Book Haven discussion

They both came out around the same time back in the 80's. I remember alot of people into Dungeons and Dragons back then would favor either one or the other, and they were voracious with it! Personally, I would have to place my bets down on Dragonlance. The characters are, in my opinion, much more rounded and (dare I say) real. I admire the writing talents of both original authors and their successors, but the Dragonlance saga as a whole appeals to me on a much grander scale than Forgotten Realms.

Kurt wrote: "They both came out around the same time back in the 80's. I remember alot of people into Dungeons and Dragons back then would favor either one or the other, and they were voracious with it! Persona..."

I don't think I read any, but I remember when they were really popular. I remember browsing the fantasy section and seeing giant shelves stacked with all the books in each series. lol Although, that was more like 10 years ago...

Kurt wrote: "They both came out around the same time back in the 80's. I remember alot of people into Dungeons and Dragons back then would favor either one or the other, and they were voracious with it! Persona..."

I'm with you, Dragonlance all the way. I was a mad squeeing fan girl for that series before anyone knew what a mad squeeing fan girl was. Raistlin, Dalamar, Lord Soth, and Tanis all made me so so happy. I didn't have much use for the out and out good characters, though I thought Tasselhoff was a lot of fun.

It was the first time I ever ran into an anti-hero, and just fell in love with the idea. I still love a good anti-hero above all other character types. (And a powerful magic user dressed all in black is all kinds of spiffy as well. This might explain my immediate attraction to Snape.)

Keryl wrote: "Kurt wrote: "They both came out around the same time back in the 80's. I remember alot of people into Dungeons and Dragons back then would favor either one or the other, and they were voracious wit..."

I couldn't agree with you more! I always thought the anti-hero theme was always a great addition to an epic story, and a twin of a hero to add a twist to the plot really thickens the excitement!
I just reread all the original Chronicles, Tales and Legends recently and now I am really involved with the Lost Chronicles series, I just can't get enough! I know it makes me sound like a fantasy nerd, but who cares... it brings me back to the glory days of my youth when these books first came out, and I'm loving every word of it!!!

I read them again probably five years ago, and while I still love the books, they don't have the impact they had when I was a kid.

Most of the good characters feel so much more wooden to me now. It also doesn't help that I really, really didn't care for the direction the series went in the early 2000's. Dragons of Summer Flame was not, by a very long stretch, my favorite book.

And then, the book I was really looking forward to, the one all about Raistlin, never appeared. (Grumble, grumble, grumble!) I think that happened twice, where they had a series on just the Twins, and the one that was all Raistlin never got written, and then I think it's the Lost Chronicles where the all Raistlin one again didn't get published.

Oh well, sometimes it's better off not to try and go back. Sometimes it works out just fine. I'll be very happy in about seven years when I can give them to my boys.

Yeah, I know what you mean about the characters not being as "real" as they were back in the day. That seems to happen quite frequently in the fantasy genre. Elizabeth Boyer's novel "The Troll's Grindstone" was like that for me also. It was a fantastic novel back when I was young in the 80's, but when I read it last year again, it just didn't stand the test of time!
The Lost Chronicles Volume 3, "Dragons of the Hourglass Mage" is the one all about Raistlin. I have 2 more chapters to go to finish it... it's OK, not what I would have expected, but still worth the reading... you should check it out.

They finally got it written? Last I had seen there was some sort of snafu and the day it was supposed to be out had come and gone with no book available.

I shall check it out immediately.