Jared,
This was not as good as the first one. It took me far too long to get through it as a result.
Title: War of the Twins
Series: Dragonlance Legends; Vol. 2
Author: Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman
Genre: Fantasy
Audience: Adult
ROTS Setting: UU, Medieval, Higher Magic, Dragons
Synopsis: One hundred years have passed since the fiery Cataclysm that changed the face of Krynn forever. For one hundred years, the people of Krynn have struggled to survive. But for some, those one hundred years have passed in the blink of an eye. Catapulted forward in time by Raistlin’s powerful magic, Caramon and Crysania find themselves aiding the mage’s unholy quest to master the Queen of Darkness. To his dismay, Raistlin discovers along the way that the annals of time are not so easily bent to his will. Neither are the longings of his heart.
Recommendation: Adult, maybe late teens. Any admirer of high fantasy should be familiar with this series.
The setting was ok but it failed to draw me in. We were treated to the fabled city of Istar in the first book, and while the Dwarfgate War had some real interest it ended up being rather bland. I wanted more dwarves and dwarven culture to really dig into why this conflict was taking place.
The biggest let down was with the plot. It failed like so many others that use time travel as a main plot device. Either time can’t be changed or it can spin wildly out of control for stepping on a butterfly. The rules for which it was supposed to be felt arbitrary. And that’s the great weakness with time travel in fiction. Lack of consistency. The rules are never absolute and applied universally within a give plot, aka plot holes. Sadly far too often, these plot holes end up being pivotal to the story.
So we get an entire book about the characters agonizing about whether the events are inevitable or if they can change the outcome. The answer ends up being both……..because time travel.
Raistlin was his usual awesome/scary self. Crysania took a back seat because she’d become the person the plot needed already. Caramon did what he always does, hate Raistlin, love Raistlin, hate Raistlin, rinse and repeat. I don’t know how many times they’ve destroyed the last relationship connection between them but it felt way over done by this point.
Also the lame excuse for a love triangle was not needed. Caramon’s feelings felt completely artificial which only served to undermine his character.
Tas was a plot device and I’ve realized that’s his entire purpose in this trilogy.
In summary, it was a classic (poorly done) time travel story, with a weak plot and characters spinning their tires. I am so glad that this wasn’t the second Dragonlance book I ever read or I would have stopped right here.
Robert
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