Tracy Hickman

This is an amazingly powerful trilogy. The people are complex, strongly portrayed, and have a sense of self unlike any I've encountered in books before. Their gods are powerful, believable, and- perhaps most importantly of all- have deeply human emotions that make them very likeable. The plot is tightly woven, dropping the reader into the blackest pits of despair yet still somehow retaining that small, impossibly held hope that somehow, someway, everything will work out. A masterful work of show more art worthy of J.R.R. Tolkien himself, and a must read for anyone who loves fantasy. 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

This is generally cheap-feeling, probably rushed to produce, franchise tie-in media and reads like it. Worth it for nostalgia for an earlier era and that's pretty much it, you aren't going to feel the need to ever read these again. Quality, of course, varies.

Jeff Grubb's Liberty's Crusade - Basically the plot of the video game written from the first-person perspective of a reporter assigned to Jim Raynor's group. Grubb's new material is generally interesting instead of forced and it was show more worth reading as a companion piece to the game even if large portions of the text are literally the game script.

Kevin J. Anderson (Gabriel Mesta)'s Shadow of the Xel'Naga - Light this garbage on fire. KJA's work is godawful as per normal. Not only does he not actually have any familiarity or understanding of the world he's writing for, it isn't even good writing on its own.

Tracy Hickman's Speed of Darkness - On the complete opposite spectrum from KJA, Tracy Hickman is an excellent, imaginative writer and it shows. Even though this is clearly not one he was putting his best effort into, there's a high floor for his work. Tried to do a ground-level perspective from characters that are in-game just pixelly mans for you to shoot at, and provide some introspection. Best novel in the anthology.

Micky Neilson's Uprising - Includes some material relating to Proper Nouns that got namedropped with otherwise zero elaboration in the game manual's backstory writing and notable for that, but honestly I barely remember it at all. Obviously didn't make much of an impression on me. Did what the author was hired to do, I guess. show less

A poignant and relevant book set in the near future where AIDS has been cured and a new more deadly virus has emerged. The virus is so deadly the US government mandates the victims of the virus must be placed in concentration camps and categorized as pre-deceased. With no rights and no hope this bleak outlook is part commentary on the perils of a government out of control and people making impulse decisions on life-affecting topics as well as an example of the human spirit enduring when it show more seems despair is all that remains. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, which had me sprouting tears of sadness as well as tears of joy.

Interestingly, this novel is a far departure from this author's normal genre of fantasy dragon novels. A lovely example that writer's can span genres successfully when the writing is incredible and the topic compelling. While I own the hardcover version, which is out of print, the book is available in paperback as well as a free serialized audiobook through podiobooks.com. show less