Magic Krynn-Draglanc#1 [Mass Market Paperback]

DragonLance Tales Volume I

Riverwind and the Crystal Staff by Michael Williams ** - This is the story of Riverwind and his quest to find the staff that plays such and important role in "The Dragons of Autumn Twilight." Some may find a tale told in the form of a poem fascinating, unfortunately I'm not among them and I found myself trying to get through this as quickly as possible to get to the rest of the tales.

The Blood Sea Monster by Barbara and Scott Siegel **** - This is a fairly well written tale of a young and mischievous elf who steels away aboard a fisherman's boat, only to be found by the fisherman. Upon their fateful meeting, the young elf strikes a bargain with the old fisherman in the hopes of profit. After they've set off though, the old man has a terrifying surprise for the elf.

A Stone's Throw Away by Roger E. Moore ***** - I cannot give enough praise to the author for this wonderfully well written tale of Tasslehoff Burrfoot and his run in with a powerful wizard. It seems that one of those stories he kept telling everybody during "Chronicles" and "Legends" wasn't too tall a tale after all!

Dreams of Darkness, Dreams of Light by Warren B. Smith ***** - In this exceptionally well written tale, the author reintroduces us to Pig Faced William Sweetwater, the owner of the Pig and Whistle in Port Balifor which was the bar the Heroes of the Lance stayed in and earned the money to move on in their quest.

Love and Ale - by Nick O'Donohoe *** - This a story of Otik and a young Tika Waylan, running The Inn of the Last Home, well prior to the events in the "Chronicles" and the things that can go wrong when there is a Kender involved. While the premise of this tale is well thought out, the story dragged way too much and seemed to be bogged down in the details.

Wayward Children by Richard A. Knaak ***** - This is another of the stories in Tales Volume I that cannot receive enough praise as this exceptional author puts us, the readers, in the eyes of the enemy, the Draconians and their strange encounter with a village of elderly elves.

The Test of the Twins by Margaret Weis ***** - Co-DragonLance creator Margaret Weis does her usual high standard of work in this tale that gives us the back story of Par-Salian's decision to invite Raistlin to take the test and what happened when Caramon and Raistlin traveled to the Tower of High Sorcery in Wayreth.

Harvests by Nancy Varian Berberick ***** - Given the number of DragonLance novels written by this exceptional author, it's easy to see why she has written so many. This is a well constructed and thought out short story about a Tanis and Flint adventure that happened prior to the events of "Chronicles."

Finding the Faith by Mary Kirchoff ***** - This author has also been quite deservedly prolific in the DragonLance world and it's easy to see why with this extraordinarily well written tale. Although this tale should've been part of "Chronicles," I'd imagine Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman didn't include it to save time. "Finding the Faith" is the story of Laurana's quest to find the fabled Dragon Orb in Icewall, told from the viewpoint of Raggart Knug, High Cleric of the Ice People.

Legacy by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman ***** - What can one expect when these exceptional authors team up for a DragonLance story; nothing less than perfection, which is what is delivered in "Legacy." It is now twenty five years since the events of "Legends" and Caramon is summoned to the Tower of High Sorcery in Wayreth along with his three sons Tanin, Sturm and Palin. The leaders of the three different mage orders believe that Raistlin is still alive in the Abyss and planning on using Caramon's youngest son Palin to make a comeback from the Abyss... {ssintrepid}

That is the best way I can describe the tales book. Try searching the web, maybe someone typed up the novella by Weis and Hickman. Its not that long. Is that one novella worth paying the few bucks? Not at all.

I have yet to read the other Tales books, but since I am about to run a DnD campaign based before the War of the Lance, I will most likely read Tales II Volume 3 (The War of the Lance) which is a series about the other, non-epic hero, stories from the time period as background. Unfortunately, I couldn't even get that out of this book. Save your money and purchase some of the Villians series (EXCELLENT) or Elven Nations Trilogy.