Off The TBR Dragons of Autumn Twilight Read Along discussion

Jodie posted the comment below in the general week 1 thread and I thought it was a great topic to discuss so I've created its own thread.

From Jodie - "Can I point something out that I find really interesting? Sturm struggles with depression (Tanis mentions seeing the beginning of a "dark depression", and it also comes up from Sturm's point of view). This would be the first book I read where a character dealt with depression without being written as a victim or as "lesser than". It's just part of who Sturm is, and his friends recognize and accept that.
Thoughts?"

Jason wrote: "Jodie posted the comment below in the general week 1 thread and I thought it was a great topic to discuss so I've created its own thread.

From Jodie - "Can I point something out that I find reall..."

I just read that line, and thought it was so interesting because I'm not sure I've ever seen a character, especially in fantasy, with their depression actually given a name. This really is a very inclusive book, when you think about it, just from what we've already seen of these characters. You're dead on--they do just recognize and accept that Sturm has depression, and that's pretty much the end of it.

No one views Raistlin as "lesser than" because he sacrificed his health for magic. Tanis has moments of annoyance with Tas, but he never reprimands him because he accepts that Tas' personality is just who he is. Even Flint! When he's so upset about having to cross the lake, they try to work with that rather than make him feel awful about it.

It's just so refreshing to not only see mental health in a fantasy character, but to see it so readily accepted as part of the world. It's there, but it's not something that wholly defines Sturm's character. He's still allowed to be a fully realized person.

That’s very Interesting it never occurred to me that Sturm suffers from depression. Now after hearing this a lot makes sense.

Yes it does make a lot of sense. He’s really dealing with both the reality that his knightly order is really no more and that he was not able to find his father. But still he tries to live by the code of the order that he inherited from his father.

But it’s also a great comment Mary that everyone is very accepting of each other’s flaws. You can tell right away that this group are friends and they have a history.

I think it's great how that history is such a part of the dynamic that the characters can just grumble about things like trying to catch a fish with your bare hands, without there being a huge backstory. It's just there.
I love that Tanis is concerned for Sturm because he "recognizes" the signs of an oncoming depressive episode. That means that Tanis has cared enough over the course of the friendship, to pay attention to what those signs are.

This is a really interesting idea. Having read Dragonlance previously, it never occurred to me that it dealt with depression and mental health. But reading it now, and seeing this discussion, it's actually pretty clear. That's impressive, especially for a D&D book originally written over 30 years ago!

I agree! I think Sturm was the first fantasy character I read that had depression.

I agree! I think Sturm was the first fantasy character I read that had depression.

As a kid I really didn't have a frame of reference for what depression or mental health issues were really like. So consequently I probably read Sturm without ever seeing the deeper issues he was going through and just chalked it up to him being unreasonably grumpy. Now that I'm more aware of the issues as an adult his character has so much more meaning for me. Which is really saying something given his character development in the series. Like everyone else I'm really surprised to see mental health presented in these books like this given the time they were written, the D&D background, and the audience.

As someone who suffers from depression, that resonated pretty powerfully with me. You are not the depression, it’s not something to be ashamed of. It just is. His friends see that.

Yes, Elizabeth! So many times people try to "fix" it. Even if they mean well, it can be hurtful. Seeing Sturm's depression accepted as part (but not only) of himself is very cool.