Mark Anthony (1) (1966–)

Reading this was like seeing old friends again after a long absence. The Dragonlance Chronicles started my adventures into the world of Krynn back in high school. I felt that returning years later to read how the companions met one another was fitting.
In this first book we meet Flint Fireforge and Tanis Half Elven. Flint is a guest metalsmith for the Speaker of the Sun and Tanis as many know, if your familiar with the series, is the product of tragedy after the Cataclysm. An orphaned boy of show more half royal blood, taken in to be raised among the Speaker's children. We see the hardships that fall on Tanis as he is ridiculed for being half human, and my heart breaks for him.
As the story progresses we see the bond between Flint and Tanis grow, from a simple act of kindness when Flint gives him a handmade toy into a steadfast friendship. But trouble waits for Tanis, as he grows older and is accused of murder. The only thing standing between his exile from Qualinost is Flint's determination to prove him innocent.
This was a slow building book, as the reader is shown Tanis' whole childhood, but it serves to show the basis of his personality we see in later novels. I also never tire learning about the different elven races in Krynn, so the ability to read more about Qualinost's culture and coming of age traditions interested me. Flint's humor does break up the long stretches and his faithful donkey causing laughable mayhem. A definite read for fans of the original trilogy that started the Dragonlance World. show less

As much as I liked the premise of this book (and I really, really did - it reminded me a little of War Of The Flowers, which is one of my favorite fantasy novels), I struggled with Beyond The Pale. I found the writing interesting in parts, but too flowery and description heavy to hold my interest for long, so I ended up taking frequent breaks as I read. I also thought the dialogue was stilted and unbelievable, not at all like "real" people speak. I found the main characters irritating, show more particularly Travis who was so passive and frightened of everything that I just couldn't take him seriously as a supposed hero. The author had some interesting ideas, and the book is fluffy and light...but even so I didn't find this to be a fast read at all. I will not be continuing with this series. show less

To be fair, I bailed on this somewhere near the beginning, but (in terms of pages read) would be definitely the middle of most books ... this book is long.

Too long, as it turns out, as it just feels stretched out and sloggy. There are a few decent/interesting moments, and then everything crashes to earth again as uninteresting people do expected-fantasy-trope things. It may very well get better near the end, or in book two, or four, but I'm not going to wait for that any more (this year I've show more really taken "life is short" seriously ... my Dad died, and I'm feeling mortal, and my worst fear is that I'll die some day without having read all my favourite undiscovered books ... and time spent on a book that definitely won't be a fave is time wasted. So I bail).

The beginning is a bit Stephen King-ish, and then the just-past-beginning is a bit Donaldson-ish (i.e. Thomas Covenant), and as I've said neither is very grabby. Still, others have liked it--if you're a huge fan of slow set-up, little explanation, and travelling in woods, go for it. If you're after a lesser-known, fun, fantasy series from a few decades ago, I'd read Duncan's Magic Casement series instead.

(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). show less

I read this some time ago. I remember I liked the female protagonist, Grace, more than Travis, the male protagonist. Travis is gay (which is fine), but we don't find that out until two or three books into the series, which is annoying, because it feels like the author just kind of stuck that in. Why wouldn't we know from the beginning?

I remember I liked certain aspects of this series, but it was an odd mix of epic fantasy and corporate thriller, which sometimes sat uneasily on the page.