The Cataclysm

Dragonlance: Tales II #2

by Margaret Weis

Stories by Richard A. Knaak and others chronicle a fiery catastrophe that plunges Krynn into centuries of chaos

Genres: Dragonlance, Fantasy, Fiction, Anthologies, Short Stories, High Fantasy, Dungeons and Dragons

343 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 30, 1992

About the author

Margaret Edith Weis is an American fantasy and science fiction author of dozens of novels and short stories. At TSR, Inc., she teamed with Tracy Hickman to create the Dragonlance role-playing game (RPG) world. She is founding CEO and owner of Sovereign Press, Inc and Margaret Weis Productions, licensing several popular television and movie franchises to make RPG series in addition to their own.
In 1999, Pyramid magazine named Weis one of The Millennium's Most Influential Persons, saying she and Hickman are "basically responsible for the entire gaming fiction genre". In 2002, she was inducted into the Origins Hall of Fame in part for Dragonlance.

Reviews

[Dev Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I am looking for fantasy that I don't have to think too hard about, Dragonlance always delivers the goods! I liked this one, and I think the short story format really works well in this universe - short, easily digestible bursts are the way to go. I did not enjoy any of the comedic stories, but all the others were pretty good. Getting close now to my 2024 reading goal...gotta cram for the finals!

[✨ Gramy ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

.
This is definitely a worthwhile, fantasy, adventure that I enjoyed very much.

Would recommend!

[Leslie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Don't waste your money buying this book, I would have rented it or checked it out. Just like the first tales book it has a few good stories, but the others will put you to sleep. It took me weeks to read the book due to I wasn't enjoying it. The stories I did enjoy were:

Seekers: A story of kindness shown to a stranger and very heartwarming.

Into Shadow, Into Light: This story tells what becomes of Rennard, Huma's teacher and mentor. This is a good short story to complete a tell.

The Cobbler's Son: Kender always make an interesting story. Not one of my favorites, but it was ok.

True Knight: This a continuation from a story in tales 1. Nikola and Michael have a very interesting journey that includes Lord Soth. They meet him before the cataclysm and again afterwards when he is cursed.

So in the end 4 tales out of 11, it just isn't worth the money to buy.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

*****3.5*****
I ended up enjoying most of the stories in this collection. It was interesting to read more about the Cataclysm, this event that's so important to the history of the company in Dragonlance Chronicles and Legends. I liked that the stories are about all different types of characters: kender, ogres, knights, humans. My favorite story is "The Highpriest of Halcyon," which is creepy and dark with a pretty good twist. "True Knight," the novella by Weiss and Hickman, is also up there for me as the background story of Riverwind's ancestors. "No Gods, No Heroes" is a great example of the humor that Krynn and its characters can support.
I recommend this for people who haven't read any Dragonlance books before since it's "historical" and for Dragonlance fans in general.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked the story about Lord Soth right after the Cataclysm. He still had some good in him. The hubris of the Kingpriest was extreme.

[Elizabeth Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the last decent Dragon Lance books published, to be honest. (Some of the "5th Age" ones are just AWFUL, seriously, don't waste your time.) Only folks who've read Chronicles and Legends are going to like this collection (everybody else won't really know what's going on) but for the fans out there, there is a LOT of good stuff in this one. "Ogre Unaware" by Dan Parkinson is very sweet, "No Gods No Heroes" by Nick O'Donohoe is awfully funny, and "The Cobbler's Son" by Roger E. Moore is the best, bar-none, the BEST kender story I've ever read. (And if you're wondering what a kender is...you probably don't need to read this collection....)

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

And so the fifth volume of the Tales series is read out. One more to go. It took me longer than expected and desired. Like the others, however, there are good and not good stories in it, making the novel on a whole not super, but average. Then again, it concerns seperate tales of low importance in the storyline of Dragonlance and Krynn.

Not good (enough) for me:
- The Word And The Silence
- Seekers
- Ogre Unaware
- The Voyage Of The Sunchaser

Good, but never super:
- Mark Of The Flame, Mark Of The Word
- The Bargain Driver
- No Gods, No Heroes
- Into Shadow, Into Light
- The Cobbler's Son
- The High Priest Of Halcyon
- True Knight

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of the stories are spot on. Lord Soth is still my favorite. =)

[Elaine Reinhard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome short stories, fun fantasy

[Ramón S. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bastante flojito. Sólo se salvan :“Un auténtico caballero “ y “El Clérigo mayor de Concordia “ de lo demás mejor ni hablar porque te pones de mal humor

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Plot:
The Cataclysm. The event when the gods of Krynn threw a fiery mountain (or meteor, if you want to get technical) upon, the world, shattering it and ending Istar forever, and ushering in The Age of Despair. Here, we are given a series of short stories depicting how the people of the world survived the aftermath, surviving in a world that has been changed. With darkness reigning not only in the corners of the world, but in the hearts of the people as well, it will take special, strong heroes to find the light in a world without gods, a world without faith, a world of despair.
Like The Reign of Istar, this book has multiple plots from containing different stories written by different authors. Some where humorous and well written, while others were touching. The highlight of this book has to be the novella depicting the rise of Lord Soth, and how in a surprising twist he shows how darkness isn't a physical manifestation but an inward choice.
Caution:
Characters in peril, with some blood and broken limbs. Uses of h-word and d-word.
Lessons:
A person's true worth isn't found in their outer appearance, their rank, or their nationality, but in their heart and soul. We should strive to have faith even when those around us choose not to. Even when it doesn't appear so, light and goodness still abound.

[Michael Baggott · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had been looking forward to reading this book for some time, to see if it depicted more information about the Cataclysm, the actual event itself or anything preceding it. I was a little disappointed to discover it was mostly stories about individuals roughly around the time of the cataclysm, not during it. However, the stories were still good and in my opinion worth reading.

The last story in the novel was a multi-part story about Lord Soth, the condemned Solamnian Knight, and this was a detailed point of view about what happened to him leading up to and just beyond the time of the Cataclysm. This was my favourite short story in the book, and gave some good detail on what had caused Lord Soth to become condemned to undeath.

[Matt Littrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another compilation book in the bag. And surprisingly, another one I found good overall. This second set of tales stories seems to be much better than those in the first series. One more left, and I'm really looking forward to it.

[H. Alvarez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Otra buen libro de relatos para regalar por Navidad. Gira alrededor de los supervivientes de la gran Montaña de Fuego y como la afrontan. Una de las mejores novelas cortas del final, donde se explica el origen de uno de sus personajes.

[Danny Moody · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another good collection of short stories. The highlight was the story of Lord Sith. There is some great information for the true Dragonlance fanatics.

[Tabitha Tomala · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full review on the way!

[Mikaël · Rating 3 out of 5]

The short stories were decent for the most part, but the novella at the end alone made it good, by giving Brother Michael and Nikol a much deserved ending

[Lucky MBor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es interesante leer sobre lo que opina la gente sobre el accionar de los dioses en Istar, como algunos estan a favor y otros en contra.

[J.C. Cauthon · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Cataclysm is another short story collection from the Dragonlance saga. This anthology features eleven stories from various contributing authors. Included stories are The Word and the Silence, Mark of the Flame, Mark of the Words, The Bargain Driver, Seekers, No Gods, No Heroes, Into Shadow, Into Light, Ogre Unaware, The Cobbler's Son, The Voyage of the Sunchaser, The High Priest of Halcyon, and True Knight.

As short story collections go, this was one of my favorites. The stories all read well-enough, and several of them were quite enjoyable quick-reads. I loved No Gods, No Heroes and Ogre Unaware, and The Voyage of the Sunchaser was a pleasant adventure.

But there is enough background from the main Dragonlance timeline that if you have not read the Chronicles or Legends collections, then you may be left a little confused once you finish this anthology.

Very good stories, though.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know I really enjoyed this book, but after looking at a list of the stories included I find I have almost no memory of most of them. Of course two of the exceptions, "Ogre Unaware" and "The Cobbler's Son" would have to feature gully dwarves and kender, respectively. (I seem to be one of the few people who isn't fatally annoyed by those two types of characters.) "The Cobbler's Son" would have to go in the list of my favorite short stories; it's fun and hilarious and cute and just a teeny bit of a tearjerker in places. Roger E. Moore is one of the few people who can write a good kender story.

"No Gods No Heroes" was also good, although in a more slapstick kind of way. And "True Knight" was one of those perfectly canon (naturally, it was written by the creators of the series), powerful stories that I enjoyed once and have little interest in reading again. The rest, eh, maybe I'll pick up a copy of the book sometime and see if they jog any good memories.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've never played in the DragonLance universe. I don't think I'd have the patience to deal with NPCs like Kenders and Guly Dwarves and the Knights of the Rose seem awfully silly without huge tracts of land to support their follies and missions.

I liked "No Heroes, No Gods" and "True Knight" the best.
I also liked "Ogre Unaware" and "The Cobbller's Son" in spite of myself.

[Kyle K]

The Word and the Silence -

Mark of the Flame, Mark of the Words -

The Bargain Driver -

Seekers -

No Gods, No Heroes -

Into Shadow, Into Light -

Ogre Unaware -

The Cobbler's Son -

The Voyage of the Sunchaser -

The High Priest of Halcyon -

True Knight -

[Lana · Rating 4 out of 5]

a great read, the evil of the Kingpriest and pride is unbelievable, the cataclysm was bound to happen but the pity was that so many suffered who were not guilty!! it was great catching up a bit on the effect of the cataclysm!

[Kirk Domenico · Rating 2 out of 5]

Μικρες ιστοριες χωρις πολυ ενδιαφερον.

[Tia the Chimkin · Rating 3 out of 5]

My rating is based on my love for the book when I was a teen in the 90s.