What more can I say besides that the adventure continues on with Dragons of a Lost Star?! That's basically what happens here. This second book picks up from the first and never misses a step. As in the first, there are several separate stories being told here. You have the duo of Tas and Palin trying their best to find the dark elf Dalamar and his secret castle, you have the story in Qualinost where Beryl's army is advancing, Silvan with his worries in Silvanesti, Mina and the One God, Goldmoon and her strange transformation, and Gerard the Solamnic Knight caught between a rock and a hard place. Of course some of these stories do intertwine with one another and they do so very smoothly, although you'll get the feeling that coincidences sure happen a lot. Storywise, Dragons of a Lost Star is just a continuation from the first book. Whereas in the first a lot of planning and scheming were done, in this one, the plan takes flight. Character wise, not much has change from the first. No, really. Characters behave exactly the same and so there's not much to report here. This is great except when it comes to Mina. Man she just irritates me with her One God crap. Technically speaking, I'm not mad at the plot itself but just the way Mina portrays herself and maybe that's what the author wants, I don't know. She's extremely dull and boring to me for one that has the power of the so-called One God. The one good thing is that the One God will finally be revealed to us in this book and we'll probably kick ourselves for not noticing it earlier. However, that still doesn't make me like Mina's character. I'm really hoping that Mina gets a tad bit more interesting in the final book because well, it's the final book in the series. I like reading about villains and all but Mina is as boring as they come. Heck even Lord Targonne has more interesting qualities than Mina! I am also interested in how the dilemma between Tas and the Device of Time Journeying plays out. I can't wait to see how that one ends. Will the Kinder really have to go back in time to get smashed by Chaos or will they find out that he's not to blame for the current problem in Krynn? Another is the situation with the elven nations. If I remember correctly, the first half of the book focuses on Silvanesti while the second half focuses more on Qualinesti. What will happen with the two elven nations? Will they unite as one and fight the even Dark Knights? So far the two books have kept me well entertained. Hopefully the third will end with a bang!
Mina continues to do her best to take over various parts of Krynn. She follows the "One God" - a god who, like in most fantasy, is a very skewed version of the God that monotheistic religions follow. Because, yes, any god would enjoy having souls stay on the world to "worship" it instead of departing in a final peace. Yup.Goldmoon plays a role here, being in her youth's body but with her present mind. She follows the ghosts, ignores the tax on her mind and soul, and begins to tilt towards the One True God. The question on everyone's mind (incluinng hers) is of course- what happened?Tas and Palin meet up with Dalamar. I love Tas, and I'm a little sad that he and Palin aren't the big main characters. And yet it's okay, because Tas' time especially is from the past. Yet there is enough of Tasslehoff that we can continue to see the impact that having human friendships has had on him. He talks of logic, feels fear, and has grown a lot as a kender and a oompanion.The focus though is more on the elven nations and Mina's takeover without a battle with the elves. And some even follow her lead, especially when Silvanoshei truly falls in love with her.It does make me sad that everyone thinks that kender lie. You'd think they'd realize kender don't NEED to lie (to the extreme others think they do). They may embellish a bit or lie about not having something to save their hides, but to them, any adventure they have is story enough.The army of souls was quite terrifying. For while souls can't physically harm, the weapons of fear and despair are much worse.OHHHH durh, the One God....I should have realized that. No surprise.I didn't enjoy the deaths, but as I said: this is about the next generation(s). The deaths, while sad, make sense.
What do You think about Dragons Of A Lost Star (2001)?
The second of The War of Souls. As everyone tries to find the kender Tasslehoof Burrfoot, the elves and the Knights of Neraka that are stationed there are battling the highlord Beryl and her armies. But thanks to the heroics of Laurana, Queen Mother and The Golden General of the War of the Lance, and Marshal Medan, highest ranking officer of the knights there, manage to kill Beryl. But along with killing Beryl both the heroes and all who stayed with them to help were all killed, including the dwarves who were waiting underground to attack the army, and all of Qualinost was destroyed. Now the young King Gilthas is all alone leading the rebel elves towards Silvanesti.
—James
Once again, I want to personally request: NO MORE TASSLEHOFF!! He was a fun character but I have had WAY too much of him. There are plenty of other great characters that I would like to read about. All in all, this is a fantastic book. Margaret Weist and Tracy Hickman do a great job of writing together. The book does a perfect job of keeping the truth veiled, keeping you in suspense, trying to guess and figure out what is tarnation is going on. They add minute details that really add to the environment. Terrific.
—Austin Miller
I'm not really a Dragonlance fan. For me, books are about characters and I don't find most of the characters in this series likable. In this book, it was a bit better, although characters like Silvanoshei really don't help. On the other hand, the story line was great. Some of the parts that were rather mind boggling during the first book and this second one were finally explained, it finally started to make sense. You can't say that Weis and Hickman didn't think their plot twists well through. Although I didn't expect them to kill so many characters...
—Kati
