Coming up in 1986

Feb. -  Dragonlance (D&D) - Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman - Time of the Twins
Feb. - Greyhawk (D&D) - Gary Gygax - Artifact of Evil
Jun. - Dragonlance (D&D) - Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman - War of the Twins
Aug. - Dragonlance (D&D) - Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman - Test of the Twins

5. 1985 (Oct.) - Dragonlance (D&D) - Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman - Dragons of Spring Dawning (Dragonlance #3)

Series: Dragonlance Chronicles Vol. 3

So we come to the end of the Dragonclance Chronicles trilogy, I have to admit that I am reading this series with some rose-tinted glasses, as they have nostalgic value for me. I remember them being some of the first fantasy books I ever read, the first being Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber. Frankly, when you are 12 years old, Dragonlance is an easier and more exciting read. Having read both Zelazny and this recently, and not being 12 anymore, it is easy to dismiss this as "easy-reading". And so it is, but that isn't necessarily bad. 

This third volume suffers slightly from the problems that plague the last book in a series, it is not as focused as the previous one, tries to tie up too many loose ends and at times feels a bit rushed. This is not helped by the fact that the heroes are kind of scattered all around the place, so there are something like 4 different story-lines going on at the same time. You would think that they would come together at the end, but not even that, although this is slightly frustrating, it does seem to be on purpose, in order to keep the series open for further stories. The finale with Raistlin is particularly intriguing and I sure want to know more about him (I know we will). 

So a competent third installment but probably the worse of the series, there is not the world-building of the first volume or the adventure of the second, it just takes a turn for the dark and leaves loads of questions. Again, these questions are part and parcel of what will be a vast universe of novels, that's how they make you buy the next volume.

TL;DR: 6/10 Competent, but the worst of the series.

4. 1985 (Oct.) - Greyhawk (D&D) - Gary Gygax - Saga of Old City (Greyhawk #2)

Series: Gord, the Rogue #1

So we get the first official Greyahwk novel, after the quite experimental novel that was Quag Keep. This is also the first novel by the creator of D&D, Gary Gygax... and it is kind of a mixed bag. It starts well, with Gord, the rogue being a nicely developed character, rising through the ranks of the Beggar's Guild and so on. But soon enough it starts showing some problems, such as the lack of any significant female characters, there's this half-elven lady that he saves (again not the most original thing) but what you might have thought would become and interesting relationship where the female character had some agency, just disappears, he goes to jail, she marries someone else, done. 

Actually this is in the tradition of plenty of sword and sorcery style writing, you know, from like the 30s, even Robert E. Howard had stronger women in Conan stories. So yeah, in this volume at least women are just things for Gord to save or feel bad when they die or marry someone else. This isn't what happens with other male characters, who become his actual companions. I am sure this will change in further installments of the series, at least I hope so. Oh yeah, and everybody's white, 

Another gripe I have with it is the fact that after Gord leaves the city of Greyhawk the story gets a bit too dispersed. It just feels like an adaptation of a gaming module, which it is. 

TL;DR: 4/10 Below average.