear out their welcome very quickly in the narrative.

Yet, strangely, it's a compelling read. The characters show more go for things they want, they try to overcome obstacles, and there is some truly epic scope here even if the execution falters at the prose level. show less

I could not have loved these books more when I was in junior high. I think it was because I was in love with Raistlin Majere. God knows why. God also probably knows that I grew up to love his real-world equivalent, in many different guises – the common theme being the misunderstood, smart guy. Together, it was us against the world. What I didn’t see then, that only two decades has taught me, is that Raistlin didn’t just need someone to love him for him – Caramon already did that, and show more it wasn’t enough – Raistlin already loved himself. So, I think I am afraid that if you let your young girls read Dragonlance, they’ll date bad men. It makes me wonder, is the characterization in the book inherently flawed, skewed to somehow glorify the misanthropic?

I don’t think so. Ultimately, what I think was going on is that the Dragonlance series created a vast series of characters with varying personalities, and that Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman managed to make all of them, from the uptight Knight of Solamnia, to the bouncy kender, to the mage discussed above, real people with real motivations, who could be loved, and understood, and cared about. If they are somewhat archetypal (stereotypical?), they are none the worse for it. Even in the real world, often artists do not act like bankers, and so forth, finding similarities among their own kind.

The Twins series is probably my favorite of all the Dragonlance books, involving time travel, Caramon and Raistlin Majere, and Raistlin’s attempt to answer the age old question, what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, if he loses his own soul? show less