Dragons of Winter Night (Dragonlance Universe #2)

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Synopsis

All the peoples of Krynn now know that the dragons are real, have been reawakened, and are under the control of the Queen of Darkness. With war being waged almost everywhere, our eight intrepid heroes set out on a dangerous journey to Tarsis where they hope to find ships to take them all to a place that will be safe for the refugees they rescued, but they're disappointed to find the once bustling port now landlocked. When dragons attack the city, the friends are separated into two groups, and it could be a long time before they see each other again--if ever. Each group has a destiny to fulfill as they search for two fabled artifacts, the Dragon Orbs and the Dragonlance, both of which could determine who will come out the victor in the war. In the end, it's a pampered elf-maiden who's grown into a brave warrior, a knight who isn't exactly a knight at all, a gruff dwarf, and a scatter-brained kender, along with a far-too-small army who stand as the last bastion against the dragons and the Queen's hordes as they defend an ancient and important stronghold that must not fall.

Review

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.

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Margaret Weis

Tracy Hickman