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Now the people know that the dragon minions of Takhisis, Queen of Dragons, have returned. The people of all nations prepare to fight to save their homes, their lives, and their freedom. But the races have long been divided by hatred and prejudice. Elven warriors and human knights fight among themselves. It seems the battle has been lost before it begins. The companions are separated, torn apart by war. A full season will pass before they meet again--if they meet again. As the darkness deepens, a disgraced knight, a pampered elfmaiden, and a rattle-brained kender stand alone in the pale winter sunlight. Not much in the way of heroes. |
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I recently started to reread the DragonLance novels in my collection chronologically. Dragons of Winter Night is the second novel in the DragonLance chronicles. This novel is slightly better than the first novel. The characters are starting to become a little more endearing. The biggest of which is Sturm and his struggles to be knight. I know alot of people will say Sturm was a one dimensional character who was too good and pure but his actions at the end of the novel made him standout alot to me. The biggest problem I had with this novel is the large number of gaps they have in the plot. I'm sure most people will agree with me on this. Laurana who basically becomes the heroine of the War of the Lance was off doing alot of off screen time in this novel. Laurana goes missing. Laurana comes with the Dragon Orbs. Laurana goes missing. Laurana comes back with the DragonLance. Yay! I think the authors recognized these flaws which is why they were later filled in during the Tales anthologies. The best plot point in my opinion is the island where the proud elven nations were forced to flee in exile. It introduces a third race of elves, the Kagonesti, or the wilder elves. I find this to be a very interesting part of the story since the Qualinesti and Silvanesti despite their hatred of each other from the Kinslayer Wars centuries ago, both treat the Kagonesti basically as slaves. This conflict was basically expanded on in the Elven Nations trilogy about Kith Kanan and the Kinslayer Wars which are excellent reads. In conclusion, I would recommend reading this novel since it does serve as a starting point for getting into the DragonLance universe. As a standalone novel however it isn't the greatest out there.
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