2.5 stars

A generic fantasy romp that, as others have pointed out, reads very much like a novelization of someone's DnD sessions. This is perhaps pulpy 80s fantasy in its purest form. There is not much subtlety or nuance to be found in these pages, but it has some interesting elements and can certainly scratch that conventional high fantasy itch.
The chapter with the gnomes was pretty great and almost worth a star on its own by my reckoning. ( )

Dragons of Winter Night is the second book in Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman’s Dragonlance: Chronicles, as well as the second book in the huge multi-author Dragonlance Universe. It picks up a short time after the events of the first book, Dragons of Autumn Twilight. Our eight main heroes from that book, Tanis, Sturm, Raistlin, Caramon, Flint, Tasslehoff, Riverwind, and Goldmoon, along with the newer additions of Laurana, Gilthanis, Elistan, and Tika, are trying to figure out what to do with the refugees of Pax Tharkas since the war is now on and there aren’t many safe places they can go. They decide to travel to the port city of Tarsis, where they hope to find ships, only to discover that the city is now landlocked. But while there, they come across a book telling the locations of the fabled Dragon Orbs. As they’re deciding their next move, the city is attacked by dragons and the friends become separated. Tanis, along with Raistlin, Caramon, Tika, Riverwind, and Goldmoon are manipulated by Alhana, a Silvanesti elf, into joining forces with her and returning to her homeland in search of her father, as well as one of the orbs. The others, under Sturm and Laurana’s leadership, and with new member Derek, a Knight of Solamnia, travel in a different direction. They, too, come into possession of a Dragon Orb, and end up in the land where all elves have taken refuge but each tribe keeps to themselves, not getting along. While the elves and Knights fight over who should have the Dragon Orb, Laurana makes the decision to take it to Solamnia. She sends Sturm and Derek on ahead with it, so that she and the others can mislead the elves who are chasing them, and in so doing, they find the equally fabled Dragonlance. After several adventures, those in Laurana’s group eventually reunite with Sturm, and in the end, they must fight a major battle against the forces of the Dark Queen.

These books have a plethora of characters that are sometimes difficult to keep track of, but I think I recall the most important players. Tanis, the half-elf, has always been kind of the de facto leader of the companions even though he doesn’t really know how he ended up in that position. He’s a strong, brave commander who’s good at taking care of everyone and making decisions, but his heart is still split between elf-maiden Laurana who he grew up alongside among the elves and human Kitiara, Raistlin and Caramon’s sister, who we don’t meet until toward the end of this book. I don’t want to say too much about Kitiara other than I was disappointed in the choices she’d made, as well as Tanis’s seemingly easy acceptance of her back into his life, knowing these things. On the other hand, Laurana, who I hadn’t really thought much of in the first book, really grows and comes into her own in this part of the story, showing herself to be, not only a great leader, but also a brave warrior. By the end, I very much admired her. Sturm is still the brooding Knight of Solamnia, who we discover never was an official Knight, and his pursuit of that dream in this book isn’t without its challenges. IMHO, he had perhaps the most memorable performance of any character this time around, aside from Laurana, and the two of them made a great team. The mage, Raistlin, is powerful in magic, but physically weak, so his twin, Caramon, still looks after him. The pair are basically inseparable, but we still don’t learn much more about why that is or what happened to Raistlin in the past. I respect his power, but he can still be a bit of a jerk sometimes. Flint and Tasslehoff continue to provide comic relief to the story, while also proving that sometimes even little people (much like the Hobbits from The Lord of the Rings) can do big things. I thought perhaps Gilthanis would be a more important player this time, as he meets and falls in love with Silvara, an elf-maid from a different elven tribe. Silvara does do something very important to the story, but then they go off on their own and aren’t seen again for the remainder of the book. Derek is rather full of himself and causes no end of trouble for Sturm. The other characters were mostly in the background, seen occasionally, but not really adding anything particularly significant to the plot.

Overall, Dragons of Winter Night was a good follow-up to the first book, but I felt it moved at a slower pace. There’s a lot happening, but not a great deal of action until the end. It’s mostly about the companions traveling to Tarsis, where there is a little excitement when the dragons attack and separate them. But then the two groups travel around to different places, accomplishing various things, while searching for the Dragon Orbs and Dragonlance in hopes that these ancient objects will help them find a way to eventually defeat the dragons. After helping Alhana, Tanis’s group basically become itinerate performers, singing for their supper so to speak, trying to earn enough money to book passage on a ship to sail someplace where they hope to reunite with the rest of their friends. Meanwhile, Laurana’s group seemed to add the most plotwise, making several discoveries and using their newfound knowledge and fighting skills to tip the balance of power slightly in their favor. In the final battle, we bid a sad farewell to one of the main characters. I generally enjoyed the story, but felt a tad frustrated by the continued addition of new characters to the already overcrowded palette while still leaving some of the main characters underdeveloped. I did appreciate some new growth for Laurana, Sturm, and perhaps to a slightly lesser extent, Tasslehoff, but the others pretty much remained stagnate with not much new being added to their characters since the first book. Because of that, this was a good story, but not one that quite made it over the hump into keeper territory for me, even though it and the series as a whole remain all-time favorites for my hubby. ( )

F/SF

I have another copy of this book. Wasn't too thrilled by the series so I'm getting rid of this.

I'd give it a three. A good story, somewhat jumbled, somewhat saccharine, Weis and Hackman laid it on pretty thick at times. So much that I thought the story bogged down and (as this was an audiobook) I almost quit. But at times the story flowed, seemed unpredictable and fresh and kept me engaged. Everything taken to account, this was a good tale, not great, but good. The ending surely made me want to continue on to the Spring and see what adventure awaits the remaining companions. ( )

Like the first in the series, I am going back and rereading some of these books I enjoyed in my younger years to see if they still hold the same magic. I actually felt this one was better than the first. The story was more developed and felt less like I was reading a summary of a Dungeons and Dragons campaign. ( )

This is the Empire Strikes Back of the fantasy world. The second volume in the Dragonlance Chronicles is much darker, grittier than the first volume. As will happen with adventurers, not everyone is destined to go the same direction. Great addition to the series. The character exploration of the writers only gets better with this installment. ( )

A little bit like the Empire strikes back this is an example of a sequel that’s as good as if not slightly better than the original. The companions of the Lance make their way through the battle ravaged the world of Krynn suffering many losses and many revelations. Highly enjoyable and can’t wait to get onto the next one ( )

As much as I love playing D&D and wanted to at least like these books--I didn't.

I thought this one was better than the first. The plot was more interesting. But many main characters that were in the first book were missing here. There wasn't as much silly comic relief which was nice. But still, the characters were rather two-dimensional, and the plot was derivative.

This is clearly a plot-driven story, since the characters seem to do things just to move the lot along. No breadcrumbs are left so that when a character does something that doesn't quite jibe with their established personality it comes out of nowhere. (I've started the third and last book in this trilogy and it's even worse there.)

I don't plan to buy or read any more in this series. There are far better sword and sorcery books out there. Maybe if I had read these books back when they first came out, I'd have a different opinion of them.

If you want to read a really fine group of sword and sorcery novels and short stories, try Fritz Lieber's Grey Mouser and Fafhrd. ( )

Recensione sul blog: http://thereadingpal.blogspot.it/2018/04/recensione-172-i-draghi-della-notte.htm...

Questo libro stava sul mio scaffale da un po', visto che ho leto il primo libro, I Draghi del Crepuscolo d'Autunno, più di un anno fa. Eppure mi ricordavo dei personaggi, in particolare Tas e Raistlin, che in effetti sono diventati i miei preferiti, e non ho avuto difficoltà a ricordare eventi precedenti.
La guerra con la Regina delle Tenebre è ormai alle porte, eppure ci sono popoli che non vogliono essere coinvolti e danno la colpa ai soli umani.
Il nostro gruppo si ritrova qui in una nuova avventura, tra terre assediate dai Draconici e dai Signori dei Draghi, cercando di evitare la guerra tra le razze, con lotte intestine anche tra loro, e la guerra con la Regina delle Tenebre. E la guerra contro quest'ultima può essere vinta solo grazie alle Dragonlance e ai Globi dei Draghi...


Nove essi erano, nove alla luce delle tre lune,
Nel crepuscolo d'autunno:
Mentre il mondo si sgretolava essi sorgevano
Nel cuore della storia.


Devo dire che questo secondo libro sembra essermi piaciuto meno del primo, ma ha comunque dei punti di forza.
Come ho detto mi è piaciuto ritrovare i personaggi; soprattutto Tas, la cui curiosità lo rende diverso dagli altri e a tratti molto più interessante perché le sue sensazioni non sono quelle degli altri, e anzi sono molto diverse, e Raistlin, che è un personaggio molto ambiguo ed ambizioso. Se devo dire qualcosa riguarda a Rast, è il fatto che gli autori tramite gli altri personaggi cercano di dirci che Raistlin è malvagio e inquietante ma, alla fine dei conti, questo male e questa crudeltà che dovrebbe avere non sono ancora stati mostrati. Anzi, ricordo che nel primo libro e anche in questo Raistlin ha aiutato i compagni in varie occasioni, e che il resto del gruppo è fatto di ingrati rompiscatole e a tratti anche piuttosto stereotipati.
Anche Strum in questo libro mi è piaciuto molto, e in effetti gran parte della storia è incentrata su di lui e sul suo voler essere Cavalariere di Solamnia. Se nel primo pareva essere un pochino piatto, da quanto ricordo, qui mostra davvero cosa e quanto gli sta a cuore..
Gli altri personaggi mi hanno lasciata un po'... Vuota? Assolutamente non impressionata? Insomma, il nano Flint non è male, ma Laurana, ad esempio, decanta il fatto di essere cresciuta un sacco e invece è altezzosa come tutto il suo popolo.
L'amore tra Silvarna e Gilthanas e quello tra Tika e Caramon mi ha lasciata totalmente indifferente. Forse un po' mi ha smossa Alhana, ma proprio all'ultimo, a causa di un evento che non voglio spoilerare. Nel complesso queste relazioni mi sono sembrate a tratti blande a tratti irrealistiche per via di come parlavano i personaggi.
Parlando della storia, il gruppo viene diviso piuttosto presto, ma le loro avventure sono tutte incentrate sul ritrovamento dei Globi del Drago, che dovrebbero aiutarli a sconfiggere il nemico. È una tipica avventura fantasy, classica, lineare, ma con qualche colpo di scena interessante. Nel complesso mi è piaciuta molto, a parte alcune cose che non ho capito e che mi hanno portata fuori dall'universo di Krynn. Per esempio, la continua menzione del Natale. A Krynn c'è il Natale? Si festeggia la nascita di Cristo in un mondo dove Cristo non esiste? Oppure di Paladine? O...? Chi lo sa. Non è mai spiegato. Rimane qualcosa che mi ha fatta tornare alla realtà e sembra una forzatura e un worldbuilding fatto male.
Lo stile di scrittura l'ho trovato pesantuccio, e ciò mi ha fatto protrarre la lettura davvero a lungo. Se poi si contano tuti gli errori di battitura... È davvero un peccato, perché nel complesso il libro non è male, e spero di poter leggere pesto il terzo libro. ( )

I read Dragons of Autumn Twilight, several years ago after receiving a copy as a birthday gift, and for some reason didn't continue with Book 2. I recently watched the animated movie based on the first book, and that rekindled my interest in the series. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, with the exception of a certain event in the last few chapters, but I am looking forward to continuing on. ( )

Beyond incredible. A perfect fantasy novel. ( )

When dragons invade the land, a small band of heroes, including a knight, barbarian, dwarf, and half-elf, begin the search for the magical Dragon Orb and Dragonlance. ( )

The story of the companions continues as the war begins to pick up. Their quest now is to find the dragon orbs. They get separated, which leads to diverging paths. This book, in terms of the pacing, was a bit slower than the first volume. However, there are some twists towards the end, and the action picks up in the second half. The tone of this one is darker than the first, but that is a good thing as it keeps things interesting. There is a cliffhanger, assuring readers will return for the third volume to conclude the trilogy. I certainly will seek the third novel to see how things wrap up. Overall, this series makes for nice escapist reading. Only reason I give it 3 stars is that I find later series, such as The Minotaur Wars, to be better developed, but this one is good entertainment, and you get a sense of how these novels got their start.

As I noted when I read the first volume, as a librarian, I still can say these books would have good appeal to teen readers, especially boys and probably good for reluctant readers as well. These are fairly easy books to read, pretty entertaining, and if you like fantasy, swords and dragons, a good selection. ( )

The world is more divided than ever, and evil is swiftly gaining ground. The dragon highlords continue their conquest to destroy any town that refuses to follow the Dark Queen. The companions will have to once again embark on a quest to bring light back into the world. But this time they must part ways, some never to see each other again. They will search for artifacts of the past that may give them the advantage they need. But to succeed they will have to overcome their own limitations and stay true to what they believe in. Even if that means making sacrifices.

Years ago, when I first read Dragons of Winter Night, the time jumps confused me. Some major events that propel the plot forward are summarized rather than written out in detail. Dragonlance is an immense world, and the stories that are skimmed over in this novel, are brought to light in full-fledged novels of their own. I appreciate the fact that the authors recognized the need to separate these stories. Of course, readers new to this series will undoubtedly stare at the pages and try to figure out what in the world they missed as I did. Hang in there, the story is well worth sticking around for.

With each addition to The Chronicles, the world of Krynn continues to grow. This time around readers will learn about the three magical orders and what governs them. Readers will also be introduced to the gnomes. I like to think of them as the engineers of Krynn. They are written in a unique way, and I found it fascinating how they think and talk. Trust me, read it and you will understand!

And then you have the Knights of Solamnia. Sturm has never been a favorite character of mine due to his viewpoints and attitude. But as readers learn more about the Knights, they will also come to understand why Sturm behaves as he does. And those who were not his biggest fan in the first novel will come to appreciate him and what he is willing to do for those he cares about. Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman never fail to create remarkable characters.

There is always a healthy dose of tension and mystery surrounding the companions and their journey. Diving into the world of Dragonlance is ensuring that you will be entertained for many many books. Magic, dragons, romance, adventure, all this and more is contained within Dragons of Winter Night. ( )

A relative bought this series for me when they were first published. Probably read the first 6 books a dozen times. The story is really engaging. This is not typical TSR fantasy fluff. The settings are epic and the characters are possessed of personalities that will leave you loving and hating them. The first six books contain some of the best high fantasy writing out there and begins to channel Robert E. Howard towards the middle and end which gives the setting more of a low fantasy mindset. ( )

A favorite series from my youth. ( )

This is the second book in the Dragonlance Chronicles trilogy, which I originally started because they were some of my husband's favorite books when he was in high school. I thought the first one was ok, but this one was a memorable adventure! I now see that some of simplicity in the first book was actually building a foundation for the second book.

The crew starts off on another quest for the Dragonlance in this tale. They aren't together for long before they are split into two groups after a dragon attack. One group continues the mission to find the Dragonlance while the other is left to fight the evil army trying to take over the land. I enjoyed it so much that my husband felt compelled to reread the series so we can read the last one together. ( )

My feelings about the second book in this, the original Dragonlance trilogy, mirror my reactions when reading the first. The story is fun, plot-driven with a myriad of characters; the fantasy is filled with tropes and cliches, but the irritation of predictability is alleviated because the cliches are done so well; the writing is adequate, at times clunky, but the focus is on action, not literary quality, so it worked.

Books evoke different ideas and interpretations, usually even two books in the same series, but sometimes a series feels like one big story sliced in pieces and my response to each novel can be surprisingly similar. Sometimes that can be a great thing - the story is so epic, you don't want to take a breath between reading each novel. Sometimes that can be a bad thing - the stories start to feel repetitive and I tire of them. This series falls somewhere in between, I feel. I wasn't consumed with a desire to move from one novel to the next; actually, many years passed between readings, and I had to skim the first one to remember what came before. On the other hand, I found both reads to be highly enjoyable, and acknowledged why so many fantasy fans consider this a staple of fantasy literature. How can I explain it? If you are looking for an example of the completely typical epic fantasy, with all the trimmings that might appear in that genre, then this is a series to peruse.

For my own records, I am appending a synopsis of the novel here (next time I won't need to skim, hopefully). Spoilers will certainly ensue.

This series picks up with the companions from the first novel in the series witnessing a historic moment: the dwarf clans are reuniting now that they have the might Hammer of Kharas. Apparently, in the interim between books, the companions went on another epic quest to retrieve said Hammer, but this is only referenced in the current story. (I saw from looking online that a book of lost adventures details the exploit.) Despite this triumph, everyone is concerned about the advancing Draconian armies, so the companions are dispatched to Tarsis, to see if they can use the legendary white-winged ships to seek places of refuge or help.

Nothing goes as planned, of course. Tarsis is hostile to foreigners, and Tanis, Flint, Sturm, and Tasslehoff are arrested. That becomes a moot point when the town is attacked, and quickly destroyed, by dragons. The companions are split in two groups: Tanis leads some to help the elven Lady Alhana, and Sturm gathers others to join with the Knights of Solamnia. Both groups succeed in acquiring dragon orb, and learn that these tools are fearsome objects of magic, potentially as destructive as they are helpful. Tanis and his group head to Flotsam, hoping to find safe passage to Southern Ergoth, but the Draconian armies are still searching for them. They pose as a group of traveling magicians and entertainers and accumulate enough money for renting a ship. Once in, however, Tanis runs into one of the Dragonlords, who happens to be his old lover, Kitiara. We leave that half of the companions in Flotsam, unsure of their eventual fate.

Meanwhile, Sturm and his group are marooned on Southern Ergoth, after a white dragon attacks their ship for stealing the orb from an ice palace. Laurana thinks that they will be safe, for her people are on Ergoth, but the elves are not friendly. The three different tribes are nearly at war with one another, and completely hostile to humans, who they blame for everything. Sturm and his fellow knights are not better; the Knights of Solamnia are split by bitter factions and rivalries. Nonetheless, Sturm and Laurana manage to help everyone escape the friendly imprisonment of the elves, and flee to Northern Ergoth, where the Knights have a stronghold. En route, they learn that Silvara, a member of their party, is actually a dragon in human form. She teaches them how to make the mythic Dragonlance, which comes in handy, because soon they are entrenched in a battle to save Palanthas from a huge Draconian army. It seems all is lost - over half of the Knights are slaughtered in an ill-advised attack that Sturm refuses to join - until Tasslehoff discovers another dragon orb. They use it, and are able to control the dragons and drive off the Draconians, but not before Sturm is killed in a battle with a Dragonlord. Who happens to be Kitiara. The novel concludes with a stirring account of Sturm's funeral, and Alhana's grief.

The first book ended with a wedding, the second ended with a funeral; how shall the trilogy end? ( )

this is the second of the dragon lance chronicles. unfortunatly like the first it lacks a spark that would make it a good read. again it was little more than a pleasent distraction. it was a little complecated in parts making it difficult to reccomedn as a traveling read.

I read this book back in 6th grade and I kinda fell in love with the series at that point. I gobbled up the first trilogy and then continued on for several years reading almost nothing but Dragonlance books. I haven't re-read this series in a long time, but what I remember about it was the epic-scale, and the in-depth development of the characters that made you feel like you had known them forever. At the same time, there were lots and lots of questions that it raised and this made me hungry to learn more about their universe. A very good read (the whole first trilogy) for anyone into fantasy novels. ( )

In the second book off the DragaonLance Chronicles, the companions continue on their mission to find out what has brought the evil dragons back, and try to bring the world's races togethers. This is proving harder than anticipated because of centuries old prejudices and hatreds that have festered causing rifts in any defences that may have been put together.

As the evil dragon army advance across the face of Krynn, the companions are forced to split up. The author does a very good job of staying with both groups without splitting the story too much. Unusual heroes emerge making and acting on the hard decisions that many would never be able to make. The companions continue to grow and develop in unique and often fascinating ways.

We are left with quite a cliff hanger that drives the reader into the next book as if this one had never ended. ( )

I'll admit that I only read this the one time way back in the early 90's, but I finally picked it up again this summer and gave it a good read. I'm amazed that I didn't appreciate it as much as a teenager as I do now. Perhaps I was so in awe with Autumn Twilight that I put this one on the backburner.

It's a great read, as is much of the earlier Dragonlance novels. Fun stuff. Great series. ( )

More of the same in this sequel. ( )

Review at http://silverpenpub.net/books/dragons-of-winter-night ( )