 | | |
| Amber and Ashes (Dragonlance: The Dark Disciple, Vol. 1) | 
 enlarge | Author: Margaret Weis
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
Category: Book
List Price: $7.99
Buy New: $2.70
You Save: $5.29 (66%)
Buy New/Used from $2.70
Avg. Customer Rating:  (45 reviews)
Sales Rank: 10637
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.4
ISBN: 0786937424
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780786937424
ASIN: 0786937424
Publication Date: June 28, 2005
Release Date: June 28, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Customer Reviews:
 She's talented. June 10, 2005
1 out of 5 found this review helpful
Margaret Weis is a very talented author. Short of J.R.R. Tolkien's work, she (along with her co-authors) writes in a way that can't be matched. Although her style seems to have been "modernized" with lots of unusual dialogue that would be seen today, she still knows how to bring you into the continent of Ansalon. For those who gripe about this story - as well as the previous trilogy - falling short of the Chronicles series and the Legends series are obviously afraid of change. The War of Souls trilogy showcased just how much her abilities as a writer have improved, without copying the Lord of the Rings as she did with the Chronicles series. (ie: Tanis, part-man who has long life, lives with the elves, loves an elf-woman (which is unheard of), ackwardly gets placed as the leader of a party he didn't want the power to lead at first...is obviously Aragorn. Flint and Tasslehoff, two races who normally never get along, form an unusual friendship with loads of comic relief...similar to Legolas and Gimli. Caramon, like Boromir, is a noble man, but has an inner conflict when pondering whether to defend his own interests (Raistlin or Gondor), or doing what's best for the group. Lorac's curse is much like that of Denethor. Instead of a Palantir, he has a Dragon Orb. Either way, he goes mad, and it ruins the morality and prosperity of his own people).
There are far more similarities than this, although there are many differences as well. Nonetheless, it was a good series, and why shouldn't it be? It is subtlely paralleled to one of the greatest stories ever written. Even so, I felt that the War of Souls trilogy was very original, with many plots existing on the same plane. There was the politicking of nobles, manipulation by those most trusted, and even religious fervor. While Weis may not understand the mind of some religious minds, there are those who are fanatical (KKK members, for one) who would behave for a cause as cruel and careless as Mina's. Therefore, she is a very interesting and new character to focus on for a change. Not just a power-hungry wizard (although Raistlin and Dalamar are both, very cool indeed!), or a fighter/ranger who struggles with his inner-half-n-half. Times do change, and new people step up to take over where those before us left off. Maybe they don't do as good of a job as the ones before, but a story still deserves to be told about it.
I will comment that the Gods are portrayed a little...humanlike; despite the fact that they are supposed to be infallably geared towards some devine desire; be it good or evil. I am glad, however, that there are new characters, as it is poor practice to continually return to the old ones over and over and over again (*cough* R.A. Salvatore *cough* Drizz't). This break from the norm and advancing the timeline also makes it far more interesting when an old favorite, like Raistlin, does finally show up again.
It goes without saying that we should really wait until the end of the trilogy before deciding how 'yay' or 'nay' this story will be.
Response February 25, 2005
9 out of 11 found this review helpful
In response to the mixed reviews this book has received. I will capitulate that nothing, I mean nothing (except Tolkien, whose books are much heavier) can compare to the Legends and Chronicles series, nor can anything compare to such an intriguing character as Raistlin, whom in my opinion is the greatest character ever created and the Chronicles/Legends are the greatest books ever written. So, on that note, Amber and Ashes falls a little short, but in a different respect than what you have read in reviews thus far. First of all and most importantly, there's not enough magic. Where's Dalamar? Even Palin? Weis unfortunately does not bring in Valthonis/Paladine either, a grave mistake in my opinion. Otherwise the book is a good start and the trilogy has sirious potential.
To respond to those who think that the War of Souls should never have been written - I disagree. I loved the old characters, but how long can you write about the same people; things HAD to change, even if that change was contoversial. I thought the War of Souls was very good, and that its main flaw was Palin giving up the magic - too wishy washy that he did it for his wife. Not enough Raistlin in the kid if you ask me.
Anyway, any Dragonlance fan has to read the first installment of the Dark Disciple trilogy, Amber and Ashes. Newcomers to dragonlance, start at the begginning with the unbelievable Chronicles and Legends.
 Sad, sad, sad February 13, 2005
8 out of 19 found this review helpful
Of all the fantasy literature I have read, only Tolkien has given me more pleasure than the original DragonLance Chronicles, written by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. So each time another Dragonlance book by one of these authors comes out, I read it with the hope that I will be able to enjoy it as much as I enjoyed the originals. In every single case I have been disappointed, and that is certainly true with Weis's latest effort, Amber and Ashes. This is a poor book, for many reasons.
The reason that the Chronicles were so enjoyable is that they provided a great number of very interesting and likeable characters. According to other DragonLance literature, Weis and Hickman did not create the orginal stories or characters by themselves, but received a lot of input from the old TSR Dungeons & Dragons people. Perhaps professional roleplayers are just good at creating good characters; perhaps there is another reason that so many good characters appeared in the original Chronicles. But whatever the reason, the Dragonlance books haven't been able to give us a likeable character since.
The characters of this book are not neither likeable nor interesting. They also reveal that the author has a highly defective understanding of human nature and the human heart. The character Mina is a fanatical cleric; the way Weis depicts her shows she knows nothing of the religious mind. And Mina is probably the most interesting character in the book; the rest are even more boring.
And more than the characters are weak in this book. Weis makes an abolutely fatal error in failing to understand that an author of a series cannot change the imaginary history that has been set out in previous books. When Tolkien wrote 'The Lord of the Rings,' he felt obligated to change a very minor detail from the previously-published 'Hobbit,' and expended quite a bit of effort to explain how Bilbo Baggins had told a false story about how he first got the Ring. Weis apparently feels free to change her history, not only in details, but in major ways. I know well, for example, that the Kingpriest of Istar did not attempt to become a god -- at least not in the original story. Perhaps Weis forgot that the Kingpriest was "good" (in the D&D sense); for attempting to become a god is about the definitive evil. Weis needs to know that once a character or story is put out in publication, that character or story is no longer her own, even if she owns the copyright. The character or story becomes a datum -- a 'given' -- to all who read the book, and changing the 'facts' of a story ruins it.
Also, the type of language used in a fantasy series is important in making the story seem true; and Weis seems to have either forgotten this, or else never knew it. It strikes me that several of the names in this book (e.g., Rhys), look to me to be Welsh, or something like that. There is nothing wrong with that, except that I don't recall Welsh-sounding names appearing previously in Krynn. (Or maybe they were there, but the stories were less boring, so the names did not bother me.) And just like changing history, changing languages simply cannot be done, if a fantasy series is to hold together.
It is said that a camel is a horse designed by a committee; that is, a project run by a group rather than an individual generally comes out quite goofy. Perhaps that is usually true. But when it comes to the Dragonlance books, the opposite is true. The orginal Chronicles, with all those old TSR people putting in their two cents' worth, were far and away the best of the DragonLance books. It has been all downhill since, and Amber and Ashes is a bad book. In general, I reserve one-star ratings for books so bad that I do not finish them, so this book gets two stars -- barely.
Really, Really Good January 30, 2005
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
Ok, to be honest, I thought the whole Dragonlance series started to go downhill with The Second Generation, and especially Dragons of Summer Flame. But the War of Souls trillogy was quite good and now this first novel in the Dark Desciple series is beginning to make me remember why I loved the whole Dragonlance world to begin with.
The charactors are typical Weis, that is to say, memorable and believable. The plot is somewhat darker than you might be used to, but it is well written and generally moves the story along at a nice pace.
If you are a fan of the Dragonlance setting, you will no doubt enjoy this book. New charactors are great and it's nice to see some of the other 'minor' gods becoming more and more a part of the world. I am looking foreward to the next book and I absolutely recommend this book. It is well worth your time.
Very good book, not as good as Classic Weis January 8, 2005
2 out of 5 found this review helpful
This is one of the best fantasy books i've read, and should be an excellent trilogy. BUT, its not as good as classic Weis books. I consider the Legends trilogy and Soulforge to be some of the best BOOKS ever written, so its hard for this to match up. But, if you arn't looking for something to change your worldview the way Legends did, I think you'll thoroughly enjoy this book.
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| | |