16. 1987 (Nov). - Dragonlance (D&D) - Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman (Eds.) - Love and War (Dragonlance #9)

Series: Dragonlance Tales Volume 3

The last volume of the Tales series continues with a variety of short stories, which are cool precisely because of their variety and not necessarily due to any great literary quality. Still these are fun tales to read which help flesh out the Dragonlance universe.

Unlike previous volumes there is no contribution by Margaret Weis or Tracy Hickman here, they serve only as editors, it doesn't suffer particularly from that, however. There are a couple of longish tales on Goldmoon and Riverwind, how they met and fell in love, tales about Huma and about a rumored daughter of Raistlin. These tales effectively flesh out the universe and feel cozy when you return to well loved characters, this doesn't mean that there is much original going on here, but that isn't really what you'd read these books for, is it? That's where this book, to me at least, becomes a bit better than the others in the series, it focuses on some stories about big characters and big events which you actually want to read about, more so than the previous volumes. 

TL;DR: 7/10 A nice read.

13. 1987 (Aug). - Dragonlance (D&D) - Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman (Eds.) - Kender, Gully Dwarves, and Gnomes (Dragonlance #8)

Series: Dragonlance Tales Volume 2

Another volume in the Dragonlance Tales series, much like the previous one, The Magic of Krynn, this is a collection of short stories with a pretty long one in the middle. They are by a variety of writers some better known than others, and some better writers than others. The timeline is also varied but it focuses on the main characters of the previous series. 

The longest tale is by the editors and writers of the Dragonlance Chronicles and Legends, and it is the most substantial of the pieces not only in page-length but as a story. This has a lot to do with the format, seeing as the story is some three times the size of the others in the volume. The cool thing about this book is that it has a great variety of tales, from a Gnomish treatise on poetry to a tale seen from the point of view of an enchanted dagger. We get to know a bit more about the sons of Caramon who were introduced in the previous volume so there is some forward movement in terms of the Dragonlance timeline, which is cool. 

The downside of this volume, much as in most anthologies, is the fact that the writing is uneven, some tales are great, some not so great. Fortunately no real stinkers here, so it's a fun volume to dip into. 

TL;DR: 6/10 As in the previous in the series it's a fun read.

10. 1987 (Apr.) - Dragonlance (D&D) - Various - The Magic of Krynn (Dragonlance #7)

Series: Dragonlance Tales Volume 1

At the end of the Legends trilogy, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman told us that this was it for those characters, and if anyone else wanted to pick it up they'd be welcome to. A few months later we get a new Dragonlance book and we learn that Weis and Hickman are liars. Not that I'm complaining.

Here we get a mix of short stories and one novella, near the end. Many of the stories return us to familiar characters like Tas, Laurana and Tanis but the real highlight here is the final novella by the creators of the Dragonlance series. 

It's no surprise that this is the most enjoyable story, Weis and Hickman know these characters inside-out, particularly seeing as it is a story based on Caramon and Raistlin. We see what happens some years after the events of the Legends series, and start seeing a new generation growing up to take the place of their parents. In this case we get Caramon's son, Palin, who follows in the footsteps of his uncle as a spellcaster. 

It's fun to dip back into the universe through these short stories, with the big pay off that is the novella at the end.

TL;DR: 6/10 A bit hit and miss, but a fun read.