Dragonlance The Second Generation/Dragons of Summer Flame Omnibus inquiry

[Porcelina]

The way it's left off, Second Generation, Summer Flame, and the Age of Mortals (Fifth Age) are all still possibilities. It's up to the reader to decide what is true to them.

It’s not a possibility. The way it's left off, it's an absolute that the Second Generation, Summer Flame, and 5th Age will be happening. That's why it's called Destinies. Because it's destined to happen

I've heard that term since about November 2000. It's a term referring to the core heart of Dragonlance. It's definitely not an old person thing.

It’s cute that you think something from November 2000 isn't an old person thing

What I loved the most about Second Generation and Dragons of Summer Flame was the Knights of Takhisis.

I like the Chaos Minions that'll erase you out of reality and existence

War of Souls is designed to bring a split fandom back together again. At the time, you had 4th age fans vs 5th age fans, D&D fans vs SAGA fans, and a lot of back-and-forth in the early online community.

So you're saying the War of Souls was written to bring the split fanbase back together but then Destinies was written to split the fanbase again?

 

[mamba]

So you're saying the War of Souls was written to bring the split fanbase back together but then Destinies was written to split the fanbase again?

that presumes that War of Souls succeeded at bringing the fanbase together, I don’t think it did.

I believe Destinies is meant to make Summer Flame and the whole 5th Age optional (on top of telling an interesting story in its own right…). It may happen, it may not, so it works for both sides of the divide.

Given that the new trilogy goes back in time quite a bit, it won’t answer the question of whether Destinies ‘prevented’ the 5th Age or not. I assume that is very intentional

 

[Porcelina]

I don't expect there to be any release of such an Omnibus...at all.

As I mentioned above, Weis has had some commentary on it and despite some enthusiastic fans in this thread, does not seem inclined to continue along that storyline, especially in light of what their last trilogy did (some feel it completely invalidates SF and means that SF will not really be able to happen, basically reseting the timeline to something more maneagable and traditional in DL).

The last trilogy doesn't work without reading Summer Flame first

 

[Porcelina]

Looking forward to this. Natural progression from Legends. Are we assuming a February 2027 release? Only asking because Chronicles was February 2025 and Legends was February 2026. 2ndGen/DoSF makes sense to be February 2027.

Feb 2027 can't come fast enough

 

[Dragonhelm]

It’s not a possibility. The way it's left off, it's an absolute that the Second Generation, Summer Flame, and 5th Age will be happening. That's why it's called Destinies. Because it's destined to happen

I believe in this case that we will have to agree to disagree. And that's okay. One of the marks of a good book is when two different people come out of it with two different impressions.

Let me challenge you with a thought, though. What was the point of Destinies if the end is that everything remains the same?

It’s cute that you think something from November 2000 isn't an old person thing

It's cute that you think it is.

I like the Chaos Minions that'll erase you out of reality and existence

It was an interesting concept, for sure.

So you're saying the War of Souls was written to bring the split fanbase back together but then Destinies was written to split the fanbase again?

I never said that.

Consider the difference between the times.

In 2000, there was a full Dragonlance novel line going on. AD&D 2e was coming to its end. WotC had purchased TSR and was ramping up one of the biggest changes in D&D's history - the launch of D&D 3rd edition. During the time of TSR's purchase, Peter Adkison (then CEO of WotC) asked where all the talent was that made TSR so big. So he worked on getting them back. From that, the War of Souls project was born. Weis and Hickman worked to bring a splintered fanbase back together again.

Now it's 2026. The novel line had ended 15 years ago. We are now on 5th edition. RA Salvatore is currently writing Drizzt, and Ed Greenwood has written some too. Otherwise, no Forgotten Realms novels. Weis and Hickman worked a deal for them to write Dragonlance, but they are the only ones.

In this era, the Fifth Age novels and SAGA gaming products are a distant memory. Dragonlance fandom isn't split like it was back in 2000. One thing has remained the same since 1984, though. The fan-favorite era for Dragonlance is the War of the Lance. It's why WotC went with it for Shadow of the Dragon Queen.

I believe that Weis and Hickman are returning to the core of what made Dragonlance great to begin with. Even if that is the case, that doesn't invalidate the Chaos War and the Age of Mortals. That timeline is still there to be enjoyed. I know I enjoyed several parts of this era.

Anyway, I'm glad that you're enjoying Dragonlance.

 

[Tinker Gnome]

Post War of Souls is the best Dragonlance gaming setting there is!

 

[mamba]

Post War of Souls is the best Dragonlance gaming setting there is!

eh, you basically have the same scenario after the War of the Lance and before all the Summer Flame events, or even before the Cataclysm. I take either over post War of Souls

I grant you that having no gods and being set right before a world war (or during it) somewhat limits the options for the types of stories to tell in a D&D

 

[Porcelina]

Mostly, but not quite....

Just enough for it to be restored to a certain amount, but not enough (if you read what happens to certain things) for it to actually be exactly the same...

It hasn't been restored to a certain amount. It's been restored completely. There's no reason to think any different. Once you see it, you can't unsee it

 

[Porcelina]

When that little bit of Chaos escaped the Graygem, everything comes into question. Yes, the timeline was restored, but now the Graygem is imprisoned in such a way that it cannot escape. Of course, the power of Chaos is held inside the Graygem, so who knows?

Of course the greygem escapes. We all know it somehow escapes

The point is, the future at this point is, once again, unwritten. Dragons of Summer Flame and the Age of Mortals might have progressed just as it had previously, or it may not. It's really left up to the reader to decide for themselves.

It is written. You want to say that it's unwritten and the story restarts from where Destinies left off, you better come up with something more interesting than Dragons of Summer Flame

From my POV as a Dragonlance designer and someone who has worked with fandom for over 25 years, I can say that this is good for the setting. Essential reading for the current timeline has been brought down from roughly 20 novels to the original "Holy Six" (Chronicles and Legends). It's a much easier buy-in. The current timeline is now a few years after the War of the Lance, which is the most popular era for Dragonlance. There are no more issues with 4 types of magic, or the so-called "Second Cataclysm", or the perception of the gods abandoning the world again, when it was really stolen by Takhisis.

There's that old person term again

 

[Porcelina]

If you pay attention to what happens to certain key elements, it's clear that the timeline has been fully restored, allowing The Second Generation and Dragons of Summer Flame to unfold exactly as they originally did. Astinus explains this to Tas at the end of Dragons of Eternity.

I understand that some people want to interpret the Destinies trilogy in a way that rewrites the timeline to erase Dragons of Summer Flame and, by extension, the Fifth Age. However, that's simply not how Destinies is presented. The trilogy is written in a way that initially leads the reader to believe the timeline has been erased, but then subtly hints suggesting otherwise. If the intention was truly to erase that timeline, there would be little reason for the authors to make certain choices in the first place. The ending ultimately resolves the question when Astinus confirms with Tas.

This is what I'm saying