No, I'm not referring to my role as parent to two college students. Rather, the title of this entry, Guardians of the Lost, is the second novel in a fantasy trilogy, the "Soverign Stone Trilogy" by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. These authors will probably forever be known for their authorship of the original "Dragonlance" novels set in the D&D universe and while those books are the best of any other Dragonlance novels I've read, it's a shame that most readers won't look beyond that. Most will assume this team only writes one way and may, in fact, put them in the dreaded formula writers category.But not so fast. The "Soverign Stone trilogy" is at least the fourth set of novels that they've written outside the Dragonlance setting, mostly very well received, and I have to say, this trilogy is darned good. This second novel in the set takes place 200 years after the first one ended and thus there are many changes. But of course this is fantasy and so several of the characters in the first novel show up here as well, particularly the bad guys. Second novels in trilogies tend to suffer in my opinion, from having to bridge the two "real" stories that actually happen in most trilogies. Of course there are exceptions (Godfather II, and The Empire Strikes Back) but generally, I tend to want to get through the second book just so I can read the third. But this time was different, as the book served to flesh out the entire world that we encountered in the first. I also noticed that the authors threw in a lot of characters this time, sprinkling in new ones all along the way. But it's not confusing at all since we get to spend a little time with the new ones as we go along. This is well done and I am totally intrigued to see what happens next. Which of these characters will have major roles in the conclusion? Well done! This moves the third book further forward on my To-Be-Read list.
The second book in the Sovereign Stone Trilogy, this book continues the saga of Dagnarus, Lord of the Void, and his continuing quest to rule all of Loerem. For the most part, we have an entirely new set of characters as the events of this book take place approximately 200 years after the previous book concluded with the death of King Helmos and Gareth, the destruction of Vinnengael and the loss of the human portion of the Sovereign Stone.In this story, Dagnarus and his Vrykyl are again mounting a huge army to conquer New Vinnengael. The human portion of the Sovereign Stone has been recovered and its new caretakers are traveling towards New Vinnengael in hopes of reuniting all portions of the stone in order to have any chance of prevailing over Dagnarus. Dagnarus seems to have the upper hand at every turn, however, although the heroes manage to retain possession of the stone but little else.Nothing is resolved within this book leaving the reader hanging until they can read the final book in the Trilogy.
What do You think about Guardians Of The Lost (2002)?
Don't pick up this book, unless you intend to buy the next in the trilogy, which is, Journey into the Void, as....the last chapter of Guardians of the Lost, leaves the reader in a Void - nothing solved!Elves, dragons, wizards, Vrykl(evil), bad guys/creatures and good guys/creatures, and some creatures one has never ever thought of, are all in this book! The Quest, to bring the stones together for the good of all. Or, bring the stones together, so evil will reign.A little of middle earth type story.
—Jan
This is Weis and Hickman at their absolute best. An engaging storyline with great characters (spot the kender), "good" bad guys, and an interesting world with an interesting history. The biggest shame is that the first book in this trilogy was very much a separate story taking place some 200 years ago, while this one is obviously the first of two halves. I don't like trilogies like that. I'd prefer either three very distinctly separate books or two trilogies.This book is also very different from the first in the way the story was told. The first book was told from the perspective of the baddies while this is much more typical Weis and Hickman. However, while it's a little disappointing because it doesn't follow the first book in this manner, I preferred this book because it's more of what I expect from the authors.
—Fran
