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A review by blackmetalblackheart
Dragons of Fate by Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman
2.5
Dragons of Fate, like the first book in this trilogy, suffers from an inexcusable number of typos. For a major publisher it just blows my mind. The lack of care put into this book, after the obvious issues with the first, is depressing. General quality issues aside, there are other problems as well. Like I stated in my review of Dragons of Destiny, as a life long Dragonlance fan, it is hard to review a book like this with any objectivity. Just simply being in this world and spending time with these characters again is exciting. That being said, the excitement of returning to Krynn can only take things so far.
The major issue with this book is the fact that nearly all of the major plot points are choreographed in advance. When dealing with a time travel story, that can come with the territory. However, it can also stifle the pace and energy of the story. For 75% of the book, things feel slow. The minor events crawl along and hold little weight for the major events that readers know are coming. It feels like the authors are simply filling space. And though some of that space contains good character moments, it is not enough to carry the rest. The final 25% of the book delivers some interesting action and twists on what readers already know. There is excitement and surprise. There is a good sense of tension. It would have been great to have this throughout the whole book.
The other issue with Dragons of Fate is that it suffers from middle child syndrome. It mostly feels like a vessel to get the trilogy to where it needs to be for the final book. There is certainly a standalone story arc present, but it feels so minimal compared to where things are left. We also see how a world so richly mined and written about can make a new story shrink under the weight of its own shadow. We see events we are familiar with. We see characters that have been used countless times before. We see the use of time travel as a gimmick in order to shake up a world that does not have much new to say. And in order to further the story, we see characters making stupid choices or being indecisive at points that just do not make sense.
I know this review comes off as harsh, but I expect a lot from these authors. And that is not to say there weren't elements worth praising. The end of this book leaves things in such an interesting place. I am very excited to see how things shake out in the third book. Weis and Hickman are also excellent at writing these characters. The authors know them inside and out and it shows. It allows for changes in characters like Raistlin to feel organic and believable. It allows for them to mess with the existing canon because they understand it. There are cool fights here. There are neat character moments. There is potential for a great third book. But that does not excuse the sins committed along the way. After all this time, I just expect more.
The major issue with this book is the fact that nearly all of the major plot points are choreographed in advance. When dealing with a time travel story, that can come with the territory. However, it can also stifle the pace and energy of the story. For 75% of the book, things feel slow. The minor events crawl along and hold little weight for the major events that readers know are coming. It feels like the authors are simply filling space. And though some of that space contains good character moments, it is not enough to carry the rest. The final 25% of the book delivers some interesting action and twists on what readers already know. There is excitement and surprise. There is a good sense of tension. It would have been great to have this throughout the whole book.
The other issue with Dragons of Fate is that it suffers from middle child syndrome. It mostly feels like a vessel to get the trilogy to where it needs to be for the final book. There is certainly a standalone story arc present, but it feels so minimal compared to where things are left. We also see how a world so richly mined and written about can make a new story shrink under the weight of its own shadow. We see events we are familiar with. We see characters that have been used countless times before. We see the use of time travel as a gimmick in order to shake up a world that does not have much new to say. And in order to further the story, we see characters making stupid choices or being indecisive at points that just do not make sense.
I know this review comes off as harsh, but I expect a lot from these authors. And that is not to say there weren't elements worth praising. The end of this book leaves things in such an interesting place. I am very excited to see how things shake out in the third book. Weis and Hickman are also excellent at writing these characters. The authors know them inside and out and it shows. It allows for changes in characters like Raistlin to feel organic and believable. It allows for them to mess with the existing canon because they understand it. There are cool fights here. There are neat character moments. There is potential for a great third book. But that does not excuse the sins committed along the way. After all this time, I just expect more.