444 pages
English language
Published Feb. 1, 2000
Dragons of Autumn Twilight is a 1984 fantasy novel by American writers Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, based on a series of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) game modules. It was the first Dragonlance novel, and first in the Chronicles trilogy, which, along with the Dragonlance Legends trilogy, are generally regarded as the core novels of the Dragonlance world. The Chronicles trilogy came about because the designers wanted novels to tell the story of the game world they were creating, something to which TSR, Inc. (TSR) agreed only reluctantly. Dragons of Autumn Twilight details the meeting of the Companions and the early days of The War of the Lance. The novel corresponds with the first two Dragonlance game modules, Dragons of Despair and Dragons of Flame, but with a different ending. It introduces many of the characters that are the subject of later novels and short stories. The title Dragons of …
Dragons of Autumn Twilight is a 1984 fantasy novel by American writers Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, based on a series of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) game modules. It was the first Dragonlance novel, and first in the Chronicles trilogy, which, along with the Dragonlance Legends trilogy, are generally regarded as the core novels of the Dragonlance world. The Chronicles trilogy came about because the designers wanted novels to tell the story of the game world they were creating, something to which TSR, Inc. (TSR) agreed only reluctantly. Dragons of Autumn Twilight details the meeting of the Companions and the early days of The War of the Lance. The novel corresponds with the first two Dragonlance game modules, Dragons of Despair and Dragons of Flame, but with a different ending. It introduces many of the characters that are the subject of later novels and short stories. The title Dragons of Autumn Twilight follows a pattern with the other novels in the series, Dragons of Winter Night and Dragons of Spring Dawning, as they all start with Dragons, followed the names of the seasons, Autumn, Winter, and Spring, as well as a series of time, Twilight, Night, and Dawning. Margaret Weis includes allusions to A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, one of her favorite stories. References include: But there was something disquieting about him—secret, silent, self-contained, and solitary as an oyster and The fate of mankind is my business. This quote is turned from meaning good to meaning harm.
This book is a big part of DnD culture. Glad I read it for that reason. But not a great story and I disliked Goldmoon quite a bit. Too weepy most of the time, and all of the sudden she kills a [spoiler] and becomes [spoiler]?!?
3.5 stars
It's not a literary masterpiece, but it's definitely a fun read. I agree with others that if feels like an adapted D&D session, but overall, I think it was adapted well.
Whenever I down I pick these up and the world is a better place.
Oof, doesn't hold up.
I acknowledge that a work doesn’t need to be a groundbreaking piece of literature to be fun and entertaining. I thought I’d be able to look past the cliché fantasy tropes and clumsy plot devices and enjoy this book as a piece of popular fiction. I was wrong. I think the point I gave up on this book was when a bunch of centaurs appeared and began to address the protagonists using only the pronoun “thee”, no “thou” in sight, with third person subject-verb agreement. I can’t believe the author - or for heaven’s sake the editor - couldn’t have checked how “thee/thou”, “thy/thine” worked. It’s not exactly obscure grammar. It left me with the impression of a book hastily written, with little thought given to actual craft of writing. I pushed on further but gave up two thirds of the way through it.
I acknowledge that a work doesn’t need to be a groundbreaking piece of literature to be fun and entertaining. I thought I’d be able to look past the cliché fantasy tropes and clumsy plot devices and enjoy this book as a piece of popular fiction. I was wrong. I think the point I gave up on this book was when a bunch of centaurs appeared and began to address the protagonists using only the pronoun “thee”, no “thou” in sight, with third person subject-verb agreement. I can’t believe the author - or for heaven’s sake the editor - couldn’t have checked how “thee/thou”, “thy/thine” worked. It’s not exactly obscure grammar. It left me with the impression of a book hastily written, with little thought given to actual craft of writing. I pushed on further but gave up two thirds of the way through it.
More all that bad of a book. Pretty simple in nature, with pretty predictable characters.
Not bad considering it's probably based on someone's D&D campaign. Lots of characters but only a few were developed in any detail. I'll have to see if the other books in the series will focus on the other members of the cast.
A good story, with weak dialogue. I feel like this is a part of an older generation of fantasy novel in which writing was not as important. Maybe not, maybe I am just imagining it. The writing was definitely the weak point of the novel.
Still a lot of fun. Not perfect, but enjoyable.
