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| 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: $2.60
You Save: $5.39 (67%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (45 reviews)
Sales Rank: 11570
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
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| Customer Reviews:
 Definitely my new favorite in the series December 25, 2004
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
First and foremost, if you did not find the War of Souls trilogy enjoyable, then don't waste your time reading this book. I can understand how some might be upset at the fact that continuity was broken to a degree in that series, but I know I personally can ignore a few errors in the favor of a good story.
But if you enjoyed the War of Souls, then you will very much enjoy Amber and Ashes. I personally recommend making sure you have some free hours, a comfortable place to sit or lie down, and something warm to eat or drink, as you will find this book very hard to put down.
Chances are you will be enthralled in the very interesting plot of the struggle between the gods now that a vacuum of power exists on top. At least on the darker side of the panthenon, it seems everyone wants that spot and will do whatever it takes to get it. Along with their attempts to grab power, it is evident that some of them fall to mortal weaknesses as they attempt to gain followers. It is the price the gods do pay when they wear the guise of a mortal, and try to act as such to gain themselves followers. This is especially evident with Chemosh, but he's not the only one.
Amber and Ashes definitely continues with the pattern of wonderful characterization, good plot, and enough action to make it very enjoyable. However I think it does better than most by really playing on the weaknesses of the characters rather than their strengths.
I know I very much look forward to reading the next volume of this series. I cannot wait to see what happens next.
 Most likely my last Dragonlance book. December 13, 2004
7 out of 9 found this review helpful
Like many of you I began to read fantasy novels around the same time the Dragonlance Chronicles trilogy was first being published. They were then and remain today my measuring stick for all other fantasy stories. It is for this reason that I choose to ignore the stories told by the founders of this world, post Legends. The only way I can describe the War of Souls is as a betrayal, a betrayal of the characters to the corporate machine of cookie cutter fantasy. They paid Weis and Hickman to write another trilogy, for the sole purpose of legitimizing the new games rule system. This was in a sense, a return full circle for the Dragonlance game world. The Chronicles books were created soley to sell the game material, and now the War of Souls were created to legitimize the 5th age rule and world changes.
Its sad because the Characters of the Chronicles books seemed to grow out of the archtypes they were meant to represent, while the War of Souls characters seem to shrink into those very stereotypes.
I must note that Margret Weis does a good job making this book fun to read, well not fun, let's say easy to read. She proves yet again that given nothing to work with she can weave a pretty decent tale. Infact it's this very story telling that keeps the book in the average range. The wooden characters, the overall poor plot, and the sense that this is no longer the same Krynn, remain from the War of Souls. I couldn't help but think it was some kind of emergency patch job, as if she was trying to make up for all the mess created by the past few books. However, this book, much like the War of Souls, just does not "feel" like a Dragonlance book, and will in all probability be my last.
The Darker Side of Dragonlance November 3, 2004
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
Weis can do better, but she can also do worse. "Soulforge" was probably her best alone outing, but "Amber and Ashes" is not as dreadful as the first 70 or so pages would suggest. This picks up where the War of Souls left off (a series that many feel would have been better off never been written) and centers around the cold stand-in for a character, Mina, who often feels like a cardboard cutout that just blows wherever the winds take her. But I've known people like that, and its acceptable but not something I really want to read about. Things come into play better as the books rolls on and we are introduced to the monk of Majere and his border collie Atta and later on a kender who speaks to the dead (but is not at all evil as some have suggested) and the heroes finally get rolling to put a stop to the rising of what seems to be a cult of the undead.
The ending is a cliffhanger (literally) and completely unnecessary, she could have atleast tied the ends a little stronger instead of just leaving everyone hanging seemingly in mid sentence and the first 70-100 pages are mindnumbing and tedious. I also object to the way some of the gods/goddesses are portrayed, one in particular comes off as a spoiled teenybopper brat.
Wait for paperback unless you are a diehard Weis/Dragonlance fan, but once it hits the softcovers, it is worth a read. Nothing complicated of course, but a breezy quick work that is interesting in the latter half.
Superior Dragonlance adventure October 30, 2004
4 out of 7 found this review helpful
The death-god is frustrated. His legions of zombies and walking skeletons are stupid, stinky, and have a nasty tendency to fall apart when he needs them most. Now that the gods have returned, he decides it's time for a new approach--an approach that will involve beautiful, young disciples with good skin and lively habits. But first, he needs a prophet and beautiful Mina is a great choice--she's already worked for a god but is currently unemployed due to her god's death. Between the two of them, death and Mina can create some powerful magic.
When his brother is taken by the death-god, given eternal life--sort of--the monk Rhys abandons his worship of Majere to seek the cause of his brother's problems--and an explanation for why he poisoned the entire monastary. He is quickly adopted by the sea goddess--who has plans of her own, but who just might have a use for a monk and who is concerned about the new role that death seems to be playing. Still, the sea goddess is only willing to do so much, and death has a hold even over her. Rhys has his work cut out for him, and he's not even sure what he wants to do about it.
Author Margaret Weis digs deep into the DragonLance universe to write a fascinating story of gods, mortals, and the strange relationships between them. The human characters, Mina and Rhys, along with the death-god who has discovered a taste for life, drive the story forward. Rhys, in particular, is fully realized--human, given enough doubts about himself to be interesting, uncertainties about his mission to allow Weis to put him in fascinating dilemmas, and well enough trained that he actually has a chance even when he faces gods and the walking dead. His relationship with the sea goddess--one of both respect and profound distrust--makes for enjoyable reading.
Weis is a talented writer whose prose draws the reader in. I had a ton of work to get done and really didn't have time to read this story, but I couldn't stop and finally decided to give myself half a day of pure enjoyment. AMBER AND ASHES is a good one.
 Very close but not on the level of others October 21, 2004
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
I did enjoy this book, but; there always is a but; it was missing something. The Dragonlance novels have always been about human relationships and how the gods either screw them up or help them along. This is a rather turn from that, in which the gods have become more interactive with humans and actually falling in love with them. I did like the new kender in this story. Rather different then in the past but the humor that kenders usually bring, was sorely lacking in this book. The book does not just have bad parts; I did give in 4 stars. I love the ending with the new tower, or is it the old tower with a new twist. I did like a look at the other gods who have in the past have played second fiddle to Pal and Tak. The Majere Monk provides a great emphasis of the new theme of the Dragonlance world in which the gods vie for the humans affections instead of the other way around. It is an easy read and a fun read and I think any Dragonlance fan should read it and and fanasty fan should read it as well.
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