What do You think about Flint The King (2003)?
As with the other books of the Preludes series (both I & II), take this book as a standalone story, rather than trying to tie in to the Chronicles. It showcases a lot about hill dwarves and mountain dwarves, and provides a decent adventure that involves action, humor, and grandiose. Of course, to nitpick, Flint is portrayed to be very formidable in this book and his stance towards gully dwarves both don't match up with what is in Chronicles. But ignoring continuity, it's a fairly interesting read.
—David
I can thank Flint Fireforge for a lifetime of appreciation of dwarves. Yes I know Gimli predates him. But I read Dragonlance long before Lord of the Rings. Knowing that he survives this tale as it was a prequel to the main Dragonlance series of novels didn't take away from the suspense or enjoyment of the book. I did enjoy it. And who doesn't love impossibly lucky and bungling gully dwarves? However, I thought the book ended quite abruptly. Perhaps there was no more tale to tell. But I would have liked a bit more of a denouement given the build up of Flint's relationship with the gully dwarves and Perian, as well as closing out more elaborately the time spent with his family.
—Bernard
copy-pasted from my Librarything account: the book itself wasn't always good enough to allow fast reading. When there was no action, reading was slow. Overall, good book, yet Flint is shown differently than in Chronicles. Stronger, fiercer and that's a bit strange.FTK is op zich geen slecht boek, maar verwacht geen Flint zoals in de core-boeken à la Chronicles. Hier wordt hij sterker afgebeeld, stoerder, als een leider. Maar da's een "foutje" dat bij de meeste verhalen in de Preludes voorkomt, wellicht omdat het telkens een andere auteur is en die zijn/haar impressie van het desbetreffende personage wil doordrukken.Het wordt soms lastig om lezen als er niet veel gebeurt, maar eens de actie er is, wordt het bladdraaien makkelijker. Vooral de laatste paar hoofdstukken vallen daaronder. FTK toont eens een ander beeld van Flint en in het kader van variatie is het leuk om lezen, maar echt belangrijk voor de main storyline van Dragonlance is het niet.
—Tim
