Will I like Dragonlance books?

[Vigwyn the Unruly]

I have the opportunity to read Dragons of Autumn Twilight, Dragons of Winter Night, and Dragons of Spring Dawning. However, I have many committments and very limited time, so I don't want to waste my time if these are no good.

To give you an idea of my tastes:
I loved Lord of the Rings (not so much the movies).
I hated Eregon.
I liked the first 4 Harry Potter Books (though I think the movies are better), but hated 5 and 6.

What do you think--will I like the Dragonlance books?

Thanks in advance for any insights.

 

[Crothian]

Sure. You'll like them.

 

[Nightfall]

*ten*

Vig,

Considering they're a little more adult in some ways than Eregon (not to mention better written in places), I'd say you'll like them. However I personally enjoyed the Legends Trilogy better.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

I think it depends upon what you like. It has been years since I read them, but what stuck with me more than anything was the characters. I really grew to like the characters very quickly. Overall the story itself is standard fantasy fare, but there is something about the way the characters were written that really took me in. I think Harry Potter did it as well, which is why I enjoyed them as well.

Eregon was not one of the worst books I've read, but it took some effort to keep going. I didn't care about the characters very much and the story was predictible enough that I didn't feel compelled to stay up late and read one more chapter. I put it down and went to sleep when it was time to do so with no difficulty at all.

 

[Mallus]

Do you like English language prose?

If yes, then no.

 

[Olive]

Do you like English language prose?

If yes, then no.

Harsh.

Yeah, you'll probably like them if you like fantasy books. I read them for the first time when I was about 11, but reread them in my mid-20s and was surprised how much I still enjoyed them. The characters are pretty one dimensional, but fun and as Thornir says, really likeable.

 

[Jhamin]

I have to give a dissenting opinion.

I read them when I was 11 and thought they were the greatest, deepest, most evocative things I had ever read. I re-read them when I was 20 and was aghast at how wooden they were.

Most of the major plot points are out and out stolen from the Lord of the Rings (I know that is pretty commont with fantasy, but Dragonlance is pretty egregious) and the authors handling of the characters is very uneven. A few are really origional, but most are cliches or stock race/class combos with nothing else to distinguish hem.


I think they work best when your reading level is too low to really appreciate the Lord of the Rings and you won't spot how much of it is stolen from other places. After you can spot how much of a pastache it is, the series doesn't have nearly the luster.

I'd personally reccomend the first three books from the Wizard of Earthsea series (which bear little resemblence to the sci-fi channel movie). If you like them, stop after the third book, which was written 20 years later and with a very different political agenda.

 

[Klaus]

My experience was similar to Jhamin. I read them at 13 and again at 30, and the books weren't at all like I remembered. I found very little likeability in the characters, and boy do they whine (specially Tanis).

 

[Mallus]

Harsh.

Deserved.

The characters are pretty one dimensional, but fun and as Thornir says, really likeable.

See, I liked the characters, and I even thought some of the relationships, well, one at least, was actually pretty terrific. But as I read them, I kept saying to myself, "How can such awful writers write such good characters? This is like, a paradox, or something".

At the sentence level the original DL trilogy --I didn't make it any farther-- is some of the worst writing I've ever read. Weiss and Hickman's clumsy attempt at 'epic' prose seriously gets in the way of story they're telling, unlike, say David Eddings, who'll never be accused of greatness, but at least his prose style is clear, simple and unobtrusive.

So, if you really care about the individual sentences that make up a novel, stay the hell away from those books. If you don't, well, at least they do have redeeming qualities.

 

[Mallus]

I'd personally reccomend the first three books from the Wizard of Earthsea series (which bear little resemblence to the sci-fi channel movie). If you like them, stop after the third book, which was written 20 years later and with a very different political agenda.

Excellent advice. The original Earthsea trilogy is one for the ages, while book 4, Tehannu, can best be described, if you're feeling particularly charitable, as a mistake.