I started reading some of the Dragonlance novels quite a few years back, and I've always enjoyed the core books written by Weis & Hickman, so I decided to give their non-Dragonlance-related fantasy a shot. I love fantasy that came out in the '80s, they seem to have a particular soul and atmosphere to them that I like. This book had its ups and downs for me, and it's more like 3 and a half stars than 4, but what tipped the balance from 3 to 4 for me was the way the writers developed this story. When I read the last page of this book I suddenly got a deeper understanding for all the different subplots outlined in the book, and felt excited to read the next book to see where the story would go. It's a story that simmers, which is a little unusal for W & H in my previous experience with them, but since it has sequels it works well (provided that the next installments maintains the same quality, of course).The one issue I have with this is that it's a little too light on the details and descriptions for me. W & H have created a new world that, in addition to having a completely new geography, also has the people living in it going about their daily lives in a completely alien way to what we're used to. And while I'm definitely more of a fan of suggestion and understatement rather than being beat over the head with exposition, I found the details here to be too lacking. For example, several times I would catch myself being startled that the people in Merilon don't actually walk, but instead float on the wings of magic, as this is explained briefly and then not touched upon for a few chapters. I'd also like more in the way of detailed descriptions of the different environments, although this may be a critique that's unique to me, since I struggle with coming up with comprehensive images in my head from text as a general rule.But all in all, a good start to this trilogy, and I'm looking forward to starting the next book!
This isn't an actual review of the book (since I only read the first six chapters), just a short explanation of why I didn't finish it. This is one I was reading out loud to my wife, but neither of us were getting into it. (As Barb put it, "It's not getting any worse, but it's not getting any better, either.")Normally, we both like the fantasy genre, so we were game to experiment with two new-to-us authors, having found the trilogy at a yard sale. But to me, the world-building here wasn't very plausible, in several respects, and the world Weis and Hickman create isn't inviting or appealing. I also didn't connect emotionally with any of the characters. Granted, six chapters in, main character Joram isn't introduced yet. But that points up another problem I had: the story structure and pacing is VERY slow and ponderous (and I have a higher tolerance for that sort of thing than most readers!). The authors were obviously intending to develop a magic vs. technology theme, and maybe other serious themes; but while I'm not sure where they were going with any of these ideas, I wasn't interested enough to find out. Facing a whole trilogy written like this was too daunting a prospect.Weis and Hickman have an enormous following, so obviously there are readers who really like this. Barb and I just aren't in that company.
What do You think about Forging The Darksword (1988)?
God, I KNOW Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman suck. Man, my middle school obsession was Dragonlance, for goodness' sake! But it was just sitting there in my office while I was babysitting the copy machine, so I picked it up. And, just as I remember, every character is undeveloped, every event forced, the only thing they've got going on is some half-decent worldbuilding and the sorta pathetic twist that the "evil Sorcerors" (secretly the good guys, right?) are actually NON-magic users in a world of magicians. Color me unimpressed. Still, it was more interesting than watching the copy machine copy for four hours, so I'll give it at least one star.
—Sam Grace
It's fine, as a piece of generic fantasy. The characters were mostly boring and shallow; I never really got a great feel for any of them. Description would tell me that Joram had various personality traits, for example, but they weren't very strongly used.The main thing that kept me going is that there are various mysteries around motivations and events. It's not clear how exactly Joram got where he is, or what Vanya is planning, or what in the hell is going on with Simkin. And none of that is resolved at all in this book, so it's possible that I would try the next one. But I'm not going out of my way for it.
—Jonathon Jones
A stepchild of Krynn, I think this series was.A world where everyone is magical. I hear Synder from the Incredibles suddenly. When everyone is magical, then NO ONE will be.Of course, our protagonist isn't. One of the cursed ones that has neither magic nor the power to fuel it. The Catalysts seem like the real victims here, by the way. Their symbol is the shoe. Because they have to WALK. Because they aren't magical like EVERYONE ELSE. But they provide juice for everyone else's magic. Yeah. That seems fair.So yes, the prophesied dark one has to make a prophesied darksword, and then bring about the prophesied end of the world.Trite but its written well. I mean, wouldn't you expect that from the Wiesenlance?
—Sven Mysterioso
