Hey Jared,

It’s taken me too many months, but I’ve finally gotten around to finishing this trilogy. It was shorter than I thought. Only two books more and I’ve finished the Classic novels, then on to the Fifth Age which I have never attempted.

Title: Dragons of the Hourglass Mage
Series: Dragonlance Lost Chronicles; Vol. 3
Author: Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman
Genre: Fantasy
Audience: Adult
ROTS Setting: UU, Medieval, Higher Magic, Dragons
Synopsis: Raistlin Majere has become a Black Robe wizard and travels to Neraka, the lord city of the Dark Queen, ostensibly to work for her, though in reality he means to further his own quest for power. But Takhisis finds out that the dragon orb has entered her city and sends her draconians to find and destroy the wizard who has it in his possession. Before her agents can strike, though, Raistlin finds out that Takhisis means to take control of all wizardly magic. She has ordered Kitiara to set a trap for the Gods of Magic on the Night of the Eye, when all the high-ranking wizards will be in Neraka to celebrate. As the forces of light, with help from the good dragons, are turning the tide of battle, Raistlin is forced to flee, for his foes are closing in on him. As the Dragon Highlords vie for the Crown of Power in the Temple of the Dark Queen, Raistlin Majere wages his own desperate battle against Takhisis in the dungeons below and meets again the brother he betrayed. The fate of the world hangs in the balance.
Recommendation: Adult, maybe late teens. Any admirer of high fantasy should be familiar with this series.

I really enjoyed this Raistlin focused book. It fills in the gap between where he left Caramon and Tanis in the Blood Sea and the end of the original trilogy. We also get a better setup for Legends.

Raistlin’s character was more defined than in some of the other books. He’s less enigmatic and mysterious while still keeping his complexity. It’s a nice balance since I’ve never felt much for him because his true motives are ambiguous to the other characters, and thus to the reader also.

The plot is decent. There were parts I really liked and on it’s own it’s pretty good. As a whole, I really liked having the bigger picture and understanding of ‘how’ and ‘why’ everything happened the way it did.

In summary it was one of the most entertaining book in the series I’ve read so far. It has the same feel that the more recent books have so I’m excited to continue my reread.

Robert

Links

• Dragonlance on ROTS
• Margaret Weis Official Website
• Tracy Hickman’s Official Website
• Dragonlance Nexus – Unofficial Dragonlance Website