Scan barcode
A review by brassaf
Riverwind the Plainsman by Tonya C. Cook, Paul B. Thompson
5.0
Every now and then a book surprises me. Ok, I admit, most books surprise me. I'm so easily entertained I usually see past the flaws in anything falling under the umbrella of "entertainment" (movies, tv shows, books). Why do most books surprise me? Because I get lost in the story, and my brain spends all of its time in the present page and usually doesn't try to figure out the surprise twist endings or obvious conclusions. The mind of me aside, let's get back to Riverwind the Plainsman.
I burned through the first 17 or so Dragonlance books when they were hot off the presses in the 80s and 90s. But then I started college and stopped reading them religiously. I had a few still in my collection, unread, and many years later even picked up a few more on an impulse buy at a used bookstore going out of business sale. I know I'll never read them all, but I figure, for good ol' times' sake, I'll read one of the unread ones every now and then to at least finish what I have, even if I never buy anymore.
I'm rambling, and surprised you're still reading! I don't care. :)
Enter this book. From what I remember of the original heroes of the lance, Riverwind wasn't a major character--he was in my memory, mostly a sidekick to the main healer/cleric archetype, Goldmoon. Yes I remember he had found the blue crystal staff from the earliest Weis/Hickman trilogy. But... not much else. So it was a welcome surprise to find this book's main character so... endearing to me. Fierce loyalty, undying love and devotion, a genuinely good soul, compassionate, self-sacrificing. All qualities my wife found in me! Ha. I only threw that in there in case she reads it so she'll get a good laugh. Well, honestly, I did identify with RW, honestly!
What I thought would be a world-spanning trot by our main hero and his one, then two sidekicks, ended up not being that. What I thought would be just a side-trip underground, ended up not being just a side adventure, but the MAIN adventure. Then even as they emerge on the other side of that adventure (not much of a spoiler given the book is a prequel--we know RW survives alive and well) there is yet another main foil introduced that leads him to his final sacrificial decisions and ultimate quest completion. The few pages at the end showcasing his reunification with his home people and true love, are all too brief, but that's denouement for you.
I didn't cry reading any of the scenes, even the tender, touching, sweet ones. But, explaining the plot in a nutshell to my wife, who knows my silly devotion to long-dusty old series, and who also detests the original trilogy as puerile (her having had the disadvantage of reading the first book as an adult, rather than the prime audience of teenagers!), yes, I teared up. That's the power of a good book and its final surprise: that, when explaining it in 3 minutes or less, I got all choked up because, dang, that Riverwind, he's just awesome. I've debated whether to slap a 4 or 5 star rating on this, but you know what? I only live once and won't be reading this book again, so I might as well honor it with the 5-star.
One mistake I did catch, and wondering if anyone else did, was in Catchflea's use of his acorn divination, and then 2 paragraphs later, reveling in the joy of being reuinted with it. Almost like two different authors were writing the book and they missed one set of out of sequence scenes. Oh wait....
Congrats, Dragonlance, you got me again! Definitely in for the next one....and the next... and the next....
I burned through the first 17 or so Dragonlance books when they were hot off the presses in the 80s and 90s. But then I started college and stopped reading them religiously. I had a few still in my collection, unread, and many years later even picked up a few more on an impulse buy at a used bookstore going out of business sale. I know I'll never read them all, but I figure, for good ol' times' sake, I'll read one of the unread ones every now and then to at least finish what I have, even if I never buy anymore.
I'm rambling, and surprised you're still reading! I don't care. :)
Enter this book. From what I remember of the original heroes of the lance, Riverwind wasn't a major character--he was in my memory, mostly a sidekick to the main healer/cleric archetype, Goldmoon. Yes I remember he had found the blue crystal staff from the earliest Weis/Hickman trilogy. But... not much else. So it was a welcome surprise to find this book's main character so... endearing to me. Fierce loyalty, undying love and devotion, a genuinely good soul, compassionate, self-sacrificing. All qualities my wife found in me! Ha. I only threw that in there in case she reads it so she'll get a good laugh. Well, honestly, I did identify with RW, honestly!
What I thought would be a world-spanning trot by our main hero and his one, then two sidekicks, ended up not being that. What I thought would be just a side-trip underground, ended up not being just a side adventure, but the MAIN adventure. Then even as they emerge on the other side of that adventure (not much of a spoiler given the book is a prequel--we know RW survives alive and well) there is yet another main foil introduced that leads him to his final sacrificial decisions and ultimate quest completion. The few pages at the end showcasing his reunification with his home people and true love, are all too brief, but that's denouement for you.
I didn't cry reading any of the scenes, even the tender, touching, sweet ones. But, explaining the plot in a nutshell to my wife, who knows my silly devotion to long-dusty old series, and who also detests the original trilogy as puerile (her having had the disadvantage of reading the first book as an adult, rather than the prime audience of teenagers!), yes, I teared up. That's the power of a good book and its final surprise: that, when explaining it in 3 minutes or less, I got all choked up because, dang, that Riverwind, he's just awesome. I've debated whether to slap a 4 or 5 star rating on this, but you know what? I only live once and won't be reading this book again, so I might as well honor it with the 5-star.
One mistake I did catch, and wondering if anyone else did, was in Catchflea's use of his acorn divination, and then 2 paragraphs later, reveling in the joy of being reuinted with it. Almost like two different authors were writing the book and they missed one set of out of sequence scenes. Oh wait....
Congrats, Dragonlance, you got me again! Definitely in for the next one....and the next... and the next....