9. 1987 (Mar.) - Greyhawk (D&D) - Rose Estes - Master Wolf (Greyhawk #4)

Series: Greyhawk Adventures Volume 3

This book has a kind of bad reputation, but I wasn't minding it at all for at least the first three quarters of it. It is a pretty standard Outcast Barbarian story, but there are elements which add some interest to it. The main character is a likeable rogue, the fact that he was trained as a magic user, but really just wants to netflix and chill, the fact that he is a great fighter but dislikes fighting and is actually a bit cowardly, as well as his close relationship to his wolf. These elements make the book quite likeable, the writing itself is nothing to write home about, but it isn't bad, not in a way which distracts from the plot at least.

However it feels like this was a kind of rushed book, by the time it ends it feels like there is a lot to go still, and the ending just feels rushed and tacked on, leaving all the questions unanswered and feeling very cheap. This involves a cheap death, a too quick resolution and what actually ends up being a bittersweet mix of comedy with tragedy which actually feels kind of jarring. It's like what a highschooler would write during an exam if he realised that there were 5 minutes to go on the clock. Still I actually want to read more about Mika, the main character. 

TL;DR: 5/10 Ok book, crappy ending.

Coming up in 1987

Mar. - Greyhawk (D&D) - Rose Estes - Master Wolf
Apr. -  Dragonlance (D&D) - Various - The Magic of Krynn
May - Forgotten Realms (D&D) - Douglas Niles - Darkwalker on Moonshae
Jun. - Greyhawk (Gygax) - Gary Gygax - Sea of Death
Aug. - Dragonlance (D&D) - Various - Kender, Gully Dwarves, and Gnomes
Aug. - Greyhawk (D&D) - Rose Estes - The Price of Power
Sep.- Greyhawk (Gygax) - Gary Gygax - Night Arrant
Nov. - Dragonlance (D&D) - Various - Love and War
Nov.- Greyhawk (Gygax) - Gary Gygax - City of Hawks

8. 1986 (Aug.) - Dragonlance (D&D) - Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman - Test of the Twins (Dragonlance #6)

Series: Dragonlance Legends Vol. 3

So we come to the end of the Legends series in Dragonlance. Actually it is more of a landmark than that, the plot-line concluded here is a direct continuation of the Chronicles, so it is easy to see this as a 6 book series, rather than a 3 book one. 

This is not to say that you can't read Legends if you didn't read Chronicles, you can, but it will not have the impact that the 6 books do. In fact it would be a much inferior experience, because the empathy and knowledge of the characters you create in the first trilogy enrich Legends a lot. You might actually be a bit lost with all the references to events and characters from the first books.

When it comes to this conclusion, though, it is a pretty satisfying one, neatly wrapping up a lot of plots while keeping the door open to future adventures. As the titles indicate, the story is mainly about the twins Caramon and Raistlin, with Tas and Crysania thrown in. In this last volume Crysania is pretty absent, except for the ending, but the story of the twins is engaging enough to keep you excited throughout. It's the tale of how Caramon becomes a complete person, and Raistlin manages to kind of redeem himself. It's about accepting one's self, and accepting death as part of the whole process. It ends up being a more profound, less "actiony" series than Chronicles, and probably better for it. 

I hadn't read the Legends series before, they don't have the nostalgic feeling I get from Chronicles, so these are probably, objectively, better than the first series. Raistlin is such an engaging, evil yet sympathetic character, that you really want to always see what he does next. Caramon, who was a dead weight for most of the time, has an arc through this trilogy that make his progress from drunk wreck to full balanced person believable. If you liked Chronicles there's really no reason to skip this, read it.

TL;DR: 8/10 Great ending to what really amounts to a 6 book series.