I am a sucker when it comes to sci-fi/fantasy novels. Therefore it is no surprise that I have some "collector's edition" fantasy novels flying around on my bookshelf. More than 3 years ago, I saw this book "Dragonlance chronicles special edition" on the net. At the time, although I've heard the Dragonlance series, but I have never read any Dragonlance books. So I did my research and, well it appeared that the general reviews about the Dragonlance books are usually quite positive. Furthermore, it turned out that the first 6 books of the Dragonlance saga are very highly rated. So I took a big risk and decided to buy this book.
Dragonlance Chronicles special edition (the price is pretty "special" as well), is basically the collection of the first trilogy in the Dragonlance saga. It contains 3 books: Dragons of Autumn Twilight, Dragons of Winter Night, and Dragons of Spring Dawning. The book itself, as you can see from the pictures above, is of high production quality. Not only is it hard covered, but also has golden edge coatings on all the pages. The papers are very high quality, with illustrations throughout the entire book. This massive tome amounts to +1000 pages, and it took me a month to read it from the starting to the end.
The book sure looks good, but the most important thing about a book (much like people), is not just about appreciating the outside cover and appearance, but to appreciate its contents. So, how is Dragonlance? The first Dragonlance book came out in 1984, and after almost 30 years, Dragonlance saga is still on-going, so it must have its unique charms that continues to attract the readers to come back for more. Therefore, without further delay, I will briefly review the story of the Chronicles Trilogy for you.
The novels took place in the fantasy world of Krynn, it is a story about good VS. evil. A group of friends had a re-union after 5 years of seperatoin. By chance, they became engaged on a quest to deliver a mysterious "Blue crystal staff" to a save location. As they travel, they discovered a major threat is related to their seemingly small quest, where they had to battle against the minions of an evil goddess, dragons and fantastic creatures to save their continent, as they became involved in bigger events that gradually unfolded surrounding their quest.
The story of Chronicles trilogy is a very common good VS. evil tale. However, the authors of the story managed to create a very compelling story that takes its readers to travel to fantastic locations, where the heroes of the story face dangers and continues to overcome dire perils.
For me, I think the best element in the story of the Chronicles trilogy is the character development. Not only did the authors created lively, complex, memorable, distinguishable characters, but in the story the readers will witness the continuous growth and maturing of the characters in the book. All of the characters in the book face their own personal struggles on this perilous journey, and by the end of the book, you will see that they have really grown and faced their personal demons to become the heroes they are called to be. If you read this book, you will like all the heroes in the book, because the readers can easily identifies themselves with any of the characters in the story.
If you like Tolkein's Middle Earth saga, I think you will like the Chronicles trilogy as well.
Rating: 4.5/5
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