This book basically covers the first half of Raistlin's massive alignment shift from what appears to be Neutral Good to Chaotic Neutral. Events described in chronologically later books shift his moral pendulum further towards the Neutral Evil/Chaotic Evil side, and perhaps back to Chaotic Good towards the end of Test of the TwinsIn other words, Raistlin is incredibly complex and enigmatic and this book shows us how that personality was shaped through events in his childhood, adolescence, and early adult years leading up to the Test at the Tower of High Sorcery at Wayreth. He's a very strange amalgam of greed, compassion, loyalty, confidence, despair and ambition that sets him apart from some of the very wooden characters of the series. My main criticism of the book, and the reason it isn't 5/5, is the ending. The Test has been hinted at ever since the opening pages of Dragons of Autumn Twilight. We knew some seriously twisted stuff happened there that left his body crippled and freakishly transformed. We knew something happened between him and Caramon that changed their lives forever. We know Raistlin encountered the lich Fistandantilus and made a Faustian bargain, trading his soul for power greater than most mortals had ever harnessed. But after being tantalized with vague notions of what happened during Raistlin's Test over the course of six books, and then reading what actually happened, it couldn't have been more anticlimactic. The meeting with Fistandantilus was brief and uninspired and left me wanting a lot more.tldr? 90% of the book was solid. The final 10%, perhaps the most important part, was pretty weak.That's all I've got.
I'm something of a fan of the Dragonlance mythos in general; the Chronicles intrigued me and seemed quite well done, and now from one of the authors of those books comes this first in a new series, the Raistlin Chronicles. When I saw that there was indeed going to be a "Raistlin Chronicles" I was highly interested. After all, Raistlin is in my opinion and in the opinions of many other Dragonlance readers the most well thought out of the protagonist characters, the most complicated in terms of personality, and one of the most important characters throughout. The Time of the Twins, War of the Twins, and Test of the Twins focused further on Raistlin and Caramon -- and I'm glad to say that this series, likewise, isn't focusing purely on Raistlin, but it's also focusing on the relationship between him and his brother. Although he often acts caustically toward him, being quick to scold, there is some real affection there and that comes out in this book.The Soulforge tells the story of Raistlin's early life, his apprenticeship in the school of Master Theobald (A hilariously inept mage himself, at least as this book portrays him, but certainly capable enough to help some small children take their first steps on the path of magical learning), and then his Test of High Sorcery. The writing is suspenseful and kept me reading, and it was the first book I've read in some time that has kept me this interested throughout. I'm not going to spoil any more of the plot than I already have; I recommend this to anyone who likes fantasy and I'm going to try to find the second and third books in the series when I get the opportunity.
What do You think about The Soulforge (1999)?
I read this book a long time ago, but it is the book that always came to my mind when asked about a favorite book. In fact I think it was this book that I picked up and read by myself other than required school text. I adored the character development and extremely enjoyed the snide/sinister remarks that always escaped (the main character) Raistlin's mouth. He's the best creation ever made. He's so lovable, but in all the wrong ways. But this just adds to the appeal since he's definitely not your typical main character. I liked how the story developed and allowed the readers to see the very beginning childhood of the two main character twins to their young adult years & so on. This book is the best of the series for sure. I recommend this to anyone who likes fantasy!
—Hayley M.
It took me a while to get into this book but once I did I started to enjoy it more than I thought I would. Not the usual sort of thing I'd read but it had it's moments and even made me laugh out loud at times. I though the Kender was the most charming character, even if he did have a bit of trouble "borrowing" things. I also really liked Caramon and felt Raistlin was overly harsh about him at times which made me dislike Raistlin slightly. Also thought he was quiet up himself at times. Even though I did enjoy this book, it's not something I would go out of my way to buy, but if the follow up books happened to come to me I would read them.
—Redfox5
Raistlin backstory, how could I not like it? This is a pretty big overview of the early years, and you can see different contributions to how and why he turned out like he did: awesome, but really kind of a bastard. He was such an adorable kid, too. It's sad how it all happened. It also shows how easy freaking Caramon had everything when he was younger; so yeah, his parents died, but beyond that he sort of just coasted along. I will not even go into what happened with Raistlin's first crush, that was douchey.So, this isn't the greatest book I've ever read, despite the subject matter, but it's rather good, and it fills in the timeline up until the other books happen (well, kind of crosses over bits with Dark Heart).
—Ubiquitousbastard
