Protecting Palanthas

Dragonlance: Champions #4

by Douglas W. Clark

Discover a World of Champions in Dragonlance (R)!

While in Palanthas to convince the Knights of Solamnia to aid Solace against her neighbor Samuval, Gerard uth Mondar finds himself pitted against an old opponent from the War of Souls, Galdar the minotaur. But when the Knights' council adjourns due to a devastating magical storm that threatens Palanthas, Gerard and Galdar become uneasy allies on a quest to protect the city by recovering a mysterious stolen chest. The pair must track down the chest before its thief discovers the secret that will allow him to unlock it, thereby unleashing its terrible contents onto the world of Krynn.

Genres: Dragonlance, Fantasy, Fiction, Dungeons and Dragons

312 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published November 13, 2007

Reviews

[Jim C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual rating is 3.5 stars.

This is part of the Dragonlance world. In this one mortal enemies Gerard and Galdar are tricked into working together to recover a stolen chest. In this chest is an artifact that could potentially lead to massive destruction.

We have all read the story where enemies who are forced together end up being comrades. This is this universe's take on that particular story. The author does a great job with the actual journey to retrieve the object and also the journey of the characters from enemies to comrades. He also combines the friends to enemies story with his satirical take on Romeo & Juliet which was well done. This wasn't heavy handed but had nice nods including names of characters and different situations. For humor the author throws in the the requisite kender which I enjoyed.

This was a sold book throughout that had likable characters that were thrust into different situations either by manipulation or by magicians. The only flaw was the ending was a little too convenient but this was a nice addition to this universe.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, I must say I really enjoyed this book, and was laughing out-loud at times. A fun book for anyone to enjoy. An aside; I noticed and mentioned the last book was an homage to Moby Dick. Well, this book was an homage to Romeo & Juliet, well maybe parody. Actually, I'm not quite sure what to call it. I mean it practically ripped-off parts of that story, and only made minor changes, to names. Instead of Capulet change was to Cap Lock. And the characters will even at time say direct lines from the play. Still, a fun read.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Through with Protecting Palanthas of The Champions series. Gerard and Galdar consult the Solamnics in Palanthas, arguing against the other’s involvement in the Solace/Qualinesti/Samuval issues. However, they are forced to join together and recover a stolen jewel chest that contains more danger than a traditional family legacy. As a direct sequel to Saving Solace, I found this story weaker, but only because the first one focused so heavily on Gerard. Here the focus switches between many different characters; not a bad thing, but different from the previous book. I did really enjoy Gerard and Galdar’s begrudging companionship, as well as the depiction of the kender. Because so many authors have played in the world of Dragonlance, we see a lot of different characterizations of the different peoples of Krynn, but I really enjoyed Clark’s take on the kender.

[E J · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story would suit a comic book better rather than a novel. Tonally, it felt all over the place; the austere but supercilious atmosphere of Palanthan politics, the mock Shakespearean comedy of Julice and Poko, the silly and childish antics of kender (it gets old pretty quick when characters are regularly described around them), the pseudo horror contained in the mystery box, and some gore. Clark shouldn't have given so much attention to the storm and the journey to the hideout, and significantly more on Galdar and Gerard's co-opetitive (yes, co-opetitve) relationship. The road trip, as it were, was a slog to read through. Also, Clark really likes his adverbs. "Tiredly" is not a word.

Lastly, I don't think the story doesn't give the weight and gravitas the title suggests. Just all around mediocre and crap.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

The overall storyline was pretty good, I liked seeing Galdar and Gerard working together again, but the consistent references to Romeo and Juliet kept pulling me out of the story.

[Christina Stind · Rating 3 out of 5]

An independent follow up to Saving Solace. The sherif of Solace, Gerard uth Mondar, travels to Palanthas to ask the council of the Knights of Solamnia for help to protect Solace. Representing the opposite site is Galdar, the one-armed minotaur.
In spite of them being enemies, they have to team up to save Palanthas from a magical storm and to recover a chest which contains something even worse, much worse.
I read the book on the plane to and from London. The book is okay - definitely not one of the best Dragonlance novels I've read but it has it's moments. And it has a kender and that's always worth something!

[Nikson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this every night before I slept, and for those few weeks, I always slept well.