The Dragonlance Series

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Books
Genre:	Science Fiction & Fantasy
Author:	Margaret Weiss, Tracy Hickman et al

I can't say that I'm a big fan of fantasy series. I credit that to my good friend Allan who has his book club where they discuss fantasy and sci-fi books. I love reading these type of books though--especially tha sagas. The never-ending stories with each book running from 300-500 pages. The recent Dragonlance book I read (Dragons of Summer Flame) ran up to 585 pages and I finished it in 2 days. These books just sucks me in and even if I only read them once, the story remains in my mind for months.

I first read the Chronicles (Dragons of Autumn Flame etc) and Legends (Time of the Twins etc) when I was in College but I only borrowed the books either from Allan, Rico or Mariano at that time. When I saw them being sold at National and Powerbooks, I knew I want my own copies although I can't remember much of the action in the books (hey I said I only remember stories for a month. This was YEARS ever since I last read them).

I first bought the Chronicles and the Dragon of Summer Flame (the latter does not belong to the Dragonlance Chronicles but it makes a nice sequel featuring the children of the Heroes. In fact, the remaining Heroes of the Lance died in this book) about a couple of years ago and I bought the Legends a few weeks ago. As I had nothing better to read, I decided to get started on these books (7 books all in all). And what do you know, I finished them in less than 2 weeks.

Going all those 7 books made me appreciate the Heroes more and though how belated it is, gave me an idea how to make a good role-playing character. There is a difference between good and evil and it's something that I can never seem to get right.

For role-playing enthusiasts, the books can give one a clear example on what it means to be Lawful Good and Lawful Evil. It's difficult to be that Lawful that's why I usually stick to Chaotic Good but it's only in the "Summer Flame" book that I realized what "Chaotic" can be. Our friend Mike plays that alignment perfectly.

Going back to the books, I wanted to read more of the series. I was ecstatic although a bit disappointed to learn that the Dragonlance series have spawned probably more than 150 books in the market. The original series was written by Weiss and Hickman as a supplement to the Dungeons and Dragons role-playing game and the writers of TSR (which became Wizards of the Coast although I don't know if they were bought by Hasbro) took it from there. Allan said I should just get e-books but I can never seem to get the hang of reading from my laptop. I still love reading from paper.

An ordinary person can relate to the stories. It's always good versus evil. It will also remind you of the Filipino faith as there are a lot of "magical" aka "religious" artifacts floating around Ansalon that people hold dear. There's an artifact that turns the undead. Another item that can protect the bearer from death spells. We Filipinos have the same thing although we call it in a different name -- agimat.

I also love the stories despite the fact that it's never-ending. I like if a story mentions a character from another book. It's like visiting old friends and knowing that their still alive and okay. It's always so heartening.

I love the characters. I feel that they're my friends and come to think of it, I see my friends in these characters too (or vice versa). My favourite character is Raistlin. He's an evil character but I like the way his persona was developed and how he changed in the end. He was so focused on his goal and he really knew what he wanted. I wish I could be the same. A person with focus and a goal. I don't want to imitate his evil but I admire his drive.