The Last Thane

Dragonlance: Chaos War #2

by Douglas Niles

Dark dwarves...darker schemes...and rising chaos.

For generations the baser clans of Thorbardin have raged against Hylar, ancestral rulers of the vast underground realm. Now, the finest Hylar army has marched away to face the Knights of Takhisis -- and the dark dwarves see their opportunity.

Besieged in the Life Tree that is their fortress city, the Hylar struggle to survive. Magic and madness threaten from all sides as Theiwar, Daergar, and Klar press the onslaught with bloodthirsty frenzy.

The forces of Chaos join the battle against all dwarvenkind. And hopes grow dim as the Hylar face ultimate betrayal and confront the specter of Torbardin's ultimate doom.

This exciting new novel by popular  Dragonlance  author Douglas Niles tells the tale of the legendary dwarven kingdom 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, High Fantasy

313 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 1, 1998

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

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent fantasy tale. Love Krynn. Definitely a keeper. =)

[Matt Littrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm giving this book 3.5, rounded up. It was definitely not what I expected. I remember not finishing it 20 or so years ago. Upon rereading, I know why. It gets of to a very slow start. It isn't an uninteresting start, just slow.
It's pretty cool to finally get to go inside the mountain, to see how the dwarves live, their clan structures and struggles.I love Douglas Niles, and this was no exception. It just took a hundred pages to get going.
Overall it's a really good book, one that took me for quite a ride after it picked up. I recommend it to dragonlance fans, particularly dwarf fans, and anyone who just wants a fun read.

[E J · Rating 2 out of 5]

Contrary to some other reviewers said, I thought the first hundred or so pages were the best parts of the book. The rest was a mediocre and repetitively described trek through the mostly-destroyed terrain of the dwarven land. Darkend was a comical villain whom you could practically hear the "MWAHAHAHHA" from everything he said. The story ended too soon; more time should've been spent on the grotto to give it some sense of magnificence. Hell, the entire stalagtite the dwarven home was centered in could've done with more detailed description of special locations, environs, et al. As it stood, the place felt generic and pretty hand-wavey.

My last complaint was Garimeth's death. Wasn't she killed by a the big baddie of the shadow-wights, who wipe the ones they kill from everyone's memory? So how was it Tarn and Belicia still remember her?

I don't care about hiding spoilers about this book. The mediocrity of the story and DL fans needs to be exposed.

[Michael T Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I suppose I've now officially finished a Douglas Niles book. So that's something I can check off the list.

I won't say I LOVED it, but I did think the first third or so, which was all about characterization, was quite solid. After that it all kind of fell apart and I skimmed a lot, but it wasn't bad. And unless I'm misremembering, there are at least two thanes at the end, so the title is a bit crap.

Looks like these Chaos War novels are just going to be slices of life from different areas to flesh out the world during the events of Dragons of a Summer Flame. I'm fine with that, though I don't give a damn about the dwarves, so this one didn't really hit home in any way for me. Still, perfectly willing to waddle on to the next one.

[Sergio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ni el hecho de estar protagonizado completamente por enanos ha mejorado mi impresión del libro que tiende más al suspenso que a otra cosa. Bueno, en realidad es que uno de las cosas que menos me ha gustado desde siempre de la Dragonlance es la representación de los enanos, su división entre clanes y una mitología y formas de actuar que para mí no le llega a la suela de los zapatos a Tolkien o incluso a Warhammer.

Tampoco ayuda que por la misma premisa de la Guerra del Caos en la que se encuadra el libro los enemigos y las reacciones ante ellos sean casi un calco de lo que ya he leído varias veces en otros libros de la saga. Se salva por la descripción del reino subterráneo de Thorbardin y porque se deja leer, pero hace ya tiempo que mis lecturas de la Dragonlance son más una ordalía que otra cosa.

[Kevin Potter · Rating 5 out of 5]

First, about the narrator.

He was so-so. Not great, but not awful.

Yes, most of his voices sound the same. He had one voice for male dwarves, one for females, one for Gullies, and one for the chaos creatures.

Better than since narrators, no question, but still a bit lacking.

The story. I have one word: WOW!

After reading Flint, The King (also by this author), I had low expectations for this book.

It started a little slow with characters feeling a little generic.

But once it got going, I couldn't stop. The book just got better and better. Definitely glad I gave it a chance.

[Daniel Koen · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great and clean adventure!

[Casey Wiggins · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was an enjoyable read with a rushed ending.

[Tom Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grate quick read.

[Mikaël · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why do people who know nothing about dwarves keep writing stories about dwarves?

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Coming back to the world of Dragonlance (Krynn, Ansalon, ...) is always great. It's been, however, several months since I was last there (with "Kang's Regiment", as the Chaos War had commenced). Instead of going back on the timeline, I decided it is best to carry on and head into the future, since the Chaos War is going on, hence The "Chaos War" Series.

"The Last Thane" is book 1 in the quintet. Douglas Niles takes us to the world of Thorbardin and its various cities and dwarven clans (Hylar, Daergar, Theiwar, Klar, ...). The Hylar's thane, the cousin of Baker Whitegranite, is out with several of his troops to fight against the forces of the dark queen Takhisis, so he leaves Hybardin in charge of Baker, who's actually more interested in decoding ancient writings (by the hand of Chisel Loremaster) and knows close to nothing about ruling a city. But he gets help from a.o. a veteran military commander.

Baker is married to a Daergar female dwarf, who after several marital struggles, decides to return to her native home, to her brother, Darkend. He has conquered the throne in an unfair series of battle (as the tradition has it), making sure the outcome would be positive for him. As Garimeth, Baker's wife, informs Darkend about the Hylar being without thane and thus proper ruling, Darkend sees an opportunity to expand his territory (for which he set up an alliance with the Theiwar and Klar).

Little do they, and the Hylar, know that the forces of darkness, led by Zarak Thuul and his dragon, Primus. As you can imagine, there's lots of bloodshed, killing, destroying and what not. But also the Hylar were surprised of the betrayal by their dark brothers. So, yes, things get messy in the dwarven kingdom.

"The Last Thane" contains elements of friendship, love, betrayal, ... And certainly this: what goes around, comes around.

The writing is ok, the events are well described (though I had trouble picturing the environment - either a fault in my imagination or the writing style), but some happenings did leave me frowning. But hey, it remains Fantasy and Dragonlance, in which case it's normal certain logic cannot be applied here and there. All in all, a nice read, yet not among the best DL-novels.

[Jim C · Rating 3 out of 5]

My actual rating is 3.5 stars.

This book takes place in the world of Dragonlance. In this one, The Chaos War come to Thorbardin and the timing coincides with a race of dwarves attacking another race of dwarves. In other words there is carnage everywhere.

This book was a solid effort. I liked how it concentrated of one area of the world and the affects the war had on it. The author does a terrific job giving the different dwarves characteristics and detailing the differences between each race. There was plenty of action as there are different types of battles throughout this book. I did think the ending was a little rushed and a little too convenient. The author did drop hints that this road would be the solution but I wish he gave more hints with the details about the solution.

This book will keep you entertained and I gives nice background information of one of the prominent races in he Dragonlance world. I would suggest having a little knowledge about Dragonlance and its events before reading this novel.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, just finished reading The Last Thane, and I really liked it! For any fans of dwarves and the Chaos War, this one is great. Dark dwarves begin attacking Hybardin just as the forces of Chaos start roaming Krynn. I found the looks at life among the Hylar, Daergar, and Aghar very well done, and all the characters interesting. I’m a little mad at myself for thinking I didn’t like reading about dwarves and gully dwarves because the more I see of them, the more I like! Yet again, Douglas Niles does not disappoint with his writing style. He’s up there with my favorite DL authors.

[Edward Walsh · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had grown a liking for the dwarven lands perhaps from the Doom Brigade novel and my dislike of the Solamnic and Elven lands. This book promised access to their lands and people and it does deliver on that account. The king is trying to hold his land together as his people splinter further and further apart and finally into open warfare. However the development of the all-father Chaos seems to end the storyline with a plop leaving me disappointed.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it, but I was not as emotionally invested in the characters as I have been with other Dragonlance novels. The way the dwarves were portrayed was such a stark contrast to most other portrayals, which was intriguing.