The Puppet King

Dragonlance: Chaos War #4

by Douglas Niles

Treason within, war from without.

Torn asunder by the nightmares of a mad king, the elven realm of Silvanesti has nearly been restored to its former grandeur. But the elf Porthios, returning to his homeland, launches a rebellion against young Gilthas, his own nephew.

Gilthas's troubles are multiplied by threats from green dragons and from the Knights of Takhisis. Now, with Porthios at his throat, Gilthas must choose between blood and honor.

Douglas Nile's new Dragonlance novel is filled with treachery and intrigue among the elves during the Chaos War, the backdrop for The New York Times best-selling novel Dragons of Summer Flame.

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

320 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Douglas Niles is a fantasy author and game designer. Niles was one of the creators of the Dragonlance world and the author of the first three Forgotten Realms novels, and the Top Secret S/I espionage role-playing game. He currently resides in Delavan, Wisconsin with his wife, Christine, and two Bouviets, Reggie and Stella. He enjoys playing his guitar, cooking, and visiting with family.

Reviews

[Jim C · Rating 4 out of 5]

This takes place in the Dragonlance world. This book is about two elves. The first one is Porthios who is banished from his elven home and Gilthas who rules over the elven nation that Porthios once ruled.

This book was a great read. The author does a terrific job with the two main characters. I have read about these two characters in other Dragonlance books and I did not care for them. The author changed my view on both of these characters. He explains their motivations and I connected with them where I couldn't connect with them previously. This novel has political intrigue with plenty of action. The battle scenes were excellent and all fans of fantasy will enjoy. I loved how we had enemies battling each other but by the end of the novel they were united against a greater danger. Fans of the original trilogy will enjoy the appearances of characters from those books. One doesn't need to read the original trilogy to enjoy this one.

This is a well written fantasy novel that has terrific character development and plenty of action to keep the pace moving. I believe all fantasy readers will like this book.

[Kevin Potter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again, I am pleasantly surprised by the Chaos War series.

To be fair, the plot is a bit messy and some of the emotional aspects are rushed and not properly dealt with. In addition to the usual continuity problems that almost all Dragonlance novels have.

That said, however, I really enjoyed getting to see a little deeper into Porthios and Gilthas. As well as seeing the beginning of Gilthas's romantic entanglements.

All in all, I enjoyed and would recommend this book to any Dragonlance fan.

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Puppet King follows the story of two elves - one a prince who was betrayed and cast as an outlaw, the other a puppet replacement king with no real power and desperate for freedom. In this timeline, the Dark Queen once again tries to conquer the world. Full of betrayals, action-packed battles, and scheming ambushes; the book is also surprisingly emotional, full of love, with many tender moments. One of my favourites from the Dragonlance series!

[Matt Littrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was excellent. If you have a stake in the Dragonlance world, I highly recommend you read this. Every page isn't excellent, but overall it kept me hooked and built my excitement. I'm giving it a 4.5, rounded up.

[Tom Green · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is why I hate Elves at times. But tbf this is how real humans act. I hate to be brought back to this mindset. And after everything. A good man to instantly be brought down by a handful of words. This whole book makes me angry and sad at the same time.

[Furball404 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started very well, but the ending was rushed.

[E J · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. The political scenes were more interesting and engaging than the warfare scenes.

[H. Alvarez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Otro libro de relleno de la era de los Mortales. Al menos cierra el arco de algunos personajes, pero no es nada notable.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Douglas Niles hasn't let me down when it comes to Dragonlance. A good deep dive into the elves of Krynn.

[Mikaël · Rating 4 out of 5]

That was surprisingly excellent for a story about elves, looking forward to seeing where the Chaos goes, and also where it came from!

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of the "Chaos War" novels, I find this one the best one so far. Douglas Niles did a better job here than in "The Last Thane" at making it an exciting story, full of political intrigues, and family ties and so on.

What's also a nice change in style, in my opinion, is telling the story as a flashback. At the end of each chapter there's the three characters - Samar, warrior-mage and assistant of Alhana (exiled queen of Qualinesti), Silvanoshei (son of exiled Speaker Of The Sun Porthios and Alhana), and the green dragon Aerensianic, who gives his account of what happened - discussing things.

It also seems the Dark Knights aren't that cruel after all, or rather, the Chaos War doesn't really allow for the classic conquering and ruling. All have to join forces to avoid being killed themselves by Chaos's evil creatures(fire dragons, shadow wights, shape-shifting creatures, ...).

The only way to destroy them is by using weapons blessed by the gods (or with dragon magic), and those weapons are few in number compared to the masses of elves.

Again, "The Puppet King" is the best one so far, also in that it somehow rekindles my reading interest in Dragonlance novels, whereas the previous reads were rather mediocre.

[J.J. Sherwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite books of all time! The writing style, for one, is absolutely fantastic. There were times when Niles wrote a single sentence or two and evoked a well of emotions. <3 The emotional struggle of the characters in their conflict was well-written and deeply conveyed. Porthios, above all, was memorable, and to this day he remains one of my favorite characters in literature (and in Dragonlance, right up there with Raistlin and Dalamar).

The ending, without revealing anything, was heart-wrenching and fantastic, and it is shameful I have yet to pick up the next tale in Porthios' adventures! <3

(I've read this book thrice now and I intend to read it more!)

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great entry in the Chaos War series, The Puppet King might just have become my new favorite Douglas Niles Dragonlance book! First, we see the betrayal of Porthios in Silvanesti and his subsequent exile from Qualinesti, then Gilthas’ precarious position as Speaker of the Sun during the preliminary occupation by Knights of Takhisis. The abrupt turn of events by the forces of Chaos did change the story tone a bit, but not unexpectedly. I’ve always been a fan of Gilthas’ story and enjoyed seeing him go from pawn to protector in this book. His later role as puppet king who secretly aids rebellious forces makes sense. I definitely loved this one.

[Petalbooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Puppet King > The Lioness > the new Elven Nations trilogy. The old EN trilogy was something I reread every few years. It's quite good. Better than most fantasy stuff. Better than Tolkien, even.

eta. Brilliant start, quickly tiring towards the end. I find myself unable to finish this book (yet at the same time badly wanting to so I can start the next one in the suggested order) because it has become so dull.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are like me and you enjoy finding out what happens next to your favorite characters, this is a tale like that the children of the heroes of the lance. This is the story of Gilthas, the son of Tanis and Lauralanthalasa (aka Laurana) - heroes of the lance.