Destiny

Dragonlance: Elven Exiles #3

by Paul B. Thompson, Tonya C. Cook

The Elven Exiles trilogy ends with a monumental struggle for control of the last refuge of the elven race.

The remaining free elves of Ansalon have come together at last in the shunned valley of Inath-Wakenti. While the disfigured genius Porthios wants to lead a crusade to free the elves' ancestral homelands, the rightful ruler of the elven nation, Gilthas, dreams of establishing a new homeland in the haunted valley. To do that he will have to solve the riddle of the ancient ruins dotting the landscape, the curse that prevents animals from living in the valley, and deal with swarms of ghosts lurking behind every tree and stone. But the greatest threat of all may come from a single outcast sorcerer who seeks to turn the cursed land's power to his own ends.

Genres: Dragonlance, Fantasy, Fiction, Dungeons and Dragons, High Fantasy

309 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 25, 2007

Reviews

[Jim C · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third book of a trilogy and the others must be read before this book. The elves have arrived at a territory that they are going to call home. The problem is that there are several mysteries that need to be addressed because the elves in their new home will not last long if they do not solve these mysteries.

This book was a strong finish and this whole trilogy was one of the better ones that exist in this world. There are several sub plots throughout this book and the authors do a fantastic job with them. Whether it is the evil mage who is planning to destroy or the elves survival all of these plots end up weaving into an exciting conclusion. Even though this story is about elves there are different characters that one can identify with and experience character growth. Gilthas is a prime example of this as he is a character used throughout this universe. We get to see his leadership qualities in this trilogy and his journey was a joy to read.

There is not a bad book in this trilogy. I did think the first book was probably the best one out of the three but all of them are great reads. I loved the idea of a race trying to find a new home and we getting to see their trial and tribulations throughout.

[E J · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the first half, some 150 or so pages, the same with the other 2 books. But the last half... just, blah. Firstly, who is the old man at the end? Secondly, Faeterus - the ultimate big baddie - was just some nobody; some guy, hinted at being an elf but vehemently denied by himself, with no link to DL's history. The whole "You are an elf, aren't you? "No, I'm not!" tantrum banter was repeated over and over again, making it out to be some huge point of contention and ended up just being about nothing, because it ended up as nothing. Porthios and Alhana disappeared for pretty much the entirety of the book. Is there a separate book that chronicles their mission in Qualinest against the rebels and bandits? To wit, why bother even having them on the cover art? Again, as I said the review for Alliances, their appearance was for fan service. Pathetic.

As I said with Alliances, the prose comes off as so dry, robotic and half hearted. Like the authors are thinking, "Man, this really doesn't feel like it's worth it. Only a handful of tunnel vision nerds from the baby boomer era would be interested in this, and they're a dying breed who don't deserve entertainment because all they care about are themselves and their investment portfolio." Well, that's what I'd be thinking if I was writing this book.

Overall, this trilogy gets about 1.75 stars. I need to stop being such a sucker for books where I like the cover art so much.

[Chris Martinez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally finished a trilogy I started reading over ten years ago. Alot of great story elements and characters I enjoy reading about that kept me reading but lack of depth made for a hard to finish read. Even in the end, alot of questions were not really answered, just wrapped up in a neat little package with little conclusion.

[Ann Poole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

I would love to be able to read the next book 4 in this series but I have not been able to locate it, maybe it has not been finished yet. ACP

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I occasionally felt there were too many threads and characters going in this series, I much enjoyed the conclusion, mostly due to my love of Thompson and Cook’s style. I wish there was more to read continuing these events.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

First one took me awhile to get into the second one was way better and I a can't gauge where this one is heading yet!!!

[Snowcover6 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, this book really drew me in, after reading the first two, I could not wait to find out what would happen to the exiles. Man, I wish there were more women like Kerianseray out there for me.

[jlf · Rating 3 out of 5]

All-in-all, this trilogy was pretty meh. I've already forgotten about it, and I just read it yesterday.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book in the trilogy